Page 20
The INDEPENDENT, September 1, 2005
Guest Opinion
From page 3
a deposit of $26 and send an
application to them. The appli-
cation contains all the info one
needs. Instead they focus on
your credit and their word is
FINAL.
ARE THEY TRYING TO
GET EVEN WITH ME? When I
called regarding the disconnect
notice, I was told they had not
received ANY payment from
me. The clerk told me online
payments were often screwed
up (not true). Even after I got
my online bill paying company
rep. on a 3-way call to her, she
insisted they had never re-
ceived a check from them,
even after he verified that it had
been deposited to their bank
She insisted a copy be faxed to
her (at my expense). Not only
were the rep and I being called
liars, I had to pay or do without
electricity. It’s absurd to have to
pay a $25 connection fee when
I am already connected and
then $40 for another connec-
tion fee when they stop service
for not paying a connection fee
and then pay an electricity bill I
have already paid. However, I
can’t do without electricity as I
need nebulizer medication for
my lungs. I paid it.
THE CHECK IS IN THE
MAIL STORY. The clerk called
me back. She said they found
the payment which had been
credited to my son and, since
his account was closed, they
had issued a refund check to
him at my address for the
amount I paid. It was in the
mail. Why? My payment to
them was in my name, the ac-
count was in my name, and by
now they knew who Mary
Sykes is, but since the account
number on the check was my
son’s closed account they re-
funded my money to him.
Why didn’t they call me for
clarification instead of sending
a disconnect notice? And who
is being disingenuous here?
The check cleared their bank
on August 2. The refund check
(supposedly in the mail) was
dated August 19, the day AF-
TER I called them! Sounds like
revenge to me.
Yesterday I received a mes-
sage that they were going to
credit the 38 cents late fee.
Whoopdeedoo! They even
changed my “late payment”
credit rating status from a 3 to a
2. It should be a 1. I have nev-
er been late. Moreover, no
mention was made of a pend-
ing board hearing. You see, to
appeal to the board one has to
make an appointment through
WOE; one can’t simply show
up to a meeting and raise cain.
That is what I was told. At least
I won’t need an appointment
now. I’m certain all the board
members will read this. Had I
attended, I suspect they would
have rubber-stamped adminis-
tration’s recommendations as
they always do.
I am not trying to get special
treatment. I paid the $25 con-
nect fee on my rental unit. How-
ever, because of the above cir-
cumstance and the change
was within a family, I hoped
they would waive the fee on my
residential unit. Instead, the
front-desk ruled and threatened
to disconnect weeks after I
joined.
It’s not the $25. It’s the way I
was treated. Members have no
recourse. There is no state au-
thority like the PUC to appeal
to. The board? Has anyone
heard of someone taking an is-
sue to them and winning?.
They take great pride in saying
it is member-owned. So I take
this to The Independent to start
dialogue with members. Do we
REALLY have to pay 2 to 3
times as much as other utilities
in our area? There are many is-
sues with WOE and I will ad-
dress them in my next letter.
Until we owners quit being so
complacent,
nothing
will
change. Who knows, perhaps
we can make a difference and
someday the members will rule
and we can put the C back in
WOE!
of cougars in the different re-
gions of the state as deter-
mined by ODF&W biologists
and the cougar plan. This is al-
lowed under the current state
statutes, even the use of dogs
to track down the cougars is al-
lowed under these provisions.
What will not be allowed is the
use of sportsmen in this cougar
reduction plan, other than the
normal harvest that has already
been established since the dog
ban was voted on by the public.
The plan’s goal is to reduce the
cougar population by about
2,000 cougars from the esti-
mated 5,000 cougars currently
living in Oregon. The plan also
specifically points out that the
female population will be tar-
geted for additional harvest to
slow the growth potential and
the existing imbalance in the
cougar population. Females
with kittens will be allowed to
be harvested, while sportsmen
will still be banned from taking
females with kittens. The goal
of the cougar population reduc-
tion plan is to reduce the popu-
lation to a level that will allow
deer, elk, sheep and other
wildlife to reach higher popula-
tion levels and thus higher
sportsmen harvests in the fu-
ture. This all falls under the
guidance given to the ODF&W
commission.
So what are the points of
contention? First the camp that
wants the cougar population to
self-regulate is not going to be
happy at all, this is understand-
able. Yet, not all is well in the
sportsmen camp either. First is
the major policy shift to use
contract hunters to manage a
big game population. This may
have major ramifications in the
future that will have major im-
pacts on sportsmen’s role as
the sole tool to manage wildlife
in the state of Oregon. The sec-
ond is that not all sportsmen
are sold on the harvest of fe-
males with kittens. With the use
of dogs, it is not necessary to
harvest females with kittens
since the status of the females
can be ascertained prior to har-
vest in most cases. While it will
mean that the contract hunters
will have to work harder to tar-
get females without kittens, it is
the ethical thing to do. Lastly,
the cougar plan is doing what
the sportsmen were doing be-
fore the ban on the use of dogs;
for many sportsmen the solu-
tion is simple, repeal the ban.
There are several things that
will stand in the way of imple-
mentation of the cougar plan.
First the commissioners will
have to agree to implement.
Then there is mounting pres-
sure to get the governor in-
volved, especially since he just
turned down a plan to reestab-
lish the use of dogs by sports-
men. Then the legislature will
have to allocate funding for the
contract hunters. The last will
probably be another ballot
measure to close the loophole
that is being used.
Personally I have no prob-
lem with reducing the cougar
population, either we are going
to have cougars and little deer
and elk or we can intervene
and we can have some cou-
gars and elevated deer and elk
populations. I do have a prob-
lem of eliminating sportsmen
as the sole tool to manage
wildlife in our state. Secondly, I
do have a problem with har-
vesting female cougars with kit-
tens; I just don’t think this is
ethical or socially acceptable.
It will be interesting to see how
this all plays out.
Ike Says…
From page 3
fessional hunters, whichever
term is to your liking. They will
not be allowed to guide sports-
men on the cougar hunts, their
main mission will be to track
down and kill a certain number
Remembered Joy
Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free!
I follow the plan God made for me.
I saw his face, I heard his call,
I took his hand and left it all…
I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work or play;
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss…
Ah yes, these things I, too will miss.
My life’s been full, I’ve savored much;
Good times, good friends, a loved-ones touch.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief –
Don’t shorten yours with undue grief.
Be not burdened with tears of sorrow,
Enjoy the sunshine of the morrow.
This best describes how Johnny B
would want to be remembered.
We, the Family of Johnny B, Thank you.
May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart, and
warmed by the smile of the people who love you.
Jo Ann,
Deb & family, Jill & family,
Dawn & family, John II & family
Mike James
Horseshoeing
503-755-0305
20 years experience
references available
Izaak Walton League,
Nehalem Valley Chapter
meets on the third Thursday
of each month at 7:00 p.m.
Call 503-429-7193 for loca-
tion of meeting.