Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current, July 26, 2017, Image 4

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Polk County itemizer observer., July 26, 2017, Page 4A, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextPolk County Voices Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 26, 2017 4A How to Contact Officials EDITORIALS Dallas needs to weigh options Monday, City Manager Ron Foggin discussed with the Public Safety Committee the various options to improve the facilities for Dallas Fire & EMS and for the Dallas Police Department. One option renovates an existing building — the old De- partment of Human Services building at the corner of Oak and Church streets. Another uses city-owned property and builds new police facilities from the ground up. The cost difference between the two options — as pre- sented by the city’s consultant, Makenzie — is less than $1 million. Now is a good chance to look around Dallas to see the differences in costs and results of our neighbors who have recently built police stations. Independence’s station — while larger than needed today — planned for the future of the department and is large enough to accommodate growth of the city. It’s lay- out and design helped Independence’s department earn accreditation from the Oregon Accreditation Alliance. It was built from scratch when the Independence Civic Cen- ter and city hall was built, designed specifically for use by a police department. Monmouth’s station — while miles better than what they had — was a renovated building. It is no longer in the center of town, and has to compete with traffic on High- way 99W in and out of the station. It does not have all the amenities that it should have for a police department such as covered parking and adequate storage. Those things had to be cut because construction during the renovations unveiled bigger issues than first anticipated, raising costs to nearly match what the estimates were to build it from scratch. Police departments that are designed to be police de- partments from the start are much better at serving the needs of both officers and the public. It would be worth the investment to build something new rather than reno- vate something standing. 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, JulY 26 • Polk County Board of Commissioners — 9 a.m., Polk County Courthouse, ﬁrst ﬂoor conference room, 850 Main St., Dallas. 503-623-8173. ThurSdAY, JulY 27 • Monmouth-Independence networks Board of direc- tors — 7:30 a.m., Henry Hill Education Support Center, 750 S. Fifth St., Independence. 503-837-0700. TuESdAY, AuG. 1 • 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, AuG. 2 • Monmouth historic Commission — 6 p.m., Volunteer Hall, 144 Warren St. S., Monmouth. 503-838-0725. • 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 Coun- ty 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 Destruction of Obamacare not imminent Even if you are a slavish Trump fan you should be able to understand that the destruction of Obamacare isn’t going to happen soon. Primarily because many Republicans think the re- placement is not cruel enough. Hence, in an effort to craft some form of legisla- tion that might pass, in spite of its extreme right wing origin, the Republi- cans in Congress are mov- ing to tax reform. If you understood the GOP health care “reform” effort, you would see that it was actually a massive tax cut for the extra wealthy in America. Well, if they do that to health care, imagine what their tax reform will look like. It will be a huge accelera- tion of the transfer of all wealth in America from the average citizen to the super wealthy. If we consider prior GOP legislative efforts as dump- ster fires, then tax reform will be a fire at the whole landfill. Over 90 percent of aver- age Americans will pay a heavy price to shift wealth over to the super rich. That includes progres- sives, conservatives, the poor, Trump followers, small business owners and the retired. Unless you just fell off the turnip truck, you should be able to see by now that no one in the GOP, not even the ineffective President, gives one single whit for av- erage Americans. If you are in that group and do not wish to see yourself further disadvan- taged financially then you better get ready to do some good. Turn off the TV and figure out who is your representa- tion in Congress and start holding them accountable for the damage they are doing to our lives. Otherwise, you are the big loser here. PLC closing Monmouth store zation based in Monmouth that has served people living with an intellectual or de- velopmental disability for the last 30 years across Ore- gon, is sad to announce the closure of its consignment store in downtown Mon- mouth. PCL’s DownTown Trends and Treasures, 142 Pacific Ave. N., Monmouth, is clos- ing its doors for good on July 29. Due to economic pres- sures caused by state fund- ing and rule changes, PCL is no longer able to operate the store in a manner that matches its mission focus. DownTown Trends and Treasures has served the Polk County community for the last 16 years, providing real-time job training for people, and quality resale clothing and accessories for its consignors and shoppers. Our consignors were no- tified by mail on July 1 of this impending change, but we wanted to make sure the public at large had an op- portunity to visit the store one last time before the cur- tain comes down. The property owner has also sold the building, and we will be selling all of the business’s remaining assets throughout the month of August. If you are interested, or know someone who may be, please contact: Gary Zenzen, Executive Manager, PCL, 503-339-4947, gzen- zen@pclpartnership.org. It has been a tremendous pleasure and honor being part our local business com- munity. Best wishes to all. Partnerships in Commu- nity Inc., a nonprofit organi- Gary Zenzen Monmouth Fred Brown Dallas Women’s Club thanks Burkhalters Pedee Women’s Club wishes to thank Art and Pam Burkhalter, of Mon- mouth, for all the hours they donated to create our quilt raffle booth at Western Days. Without them, we would- n’t have been able to have the booth. Pedee Women’s Club is a nonprofit that sends gift boxes to deployed military each month. Postage alone is over $100 each month. Anyone wishing to do- nate or purchase raffle tick- ets may contact LaVerne Bennett at 12950 Kings Val- ley Highway, Monmouth OR 97361, or phone 503- 835-0751. Thank you Art and Pam Burkhalter. Judy Dixon Dallas 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 WANT TO WRITE A LETTER? Letters to the editor are lim- ited to 300 words. Longer letters will be edited. Election-related letters of all types are limited to 100 words. Writers are limited to one elec- tion-related letter per election season. 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, ob- scene 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 promotions for a busi- ness, 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 re- spond. Letter writers who dis- agree with other published letter writers should maintain a civil discourse and address the subject, not the author. Letters, like all editorial mate- rial submitted to the newspa- per, are edited for length, grammar and content. 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 residence are published; street addresses and telephone num- bers are used for veriﬁcation purposes 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. Let- ters submitted may not be re- tractable after this deadline. — Reach us at: Mail: Editor, Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, Dallas, OR 97338. Fax: 503-623-2395. Email: ionews@polkio.com. Oﬃce: 147 SE Court St., Dallas. Sen. Jeﬀ Merkley (dem.) 313 Hart SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3753 Fax: 202-228-3997 Salem oﬃce: 161 High St. SE, Suite 250, 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 Vol. 142, No. 30 (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 nEWSrOOM Emily Mentzer ..............Editor/Monmouth/Independence Reporter ....ementzer@polkio.com Lukas Eggen..................Sports Editor......................................................................leggen@polkio.com Jolene Guzman............Dallas/Falls City/Polk County Reporter ................jguzman@polkio.com Stephanie Blair.............General Assignment Reporter........................................sblair@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 The Polk County Itemizer-Observer assumes no ﬁnancial responsibility for errors in advertise- Karyn Pressel .................................................................................................................iosales@polkio.com ments. It will, however, reprint without charge for the portion of an advertisement Web: www.polkio.com Phone: 503-623-2373 Fax: 503-623-2395 which is in error if the Itemizer-Observer is at fault. POSTMASTEr: Send address changes to: Polk County Itemizer-Observer, P.O. Box 108, dallas, Oregon 97338