Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 11, 2017 4A
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EDITORIALS
Dear future
superintendent
Roughly 400 people in the Central School District gave
feedback on what is good about the district, what could be
better, and what qualities they want in the new superin-
tendent.
It sounds a little like the list a young person would make
when picturing his or her perfect soulmate.
Patient, responsible, good listener.
Bilingual, bicultural, decisive. Works well with others,
accountable, good communicator.
McKenzie Group, which conducted the surveys and
community forums, said 400 participants was a good sam-
ple for a district of Central’s size.
The search consultants will place the ad soon and send
out emails to recruit candidates for Central’s next top
leader. Then a 15-person search committee comprising
members of both the teachers and the certified unions, as
well as administrators and community members will help
narrow down the applications. Greg McKenzie said he ex-
pects to get “north of 20” applicants for the job and hopes
the school board can make an announcement on the hire
before spring break.
With so much involvement from teachers, staff, admin-
istrators and community members, we hope that whoever
is chosen will have the continued support of all in the dis-
trict.
We know the atmosphere at Central High School wasn’t
great last year. It seems to be improving, but it will require
more work on the parts of both teachers and administra-
tors to keep it going in the right direction.
The community needs to have confidence in its school
board’s decision, as well as in its teachers and administra-
tors.
It is easy to demand support for teachers and rally
against administration. This community needs to find bal-
ance between supporting both sides of the coin, because
what it all boils down to is that old cliche: The children are
our future.
Students felt the tension at the high school — it wasn’t
something that was hidden away in the teacher’s lounge.
We all need to stand behind our new superintendent while
he or she gets his or her feet wet. We need to give him or
her a chance.
PUBLIC AGENDA
Public Agenda is a listing of upcoming meetings for gov-
ernmental and nongovernmental agencies in Polk County.
To submit a meeting, send it at least two weeks before the
actual meeting date to the Itemizer-Observer via email
(ionews@polkio.com).
—
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11
• Independence Heritage Museum Commission — 4 p.m.,
Independence Heritage Museum, 112 S. Third St., Independ-
ence. 503-838-1212.
• Monmouth Library Advisory Board — 7 a.m., Monmouth
Public Library, 168 Ecols St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Monmouth Parks and Recreation Board — 7 p.m., Volun-
teer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
THURSDAY, JAN. 12
• Monmouth Tree Advisory Board — 7 p.m., Monmouth
Senior Center, 180 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Fire District No. 1 Board — 6 p.m., Central
Station 90, 1800 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1510.
• Western Days Commission — 7 p.m., Independence Civic
Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212.
TUESDAY, JAN. 17
• Independence Historic Preservation Commission — 4
p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence.
503-838-1212.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
• Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 S.
Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Dallas City Council — 7 p.m., Dallas City Hall, 187 SE Court
St., Dallas. 503-831-3502.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18
• Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
GOVERNOR
gov. Kate Brown (Dem.)
160 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-378-4582
Email: via website,
http://governor.oregon.gov/
—
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Arnie Roblan
(District 5, Democrat)
S-417 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
sen.arnieroblan@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/roblan
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Hunger article hints
at sensationalism
I’m not sure what to think
about the I-O’s front page
article “Facing hunger.”
While I realize there are
people that do not have
enough food, I struggle with
the overall tone of the arti-
cle and the statistics stated
in the article. It reminds me
of a Mark Twain quote,
“There are lies, damned lies,
and statistics.” The term
“food insecurity” in and of
itself sounds very nebulous
and self-defining.
According to the article,
at least 59 percent of West-
ern students are food inse-
cure. And the article contin-
uation on page 5A reads
“hunger affects all stu-
dents.” Either we have a
huge (real) problem on our
hands, or a matter of jour-
nalistic sensationalism, I’m
leaning towards the latter.
There are many resources
available to students both
private and public that pro-
vide either money/vouchers
for food or food itself. There
is a good chance that before
the week is over I’ll be sub-
jected to many commercials
and articles statistically
proving the opposite about
how exercise deprived and
overweight us Americans
are. Is this I-O article what
they mean by fake news?
Leif Anderson
Monmouth
Loss of email
service at Minet
Recently I, along with all
other subscribers to Minet’s
internet service in Mon-
mouth and Independence,
received notice that our
email service will be discon-
tinued. This came as a great
surprise to me as I was not
aware that such a move was
being contemplated and I
don’t believe any of us cus-
tomers had an opportunity
to comment on whether we
would mind losing this serv-
ice. It was simply presented
to us as a fact.
I personally have a large
problem with this happen-
ing, since I have been using
Minet’s email ever since
starting with them as a cus-
tomer when Minet began.
I’ve been told that it is be-
cause management believes
that not enough customers
are using the service, but
I’ve also been told that sev-
eral hundred do. For me it
would be a huge inconven-
ience, since I have been
using it so long all of my
correspondence is tied up in
it, and chasing down all of
my contacts to give them a
new address would be next
to impossible.
There must be many
users out there who are just
as inconvenienced as I am
that may just go along with
this decision, thinking that
there is nothing they can do
about it. But all we have to
do is speak up.
We’ve been paying our in-
ternet fees every month, ex-
pecting to have an email
service as part of the pack-
age. I sincerely doubt that
there will be any reduction
of our bills if the service is
removed.
I urge all subscribers to
Minet’s email service to
contact Minet’s manager,
Don Patton, and Minet’s
board of directors, through
Minet’s office in Monmouth,
to express your opinion
about this loss. It should be
possible to reverse this deci-
sion.
Jim Snyder
Monmouth
Worry about PERS
before facilities
To county commission-
ers, instead of building a
new facility with more taxes,
why don’t you pay your
PERS obligation?
Steve Dunn
Independence
Let’s unite against
timber industry
On Jan. 6, Oregon Public
Broadcasting published an
article about a report by the
Department Of Environ-
mental Quality and the Ore-
gon Health Authority on the
condition of drinking water
sources in the coast range of
Oregon. It was completed in
July of 2015, but was not
published due to push back
from the timber industry
and Department of Forestry
as they felt it was biased
against the timber industry.
The timber industry was the
focus of the report as, ac-
cording to the study, “Indus-
trial forest companies are by
far the single largest owner
of land in coastal drinking
watersheds, owning 100
percent of some source
water areas.” In addition,
“40 percent of the drinking
water systems on the coast
flow through forest owned
by private companies that
log extensively. And 64 per-
cent of all coastal water sys-
tems have had two or more
alerts, warning customers of
problems with disinfecting
water so it is safe enough to
drink.”
Department of Environ-
mental Quality and the Ore-
gon Health Authority note
the practice of clear cutting,
slash near unbuffered
streams, and use of herbi-
cides are some of the
human factors affecting
water quality, leading to in-
creased erosion and turbidi-
ty in the waterways. This in-
creases the need for chemi-
cals to disinfect the water to
make it safe for drinking.
This is the water that the
citizens of the coast range
rely on for drinking.
These issues, combined
with the practice of the tim-
ber industry of aerial spray-
ing and locking gates to
keep recreational users from
publicly owned lands
should prompt us to action.
It is time for all groups who
are unhappy with the way
the timber industry does
business to work together to
bring about change. We
should demand access to
clean drinking water and
the public lands that we pay
for.
Sen. Jackie Winters
(District 10, Republican)
S-301 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1710
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/winters
Sen. Brian Boquist
(District 12, Republican)
S-305 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1712
sen.brianboquist@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/boquist
Rep. David gomberg
(District 10, Democrat)
H-471 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1410
rep.davidgomberg@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg
Rep. Paul Evans
(District 20, Democrat)
H-281 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1420
rep.paulevans@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/evans
Rep. Mike Nearman
(District 23, Republican)
H-378 State Capitol
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1423
rep.mikenearman@state.or.us
www.oregonlegislature.gov/nearman
—
U.S. CONGRESS
Sen. Ron Wyden (Dem.)
221 Dirksen SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5244
Fax: 202-228-2717
Salem office: 707 13th St. SE,
Suite 285, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-589-4555
Email: via website,
www.wyden.senate.gov
Lisa Jordan
Dallas
WANT TO WRITE A LETTER?
Letters to the editor are lim-
ited to 300 words. Longer letters
will be edited.
Each writer is restricted to
one letter per 30-day period.
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Letters must include the au-
thor’s name, address and tele-
phone number. This includes
letters submitted via the I-O’s
website. Names and cities of res-
idence are published; street ad-
dresses and telephone numbers
are used for verification pur-
poses only.
Letters must be submitted
from individuals, not organiza-
tions, and must be original sub-
missions to the I-O, not copies of
letters sent to other media.
Letters of thanks to busi-
nesses, individuals and organi-
zations are limited to 10 names.
The deadline for letters to the
editor is 10 a.m. Monday. For
the
full
letters
policy:
www.polkio.com.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.)
313 Hart SOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Salem office: 495 State St. SE,
Suite 330, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-362-8102
Email: via website,
www.merkley.senate.gov
Rep. Kurt Schrader (Dem.)
108 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-5711
Fax: 202-225-5699
Salem office: 544 Ferry St. SE,
Suite 2, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: 503-588-9100
Fax: 503-588-5517
Email: via website,
www.schrader.house.gov
—
POLK COUNTY
Board of Commissioners
850 Main St.
Dallas, OR 97338
Phone: 503-623-8173
www.co.polk.or.us
—
CITIES
Dallas
187 SE Court St.
Dallas, OR 97338
503-623-2338
www.ci.dallas.or.us
Falls City
299 Mill St.
Falls City, OR 97344
503-787-3631
www.fallscityoregon.gov
Independence
555 S. Main St.
Independence, OR 97351
503-838-1212
www.ci.independence.or.us
Monmouth
151 W. Main St.
Monmouth, OR 97361
503-838-0722
www.ci.monmouth.or.us
HOW TO REACH US
NEWSROOM
Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com
Vol. 142, No. 2
(USPS) - 437-380)
The official newspaper of Polk County • Serving Polk County families since 1875
Winner of 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 General Excellence Awards
from the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
Periodicals postage paid at
Dallas, OR, Independence, OR and Monmouth, OR.
Published weekly at 147 SE Court Street
Dallas, Oregon 97338
Phone: 503-623-2373
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Polk County — One Year $35
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POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, Oregon 97338
Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com
Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com
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