Polk County
Voices
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 15, 2017 4A
EDITORIALS
Realistic goals will
set up for success
An economic development director can make a big im-
pact for a community and the city by bringing new busi-
ness to town — and new jobs.
But it requires endless networking and relationship
building. It also requires a supportive council and city staff
from the city manager, building inspector, and planning
department right down to public works.
The results won’t happen overnight — unless the city
finds a graduate from Hogwarts. It may be difficult to
quantify results, too, depending on how those are meas-
ured and defined.
The city of Dallas is on the cusp of hiring an economic
development director, a position it has not had on a per-
manent basis for many years. We hope the new person
does not start with such high expectations from the coun-
cil, business community, city staff and citizens at large so
that he or she is set up from the start to fail.
Expectations must be realistic — lofty goals, realistic ex-
pectations. And the city of Dallas — that’s you, coun-
cilors — has to be ready to put money where its mouth is.
You cannot expect an economic development director
to move mountains if you intend to question the move-
ment of each grain of sand. A lot of what an economic de-
velopment director needs to do will depend on the council
and city staff and what their goals are.
But to truly be successful, he or she will need to be able
to go to conferences (which costs money) and make con-
nections for future possibilities.
He or she may need to spend time writing grants or pro-
posals (which costs money) to benefit programs or busi-
nesses.
He or she will need to be free to walk downtown and talk
with Dallas business owners about what’s working and
what’s not working, and then go to city hall and pester peo-
ple to help get it done for those businesses.
We’ve heard it said that this position will not solely be to
put out fires between city hall and businesses, but a large
part of a successful economic development director is
building community, being that face that people turn to to
help get things done and make things happen. The eco-
nomic development director can be that link between the
chamber, the city, the downtown association, businesses,
and Dallas residents.
It is difficult to build any economic development with-
out a solid community foundation. It will be impossible
without council and staff support.
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, MARCH 15
• Monmouth Planning Commission — 7 p.m., Volunteer
Hall, 144 Warren St. S., 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, MARCH 16
• Monmouth Arts and Culture Commission — 7 p.m., Vol-
unteer Hall, 144 Warren St. S., 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, MARCH 20
• Independence Tourism and Events Commission — 6:30
p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence.
503-838-1212.
• Dallas City Council — 7 p.m., Dallas City Hall, 187 SE Court
St., Dallas. 503-831-3502.
TUESDAY, MARCH 21
• Independence Historic Preservation Commission — 4
p.m., Independence Civic Center, 555 S. Main St., Independence.
503-838-1212.
• Monmouth City Council — 7 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 War-
ren St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725.
• Polk County Board of Commission work session — 9
a.m., Polk County Courthouse, BOC office, 850 Main St., Dallas.
503-623-8173.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22
• Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk
County Courthouse, first floor conference room, 850 Main St.,
Dallas. 503-623-8173.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Did ODOT ‘criteria’
change recently?
Did the ODOT recom-
mendation for a round-
about change because their
criteria changed? The Ox-
ford Dictionary definition of
“criteria” is “a principle or
standard by which some-
thing can be decided.”
The changed recommen-
dation from ODOT for a
roundabout on Highway
99W serves only to question
ODOT’s reputation for hav-
ing any standards at all, and
it calls to question any Polk
County commissioner who
would support this idea.
Nannette Willis
Monmouth
I-O story inspired
great food drive
Back in December 2016,
the I-O wrote an article
about the students going
hungry at WOU. I want to
thank you for that article
because like many people, I
didn’t know that this is hap-
pening to our students that
don’t have resources from
home. As with many things
we tend to put things aside,
but God did not allow me to
forget about what I had
read.
Our church, Centro De
Milagros from Independ-
ence, decided to sponsor a
food drive to help the WOU
students and their food
pantry. We reached out to
other church organizations
and the community. On
March 3 and 4, we made
our final push, and we are
extremely grateful for the
cooperation we received
from the citizens of Inde-
pendence and Monmouth
that contributed for this ef-
fort. We also want to thank
Roth’s and their manager,
for allowing us to grace their
entry ways and ask for do-
nations. We know that God
will richly reward each one
of you for your open and
giving hearts. The Bible says
in Matthew 25:35 and 40:
“For I was hungry and you
gave me something to eat, I
was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink,” “The
King will reply, ‘Truly I tell
you, whatever you did for
one of the least of these
brothers and sisters of mine,
you did for me.’”
I want to let the commu-
nity know that our delivery
was made to the WOU
pantry, and they were so ap-
preciative and grateful for
all your donations, it was
heartwarming. I encourage
all of you to take a moment
and a few dollars and give
to these students so there
will always be food in their
pantry. They are working on
their future; let’s give them a
hand if we can.
Margie Montoya
Dallas
‘Bocon!’ proves
inspirational
I would like to take this
opportunity to congratulate
the cast and director of the
show, “Bocón!” at Central
High School. It was such an
inspirational show with a
powerful message of hope,
determination, survival, and
faith. The cast did a won-
derful job telling the story of
Miguel, who like many peo-
ple today are only looking to
have a better life. This story
WRITE US A LETTER
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tells the sad truth and hard-
ship that a lot of people
have to face when they are
not allowed to live in peace
and happiness with their
families. When these fami-
lies are persecuted, threat-
ened, forced to be separat-
ed, or wrongfully judged be-
cause of the color of their
skin and/or religious beliefs,
we all lose.
Unfortunately, in the
world we live in today this is
a true reality, and there are
so many more stories like
Miguel’s that have not been
told yet. People like Miguel
who need to have their
voice heard, people who
just want the opportunity to
live in peace and away from
violence and poverty, peo-
ple who just want to be able
to provide a safe haven for
their families, and young
people who want the oppor-
tunity to be successful.
Again, congratulations to
Central High School for a
wonderful performance and
Thank you to Mr. Witt for
giving the Hispanic youth at
CHS a chance to shine and
tell their story. Thank you
for helping to educate oth-
ers and spread the message
of unity, equality and peace
to our communities.
Muchas gracias.
Sara Rincon
Independence
Brown should set
better example
Your editorial on March 8
about Gov. Brown was spot
on.
There may be some hope
for the paper yet. I noticed
she attends many rallies
and demonstrations but
hardly ever addresses all the
violence associated with
them. Maybe if she and
other politicians had to pay
for the damage, they might
pay a little more lip service
to the violent components.
John Engelien
Dallas
Roundabout would
be wasteful
Clow Corner roundabout?
Incredibly wasteful.
Wasteful of land — we’ve
already got turn lanes in
place. No need to pave even
more of our earth. Wasteful
of time and money — we’ve
already got the electric con-
nections, most of the lights
and the support in place.
Pressure plates or induc-
tion pads could be easily —
and cheaply — installed to
facilitate on-demand
changes, with some repro-
gramming of the electronics
involved.
We’ve got stoplights in
Rickreall, stoplights at Hoff-
man and in Monmouth.
Drivers will have a lot less
trouble adjusting to another
stoplight on this stretch
than they would to the
roundabout — another
safety factor.
Hoffman has proven its
worth. Let Clow Corner do
the same.
Spend the extra millions
somewhere really needed
and less wasteful.
F. Donald Parsons
Salem
Speed limits prove
hard to enforce
Traffic in downtown In-
dependence is out of con-
trol.
In February, the Inde-
pendence League of Mer-
chants, in cooperation with
the majority of downtown
businesses; informed the
Citizens Traffic and Safety
Committee of the need for
immediate attention relat-
ing to drivers blatantly ig-
noring pedestrians, posted
speed limits and stop signs
on Main Street.
The speed limit is 20
mph. Drivers must stop for
pedestrians in crosswalks.
Stop signs mean stop.
That appears to only be
an illusion with traffic rac-
ing, even passing slower
vehicles on the main drag.
Drivers are focused on
their personal communi-
cation devices rather than
pedestrians attempting to
use a marked crosswalk.
On average, only one in
five vehicles comes to a
complete stop in front of
the YMCA.
One in 10 accidents wait-
ing to happen; blows
through the same intersec-
tion in excess of 30 mph.
A Traffic and Safety Com-
mittee representative indi-
cated there was little the
local authorities would do
primarily because the
streets in question are a
state highway.
The state gets its part of
each citation before the city
does.
Hardly worth the price of
enforcement.
Suggested responses to
the problem included park-
ing an unused patrol car
with a large teddy bear be-
hind the wheel on main.
The best and most cost-ef-
fective idea to come from
the committee was installa-
tion of speed bumps at each
intersection.
Petitions are being circu-
lated to convince the state
to do just that.
Ron Smith
Independence
Crosswalk needed
near DRV building
My mother moved into
the Dallas Retirement Vil-
lage in January. Before
moving to Oregon in De-
cember, she lived in Cali-
fornia.
She walked two to three
miles, several days a week.
Soon, the weather will be
sunny and nice here in Dal-
las, for getting out and
walking.
Something (or the lack of
something) that caught my
attention right away was
that there was no crosswalk
on Jasper to get to the east
side of the street and then
over to the Rite Aid/Safeway
shopping center. Right now,
a resident would have to
walk clear to the stop sign at
Ellendale.
A perfect spot for a
crosswalk would be at the
entrance to the Health
Center/Assisted Living
building, because you can
see traffic coming from
both directions (and the
cars coming from both di-
rections would be able to
see the people in plenty of
time to stop).
Quite a few times while
going to visit my mom, I
have seen elderly people “j-
walking” across Jasper. I
think it’s great that elderly
people are out walking, and
I think they deserve a cross-
walk.
Karen Neagle
Dallas
HOW TO REACH US
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Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com
Vol. 142, No. 11
(USPS) - 437-380)
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which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault.