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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2017)
Polk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 18, 2017 4A EDITORIALS Quality of life counts as goal Some Dallas city councilors are considering doing away with the adult recreation director, thinking the job can be done by volunteers or other employees. Rather than continue hiring for a job that has been post- ed, these councilors would rather discuss it at a goal-set- ting session, scheduled for March. Goal-setting sessions by councils generally occur in Feb- ruary or at the end of January so that city employees and managers can get an idea of what is important to the coun- cil — and thereby the citizens which they represent — and align those wishes with the city’s budget. Budget committees generally start meeting in early May to look over and discuss the budget presented by man- agers. Budgets need to be adopted by councils before July 1, per Oregon law. This is not the first time some Dallas councilors have wanted to re-examine the options for adult recreation. The first came when they wanted to look at other ways to pay for the operation of the Dallas Aquatic Center. While we appreciate Dallas councilors wanting to take a closer look at how the city spends taxpayer dollars, we hope that all councilors also look carefully at the bigger picture. Dallas residents have come to enjoy a certain quality of life, including miles and miles of well-maintained public parks; an aquatic center that offers a variety of activities for children, teens and adults; and an adult rec league that is just beginning to realize its potential. Last year, David Brautigam organized some fun and well-attended adult activities, including summer lawn game tournaments. The city sponsored the Glow Run through its rec pro- gram. The 5-kilometer run had an amazing turnout for its first year — more than 500 runners — and benefited Dallas Christmas Cheer, which helps Dallas’ low-income families have a merry Christmas. We see good things happening in Dallas’ adult rec pro- gram, bringing grownups together for sports and cama- raderie. Eliminating that program by cutting off its head — and for about $25,000 per year — would bring the quality of life down a notch. If it’s just the salary the councilors are concerned about, perhaps it is better to adjust that rather than eliminate the position altogether. 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. 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. ThuRSDAY, JAN. 19 • Monmouth Arts and Culture Commission — 7 p.m., Vol- unteer Hall, 144 S. Warren St., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • independence Parks and Recreation Board — 6 p.m., In- dependence Civic Center, third floor, 555 S. Main St., Independ- ence. 503-838-1212. MONDAY, JAN. 23 • independence Library Board — 4 p.m., Independence Public Library, 175 Monmouth St., Independence. 503-838-1212. TuESDAY, JAN. 24 • independence City Council — 7:30 a.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence. 503-838-1212. • Monmouth Senior Advisory Board — 1 p.m., Monmouth Senior Center, 180 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. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. • Polk Soil and Water Conservation District — 6 p.m., USDA Service Center, 580 Main St., Suite A, Dallas. 503-623- 9680. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thanks for supporting ‘Fuzzy’ We are always over- whelmed by the generosity from the outpour of warm clothing articles that the community donates to our clothing drive. Please know how very much it has been appreciat- ed as we complete our 26th year of the “Warm & Fuzzy” clothing drive. We truly appreciate the staff at Star Lite Lanes for always allowing us a collec- tion site at their business. God bless you all. Best wishes during this holiday season and new year. Deb Darr and The Darr Family Dallas Unite against biased tree huggers After reading the Jan. 11 letter to the editor urging readers to unite against the timber industry, I felt com- pelled to respond. I would like to think most Oregonians are aware of the important role of the timber industry in the Oregon economy. Oregon has always had the best forest management practices of any state, in- cluding federal, state and private timber lands. When the timber industry was strong, we did not have serious problems with school budgets in the state. Environmentalists have played a very large role in crippling the timber indus- try in this state. As a result, schools have declined, the economy has declined, especially with the downturn in the tech indus- try, which many people em- braced as the answer to our economic woes. The results of reduced logging include lack of road maintenance in forest lands, increased fire danger, in- creased erosion in non- managed areas, and re- duced quality of existing timber stands due to lack of needed management. Concerning coastal wa- tersheds that are on private lands, it seems the land owners are being very gen- erous in allowing water re- sources to be used for pub- lic water supplies. If overall water quality was compared to most mu- nicipal water supplies, I would bet coastal water supplies would compare fa- vorably. Research concerning most of the warnings re- garding coastal water quali- ty indicates the concerns were mainly due to sedi- ment in the water rather than chemical contamina- tion. For anyone who has wit- nessed coastal streams after winter rains, they get a little muddy for a few days even in watersheds where no log- ging has been done. Regarding road closures on private lands, most clo- sures are due to public damage to roads, garbage dumping, illegal harvest of trees, illegal firewood cut- ting, starting of fires, dam- age to replanted timber, and erosion caused by off-road operation of vehicles. John Matteson Rickreall Bell’s quotes reflect inaccuracies Emily Mentzer’s article on the superintendent search in the Jan. 11 issue of the I- O included several factually incorrect quotes from for- mer District 13J employee Forrest Bell. I served on the school board when Mr. Bell was su- perintendent from ’99-02. Mr. Bell is quoted as saying that Central High School’s teaching staff does not live in the community. While this may have been predominantly true 15 years ago, it is no longer true. Today, most CHS teachers live in our community, and some have lived here for 20 years or more. Mr. Bell characterizes the local teacher’s union as “old-school” who will “pro- tect their worst people.” While I disagree with the union on many things, I have never seen it try to protect an incompetent teacher in the 23 years I’ve been involved with the dis- trict. Rather, I’ve seen the union function as the only bulwark against poor lead- ership that inflicted great harm on students with er- rant policies predicated on ineffective, “hot” education- al theories fresh from aca- demia. One only needs to look at the grading system chaos inflicted by the previous principal to understand the frustration and desperation the teachers felt at CHS. The 2016 class valedicto- rian brought it up in his graduation speech as an ex- ample of how his fellow stu- dents had to overcome ad- versity. Mr. Bell pointed out the “community’s going to get frustrated with” the union. Historically, through all the trials wrought by inef- fective leadership that alien- ated both the community and district staff, the sup- port the union received from the people of Mon- mouth and Independence has never wavered. Finally, Mr. Bell states the union will simply be obstruc- tionist to the next superin- tendent. I disagree. The teachers I know want to work closely with a re- sponsive and effective lead- ership cadre. Anything less is a heartache nobody wants again. John R. Bruning Former Independence City Councilor 96-99, Central 13J Board Member 99-02 Independence Schools should add extra weeks There should be no need for school districts to worry about not meeting the state mandated minimum amount of hours students are required to be in school because of weather. This issue was highlight- ed in the Jan. 11 Itemizer- Observer. For some reason Oregon has always designated to choose the very mini- mum — or close to it — the number of school days dic- tated by federal and state law. In my opinion it would benefit the students if a couple weeks of school were added each year. It might even raise the number of students that successfully graduate each year, since Oregon is always near the bottom compared to the rest of the nation. Bill J. Kluting Monmouth Lack of clarity results in cold walk A young woman was in Polk County Jail and due be released on Jan. 11 at 7 a.m., but when I went to pick her up she was not there. Even though I called to confirm the release time at 6:30 a.m. and was told she was to be released at 7 a.m. I went down to pick her up and was told that she was not in the building and had been released. She was released at 6:15 and was not allowed to call and tell me she was out. She had to walk home in the snow, since not much is opened at 6:15 a.m. She did not have ade- quate clothes to be out in the snow, and it took her 40 minutes to walk home. In the meantime, I was looking for her by driving around Dallas. She called a little after 7 a.m. and told me she was home. This is not right. When released earlier than scheduled time, they should be allowed to call the person who was picking them up. Janice Wiens Dallas WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are limited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edited. Election-related letters of all types are limited to 100 words. Writers are limited to one election-related letter per election sea- son. Election letters from writers outside of Polk County are not accepted. Each writer is restricted to one letter per 30-day period. Letters that are libelous, obscene or in bad taste will not be printed. Attacks by name on businesses or individuals will not be printed. Letters to the editor that are obvious pro- motions for a business, products or services will not be printed. The Itemizer-Observer does not guarantee the accuracy of facts presented by letter writers; dissenters are welcome to respond. Letter writers who disagree with other pub- lished letter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the subject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial material submit- ted to the newspaper, are edited for length, grammar and content. Letters must include the author’s name, address and telephone number. This in- cludes letters submitted via the I-O’s web- site. Names and cities of residence are published; street addresses and telephone numbers are used for verification purposes only. Letters must be submitted from individ- uals, not organizations, and must be original submissions to the I-O, not copies of letters sent to other media. Letters of thanks to businesses, individu- als and organizations are limited to 10 names. The deadline for letters to the editor is 10 a.m. Monday. Letters submitted may not be retractable after this deadline. — Reach us at: Mail: Editor, Polk County Itemizer-Ob- server, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, OR 97338. Fax: 503-623-2395. Email: ionews@polkio.com. Office: 147 SE Court St., Dallas. HOW TO REACH US NEWSROOM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Vol. 142, No. 3 (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 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Polk County — One Year $35 Other Oregon Counties — One Year $40 Outside of Oregon — One Year $45 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 DiSPLAY ADvERTiSiNG Heidi Leppin .................Display Advertising Manager ....................................hleppin@polkio.com Rachel Best ....................Display Advertising.............................................................rbest@polkio.com Karen Sanks...................Client Services ...................................................................ksanks@polkio.com CLASSiFiED LiNE ADvERTiSiNG Dawn Ohren.....................................................................................................................ioads@polkio.com PRODuCTiON Kathy Huggins ..............................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com Karyn Pressel .................................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no financial responsibility for errors in advertise- ments. 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