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TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 17, 2001 Letters to the Editor The Official N ewspaper o f the City o f Heppner and the County o f Morrow Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must be signed The Gazette-Times w ill not publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone number on all letters for use by the G-Toffice. The G-T reserves the right to edit The G-T is not responsible for accuracy o f statements made in letters. (Any letters expressing thanks will be placed in the classifieds under ‘ C a rd o f Thanks’ at a cost o f $5.) H ep p n er GAZETTE-TIM ES U.S.P.S. 240-420 Vote no on recall election M o rro w C o u n ty ’ s H o m e -O w n e d W e e k ly N ew spa per Published w eekly and entered as p e rio d ica l m atter at the Post O ffic e at Heppner. Oregon under the A c t o f March 3, 1879 Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon O ffice at 147 W W illo w Street Telephone (541) 676-9228 Fax (541) 676-9211. E- mail guu heppner net or gt(<xrapidserve net W e b s ite w w w heppner net. Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P O. Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836 S ubscriptions $22 in M o rro w C o u n ty . $16 senior rate (in M o rro w County on ly; 62 years or older); $29 elsewhere David Sykes Publisher A p ril H ilton-S ykes .............................................................................................. Editor News deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. For Advertising advertising deadline is Tuesday at noon Cost for a display ad is $4 50 per column inch Cost for classified ad is 40« per word Cost for Card of Thanks is $5 up to 100 words Cost for a classified display ad is $510 per column inch. For Public/legal Notices public/legal notices deadline is Monday at 5 p.m. Dates for publication must be specified Affidavits must be required at the time of submission. Affidavits require three weeks to process after last date of publication (a sooner return date must be specified if required) On the HEPPNER WEBSITE: www.heppner.net • Start or C hange a Subscription • Place a C lassified Ad • Subm it a N ews Story • View Real Estate for Sale • City Council & Planning Minutes •Local Businesses • County Park • Willow Creek Park Reservations • Free Digital Postcards • Senior Housing • and more! Board doesn’t play by the rules one overwhelm ing obstacle. The To the Editor: I would like to applaud the obstacle is that the school board does petitioners o f the Morrow County not play by the com m on rules o f School Board recall effort. 1 know decency and fairness. In fact, they that they all have families and jobs have received a citation by the state's and have made sacrifices in order Government Standards and Practices to present the people o f M orrow Commission for holding a clearly C ounty with the option o f illegal meeting. Theirs is the culture determ ining the make up o f our o f "good old boys and smoke-filled current school board. back room politics". This must end. These citizens have spent the last Join me and support free and open five years attending school board school board proceedings. Please m eetings and being elected or vote yes to recall school board members Rietmann, McNamee and appointed to school district positions. T ney have gone many extra miles Fredenckson. (s) Ed Fullm er in order to positively influence school Heppner board decisions but have met with Mark ’no’ on recall ballot To the Editor: More challenges than ever before face Oregon school districts - declining enrollment, inadequate fundyig and aging facilities, to name a few. Have you seen the schedule for a school board member? Our ever-changingeducahon environment requires these unpaid volunteers to take hundreds o f hours away from their families andjobs annually for the meeting and training sessions needed to keep current. Over the past few years our school board m embers have been called upon to make som e very tough decisions. Striving to do what is best for the education o f all children within our district, they have handled these often painful choices with professionalism, vision and fortitude. Join us in showing our appreciation and support for the M orrow County school board members by marking "no" on the recall ballot. (s) Gary Neal (s) Kathy Neal Boardman Send a different message To the Editor: Voters who are against the recall o f the three Morrow County School Board members are sending a clear message: - It is okay to hold illegal private meetings in order to hide facts from the public and make decisions without public input. (They were cited for and adm it to this.) - It is okay to disregard public option expressed in packed school board meetings, not unlike the one in Boardman with over 400 people in attendance or a recent m eeting in Lexington with over 100 people in the audience. - It is okay to rubber stamp requests from an administrator which it should be overseeing. - It is okay to discontinue important programs, such as FFA, yet still maintain a private fleet o f autom obiles for use by the adm inistrators. Please send a different message by voting "yes" to recall these school board members. (s) A. Kim Cutsforth Heppner lone JVs lose to Helix lone's junior varsity volleyball team was allowed only one game against Helix on Saturday, October 13, because o f a lack o f players for Helix. lone lost that game, 6-15. Tracy Griffith scored five points, accepted three passes and delivered four hits. Caitlin Orem, the only other person to score, had one point and delivered four set assists. Jamie VandenBrink served 100 percent and controlled one pass. Macarena Esposito accepted two serve-receives and Kim Moms accepted one pass. Katie Hams accepted one pass, delivered three hits, one block and three set assists. Barbara Holland accepted two passes and delivered one hit. Sara Peck had one pass, two hits and one block. Eva Chitty had one save and delivered one hit. The Cardinal junior varsity served 80 percent for the game. »allqupjejen to«lumx;« 20% flit! lot« of Cagùg aaù ©ecoration«! Watch for our upcoming Christmas Open House! T h u rsd a y, N ov. 20 ( l i g h t Parade O a y l I In o lig li S a tu rd a y , P o r. I 74« ^ Miuuuj'j thug 217 North Main • Hoppnor • «76-9 1M Serving Heppner. Lexington A loop CoHtdry Rot* ~ 233 N MairrHappnof M 676-9426 r To the Editor: Patrons o f the Morrow County School District will be asked to vote in a recall election very soon on Directors Rietmann, McNamee, and Fredenckson. When you receive your ballots, please consider this issue carefully and I urge you to vote "no" on this recall. The entire board o f directors of the Morrow County School Distnct continues to be challenged by growth in our schools in the north end o f Morrow County and continued decline in our populations in south Morrow County. Because o f these issues, the board has had to make difficult decisions regarding staffing at all o f our schools. Because a small but vocal group of distnct patrons was not able to convince the board o f directors last year that teachers should not be reassigned and programs cut, they decided the board was unresponsive and did not consider its point of view. Add to that the discovery that two o f the current board members were not living in the distnct which they represented and you have the makings o f a recall election when the board acted to declare those seats vacant. The board members who are the subject o f this recall are intelligent, thoughtful and w ell-m eaning individuals. They have considered the welfare o f all o f the school students in making decisions in the past. They have not pandered to the desires of small groups but have kept the big picture o f educating all o f our kids in mind. They spent long hours deliberating on difficult choices to make in an atmosphere o f declining revenues and increasing costs. They have done a good job and they deserve your support. Vote "no" on the recall election com ing up. (s) George Koffler Heppner Keep Frederickson, McNamee and Rietmann To the Editor: For those o f us who have devoted many hours to attending m eeting with the M atrix Group, Inc., the Morrow C ounty School Board, Superintendent Bruce Anderson and the district staff, it is virtually impossible to understand the charges leveled at the superintendent and three board members. Bruce Anderson and the Morrow County School Board have created, and the people have passed, a construction bond that will fulfill the needs o f every community in this county. And, I might add, at the unbelievable price o f $ l .37 per thousand. Compare this price to those o f surrounding communities. To suggest that they have "free rein" to spend bond m oney is ludicrous. Oregon State Law decrees that bond money must be spent exactly as stated in the issue presented for the people's vote. M eetings are now begin held throughout Morrow County between architects, teaching staff, adm inistration and the public concerning designs for the new elem entary schools. Under most circumstances, the board ignores "anonymous letters"; however, when the legality o f the election o f two board members was brought into question, they had to investigate. Upon learning that the allegations were true, they devised a plan to resolve this matter in a most affordable matter. They hired a retired judge to listen to the case. At the June hearing concerning the Lindsay/Lewis zone dispute, everyone present heard both gentlemen admit that they do not live in the zones they were elected to represent. What more needs to be said? At this hearing, Lindsay and Lewis' attorneys announced that they would not honor the judge's decision and would take the case to court. It would have been much less expensive for both the district and the individuals if they had just resigned. The remaining board members never attem pted to prom ote the notion that the judge's findings in that hearing were binding. I am quite certain they hoped that Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Lewis would heed his advice and resign, saving the district and them selves the expense o f going to court. Most o f the citizens o f Heppner understand that with the decreasing population they have suffered in the last few years, the teaching staff in their schools had to be reduced. Because o f the rapid growth in Irrigon and Boardr.ian, the opposite is true. To guarantee each student in this county the best educational possibilities, changes had to be made. Mr. Armato and his group repeatedly complain that "they took teachers." They never admit that their schools enjoyed one o f the lowest teacher/student ratios in Oregon and are still far below the state average. The children in the north part o f the county should not be burdened with overcrowded classrooms so that the Heppner schools can m aintain a teacher/student ratio o f only 12 students per teacher. Mr. Anderson should be commended for leading the way. He has made a mark on this school district that will not soon be forgotten. He had earned the respect and admiration o f every person in this county that recognizes the equity o f providing every child with the possibility o f being the best that they can be. It is imperative that we keep Gary Fredenckson, Pat M cNam ee and John Rietmann on the school board. They are only guilty o f doing everything in their power to create a school district, that despite funding problems, will provide our children with a quality education. (s) M erideth De Haven (s) Barbara Huwe (s) Billie Griffin (s) Sarnie Griffin (s) LaVelle Partlow Irrigon There is help in Jesus To the Editor: There is much being said about unity in this hour. W e must understand that true unity is unity o f the faith, which we know comes by a hearing ear. May God give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church today. I see Christians and Moslems standing together proclaiming that we serve the same God. But I say unto you. Let God's W ord be true and every man a liar. How can two w alk together except they be in agreem ent? And who is a liar? Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti christ, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father... I John 2:22-23 Jesus is the C hnst. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is God. If we deny that, then how can we say that we serve the same God? If you deny the Word you do not serve the same God I do. Jesus said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. May God open up the eyes o f our understanding. No man can com e to the Father except through Jesus Chnst. There is no m ediator betw een God and Let's all work together To the Editor: I'm part of thè "Gray Group" who have lived here all their lives and find all the discord about our schools very disturbing. Does it matter what happened in the past? O ur world was changed on Sept. 11 and will never be the same. Let's all work together after this recall election and keep our eyes on the prize. The pnze as I see it is the student we must prepare to live in this complex and dangerous world. Face it -- the money is just not there at the local, state or federal level, for anything new. Leadership is the key and we must try to direct it in the following ways: Attend scoot board meetings when held in your area and offer support and suggestions as appropriate... know what's going on. Volunteer an hour each week in your child's classroom. With the size o f our classes, our teachers need all the help they can get. Nothing works better to help the education process more than one-on-one contact, no m atter what your age. Serve on the advisory or school board. As a past member, I can tell you it's a thankless job, but also very rewarding. W hen I served on the school board I once received a threatening call toward my daughter’s welfare. 1 recognized the voice and after issuing my own threat, invited him to participate by running for the school board. He now has grandchildren attending our schools and I'm still waiting for him to do so. W e are going to have super facilities when the building process is complete so let's try to ensure we have education at the same level. Support our fine teachers, even the few clunkers, as they all need all the help they can get. I'm sure w rongs have been com m itted, but how long are we going to dwell on them? We only have one shot at those little formative minds, so let's all join together and give them all we've got. I'd like to see 25 applications for the vacated board seats as we need a choice. I feel four days a week is okay if it's quality time. I agree leadership is the key so let's make sure we have the best we can afford. Attend the board m eetings and volunteer for the selection com m ittee. (s) Pat W right Lexington Line of reasoning interesting, troubling To the Editor: they had not spent thousands o f A recent letter to the Editor started dollars on a retired judge whose an interesting and troubling line o f decision both sides said was not reasoning that I would like to discuss. legally binding and thus not to be The com m ent, "Can you im agine adhered to; or if they had given how much better we could have made fellow board members adequate and life for some disadvantaged kids if equal time to prepare for the board the proponents o f the recall had m eeting where this was first devoted their energy to helping them discussed? Go ahead, add your own instead o f the direction they took." endings. Unfortunately there are Please form your own opinion with plenty more examples on this issue a few m ore such statem ents. alone. Can you imagine how much better Can you imagine how much better we could have made life for all kids we could have made life for all kids if the school board had considered if the school board would have other options instead o f accepting discussed board business in open the superintendent's proposal o f meetings with all board members cutting 17 teachers in one year and present; or came to board meetings the subsequent gap to the curriculum with an open mind and not a pre and programs with no consideration worded motion typed out for them o f w hat w ould be left to offer by district staff? students? Scheduling is difficult to Can you imagine how much better accommodate requirements and fill we could have made life for all kids the schedule with the small number if the proponents o f the recall had o f electives that are available, rh e . devoted their energy to attend parent- curriculum is lacking for both teacher conferences, or attended college-bound and vocational-minded school board meetings, site council students. meetings and advisory committee Can you imagine how much better m eetings to voice our concerns or we could have m ade life for all been an active m em ber o f these students if the superintendent had councils and committees, or attended used the grant from the state's small musical, scholastic and sporting school funding (which they received events or spent time mapping our but have not used) to hire a teacher kids' future class schedules and as the state intended? college requirements. Oh wait! We Can you imagine how much better did! We are not a "small but vocal we could have m ade life for all group o f district patrons"; we are students if the school board would parents with kids in this school have followed its own policies on system. Vote "yes" on the recall. accepting anonymous letters, or if (s) John M urray Heppner W illows Grange # 6 7 2 Fund R aiser To R ep lace H eating System S a tu rd a y, October 27th SPA G H E T T I F E E D at 5 :3 0 p.m. and B L U E M m O L D T IM E F ID D L E R S at Tp-m. Music and Meal: Adults $8 • Seniors & Students $7 • Ages 6-12 $2.50 • 6 & under free Meal Only: Adults 12 and older $5 • Ages 6-12 $2.50 • 6 & under free Music Only: Adults $4 • Seniors and Students $3 T e r f i r e a Z o v e rs man except Jesus Chnst. Jesus and the Father are one. In this hour o f darkness, we must allow the W ord to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We must hear His voice. May God give us understanding in all o f these things. A dear brother said these words to me on the phone recently, "We must hear and obey Him to be kept out o f harm's way." How true that is. He is an ever-present help in the time o f trouble. He is our hiding place. There is help m no other name. His nam e is Jesus. (s) Lynda Crane Heppner Men's breakfast A com m unity m en’s breakfast will be held on Sunday, Oct. 2 1, at 8 a m. at Christian Life Center, 535 W. M organ Street, Heppner. The breakfast is sponsored by the First C hristian C hurch, the Nazarene Church and Christian Life Center. After breakfast a devotional will be led by John Marvin, missionary to Antigua. All men are invited to attend. f
