Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, October 13,2004 - FIVE
Letten to the Editor
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lone community
member voices
support for Burns
To the Editor
I am w riting in
support o f Betty Burns for
Morrow County Justice of
the Peace
As a member o f the
lone C om m unity A gri-
Business O rganization, I
have worked with Betty on
many community events,
such as the lone 4th of July
Celebration
B etty
is
very
com m unity oriented and
works hard to get things
done. She is very well
organized and carries out her
p ro je c ts in the tim ely
manner. Her experience in
business, along with her
attitude, will make her an
excellent Ju stice o f the
Peace
My recommendation
for Morrow County Justice
o f the Peace is Betty Burns
(s) Stacie J Miller
ICABO Treasurer
lone
Fellow council
member supports
VanCleave for
mayor
To the Editor:
1 am w riting in
support o f Tim VanCleave
for mayor o f Heppner 1 have
known Tim for several years
and as a fellow council
m em ber have w orked
closely with him on the city
council We are also both
members o f the City Police
Com m ission. The Police
C om m ission voted him
ch airp erso n
of
the
Commission and the council
m em bers
v o ted
him
President o f the Council
Tim has alw ays
proved that he cares for the
people o f H eppner and
wants to preserve the quality
of life o f our town He is very
approachable and willing to
listen to all viewpoints and
work with them As a ten-
year member o f the city
council he has a broad
know ledge o f how city
government works He is at
present actively working
with meeting the long and
short-range goals for the city
as set by the city council
The quality 1 most
appreciate about Tim is his
p e rsev e ra n ce in asking
questions until everyone
understands exactly what the
facts are
Please join me in
voting for Tim VanCleave
for mayor o f the City o f
Heppner
(s) Merle Cowett
Heppner
Deputy shares
concerns about
Matlack
To the Editor:
In Septem ber, I
attended a public forum
hosted by Ken Matlack who
is running for the office o f
Sheriff in Morrow County
Verlin Denton is the current
Morrow County Sheriff and
running for re-election As a
working deputy in Morrow
C ounty I had several
questions and concerns to
ask Mr Matlack about, but
by the end o f the evening I
had none o f my questions
answered and several new
ones
I commented during
the meeting that Mr Matlack
has never approached the
Sheriff’s Association to ask
us about our feelings and
what we had to say about
law en fo rcem en t issues
concerning the community.
He asked me why I had taken
so long to approach him I
pointed out to Mr Matlack
that I was not the one
running for office, hence, I
am not the one campaigning
I guess Mr Matlack does not
care about what the people
who would be representing
him have to say.
The meeting started
with a local Irrigon church
pastor asking the people in
attendance for money to
support Mr M a tla c k ’s
campaign I was disturbed by
this seeing how Mr Matlack
is a 25-year retired Oregon
State Trooper and probably
m akes m ore in m onthly
retirement than I do in salary
Mr Matlack also told the
group that he has been
employed by the state as well
as
being
a p riv ate
in v e stig a to r since his
retirement Why then is he
asking a hard w orking,
prim arily m iddle class
community for money to
finance a political campaign?
This is not a campaign for
Governor Mr Matlack says
that he has ex p erien ce
managing small budgets and
limited resources, however,
he can not run for a rural
p o litical office w ithout
incurring what I can only
im agine to be several
thousand dollars in expenses
and then ask M orrow
County citizens to pay for it
The fact that Mr Matlack
him self never asked for
financial support, instead
having a local pastor do it for
him, added to my concern I
shudder to think what he will
do to our Office’s budget
Sheriff Denton has paid for
his campaign costs from his
own pocket, asking for only
your vote, not your hard-
earned money.
Mr Matlack stated
that he intended to make the
deputies available to the
public at our homes and
during our off hours. Not
only is the listing o f
residence and
phone
numbers a potential officer
safety issue but also it is
illegal per Oregon Revised
S tatute
192 445
and
192.502. This is one in a
series o f false promises that
Mr Matlack has made to the
people o f Morrow County
He has prom ised daily
patrols to the most remote
p arts o f the C ounty, a
logistical impossibility given
our call load and number of
personnel, neither o f which
Mr Matlack would have the
power to change as Sheriff
Mr Matlack even promised
a woman who lives near
C utsforth Park that we
w ould deliver her mail
Again, a legal impossibility
Mr M atlack has
promised to go on patrol and
take calls as Sheriff Again,
he fails to understand that
time and work that it takes
to run a department o f this
size and responsibility When
asked during a recen t
c a n d id a te ’s forum in
Heppner what he thought
w ere the d u ties o f the
S h e riff’s O ffice, Mr
M atlack’s only comment
was that we collected taxes
A nyone
w ho
know s
anything about county law
enforcement knows that we
do not collect taxes Even
this surprised me, assuming
that all those years working
in law enforcem ent, Mr
Matlack would have a good
u n derstanding o f the
position he is running for I
believe that if you desire to
run for political office, you
should know what that office
is all about Mr Matlack
does not know what it means
to be Sheriff and that lack of
understanding will result in
a destabilization o f agency
personnel, finances and
programs that will cost the
people o f Morrow County
dearly.
Mr M atlack says
that there is a “gap’’ between
the Sheriff s Office and the
people of Morrow County
I strongly disagree In April
o f this year, I was seriously
injured along with a co
w orker, D eputy Brian
Snyder, in a sho o tin g
incident in Irrigon I was on
m edical leave for th ree
months and during that time
I received hundreds of cards,
letters and phone calls filled
w ith love, support and
prayers I did not personally
know a lot of the senders but
I was m oved by the
community’s strong show of
support for Deputy Snyder
and I They know us, they
know what we do and the
struggles and dangers that
we face and I am grateful for
the strength that they
provided. I fail to see that
“g a p ”
Mr M atlack is a
pure politician; promising
and saying anything that
people want to hear to get
votes.
I love my job and I
am proud o f the people that
I work with and the Sheriff
that I work for I believe that
community support is still
there and I ask that you vote
fo r Verlin D enton to
continue on as your Sheriff
(s) Jeff Lambier
Heppner
Choose leaders
that will meet
challenges
To the Editor:
Our
fo rg o tten
America has our poor, our
homeless and jobless and is
grow ing fast I recently
found out in a survey that 43
percent o f the people in
California have no medical
coverage I can’t imagine
what it is like in many other
states Farmers are losing
their land to c o rp o rate
stru ctu res. In the U S ,
m oneyed in terests are
gradually superseding the
will o f the people, leaving
pow er in the hands o f
c o rp o ra tio n s instead o f
voters
M any o f to d a y ’s
global problems- such as the
d estru ctio n
of
the
e n v i r o n m e n t ,
unemployment, the growing
gap between the rich and
poor and overpopulation-
are consequences o f our
co m p etitiv e
econom ic
system It would be naive to
believe that we can create a
secure future or build a
stable society based on
unfettered market forces,
which take for granted that
one small segm ent o f
humanity lives in abundance
while the majority live in
abject poverty
If we
in the
developed world continue
our economic dominance
over the developing world,
conflicts, chaos and war will
be the inevitable result
H um anity’s most serious
problems are global, and
therefore demand global
solutions Justice, sharing
and cooperation must be the
keynotes of the political and
econom ic system s o f
tomorrow, and it’s obvious
that achieving these will
require a ‘regime change’ in
this country
Vote for leaders this
coming election that will
meet the challenges o f these
most difficult times
(s) Nova Fuentes
San Rafael, CA
Estes shares
qualifications for
clerk position
To The Editor:
It is my pleasure and
honor to run for the position
o f Morrow County Clerk
My slogan is "A History of
Service" because it speaks to
who I am as an individual
I am currently the
chairman for the Morrow
County Unified Recreation
D istrict, the v o lu n teer
coordinator and a trainer for
Pioneer Memorial Hospice
and a vestry member for my
church
Formerly, I served
on the BMCC Foundation
Board, the City o f Heppner
Planning Commission, and
other civic organizations In
my professional and my
private life, it is important for
me to have m eaning,
purpose and integrity. I
believe service to others is
how I achieve those goals.
As Morrow County
Clerk I will represent you
efficiently, effectively and
cheerfully, providing the
accountability that is critical
to sustain trust in our local
governm ent O ur vo ter
records must be accessible
and accurate to guarantee
confidence in our elections
I look forward to meeting
the challenges o f the Help
America Vote Act, which
ensures that the right to vote
will be p reserv ed for
everyone I will provide
quality
service
and
im plem entation o f the
Oregon Revised Statutes I
respect the intent of our laws
and their purpose to preserve
and protect our rights. I
would also like to develop
program s to engage our
children in our election
process I have acquired a
broad spectrum of skills and
knowledge that will help me
make these goals a reality
I have been in public
service for 18 years as an
em ployee w ith M orrow
County Assessment and Tax,
serving 14 years as lead
appraiser I have worked at
a statewide level with the
O regon D epartm ent o f
Revenue on special teams
for appraisal standards and
valuation projects, as well as
on computer program design
fo r
leg islativ e
im p lem en tatio n I have
ex p erien ce w ith deed
records, legal descriptions.
maps, district boundaries
and extensive experience in
u n d e rstan d in g
and
implementing the Oregon
Revised Statutes
All of these skills and
experiences will help me
represent you both locally
and on a statewide level I
hope you will allow me the
opportunity to serve you
(s) Cyde Marie Estes
Heppner
Sheriff shares
thoughts on his
position
To the Editor:
As electio n tim e
draws near, I want to take
this opportunity to share
with the voters a couple of
my thoughts about what it
means to be the Sheriff of
Morrow County.
First o f all, I
personally do not believe
that we can afford to have
elected officials who are
merely “figure heads.” We
must be productive, working
members o f the department
Realizing there may
be people who do not
understand what that entails,
I w anted to offer some
examples of what the Sheriff
does. I administer a budget
o f over $2 million; supervise
a s ta ff o f alm ost 30
employees (plus around 15
volunteer reserves and a few
seasonal w o rk ers); and
manage a wide variety o f
contracts for special services
such as marine patrol, 9-1-1
com m unication, fo rest
patrol, OHV Park patrol and
Heppner City policing, as
well as many in te r
governmental agreements
with surrounding agencies,
such as the Oregon State
Police and Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Office
Being dedicated to
professionalism, I oversee a
wide variety o f training and
educational program s for
s ta ff
from
firearm s
qualification to civil service
M orrow County does not
have a jail, but it legally
responsible for lodging all
p riso n ers, so I must
negotiate and maintain a jail
contract I am responsible
for any new programs this
department may participate
in, whether it is for bicycle
safety, domestic violence or
neighborhood watch, as well
as program s that reach
beyond the boundaries o f
our county, such as the Law
Enforcement Torch Run and
the Special O lym pics
fundraisers
I participate on a
num ber o f b o ard s and
com m ittees in o rd er to
represent Morrow County’s
public
safety
needs,
including: the Local Public
Safety
C o o rd in atin g
Council; Law Enforcement
Administrators Council; the
Blue Mountain Narcotics
Task Force (which I was a
founder of and am still active
in as president of the board)
Additionally, I am an officer
in the Oregon State Sheriff's
Association where I served
on five committees last year
in order to represent the
public safety interests o f
Morrow County and Eastern
Oregon
On a personal level,
I believe in the principle o f
service and have served
many years on the Citizen
Review Board (and been
honored as their volunteer of
the year) as well as serving
as deacon in my local church
I encourage this kind o f
volunteerism for service in
my staff and am very proud
that m ost o f them are
activ ely
involved
in
community service o f their
own.
Furthermore, as the
head o f the Sheriff’s Office,
it is my responsibility to
represent this agency to
citizens, civic groups and the
communities at large and I
have a long history o f being
responsive to the questions
and concerns of every one of
th o se
I have alw ays
maintained an open-door
policy and no citizen has ever
been turned away. As you
might imagine, these and
other duties demand all o f
my time, as well as some
staff time, particularly the
Undersheriff The suggestion
that our time would be better
spent performing the duties
o f a p atro l
deputy
demonstrates a fundamental
lack o f understanding what
it takes to m anage the
M orrow County Sheriff’s
Office
It has been my
privilege to serve Morrow
County for 21 years, the last
six as its Sheriff. I hope to
continue in that service
(s) Sheriff Verlin R Denton
Heppner
New mayor
needs vision to
lead Heppner
To the Editor:
W ith the election
close at hand, there is a
deafening silence on the
Heppner City Mayoral race
Thank goodness there are
tw o excellent candidates
running for the position-
K eith L ew is and Tim
VanCleave. Both are long
term m em bers o f our
community.
In my judgment, it
comes down to which man
has the greatest vision to
lead the City o f Heppner
through tough economic
times I believe that our city
council needs to take a pro
active role in making sure
that our city provides the
co rrect environm ent for
small and large business to
locate here
VanCleave has filled
the position o f city
councilman for 10 years.
W ith this ex p erien ce, I
believe that he has earned his
stripes to become our next
m ayor His many civic
activities bring him very
close to a large segment of
fellow H eppnerites and I
believe gives him an edge
over his opponent
VanCleave has had
tra in in g in com m unity
leadership, problem solving
and city government. His
vision is apparent Kick the
end out of the “box.” These
qualities entitle him to take
on the job o f the mayor.
(s) Louis Carlson,
R etired M orrow C ounty
Judge
Heppner
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