TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 24, 2001 Letters to the Editor The Official Newspaper o f the City o f Heppner and the County o f Morrow Editor's note: Letters to the Editor must tie signed The Gazette-Times w ill not publish unsigned letters. Please include your address and phone number on all letters for use by the C-T office. The G-T reserves the right to edit. The G-T is not responsible for accuracy of statements made in letters. (Any letters expressing thanks w ill be placed in the classifieds under "C ard of Thanks' at a cost o f $5.) Heppner GAZETTE-TIMES U S P S. 240-420 Mark ballot carefully your Morrow County’s Home-Owned Weekly Newspaper Published weekly and entered as periodical matter at the Post Office at Heppner, Oregon under the Act of March 3, 1879 Periodical postage paid at Heppner, Oregon Office at 147 W Willow Street Telephone (541) 676-9228 Fax (541) 676-9211 E- rnail gt@heppner net or gt@rapidsfrve net Web site: www heppner net Postmaster send address changes to the Heppner Gazette-Times, P.O Box 337, Heppner, Oregon 97836 Subscriptions S22 in Morrow County, $16 senior rate (in Morrow County only, 62 years or older), $29 elsewhere David Sykes ......................................................................................... Publisher April Hilton-Sykes Editor News deadline is Monday at 5 p m For Advertising advertising deadline is Tuesday at noon Cost tor 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 $5 10 per column inch For Public/Legal Notices puDlic/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 • Submit a News 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! new teachers continued from page 1 at North Howell Elementary School out o f Mt. Angel and then began working at Lawen, a two- room school with 14 students in eight grades, 17 miles from Bum s on the way to Crane. Spinks taught the first five grades. Spinks and her husband, Billy Ray, were married and then the couple moved to Oklahoma, his hom e state. She taught for five years at W atts Elementary and then at W estville Elem entary before m oving to Ephrata, WA. They were there for a short time before m oving to Long Creek. She finished out the school year teaching there and then they moved to the Mt. Vem on-John Day area where she taught for 15 years. She taught at Mt. Vernon Elem entary School and, after a school merger, at Blue Mountain Junior High at John Day. Spinks is the special education teacher at Heppner High School. She and her husband live in Lexington. He is employed with Frontier Energy, the co-gen plant at the South M orrow Industrial Park in Heppner. They have three children, Joyce, 23, who is working in Redmond, Kevin, 20, who works in John Day, and Megan, 18, who lives in Roseburg. Spinks says that all three kids were involved in horse 4-H growing up and her eldest, Joyce, was on a fair and rodeo court. In her spare time, Spinks enjoys crocheting, reading and cooking, especially baking. She had worked for several years in a restaurant as a baker, m aking pies, cinnam on rolls, cakes and cookies. Spinks and her husband have a horse and a mule. He enjoys working with the animals, especially plowing and packing with the mule. Pesticide rules tough on the household survey being proposed. Cattlemen, farmers Homeowners could not fill out my To the Editor: I'm sure Phil Ward, director o f the Oregon Departm ent o f Agriculture, will implement pesticide use reporting rules more restrictive than the 1999 legislation requires. He has a board m eeting in The Dalles, Nov. 2 at Cousins Restaurant. Mr. Ward's rules will be tough on the small cattlem en and farmers. Most operations of size already keep the newly required information and are aware that after New Year's Eve we have to report all uses o f all chemicals. Even though the department recognizes that 35 percent of Oregon ag operations do not have Internet capability, these operators will be required to report electronically. These operators best come to The Dalles Nov. 2 to hear what the fines will be for non-com pliance. Attendees should ask what the law requires because you will find it less restrictive than w hat you will be required to do. Except in the case o f urban household use where the expectation o f fairness in reporting will not be met. My expectation o f fairness o f household use would include retail sales reporting in conjunction with farm report or would rebel against reporting if expected to do so. Agncultural operators legally apply at least 99 percent o f their purchases due to expense and various monitoring methods already in place. Household users legally apply far less than 99 percent o f their purchases. We need to know how much less, then find out what happens to the rest o f it. If you use any chemistry on your cattle or crops you will be reporting every use, every time to Big Brother. Unfortunately only one other state west o f New York reports, so this burden will make Oregon producers just a little less com petitive with producers in other states. Our green friends have just placed one more straw on the camel's back. My camel is big enough to pack this extra straw. But a few o f my neighbors say this straw will finish them. Oh well, small producers not Internet- connected; who needs them? They are, however, the backbone o f our rural com m unities. Give the board chairm an some help on this. She has fought for two and a half years for some latitude on these regulations. (s) Eric Anderson lone representative could be next To the Editor: A com m on tactic o f the perpetrators of undefendable actions is to twist the facts to obscure the truth and deceive the public. Bin Laden and fellow Muslim terrorists are masters of this tactic by claiming America's response to terrorism is an attack on Islam in an attempt to incite support for their indefensible cause. In overview o f the prominent facts o f the crisis facing Morrow County education, which has culminated in a recall election Oct. 30, reveals a clear attempt to twist the facts to justify indefensible actions. Fact number one: Based on an anonymous letter the Morrow County School Board chose to remove two duly elected officials. The board has admitted under oath they violated Oregon State open m eeting laws in planning this action. They also violated their own written board policy (#8700) that excluded anonymous letters from being used for this purpose. Because o f these premeditated illegal actions South Morrow County citizens have been denied representation, leaving them at the mercy o f a school board that has removed their representatives. Fact number two: Duly elected board member Barney Lindsay, at significant personal expense, has challenged the legality of the board's decision and was granted a stay to allow the court to settle the dispute. Lindsay and those that he represents contend the board had no authority, in this case, to remove duly elected officials. East Oregonian editor Richard Hensley agreed, in part, in a June editorial which questioned the board's actions. Hensley noted the zones were unclear and advocated that the system, not the elected officials, needed correcting. Fact num ber three: Citizens o f Morrow County, primarily from the south end, have sought redress for their loss o f representation for their own children’s education. They are exercising the democratic process o f a recall election o f those board members that violated board policy and Oregon open meeting laws for the clear purpose o f removing duly elected representatives o f separate districts. Fact num ber four: Citizens o f the county that stand to lose their duly elected representatives in a democratically approved m anner o f recall have cned foul. Please note these same citizens did not cry foul when their fellow citizens lost their representatives in an undemocratic manner. Three prominent citizens o f the south end, Larry and Betty M ills and George Koffler, who (consistent with this writer) have no children in the system and have attended no public meeting regarding the controversy, have joined their cause arguing the recall would divide the county and damage public education. In summary I believe any unbiased citizen who has studied all the rhetoric would come to the conclusion the above facts have been twisted so that M orrow County citizens would overlook or condone the abuse o f the public trust by the current school board and the superintendent. Mark your ballot carefully, especially in lone, Boardman and Irrigon. Your representative might be next. (s) Stuart Dick Pendleton Board members’ work exemplary To the Editor: I am a past budget committee m em ber o f the M orrow County School District and have worked with Gary Frederickson, John Rietmann and Pat McNamee. These men have dedicated an extraordinary amount o f time and effort to the school district and should be retained in their positions as hoard members. To remove them would be a disservice to the school children they serve and wrong on the basis of the unfounded allegations made against them by the proponents o f the recall effort. These men are held in the highest esteem within •their respective districts and their work on behalf o f the entire school district has been exemplary. I would urge all patrons o f the school district to vote "no" on this recall. (s) John A. Prag Boardman Board members should not be punished To the Editor: We invite you to join us in support for Gary Frederickson, Pat McNamee and John Rietmann. They should not be punished for saying yes to fair and equitable opportunities for all the children in Morrow County. We ask you to vote "no" on their recall ballot. We need men o f their dedication and vision to guarantee the next generation will receive all the tools they need to become productive, responsible adults. Your ballots can be dropped off at the county annex in Irrigon or mailed. They must be in Heppner by 8 p.m., Oct. 30. (s) W ayne Huwe, Jr. (s) Barbara Huwe Irrigon Symphony, singers to perform The W illow Creek Symphony and the Willow Creek Singers will perform on Saturday, Nov. 3, in Irrigon and on Sunday, Nov. 4, in Heppner. Saturday's concert will be held at 7 p.m. at the A.C. Houghton Elementary Auditorium. Sunday's concert will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Heppner Elementary Auditorium. The concerts are sponsored by the Morrow County Unified Recreation District and the M orrow County C om m ission on Children and Families. Vote yes on the recall To the Editor; On July 1,2002, Morrow County School D istrict will have a new superintendent. Now more than ever, the school district needs new board members who will work as a team, do business openly, consider all possible solutions, not just eliminating staff and programs before acting, and respect each others' opinion. They m ust be willing to work at obtaining the best person for the job who truly will have the welfare o f Morrow County students as his or her prim ary concern. Therefore, I urge you to vote "yes" to recall John Rietmann, Larry Frederickson and Pat M cNamee. Three current m em bers o f the board have shown that they cannot work as a team with other board m em bers who have different opinions. They have knowingly withheld information from board m em bers, and in fact, they have attacked their own peers. In the 30- plus years that we have been involved with public education either as a teacher, parent or concerned taxpayer, we have never seen such dysfunctional behavior on the part o f board members. It is less than professional and takes time away from more important considerations to say nothing o f the wasteful expenses that are incurred along the way. If each o f the board members would take tim e to do their hom ework, listen to each other, respect each other's point o f view and then make decisions as a team, their productivity would be invaluable to students, staff, adm inistrators and taxpayers. Having executive board sessions poor to regular meetings looks very suspicious to the average person even though they could be totally above board. As already stated by others, the board has been cited for doing business illegally in executive session. These pre-board executive sessions have only begun in the past three years which also makes them unusual. The board needs to look and act in a correct manner to regain the trust o f the public. Lastly, a school board needs to do their homework and then consider the solutions based on the facts they have obtained. There is always more than one way to solve a problem or make a decision that will be in the best interest o f everyone. During the last superintendent's search, several possible scenarios were suggested, but Mr. Rietmann indicated that the board did not want to go to all the work that might be involved in order to find the right person for the job. This does not indicate a willingness to put students needs first. I feel that there are people in M orrow County who would be willing to step up and serve on the board in an open and honest way. Therefore, I again urge you to cast your vote to recall Frederickson, McNamee and Rietmann. They are not working for the best education for our students or in the best interest o f the school district as a whole. (s) Ralph W alker (s) Sally W alker Heppner Removing board members a disservice To the Editor: To the voters o f M orrow County: Using innuendo and unfounded allegations a small group persuaded enough people to sign a petition to recall three Morrow County School Board members. These three members, along with present and past m em bers o f the school board, have devoted countless hours o f their time to ensure that the children o f Morrow County are provided with the best education the district's lim ited funds can provide. They were instrum ental in influencing the legislature to provide additional funds to make it possible for small schools in Oregon to m aintain adequate educational program s. In spite o f the declining state revenues they have provided our classroom s with up-to-date technology that is second to none in this state and provided the kids with current textbooks and instructional materials. They have increased grant funds focused on im proving student learning; consequently M orrow County students have achieved a tnuch higher performance on state tests. Due to their decision to reassign teachers, none o f our children are struggling to get an education in an overcrowded classroom. Our children enjoy class sizes among the smallest in Oregon. They developed and passed a bond measure that will provide additional elementary schools in Boardm an and Irrigon. In the future A.C. Houghton and Sam Boardman will house K-3rd grades. The yet-to-be named new schools will house 4th- 6th grades. Due to the board's foresight, both CMS and Riverside have been designed to accommodate grades 7-12, making at possible for Irrigon's children to stay in their hometown and receive a quality education. And the expense to the district is minimal. Aging facilities in lone and Heppner will also be replaced. All this, because o f the board's planning, will be accomplished with a very affordable tax increase. Those who have recalled these dedicated school board members have insinuated that the reassignment of teachers was done because of bias against south county schools. This is such a disservice to these men. With the decline in enrollm ent in south county schools and the major increase in north county schools they simply had no choice. All they did was equalize class sizes in the entire district. How could a responsible board do anything else? Malang sure that all children have a fair chance to get a quality education is the board's first job. We appreciate all our board members for their dedication to our children on our behalf. It is imperative that we keep Gary Frederickson, Pat M cNam ee and John Rietmann on the school board. (s) M erideth DeHaven (s) Barbara Huwe (s) Billie Griffin (s) Sarnie Griffin (s) LaVelle Partlow Irrigon Health district to meet } A regular m eeting o f the M orrow C ounty Health District is set for Monday, O ctober 29, at 7 p.m. at the Lexington school district office. The agenda will include: Septem ber financials, audited financials, union contract, CEO evaluation, CEO report and an executive session. H A U . 0 W K H IS ÇQM IHG S 0 0 H I M O V X T4IX HOME # E I V E ACRES COU W E P H E S P A Y , O CT. 4 !$ T Vv/e t a v e carJvj rarJs Jeccrafiors arJ Have your own place in the mountains. Whether it’s retirement, hunting or just a get-away, it can all be cosfurres! OcioÆer f .y p r e s s c s p e d a i : C ja n tfy c o p p i e IX c x . f o r $ Z and bufi sua 'HûAuwt (Xpph 8 C ajum . Chtui P u titi ~ $1.£5 MüMAyï DAI!/! ___ . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 217 North Main • Heppner • 676-9158 Serving Heppner. 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