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
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—
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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.
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Vol. 142, No. 3
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