The independent., February 22, 1995, Page 2, Image 2

Pag» 2
Th» INDEPENDENT, February 22,1995
The
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
twice monthly on the second and fourth Wednesdays of
each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 1206
S tate A venue, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free
new spaper. E ditors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni
Andersen, (503) 429-9410.
Addiction or crime,
it’s a sad situation
Bruce Hugo has spent many years in public ser­
vice. Five times, voters in Oregon’s Representative
District 1 sent him to Salem as their representative
and he almost certainly could have gone a sixth time
had he stood for re-election.
Instead, he ran for Columbia County Commissioner
and won. Now, though his term isn’t over, both he and
the voters have lost something very valuable—trust.
Whether Hugo’s misuse of his county credit card
resulted from an addiction to gambling, as he claims,
or whether it resulted from an arrogant attitude that
he is above the law, as his detractors claim, is quite
unimportant. What is important is that this whole
episode be put to rest as soon as possible.
Hugo will undoubtedly face a recall election if he
refuses to resign. That would both demean his record
of public service and polarize the county’s voters.
When an elected official has lost the trust of the
people who elected him, it can’t be regained by stay­
ing in office. With knowledge of Hugo’s contributions
to public life, we regretfully urge him to resign.
Blum and Dailey for
47J; Statton in Banks
Area residents have been fortunate to have enough
candidates for school board positions that they actu­
ally have choices. In too many districts, vacancies are
filled by appointment because there is so little interest
in what happens to children’s education.
On the 47J ballot for Pos. 1, Kris Crowston’s ap­
proach to education seems somewhat inadequate
during this period of mandated change. Michael
Kretschmer seems solid but, at this time, works such
long days it’s doubtful he could handle much more.
Michelle Blum brings a background in law enforce­
ment, combined with first-hand knowledge of the diffi­
culties facing a single mother. In addition, she has ad­
ministrative experience and the ability to analyze situ­
ations and seek the right solutions.
There is no reason to replace Don Dailey in Pos. 3.
With one term nearly complete, he has become an ef­
fective board member since running afoul of the
teachers association early in his term. Don Skinner is
equally qualified but, at this time, Dailey is the better
choice. John Allison has much to offer but has never
even been to a school board meeting. He needs to do
some home work before he goes any further.
Anne Statton is just about the only choice in Banks,
not simply because she is qualified, but because her
opponent refuses to even discuss why she should re­
place Statton. If a candidate refuses to discuss his or
her philosophy about a subject as important as edu­
cation, it is unreasonable to expect voter support.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the ar­
guments in Acton v. 47J on March 28th.
:% Mo<|tepo||
By Rep. TimJosi
Oregon Representative, District 2
The legislature has been in session for a
month and the reality of the state’s financial
situation is becoming very apparent. As a
member of the House State and School Fi­
nance Committee, I am charged with the task
of earmarking existing revenues from state in­
come taxes for programs such as education
and the crime package mandated by voters in
November.
Because of the continuing effects of Mea­
sure 5, which passed in November of 1990,
the state is making substantial cuts in govern­
m ental program s. The G overnor’s budget,
therefore, is a “zero sum budget”. If we need
more money for a program, it is subtracted
from other areas in the budget. Funds to im­
plement the crime package will be derived
from revenues normally allocated to other
state agencies. Recently it was discovered
that an additional ten million dollars will be
needed for corrections because of an increas­
ing number of inmates being housed in Ore­
gon’s criminal justice system.
The g o v e rn o r’s to p p rio rity is pu blic
education. For this reason his budget, for
Kindergarten-12th Grade, provides the same
funding level received in the last biennium
plus an additional eight million dollars. This
extra revenue for schools comes at the ex­
pense of oth er state program s which w ill
experience real cuts-in addition to the cuts
they have already realized in the past two bi­
enniums.
It is important to understand that Measure 5
shifted the primary source of funding for edu­
cation from local jurisdictions to the state. Pri­
or to the passage of Measure 5, seventy-per-
cent of school funding was provided from local
property taxes and thirty-percent came from
state income taxes. The state is meeting this
additional fiscal burden with no additional tax
resources. Also, now that the funding sources
are reversed, the state must face federal con­
stitutional mandates which require that all stu­
dents have the same quality education. We
have made substantial progress toward equity
in the past few years; in 1993 we were at 52
percent equity, now we are at 63 percent. To
achieve total equity in the next three years
would take an additional $242 million this next
biennium. The problem is that while we in­
crease the funding levels for the lower spend­
ing districts the higher spending schools re­
ceive no new revenues to adjust for inflation.
This has been going on for four years now.
How long can we continue to flat-fund the
higher spending districts, without doing ir­
reparable harm to their schools?
The additional eight million dollars in the
governor’s budget is to be used to equalize
funding levels for all school districts. Many of
us fear that this is not enough.
Add to this equation a call by Legislative
leadership for a tax cut. For some this may
add up to good politics but, to me, it equates
to bad public policy. In two years we should
take a serious look at an income tax cut, pro­
viding the economy continues to grow, but not
now.
Rep. Josi may be reached at;
State Capitol Room H491
Salem. OR 97310
Phone; (503)986-1402
FAX: (503)986-1575
E-Mail: RopJosi America On Line
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BIBB
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B eliever” unable
to utilize science
To the Editor:
In response to the letter
from Larry Christiansen, The
INDEPENDENT, Feb. 8,1995:
I pointed to a logical fallacy
in Mr. Christiansen’s previous
letter (ad hominen, i.e., a t­
tacking the messenger rather
B
than the m essage) only to
have him dispose of my com­
m ent as “ e n viro n m e n ta list
driver. Obviously, we have a
communication problem here.
Apparently, Mr. Christiansen
does not understand my criti­
cism since he responded with
another example of the same
fallacy. Name-calling does not
have a place in formal argu­
ments and rarely is it persua-
ssssass.
sive.
I have carefully re-read Mr.
C h ris tia n s e n ’s le tte r and I
have an observation that I
would like to share.
Mr. Christiansen evidently,
is what is referred to in psy­
chology as a “believer". That
is, a person who holds deep
beliefs that are not necessari­
ly reached through objectivity
Please see page 3