Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, August 20, 2009
The
INDEPENDENT
Published on the first and third Thursdays of each month by
The Independent, LLC, 725 Bridge St., Vernonia, OR 97064.
Phone/Fax: 503-429-9410.
Publisher Clark McGaugh, clark@the-independent.net
Editor Rebecca McGaugh, rebecca@the-independent.net
Mentor Noni Andersen
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable based dyes
Opinion
Park access is threatened
Vernonia has a lot of parks for the size of the com-
munity. There’s Anderson Park, Shay Park, Hawkins
Park, Ora Bolmeier Park, Spencer Park, Airport Park
and Vernonia Lake.
Gerie Reynolds has been an excellent park host at
Anderson Park this year. So many people have gone
out of their way to thank her and commend her for the
clean park and her pleasant demeanor. We want to add
our thanks to her for demonstrating what a great park
host can add to this camping area.
Since last October, though, there seems to have
been an unprecedented amount of littering and vandal-
ism at Vernonia’s parks. As these problems arise and
continue, the pleasure and amenities of the parks go
down. First, there is the displeasure of seeing graffiti or
litter. Next, the restrooms got closed and stay closed at
Hawkins Park because of vandalism and lack of clean-
liness by those using the facilities. Next, the restrooms
at Vernonia Lake ended up closed, replaced by those
pleasant to look at (and smell) port-a-potties.
At last Monday’s Vernonia City Council meeting, for-
mer councilor Shirlee Daughtry, spoke to council about
problems at Hawkins Park. A wedding was scheduled
in the park on Saturday. The city crew cleaned up the
park on Friday, then two citizens reported having to
pick up litter later that day, and finally, Daughtry picked
up more litter and found some new vandalism on Sat-
urday morning.
What’s to be done? Well, some of the ideas dis-
cussed at the council meeting included closing the
parks at night by posting closed hours, closing some
parks by putting up fences around them, surveillance
cameras in all parks, more police presence in parks, or
citizen patrols.
We have beautiful parks and would hate to see ac-
cess restricted or so closely monitored that it would feel
like, as one person at the council meeting put it, “Big
Brother is watching”.
It really doesn’t take much. Please don’t take out
your frustrations on the community spaces or public
restrooms and parks. Pick up after yourself, and don’t
vandalize. There are much better ways to express
yourself so that everyone can continue to enjoy, unre-
stricted, the community parks and facilities. Find some-
thing else to do to ‘express’ yourself, or ‘show the man’
or whatever is causing such destructive behavior.
Leave the parks in better shape than you found them
so we can all enjoy them for many years to come.
Thank you.
Out of My Mind…
by Noni Andersen
It’s interesting to watch
the “outrage” that has
been fomented by using
deliberately false descrip-
tions of elements pro-
posed in health care re-
form bills.
A good example is to
require that health insur-
ance pay for patient-physi-
cian consultations regarding end-of-life care
if/when a patient is unable to make their wishes
known. In Oregon, we have long been advised to
complete an “advance directive” or “living will.”
We can even have it included in our health care
file. This is nothing new and it makes sense to
specify our end-of-life preferences when we are
in control of our thoughts.
Nevertheless, this sensible measure is trum-
peted by opponents of health care reform as
“death panels that would force the evaluation of
old or disabled people to determine if they are
worth keeping alive.” Geez, get a grip!
Pharmaceutical companies, for-profit hospi-
tals and clinics, and particularly health insurance
companies have reasons to oppose health care
reform – billions of dollars worth of reasons. Not
one of those reasons has anything to do with a
thirty year decline in the quality of health care, or
people who can’t get health insurance because
of pre-existing conditions, or the increasing mil-
lions of Americans who can’t afford health insur-
ance, or the people who are dropped by their in-
surers when they become critically ill. This is
health care rationing for profit.
Consider these numbers provided by Wendell
Potter, a 16-year Cigna health insurance execu-
tive who left the industry a year ago:
• From 2000 to 2007, health insurance com-
panies’ profits increased by 428%.
• From 2000 to 2007, the number of uninsured
people rose by 19%.
• Only 70% of premiums are spent on health
care.
• The average annual compensation of health
insurance CEOs is $11.9 million.
According to Potter, the companies use “shills
and front groups to spread lies and disinforma-
tion” to block reforms that would benefit not just
the 40 million uninsured Americans, but millions
of people who are in danger of losing health cov-
erage. It is wise to remember that insurance
companies don’t make money by paying claims.
Another of the lies is that reform would harm
veterans health care. It won’t. In fact, the Ameri-
can Legion, wants to expand VA health care to
veterans’ families. Opponents don’t want that be-
cause people are beginning to realize that the
Veterans Administration now runs the most effi-
cient health care system in the U.S.
While health insurance companies will oppose
any change that may reduce profits, the one ele-
ment that really rocks their boat is a “public op-
tion.” This proposal would expand Medicare to
cover people who can’t afford, can’t get, or don’t
want commercial health insurance. Medicare is
See Out of My Mind, page 3