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
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Heppner
GAZETTE-TIMES
U S P S. 240-420
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David Sykes
......................................................................................... Publisher
April Hilton-Sykes
Editor
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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.
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217 North Main • Heppner • 676-9158
Serving Heppner. Lexington A lone
R o 9*
' A . 9 233
33 N M
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Heppner
676-9426
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jÇ o n d Ü y .
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(5 41)676-9228 days • (541) 676-9939 evenings
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