TWO The Heppner Gaiette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, March 20,
1980
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Jerome F. Sheldon, Publisher
Steven A. Powell, News It Sports Editor
Good Citizenship
on Election Day
Voters will make their trek to the polling
places next Tuesday.
For those who do go and cast their
ballots, it will be an act of good citizenship.
American elections traditionally draw a low
turnout, particularly when issues seem cut
and dried and there is no challenging contest
between candidates.
One might amend the foregoing to the
extent that when taxpayers feel a pinch they
tend to vote negatively, whether the turnout
is small or large.
The issues on next week's ballot reflect
the budget requests of the school system and
the City of Heppner, also Blue Mountain
Community College which receives support
from Morrow County. As presented, the
budgets do reflect a studied appraisal of
current needs. A good turnout, whether to say
yea or nay, would indicate support for those
serving on appointive budget committees and
elective boards and councils.
What would be a good turnout?
Hopefully, better than 40 percent of the
registered voters.
The National Bottle Bill
( Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon, ranking Republican
on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, chaired a hearing
in Portland recently on a national bill to require deposits on
beverage containers. "Oregon was the first state to enact a
beverage container deposit law back in 1972." Senator.
Packwood said. "We can learn much about the benefits and
the problems of instituting a national bill from the Oregon
experience." The following is a summary of the national
bill.)
The National Beverage Container Deposit Bill (National
Bottle Bill) was introduced by Senator Mark Hatfield
(R-Ore.) in January, 1977, during the 95th Congress and
again in January. 1979, during the 96th Congress as one way
to deal with the enormous number of beverage containers.
The bill had three days of hearings January 25-27, 1978, but
received no further action until this time. The intent of the
Portland hearing, and hearings yet to be scheduled in
Washington, D.C., is to bring members of the Senate
Commerce Committee the most up-to-date information of the
legislation, including a report on the successful state bottle
bill in Oregon.
Oregon, Main, Vermont, Michigan, Iowa and Connecti
cut now have some type of bottle bill, Oregon becoming the
first in 1972. followed by Vermont in 1973. Delaware also
passed a bottle bill but delayed implementation until
neighboring Pennsylvania and Maryland passed similar
laws. The motivating factor behind the existing state bottle
bill was a desire to reduce litter, solid waste, energy
consumption, resource use and, ultimately, cost to
consumers.
According to figures released by the Oregon State
Highway Division, beverage container litter was reduced 73
percent the first year after enactment of the bottle bill and 83
percent the second year. In addition, overall litter was
reduced by 39 percent by piece count and 47 percent by
volume within two years.
Figures supplied by the State of Vermont indicate a 76
percent decrease in container litter after the first year and a
35 percent decrease in total litter. A return rate of 85 percent
the first year rose to 85 percent the second year.
Other states have taken different approaches to the
beverage container problems. Some states without a
comprehensive bottle bill (California, Minnesota, Virginia
and Hawaii) prohibit sale of pull-tab cans. The industry
responded to this ban by modifying the pull-tab to remain
attached to the can instead of pulling off. Another approach
to coping with beverage containers is a litter tax, such as the
one enacted in Washington State.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a
national bottle bill would have the advantage of allow
ing the industry to react to the law nationally instead of
state-by-state by standardizing bottle design and centralizing
bottle collection and cleansing operations. Other effects
would be:
reduction in roadside litter by 60 to 70 percent and by 20
to 40 percent total volume;
reduction in annual municipal solid waste by 7 million
tons (at least 5 percent of the total);
reduction in total U.S. energy consumption of over 245
trillion BTU's annually (it takes at least 6 million gallons of
gasoline everyday, more than two trillion gallons annually,
to produce the approximately 56 billion beverage containers
of all types produced in the U.S. every year);
consumer savings of about 2.5 cents per 10-ounce
beverage container;
net increase in employment of 80,000 jobs.
Beppner
SaleHl
Scene
Persons concerned about
declining voter activity and
rising interest in popular
legislation via the initiative
petition route might do well to
examine an apparent steady
metamorphosis of the Oregon
Legislature.
That conclusion arises fol
lowing the March 11 candidate
filing deadline at the State
house in Salem by which time
an unofficial total of only 211
individuals had expressed in
tentions to seek the 15 Senate
and 60 House of Representa
tive seats to be filled next
November.
In the recent past the
number of candidates seeking
all state offices has varied
almost imperceptively rang
ing from 378 in 1974 to 376 this
year. But the number of
candidates seeking nomina
tion for the Legislature in the
May primary election has
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
6We do not unanimously
approve city budget9
Editor:
For the third time in four
years the voters of Heppner
are asked to approve a city
budget outside the 6 percent
limitation. The proposed bud
get totals $551,030, which is
$84,964 over the current year's
budget of $465,908 (an 18.2
percent increase).
What does this mean to you?
If your house is valued at
$40,000, you paid $335 in city
taxes this year (you paid an
additional $525 in taxes for
county services. BMCC, etc.).
Next year you will pay an
estimated $445 in city taxes if
the "A" ballot is approved
($46,748) and an estimated
$591 if both the "A" and "B"
ballots are approved ($46,748
plus $76,094 equals $11,842).
Water and sewer rates will
also be increased substan
tially to finance the budget.
Further increases in taxes and
water rates will result if the
water improvement bond is-
'A comparison shows
that we are underpaid9
Editor:
Mrs. Schubothe's assump
tion in "Letters to the Editor"
(March 13. 1980 issue) con
cerning our workloads clearly
reveals that she has not taken
into account how many deputy
clerks, assessors, etc. that
larger counties employ, mak
ing our workloads similar or
even heavier if evaluated by
an employee-resident per ca
pita ratio.
Using her method of evalua
tion. I suspect her husband's
classrooms are not as full as
those in Hermiston or Port
land, so many Morrow County
teachers should be due for a
salary cut. The reason we are ,
asking for the big increases is
that for the past several years,
our salaries have not kept up
with inflation. All we are
asking for is a living wage that
compares with what the
school district employees get.
It might be a real eye-opener
for Morrow County residents
to compare school and county
salaries. I'm not saying that
'Jacksonville School
planning 125th birthday9
Editor:
Please run the enclosed in
your "Letters to the Editor"
column.
Jacksonville
School's Birthday
Did you ever attend Jack
sonville School between the
years of 1854-1959? If you did.
you might be interested to
know that Jacksonville Ele
mentary School in Jackson
ville. Oregon is having its
125th Birthday Celebration
April 7-11.
Lots of activities are being
planned including historical
displays of photos, yearbooks,
trophies, etc.; a potluck for
meeting new and renewing old
Steady turnover marks the Legislature
by jack Zimmerman
dropped steadily during the
same period from 247 in 1974
to 229 and 228 in 1976 and '78
and to the 211 mark this year.
Further evidence of declin
ing interest in legislative
service is the fact that of 62
incumbents seeking re-election,
46 face no opposition in
the May primary election and
II incumbent lawmakers 10
from the House have simply
declined to seek re-election.
The greatest number of
incumbents in the drop-out
column are Republicans and
that party managed to field
only 82 of the 211 total seeking
nomination. This arithmetic,
plus the fact the most hotly
contested nominations will be
among Democrat candidates
filing for those vacated GOP
seats, almost precludes any
appreciable change in Demo
cratic superiority in both
houses.
'sue is approved in the May
election.
This letter is written to tell
the voters of Heppner that
while we as city councilmen
voted to submit the budget for
a special election, we do not
unanimously approve of it.
The budget committee did a
good job of paring the various
departments' budget requests
to a level that would not
reduce city services. We feel
that substantial cuts can still
be made. These cuts could
result in a slight reduction of
city services but such services
would remain at a very
acceptable level.
Shall we go along with
inflation or shall we "tighten
our belts" at the city level as
we must all do at home?
Joe Miller
Warren Plocharsky
(The writers of the above
letter are both members of the
Heppner City Council.)
teachers are overpaid; I'm
only stressing that a compari
son would show we are
underpaid.
Our Health Department
gave free direct services to
2.500 people last year with
only l's employees. If these
services had been purchased
personally, it would have cost
them $60,000. I have the
figures to back this statement
up as I am forced to keep
meticulous records to qualify
for the $14,000 in grant monies
we receive each year from the
State.
The ever increasing taxes of
one form or another, plus the
exceedingly cruel tax of infla
tion, have certainly hurt us
all. But striking out at the
local level will hurt no one but
ourselves.
Yours truly,
Pat Wright
R.N. . County Health Nurse
Lexington
friends; scheduled tours of the
old building: a historical
program involving children,
past principals and teachers
and video tape and slides of
alumni.
We need your help in
gathering information and
pictures about our school's
history. We hope you can
attend. Please call or write so
that we may send you a
schedule of activities.
Sincerely,
Janie Brown, Teacher
Jacksonville School
P.O. Box 9
Jacksonville. Or 97530
(503) 899-1361
Senate Democrats have held
a numerical advantage over
Republicans since 1964 and
House Demos have enjoyed
majority control since 1972.
Only seven OOPs currently
serve in the 30-members
upper chamber and 26 from
that party now occupy seats in
the 60-member House.
And although much can
happen to sway voters be
tween now and November,
many Salem-watchers believe
Democrats will enhance their
majority margins in both
chambers before lawmakers
convene in regular session
again next January.
Another indication service
in the Oregon Legislature is
losing its luster is the general
attrition rate at the State
house. Turnover in the House
of Representatives averages
more than 25 percent every
two years. Senators, who are
elected every four years,
naturally serve longer. But
Senate turnover is also signifi
cant. Eighteen newcomers were
elected to the House two years
ago and there were six new
faces in the Senate.
Another measurement of
the tenuous tenure of lawmak
ing in this state is the relative
absence of veterans willing to
establish long-time careers in
Salem. Typically in the last
decade at least half of the
House members were fresh
men or sophomores and last
session only 20 percent of the
90-member body had served 10
years or longer. And if you go
back 20 years, only one
current member of the Senate,
Gresham Democrat Vern
Cook, qualifies as a two
decade lawmaker. Longest
House tenure belongs to House
GOP Minority Leader, Paul
Hanneman of Cloverdale. who
was first elected in 1964.
It has been suggested the
greatest twin deterrents to
legislative service are time
and money. And those factors
arise at two stages of every
lawmaker's term. The first is
when a candidate considers
both primary and general
election contests.
Considerable money gene
rally $10,000 or more must be
secured to mount meaningful
campaigns. And even if a
hopeful is successful in raising
this type of money, success no
longer hinges mainly on
placing the most effective or
greatest number of advertise
Sifting through
193(1
Fifty years ago the Lions
Club celebrated its charter
day with a celebration at the
Episcopal Church. The church
was decorated as a jungle den
for the occasion. A large
gathering of 112 attended.
The Christian Endeavor
Society of the Heppner Church
of Christ staged the three-act
comedy play "Apple Blossom
Time." Bob Mathews played
the unwilling visitor at the
crossroads. Cal Pickens the
village constable, Nancy Pres
cott a pretty neighbor, and
Malvina Kurtz played a girl
whose ambition was to have a
beau.
Young men the age of 17 to
31 were enrolling in army
camps. Four Heppner boys:
Harlan J. Devin, Maurice
Edmundson, Clarence W.
Hayes and Earl W. Thomson,
were chosen by a committee
of Morrow County persons to
attend a camp. There was no
obligation to join the army
after attending the camp.
Morrow County schools
were having a spelling contest
with a silver cup going to the
school with the best speller.
The Hynd brothers of Cecil
had a sheep that gave birth to
an eight-legged lamb but it
died. Several years before, the
same brothers owned a six
-legged lamb that lived for a
few years. The lamb was two
lambs joined together at the
breast except that it only had
one head. They sent it to a
Portland taxidermist for
mounting.
ments in news media, on
billboards and lawn signs. A
candidate's time is all impor
tanttime spent knocking on
doors, attending neighborhood
coffees and distributing litera
ture. There's a certain amount
of red tape each candidate
must comply with and that
means taking time to create a
support organization. Today's
successful candidate doesn't
achieve office by beaming on
passersby from posters. The
successful candidate takes the
time to guarantee personal
exposure to the greatest
number of constituents.
Once success is achieved,
time and money once more
bedevil each member of the
Oregon legislature. The com
mitment to service from a
time standpoint requires at
least fulltime devotion to the
job in Salem for a minimum of
six months every two years,
For more and more indivi
duals that simple requirement
is too great to bear. And when
one considers the increasing
amount of time required by
expanding duties between ses
sions, the burden is overpow
ering to many more.
And time is money. Despite
the fact Oregon lawmakers
have seen significant in
creases in salaries, fringes,
staff assistance and Capitol
Building office space, service
for the traditional lawmaking
farmer, lawyer, self-employed
business person and
many wage-earners and sal
aried executives is performed
only at considerable financial
sacrifice.
(iiven all thene considera
tions the complexion of the
Oregon Legislature continues
to change. It is peopled more
and more by persons unham
pered by time and money
constraints and individuals
willing to scale their living
standards to those provided by
legislative pay.
The type of legislation
enacted reflects the concerns
of those in office. As the
legislative metamorphosis
continues, so does the body of
law it produces. Pragmatic
concern with economic reality
appears outweighed by imple
mentation of social and emo
tional concerns.
And one needs only to scan
the list of major issues
confronting lawmakers in Sa
lem each recent biennium to
test the veracity of this
contention.
the TIMESjfe
I 55
Twenty-five years ago the
Heppner Civic League an
nounced it was having an
election so voters could decide
if they wanted the kindergar
ten joined with the school
system.
Heppner Pine Mills was
going to be closed for 30 days
because major remodeling
worth more than $250,000 was
going to take place.
The county court surveyed
all the roads and decided that
it was too dry to do any work
on them. To put a grader on
roads that are too dry would
tear them up worse, the court
said.
A rash of burglaries hit lone
in the prior four weeks and the
county sheriff and police said
clues have been found and that
they should arrest someone
soon.
Ione's Library celebrated
"Know Your Library Week"
with an open house and tea
celebration. The library was
organized by 24 women in the
Women's Topic Club. More
than 3,000 books were avail
able. l75
Five years ago State Repre
sentative Jack Sumner spoke
at the Chamber of Commerce
meeting.
Grand Ole Opry star Pat
Robert was scheduled to put
on a show at Heppner High
School. The Lions Club spon
sored the show.
The Morrow County school
levy passed by a slim margin
of 57 votes county wide.
Census takers needed
Full-time, temporary jobs
as census takers in this area
hit still available, David
Kiisnuissen, malinger of the
WHO census office at Bend,
said recently.
"We're counting on you if
you can work a 40-hour week
visiting households and inter
viewing the residents," the
manager said, adding that
some evening and Saturday
work will be required.
Census takers will begin
work soon as part of the 1890
Census of Population and
Housing. They will attend a
training session for which they
will be paid, Most census
takers will be paid a piece rate
for the number of household
interviews completed, In a
234 N.Main
The
Bapco
Foamers Carpet,
Ceramic
Cabinets,
CASE FURNITURE
Carpet, Linoleum, Counter Tops Installed
Beauty Rett mattrewev Fabrics and Accessories,
Sherwin Williams Pint
-IM - i -- ' -- - "
n
TURNER
VI VAN MARTtK
s i ii Brian i
ie?NuTM mm limit mftK
Home Remodeling
Sfmaalamg Jh Aluminum Sdrtg and rmpat of old mV'
Storm Windnwi tad Dcun Prime Wmdowi Small RrmudrLuig Juia
Ktn Hfwld 676-5051
I) MEDICAL CENTER PHARMACY
8
Hon frv M pm Wr pm. Lomd m tW Mdl Cantor
1 100 Sowhpne Pendleton 276-1531
SWEENEY MORTUARY
Cemetery, Grave Markers 676-9600
Granite, Marble, Bronze or 676-922$
Serving (one, Lexington & Heppner p.o. Box 97
JAYNES
BUSINESS
MAOMXES
Chevron
few instances, pay will be by
the hour. For all workers, pay
will average $4 an hour or
more,
Census lakers must be able
to follow printed instructions,
do simple arithmetic, and
read maps for which they will
be tested before hiring. They
should be able to walk a
considerable amount, climb
stairs, and ought to have good
eyesight and hearing. They
should have a home telephone
and many will need a car, for
which mileage will be paid
when it is used in census work.
Contact : David S. Rasmus
sen, Census District Manager,
at 745 N W. Bond Street in
Bend. OR 97701 or call
1-3119-0170.
il 'i i mill
Heppner Auto Ports
Heppner 676-9123
M&R FLOOR COVERING
Linoleum, 422 I .ode" Way
Tile, Kitchen 6f48
Rapco Inflation HWn"
rr si i
J isnuanc n&tax
-m -at.
moot rut
,1,11 ,I,.III,1M
Service calls every Wednesday
in Heppner, lone and Ixington
3)2 S. Main S Pcndlnoa Tclephon 27(r64l
Sll N. Fow, HcraiMaa TdrtcwM 567-2731
GLENN DEVIN
Chevron USA, Inc.
Commission Agent
676-9633
4 iJ