FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, April 15, 1992
Pool issue clarified
The Official Newspaper of the
City of Heppner and the
County of Morrow
J l U j l ll f t
owpA
The Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper
U S P S 240-420
Published ever> Wednesday and entered as second-class matter at the Post Office
at Heppner. Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879. Second class postage paid
at Heppner. Oregon. Office at 147 West Willow Street. Telephone (503) 676-9228.
\ddress communications to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O. Box 337, Hepp
ner, Oregon 97836. Subscriptions: $15 in Morrow, Wheeler, Gilliam and Grant
Counties; $23 elsewhere.
Joyce Hughes ............................................................Office Manager. Typesetting
\pril Svkes ........................................................................................... N«ws E<u,or
Mary Van B ibber................................................................. Graphics Department
Monique P a r r e l.................................................................................... Distribution
Penni keersem ak er....................................................................................... Printer
David and April Sykes, Publishers
Letters to the Editor
Get behind Fosters
To the Editor:
I would like to know why the
police officers and city council
are harassing the Fosters (the
people running the bowling
alley). I for one feel it should be
stopped.
Having that motorhome park
ed back there is not hurting
anyone and it certainly looks a
whole lot better than the way it
was before.
The city o f Heppner is not so
big that it can’t give a little on its
ordinances.
The Fosters are working hard
to make a go o f the bowling lanes
and have done so much for the
kids and the rest o f us bowlers.
I would like to talk to the ones
who objected to them parking the
motorhome there.
Come on all you bowlers and
people who feel like I do. Let’s
get behind the Fosters and give
them our support.
(s) Maude Hughes
Parents enable children to use alcohol
or drugs
To the Editor:
In the January-February 1991
issue o f The Chemical People
Newsletter there appeared an ar
ticle “ How Parents Enable Their
Children to Use Alcohol/Drugs.”
A llow me to share the
substance o f the article with you.
1. D enyin g. ‘H e’s not an
alcoholic or chemically depen
dent.’ As a result expecting the
chemically dependent to be ra
tional; or expecting the alcoholic
to control his or her drinking; or
accepting blame. 2. Drinking or
using with a chemically depen
dent person. 3. Allowing your
young adult to use at home. At
least he’s safe. 4. Keeping your
feelings inside. 5. Avoiding pro
blems. Keeping peace, believing
lack o f conflict makes things bet
ter. 6. Minimizing. It’s not so
bad. Things will get better
when... 7. Protecting the image
ofthe alcoholic or chemically
dependent person. Protecting this
person from pain, m yself from
pain; emotional distancing from
the chemically dependent person.
8. Avoiding the situation by tran-
quilizing with alcohol, pills, food
or work. 9. Blaming, critizing,
lecturing. 10. Taking over the
young person’s responsibilities.
11. Controlling. If I keep him
away from his friends he’ll stop.
12. Enduring. She will grow out
o f it. It’s only a stage. 13.
Waiting. He will stop when he
gets older. 14. Maintaining a high
tolerance for inappropriate
behavior. 15. Standing between
your young adult and his or her
crisis. Bailing him or her out o f
trouble with the school, court
system or police.
We hope as friends, relatives
and interested adults that you take
the above suggestions to heart and
do your best to work with the
youth o f our county and see that
they do not turn to alcohol and
drugs for support and friendship.
Sincerely,
(s) Rev Stan Hoobing
Tsongas for President
To the Editor:
For those interested in the can
didacy o f Paul Tsongas for Presi-
C O N C R ETE & ROCK SALES
THE NEW O W N E R S OF
announce the opening
of two locations
MILTON-FREEWATER
H ighw ay 11.936*5581
and
BOARDMAN
O ld C o lum bia H ighw ay • 481-9246
BOB C ALLO W
Ganaral Manager
C O N C R E T E St R O C K S A L E S
dent, they should be aware that
his candidacy is still viable. As
soon as the suspension o f his can
didacy was announced, due to a
lack o f available funds, a citizen's
committee was formed and is go
ing forward to elect Paul Tsongas
for President. The T ’citizens for
Tsongas Committee may be con
tacted
by
ca llin g
1 -800-881 -TEAM or by writing
to the T’citizens for Tsongas
Committee, 17 Shattuck Street,
Lowell, MA 01852.
Paul Tsongas’ name remains
on the Oregon ballot for the May
primary, as well as other states
awaiting their primary elections,
(s) Bruce C. Campbell
503 276-0879
Box 1373
Pendleton, OR 97801
To the Editor:
Judging from the feedback I
received, the article, “ Pool not
worth fixing’, says Marks"
(April 1), has created confusion
as to the future o f swimming pool
facilities in the community. Given
the great importance o f having a
pool, and the tremendous benefit
it brings to the quality o f life in
Heppner, I want to be sure the
public understands this issue.
Last summer the city ex
perienced great difficulty dealing
with a recurring water quality
problem at the pool, forcing it to
close 29 percent o f its scheduled
time. These closures happened
despite the facts that new filter
cartridges had been installed and
the best chemical research lab in
eastern Oregon could not suc
cessfully identify the problem.
These difficulties prompted the
city to hire a Portland-based pool
engineer to examine our pool.
The engineer advised that the
filter and all piping be replaced.
However, due to past flooding
and the resulting silting-in o f the
pipe gallery combined with exten
sive cracking and settling o f the
pool’s concrete decking, reaching
and replacing the piping would
require the complete removal o f
most o f the deck-an expense that
(when added to other necessary
repairs) makes refurbishing o f the
pool impractical.
The engineer also discovered a
safety hazard with the pool’s
drain. According to the engineer,
“ there could possibly be a hold
down force on the main drain o f
approximately 200 pounds." In
ad d ition , city m aintenance
workers have discovered that the
earth beneath the pool’s founda
tion has been washed away and
despite attempts to secure the
situation with cinder blocks, is in
possible danger o f collapsing.
Several other problems also exist
with the pool. A video is available
from city hall illustrating the condi
tion of the pool.
In addition to structural problems,
the city has also encountered finan
cial difficulties with the pool. Fun
ding for the swimming pool comes
prim arily from two sources—
tickets/season passes and property
tax money. Due to the increasing
closures of the pool, ticket sales
were down considerably last year re
quiring substantial increases in tax
subsidies for a total of nearly
$17,000. These difficulties are made
worse by the fact that the city’s
general property tax revenues have
been cut by about 40 percent under
Ballot Measure 5. This cut equates
to a $99,000 loss for the coming
year. A reduction of that size is the
reason the budget committee recent
ly approved a new budget that
eliminates funding not only for the
pool, but also the library, one police
officer position, and all equipment
outlays for both police and fire.
Confronted with these daunting
problems, the city council appointed
a citizen’s committee to develop a
course of action for the pool. After
numerous meetings, the collection of
a considerable amount of data, and
weighing several possible alter
natives, the committee advised the
council to make a formal request of
the Willow Creek Park District to
undertake a pool construction pro
ject. The park board was presented
with this request. As a result, the
board authorized the formation of an
exploratory citizens commission to
develop a plan for a pool project that
would be designed as a regional
facility serving the greater Heppner-
Lexington-lone community.
The city asked the park district to
undertake a pool project primarily
because the city does not have the
bonded debt authority required to
finance such a project. Some have
questioned how the city can finance
a fire and police equipment bond and
not a pool bond. The answer is sim
ple: the equipment bond is con
siderably less expensive and is
within the city’s bonded debt limit.
By asking the park district to under
take a pool project, both the pool and
equipment needs can be addressed
for the community.
Sincerely,
(s) Gary B. Marks
City administrator
Vote ‘yes’ for library district
To the Editor:
I am writing in support o f the
Oregon Trail Library District
proposed for the cities o f Board-
man and Heppner. These com
munities stand to lose their
libraries unless the voters agree
to establish the library district and
a tax base to support it.
My brothers and sister and I
began using the Heppner Library
as soon as we could read, and
visited almost every weekend un
til we graduated from high school
and moved out o f town. My
parents still use the library every
week. Many people in this town
enjoy reading and the Heppner
library does a good job o f pro
viding the newest books on a
wide variety o f topics with the
limited budget it now has. If the
library in Heppner were closed,
the ability o f many townspeople
to find new reading material
would be severely restricted.
In addition, the school libraries
have very little to offer students
in the way o f enjoyable reading
materials. If we are to teach
children to enjoy reading for
reading's sake, we need a good
source o f materials for them to
choose from. Closing the city
libraries will only limit students'
choices o f interesting and fun
reading.
The Oregon Trail Library
District, if established, would
provide stable funding and more
services to more people (in
cluding children), at a lower cost
per household than residents now
pay. Please vote yes on May 19
to keep the libraries open and ser
ving your communities.
Signed,
(s) Renee M. Kenison
815 Cozine Lane #7
McMinnville, OR 97128
On A Basis Of
Need
Health care issues have been good
for a lot of printers ink in Morrow
County this past year. Since the
organization of the Morrow County
Health Care Council, medical service
has been on everyone’s mind.
Remember? It was the health care
council that convened the meeting in
Boardman that voted to close the
hospital in Heppner and then the very
next week the meeting in Heppner
voted to keep it open just the way it is.
The council is composed of a dozen
or so members from a wide variety of
age groups, occupational groups and
geographic locations. Each member
has, in turn, organized a focus group of folks who advise them on the
several issues the council has and is continuing to address. Morrow County
has hired Pam Sagely as the council’s encourager and Mountain States
Health Group from Boise provides technical and organizational guidance.
Altogether the health council reflects the intense work of a hundred or
more Morrow County folks.
The idea is to collect the immediate impressions, goals, and attitudes
of Morrow County folks, then study and examine them closely to develop
a series of recommendations to the Morrow County Medical Board. The
board created and appointed by the county court, has general authority
over those medical facilities financed in whole or part by county tax money.
The Health Council is not a perpetual body, but rather is nearing the
end of its 14 month life span.
The first of several recommendations formally adopted and passed on
to the medical board, if adopted (and if accepted by most of the people)
will go a long way toward settling much of the controversy surrounding
medical services in Morrow County. That recommendation was that
medical services be provided throughout the county based on need. If that
recommendation becomes medical board policy, the ramifications are
immense.
Long before there was a medical board, there were political pressures,
which continue today, to distribute medical services (at least the portion
financed by tax money) on the basis of population or in some instances
on the basis of place of origin of tax revenues. Those pressures are what
has lead to the controversy over Pioneer Hospital and other issues involv
ing medical care.
If we all accept the premise that need is the proper basis for allocation,
all the talk about population and location of the big taxpayer will be ir
relevant. That is a courageous position for the council to recommend and
will be a courageous policy for the medical board to adopt. It will also
go a long way toward resolving the issue of Pioneer Hospital.
The controversy over the hospital revolves more around a geographic
allocation of tax money than it involves an appraisal of need. Once we
adopt a policy of need, the hospital issues will very nearly disappear. But
not content to hope that will happen, the council is now in the process
of formulating a recommendation on the hospital issue itself.
Even before the council’s recommendation is done, others in the system
are talking about hospital alternatives. There are other reasons for look
ing at alternatives than the Boardman meeting's goal of closing the facili
ty. Physician retention in Heppner is perhaps the most important of those
other reasons.
The health care council has precipitated discussion and has reached deci
sion on a number of medical care issues that will go a long way toward
resolving much of the controvery in Morrow County that has brewed for
many years. It could not have done so without a dedicated encourager,
hard working members and their focus groups and most importantly, the
courage to face some hard issues head on.
__ I for one applaud their w o rk _____________________________________
Disheartened, but not down
To the Editor:
L etter to the H eppner
community.
We wish to express our thanks
to all o f you who signed the peti
tion ordinance #493-92 against
Transient Room Tax.
Jeff Wallace for district judge
To the Editor:
I am writing to urge everyone to
vote for Jeff Wallace for Umatilla-
Morrow County District Court
Judge. As many people are aware,
Jeff has been the Morrow County
DA for the past five years. He has
handled all types of criminal cases,
from child abuse and drunk driving
to homicide cases.
Jeff has also been in private law
practice for four years and is familiar
with civil legal matters such as
divorce, real estate and business law.
A district court Judge handles a
wide variety of legal matters. He
also needs to have ‘ ‘judicial tempera
ment’ ’. I believe that Jeff is the type
of person who has common sense
and good judgment-qualities which
we need in a judge.
Jeff will apply the law as it is writ
ten and not try to make new laws.
I urge you to vote for Jeff because
he is fair, honest and calm in his ap
proach to the law. He will make an
excellent district court judge.
Sincerely,
(s) Norma French
Heppner
We are saddened that your
voice, the voice o f the people,
wasn’t heard by the city council,
the council who is elected by the
people, for the people, but yet the
wishes o f the people fell on deaf
ears. The council felt there were
no business owners that signed
the petition and that your
signatures were the signatures of
“ uninformed folks who didn't
know what they were signing.”
Well we know better. We are
disheartened but we are not
down. The voice o f the people
will be heard.
Thank you,
Darlene Scroggins
Court Street Market lin p p V filCMI 1)1
| | | | | I 1 L 1 1 U 1 1 1 1
111 N. Court Heppner 676-9643
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