The INDEPENDENT, October 17, 2002
Deputy explains why
levy is needed
To the Editor:
I support the Columbia Coun
ty Sheriff’s Levy, Measure 5-109.
Let me tell you why.
The Sheriff’s Office does not
have enough deputies to cover
the 657 square miles in the coun
ty and to provide needed servic
es. It is unsafe for both the citi
zens and the deputies to not
have adequate coverage.
How would you like to be the
only deputy on duty responding
alone to a “shots fired” call in a
remote area of the county? As
you respond, you know that no
one is available to back you up.
How would you feel if you
called 9-1-1 for help, and the dis
patcher told you no one was
available? Well, this happens a
lot. And it is dangerous for the
public and for the deputies.
How would you like to end up
working a 19-hour shift because
there is no relief scheduled and
the calls keep coming in? These
can be unsafe conditions for any
profession, especially one where
you may have to make life or
death decisions in a split second.
How would like to respond to
an emergency or chase a law
breaker in a car with over
150,000 miles on it? The “life” of
a patrol car is hard. These old
cars constantly break down. Can
you imagine chasing a criminal at
90 mph in a car with 150,000
miles? I consider myself one of
the lucky deputies because my
patrol car is only 8 years old with
122,000 miles on the odometer.
Deputies must come back to
the St. Helens office to do re
ports. Every time the citizens
lose 40-60 minutes of help. It is a
waste of time and money. This
measure will allow the deputies
to complete their reports out in
the field, where they belong.
This levy will fund adequate
coverage 24 hours a day, elimi
nating the large gaps in coverage
that currently exist. It will also
provide a resident deputy for
both the Vernonia/Mist-Birken-
feld and Clatskanie/ Rainier ar
eas.
The Sheriff’s Office does the
best it can on a limited budget,
but it is just not enough.
This is a very small tax in
crease, only $7.75 a month for
the average homeowner. Please
join me and vote yes on Measure
5-109.
Sincerely,
Patrick A. Dean
Deputy Sheriff
Vernonia
More firefighters are
needed for daytime
To the Editor:
The board and the personnel
of the Vernonia Rural Fire Pro
tection District (VRFPD) wish to
thank all those who helped out
for the fire October 1 at the home
of Jake Wolfe; especially the
businesses that allowed their
employees to leave work to help
fight this fire: Mike Pihl Logging,
Wolfe Trucking, Buds & Blooms,
Adhesive Packaging, City of
Hillsboro.
A volunteer department with a
paid Chief relies heavily on com
Opinion-Maasuras, eontinuad
Measure 24 would expand the profes
sional scope of licensed denturists by al
lowing them to install partial dentures, in
addition to their current services. It would
also allow dentists and denturists to work
together in joint business arrangements,
much as optometrists and ophthalmolo
gists are allowed to do. This may, or may
not, help to slow down the increasing costs
of dental care. It is promoted as being fi
nancially beneficial to patients, but there is
nothing in the measure that can justify the
claim. Overall, the benefits are likely to be
greater than the liabilities. We recommend
a Yes vote on Measure 24.
Measure 25 would increase the state
minimum hourly wage to $6.90 in January,
2003, and would institute annual adjust
ments for inflation. In spite of the claims of
doom and gloom by the Oregon Farm Bu
reau, Associated Oregon Industries, Ore
gon Restaurant Association and Oregon
Food Processors FOODPAC, all of whom
rely on minimum wage workers, our econ
omy will not crumble. Even when two peo
ple in a family work at minimum wage, for
a combined $13.80 per hour, by the time
they pay for food, rent, utilities, child care
and transportation, they are barely getting
by. An increase of 40 cents per hour is not
exorbitant. We urge a Yes vote on Mea
sure 25.
Measure 26 would prohibit workers who
obtain signatures on initiative petitions
from compensation based on the number
of signatures they obtain. It would not pro
hibit paying for signature gatherers and is
intended to reduce the incentive for forged
or otherwise illegal signatures. This may or
may not do what is intended, but it should
get a Yes vote.
Measure 27 would require labeling of
genetically engineered foods. The food in
dustry insists that genetically engineered
(GE) foods are perfectly safe while making
remarkably wild claims about the cost of
labeling. Not all scientists agree that the
process is safe. The FDA has not conduct
ed tests on GE foods in spite of warnings
by their own scientists. The genetic engi
neering process has introduced Brazil nut
genes in some soy beans; without labels
there have been some severe allergic re
actions. Some vegetables have been engi
neered to produce more protein with the
addition of animal genes; people who
choose not to eat meat have a right to
know what is in their food. Other plants
have been combined with toxins to kill in
sects, but there is no way to control the ex
posure of those toxins to beneficial in
sects. If GE is not harmful, why are food
processors and corporate agriculture op
posed to adding a few words to labels? We
need to protect our health and the health
of our children. Vote Yes on Measure 27.
munity support for fire protection
and also relies on mutual aid
from neighboring districts. We
would like to thank Mist-Birken-
feld, Banks, State Forestry and
Scappoose for their assistance.
The fire on October 1 could
have caused less damage, had
the VRFPD had more experi
enced, daytime volunteers and
had the Chief not been out of
town on vacation. This could
happen with more volunteers
that work swing or midnight shift,
or more businesses that will al
low people to leave work to fight
daytime fires. The VRFPD board
has given authorization for ade
quate coverage in the absence of
the fire chief.
The district has set up a com
mittee to address this problem
and encourages all community
members to attend the next VRF
PD board meeting on November
12 at 7:00 p.m., to help with this
ongoing effort.
Paul Epler
Fire Chief, VRFPD
Horse owners need
to clean up pathway
To the Editor:
People - Dogs - Horses
I am not the horse whisperer,
but I am a voice, on paper, for the
folks,
babies,
kids,
baby
boomers and us old folks, who
walk, run, bike, trike, skate,
stroll, rollerblade, skateboard,
use wheelchairs, walkers, crutch
es or canes around the lake.
I have been walking my
dog(s) around the lake path
since 1986, when it was a rough,
rock, clay clod or mud path, and
now, the finished path it is today.
Point - In all this time, I have
never seen a sign that said Bridle
Path.
Walkers with dogs are ad
vised to carry a bag or scooper to
clean up after their pets, so,
horse riders, use a diaper or pick
up one of the two brooms avail
able at the caretaker’s yard, tie it
to your saddle and sweep up or
off the path your pets flowers.
I am not against you nor your
horse. Just the fact you don’t
consider yourself as having to re
spect other people’s use of an
unfouled recreational area.
I swept up approximately 50
feet of your horse flowers on
Tuesday, October 1. I and other
walkers don’t appreciate having
to drag them by your mess (ad
mitted dogs are scavengers at
heart) nor having to step off the
path when cross traffic meets at
those places.
Page 3
So, clean up after yourself or
stay off the path - PLEASE. I
can’t say it any more subtly.
Jacqueline Ramsay
Vernonia
Supports Bernhard,
opposes Cason
To the Editor:
Three candidates are running
for County Commissioner. Rita
Bernhard, the Democratic incum
bent, Cathy Taylor (unaffiliated)
and Joe Cason of the Constitu
tion Party. Rita has a long record
of service in this county. She was
a popular mayor of Scappoose.
She learned the law of county
operations through her years
working in the county counsel’s
office. She has been a good
commissioner for the last four
years. She is serious, friendly,
works hard and spends a lot of
time in meetings with citizens
groups.
Cathy Taylor is also a nice
person and a hard worker. With a
little more experience in county
finance, law and policy, she
would make a good commission
er.
The problem in this race, how
ever, is the Constitution Party
candidate, Joe Cason. The Con
stitution Party, according to its
“2000 Platform” is open only to
professing Christians, it favors
rejecting federal tax support of
our local schools, it favors the re
peal of the Voting Rights Act
(which makes it a crime to use
force or coercion to stop people
from voting) and virtually all other
federal civil rights legislation. It
supports only the original U.S.
constitution and apparently not
the amendments, with the excep
tion of the right to bear arms. And
it wants to abolish the federal in
come tax, which wouldwipe out
more than half of the federal
budget and utterly wreck the
economy. They also, I kid you
not, want to eliminate paper
money and have us go back to
coins only.
Currently, the county supports
programs to control teenage
venereal disease and teen preg
nancies in our county. Mr. Cason
is a leading, angry and emotional
advocate of abolishing those pro
grams.
Continued on page 14
LIBRARY COLUMN
TEMPORARILY MOVED
Because of the number of
letters in this issue, the library
column, Between the Book-
ends, may be found on pg. 10.