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in 1937
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Letters to the Editor
(Editor’s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact, are strictly those of the letter-writers.)
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Typed, double-spaced letters written solely to this newspaper and/or Website are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible also can be considered.
Cards of thanks are not accepted as letters.
* * *Break the cycle of pool uncertainty
From Cynthia Hobbins
Cave JunctionThe city of Cave Junction no longer wants the community swimming pool. The not-so-funny joke, “Will our pool open this year?” continues.
After having a somewhat successful season last year, with reducing hours of operation and programs that were not offered due to lack of revenue, the gate fees brought in approximately $15,000. Donations totaled approximately $18,000. That equals $33,000.
The expenses were approximately $25,000 for the summer season, not including winter maintenance. After winter maintenance the pool has about $6,000 left. On top of those funds there is an account of around $3,600 that the I.V. Pool Committee raised for a slide -- money for a slide that cannot be put in a pool that will not open.
Maybe that money could be used to keep the pool open? There is a full tank of propane that was not used last year, because the pool was heated last summer season with just the solar units. The city has spent money replacing an antiquated valve in March in hopes of getting the pool running. But the pool will not open this summer.
The city has written a letter to the county commissioners in hopes of nullifying city ownership, wanting the property back into the county’s property inventory. It is the city’s position that the transfer of ownership of the pool property was completed without full disclosure of the grant conditions connected to the original pool agreement.
This action between the city and county will take some time. The question is, what will happen to our community pool this season? Where will the valley children who want to learn to swim take lessons?
Where will the children, adults and senior citizens who use and believe that the pool is a community asset cool off this summer?
Will the eight Illinois Valley High School students who have been certified as lifeguards to staff the pool have to leave the valley to find a summer job else-where? Is it time to quit and just let the Cave Junction Pool sit unused for a season?
Pools nationwide have be subsidized in order to stay open season after season. In this age of trying to re-educate our youth in our schools with federally mandated programs about health, there must be a way to keep our already existing pool open.
Swimming is a lifetime sport, to be enjoyed by all ages. Programs for our pool need to be developed to increase users. As a community let us use our resources to find the way to say year-after-year, “Yes, our pool will open,” and break the cycle of, “Will the pool open this year?”
Chamber president sees good valley growth
From Terri Hil
Cave JunctionFive years ago, when I accepted the position of Illinois Valley of Commerce board president, my goals were to unite the business communities of Illinois Valley and to remove the invisible barrier at the top of Hay’s Hill.
We wanted to join with our sister city, Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce, not to let it take over, but to help us become stronger for the community, the valley and the county. We knew we had a “big” job ahead of us.
Our goals were to help the valley’s businesses be user-friendly and united. We care about the valley and the chamber business community. We strive to be in the public eye, to let them know we are here for the benefit of us all.
Because of the general membership and the board of directors, we are achieving these and many other goals.
Our community is changing, but not without growing pains. We in the chamber are seeing many of these changes. The five agencies that share the I.V. Visitor Center are reorganizing, and the chamber continues to be part of these changes.
We had a need for a more efficient health-care facility; it is coming soon. We want to see more businesses with family wage jobs -- this also is happening now.
There are many possibilities on the horizon. We have a beautiful and unique area to attract tourists, but we need more lodging. Many of our organizations are working to better these situations. The community should support them when they can.
Our community is growing in a positive way, and with support by residents this movement will continue in a positive direction. We all share a responsibility to promote our beautiful valley.
If we all work together our efforts will benefit our community, our business, our families and our future.
Impeach Bush, she says because of his politics
From Kristine Strohl
Cave JunctionNot many Americans like to talk about politics.
But today at this moment it is of the utmost importance that we talk about politics. If we don’t we may be headed into a full-fledged nuclear war with who knows who.
Bush and his administration have failed to protect this country from attack, from open borders, from Mother Nature; engaged us in a chaotic mess in Iraq; and now he wants to start a nuclear war with Iran. He has spat on our Constitution, legitimized torture, and now he wants to start a nuclear war to force Iran to change its leadership.
Is America proud to be the only nation on Earth to massacre and slaughter hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people without provocation? I’m not.
Bush is again looking to use this country and our military to invade another oil-rich country, Iran, for his oil buddies. But this time he wants to nuke them.
According to Seymour Hirsh’s, 4/2/06 article in the “New Yorker,” several top military brass are extremely worried that this president is going overboard, but they won’t speak up because of fear of reprisal.
It is time for us to bang some doors, raise the roofs and yank some tail to get our elected officials to listen to listen to us. We need to impeach Bush now.
His attacks are linked to corporate greed, not with defending democracy. How much longer will we allow this charade to continue in our name?
If we fall for this president’s denial of this plan to attack Iran, then we accept all his bad judgments, inability, mendacity, and his twisted fabrications about Medicare, Social Security, and Iraq.
To put it bluntly, this president is deceitful, and is misleading this country into a deadly quagmire, and we are the ones who will suffer the consequences.
An end to library’s financial roller-coaster
From Jennifer Berubee
Cave JunctionIn response to Marilyn Arnold’s latest letter, all I can add to her comments is this: The goal of an independent library district is Sustainable Funding.
User fees and donations are wonderful suggestions, but they will not remedy the financial roller-coaster of the library. And, no, Big Brother would not be able to dip into the fund because it would be strictly for the library district.
It is not fair of her to create panic among voters with misinformation.
Backing Dave Toler equals ‘solving problems'
From Barry Snitkin
Cave JunctionI support Dave Toler for county commissioner because Josephine County is being mismanaged, and we need a change. Dave is the only candidate actually talking about solving problems.
We have a budgetary crisis looming in Josephine County, and only Dave has the experience in handling budgetary crises with his nine years on the Three Rivers School District Board.
Dave is committed to our community. He helped secure funds to renovate the Illinois Valley Senior Center and the Wolf Creek Community Center, and chaired a committee to pass a $2.5 million bond to build new fire stations in Illinois Valley. He also secured $50,000 for Wolf Creek Fire District firefighters gear.
Dave wants to ensure that county citizens get the professional management they pay for and deserve, and he would reduce the commissioners to part time and reduce their current salary to accomplish this.
Dave is also supportive of growing our county responsibility. And he supports the services all residents have come to rely upon: senior meals, quality schools, health care and a public library.
And Dave knows that our quality of life is what brought and keeps most of us living here. So I’m voting for Dave Toler for change.
Solutions to ‘self-imposed’ dilemma
From Gil Gilbertson
Grants PassOut of 36 counties in Oregon, we are the only one to restrict the number of prisoners incarcerated at a number less than full capacity. We are filling only 120 beds of our 262-bed jail and releasing up to 75 felons each month.
The Josephine County Board of Commissioners, under direction of the sheriff, proclaimed a ratio of one deputy to five inmates as an absolute. Using this logic, we could have saved ourselves a lot of money by not building a new jail.
In 2003, recommendation presented to our “then” county commissioners proposed a limit on the number of inmates incarcerated in our jail. The commissioners adopted the recommendations made by the sheriff, agreed upon by the district attorney and legal counsel in compliance with Oregon law. See Oregon Revised Statute 169.042 through 046, and JoCo Court Order No. 2003-023.
In reviewing the minutes of that meeting, it became apparent that the “stated” premise of the ratio of one-to-five was based on square footage of jail space in the antiquated jail in the basement of the county courthouse. This same formula was applied to our new state-of-the-art jail without consideration of all the safety features included.
How does one determine the number of deputies required to operate our jail? A member of the National Sheriff Association Executive Board told me, “There is no magic formula because every jail is different.”
Based on my experience, and carefully researching the issue, I believe we need to re-examine the logic behind imposing such a limit and the need of our current “emergency release” program. Releasing criminals back into our community is certainly depressing -- not to mention putting our citizens’ safety and well-being at risk.
Unfortunately, recent studies cited by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Resource Analysis Unit show it is evident that an increase in crimes closely parallels the early release of inmates.
I absolutely cast no aspersions on the dedicated and professional correction deputies working hard to maintain safety in our community -- but rather, identify a problem within the control of our current administration, and offer additional information for its reconsideration on this issue.
The safety of our inmates and deputies is extremely important. With this in mind, special features were included in the design of our modern jail. Our facility was compartmentalized with smaller rooms (called “pods”) separating the number of inmates into smaller, more manageable groups. In addition, other security features such as cameras, electronically controlled doors and controlled movement of personnel are utilized.
With proper supervision, protocols, training, rehearsed emergency drills, and better use of available resources, crisis encounters are diminished, if not eliminated. If overcrowding ever becomes problematic within a common room in the facility, one could employ a simple time-sharing schedule.
In my opinion, the preceding conditions should determine the number of positions (posts) required to staff a jail. Further, multiply the number of positions by the shifts: Add a standard formula to determine labor relief, and you identify the number of personnel needed.
Understandably, the sheriff does not wish to see a reduction in the work force; nor, should the residents of this county. The citizens should demand more, not less full-time professional deputies for obvious reasons. However, until we can afford them, there are other temporary resources available, but seemingly, the sheriff’s administration refuses to engage them.
Yamhill County (Oregon) is a classic example of what an efficient and professionally managed jail can do. Although this county is 55 percent smaller in area than Josephine, with a population of approximately 10,000 more citizens, and has a budget comparable to ours, Sheriff Crabtree has two fewer corrections deputies, yet continually fills his older, less-efficient 250-bed jail to full capacity. Why can we not do better with our state-of-the-art facility?
The county commissioners should: (1) review the need for having a “cap” using the criteria prescribed by law; (2) since the county is self-insured, determine what effect this may have, if any, on our liability; and (3) require a realistic assessment of the situation; and (4) adjust accordingly.
In addition, the sheriff’s office should, (1) develop a strategy whereby the county can manage its inmates similar to what the other 35 counties do -- emulate the demonstrated successes throughout the state; (2) better utilize available resources; and (3) use prudent judgment relative to early release of inmates back into our community.
New library director urged due to trip
From George F. Long
Grants PassAccording to the April 7 Grants Pass newspaper, “Things have been tight at the Josephine County Library this year.”
Week before last, Cessa Vichi, the library system manager, and five employees went to Salem for three days to the OLA conference.
There is still a crisis in management at the library. The manager in essence scheduled a three-day all-expenses-paid-by-taxpayers junket for a third of the library staff. I believe that a new manager is needed, as even former manager Sue Luce would not have pulled this stunt.
The county commissioners should not let Vichi say that it was training for senior people, since the most senior were not asked to attend.
Therefore, I am asking the county commissioners to appoint a new library system manager and conduct an internal investigation to determine who else, such as her immediate supervisor Mark Sorenson, knew that she intended to do this and initiate appropriate discipline. Lastly, I am asking the commissioners to release to the media and the public the total cost of this trip as reported by Vichi.
To continue to waste money from the library’s meager budget is contemptible. Those responsible need to be held accountable.
The current library manager continues to destroy it along the same lines as the last director -- and the very highly paid division manager is not supervising things closely enough, if at all, at the library.
‘What has happened to my country?’
From Josiah Dean
Cave JunctionHaving been bombarded with the details of the trial for Zacarias Moussaoui, I am somewhat confused.
Is it true that we are deciding on whether or not to execute this person because of what he said or didn’t say? Since when did we start killing people for lying?
“Oh, but his lies and omissions caused many deaths,” you say.
Is there anyone else in the news that told lies and left our information that has led to the deaths of thousands of Americans? Let me provide a clue, because nearly 2,400 American soldiers and countless Iraqis are now dead because of what our president said and didn’t say about the threat posed by Iraq.
I am sad that we have become a scared and vengeful nation.
Drop 500-year-old tree for toilet tissue?
From Tim Norman
Cave JunctionRegarding so-called salvage logging, I understand that we have been conditioned to rely on wood products and that there is no other alternative.
In fact, that can’t be further from the truth.
In July, a woman, who has been working on the matter and believes she has viable solutions, will address this topic at the Community Media and Education Center in Cave Junction.
The truth is that there are many other materials that can be used to build homes. We have been sticking just with wood because it is easy to work with, and at one time, was plentiful. Or so we thought; you know, like oil.
In fact there are materials that can be manufactured that are less impervious to fire and insulate better than wood. As far as the other uses for wood, I shudder to think that we drop a 500-year-old tree for toilet paper. I mean, if we can’t find an alternative for our tushes, that is just sad.
We talk about the need for paper for books, to write on, etc. Yet I open my mail box to about a pound of junk mail each day. The bottom line is that there is a lot of waste, and our forests are suffering because of it.
If employment is the issue, why do we send raw timber overseas instead of processing it in our own mills? How many jobs go with those trees to Japan? The timber industry could not care less about the working class. It just wants to ensure bigger profits.
Another point to consider. What do you suppose happened to the coal miners of the Midwest and the Atlantic states when we started shifting our focus for energy on natural gas, electricity and nuclear fusion? They found another way.
Some may scoff at the idea of “the last old-growth” when we are down to 18 percent of our wilderness areas from 1955. It’s becoming reality, and I would like to see a solution before we get to that point.
I acknowledge that there are many who disagree with past logging practices. After all, it is those very practices that have us in the current predicament. I agree with Lynne Vanderlinden (in a previous letter to the editor) that a properly managed harvest program can provide us materials, as well as allow the forests to survive and thrive.
I’m saying that the timber industry will not have anything to do with such a program. It would cut into the annual profits too much to log selectively. It’s the value of money over life, and it’s not getting better: It’s getting worse.
Why the need to invade roadless areas? Why can’t we leave the bulk of the wilderness alone and set up a “crop rotation” somewhere?
Vanderlinden herself indicated 75-foot trees in 30 years. Although she was referring to Mt. St. Helens, which has the soil property to promote such quick growth due to its insides becoming the outside in one huge explosion, I think that maybe this can be done elsewhere. I think it would be an intelligent solution.
The problem is that it would take a lot of energy and effort while cutting into needed profits. Burn and log is a much easier solution to invade protected land.
I believe in the American Indian philosophy that every living thing has a spirit. Every living thing deserves as much respect as we expect for ourselves. They believe in living with the Earth (the mother), not off of it. Vanderlinden is correct in that they lived in structures that could be packed up at a moment’s notice. The fact remains that they respected their environment enough to let it do what it was going to do, and deal with the hand they were dealt.
Why can’t we just create a defensible space around our communities, and leave the wilderness alone? I look forward to a rebuttal by Vanderlinden.
She seems intelligent; I just disagree with her assessment of our timber-harvesting practices. And not only is timber “salvage” unnecessary, it is detrimental to the health of the forest itself.
We need to love our mother. Only then she can provide.
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