Letters to the Editor
A quaint village tale decrying citizen apathy
From Carolyn Fosmore
Cave Junction
Once upon a time, there was a quaint little village tucked in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon. For many decades, the village had suffered from high poverty rates and a struggling economy.
Decades of hard times had led to a community that seemed to care little about its village government.
While the village struggled economically, the rest of the West Coast continued to urbanize at a rapid pace, thus shrinking the supply of rural villages. This little village, long ignored by economic interests, now had what many on the West Coast wanted: a quaint, rural setting with a beautiful climate and abundant recreational opportunities. Suddenly, this village was in demand.
Developers from outside the area began arriving. They were amazed at what they found. Not only was the village’s beauty and friendliness just as they had heard, but the village leaders were totally unaware of the value of what their village possessed. Still believing their village had little to offer, the village leaders were willing to help the developers in any way they could.
And the citizen apathy was truly amazing.
Unlike nearly every village in Oregon, because no citizens wanted to participate, the village had no planning commission. Without one, the citizens were out of the way.
Village leaders allowed gravel driveways, subdivisions with no curbs or sidewalks. Zoning didn’t matter. Village leaders would stuff whatever the developer wanted into whatever place they wanted it. And the village citizens didn’t seem to care.
Despite unprecedented growth, the village had no professional planner. When the village lost its only engineer who oversaw development projects, village leaders said that was fine, they didn’t need one. And the people of the village went along their own way.
The village sewer plant began operating over capacity. Major spills went into local streams. Streets were not maintained during ice storms, and people were injured. The cost of having no planning began to be impossible to ignore.
Suddenly, the people of the village began to wake up. They began to attend council meetings and asked questions. In the nick of time, the people of this village overcame their comatose apathy and got involved in their village.
Happily, the village was saved from sure destruction.
Bush ‘lying, praying’ seemingly acceptable
From Wally Hardie
Selma
I recently saw a poll that showed the percentage who would not vote for candidates who are Black, female, or of some specific religion.
The very bottom of that entire list of those who would not be voted for was an atheist.
Not understanding why, I took my own poll. Calling at random 80 people, I asked, “Could you vote for an atheist for president, and if not, why not?”
Of the 80, 16 said they could and would if the person was qualified. Two asked, “What’s an atheist?” Fifty-eight said “no” because an atheist could not be trusted (or words to that effect), adding that we must have a religious man we can trust, a man of honor; we need a leader with integrity, a man that does not lie, (or words to that effect).
At the end of each of the 62 calls, I asked “Like President Bush?” Fifty-nine hung up on me without a response, and the other three said “Yes,” and I hung up on them.
After serious thought I came to the conclusion that most of the people want to be lied to by a man of deep faith, with integrity, exactly like George Bush.
So the answer seems to be, lie like hell and pray 10 times a day on public television, so the public can see how honest, sincere and trustworthy you are.
