Letters to the Editor
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Lost girl searchers bring heartfelt note
From Joe & Rikki Larese
Cave Junction
We appreciate the people of Cave Junction for coming together as a community in the search for our daughter, Candessa, 5, on Monday, Sept. 24.
We have lived here two years, and have thought of moving. But after the support we received from so many people that we had never met, and those we’ve known since moving here, we will never leave Cave Junction. It is a wonderful town, and the people are just as great.
We feel more grateful than words can describe.
‘What is this world coming to?’
From Sonny Moore
Cave Junction
Wednesday, Sept. 26 marked “See You At The Pole,” a day where students gather around flag poles to pray for their schools, teachers, students, local and national governments. Several students of faith distributed the following note to the teachers and staff of Lorna Byrne Middle School:
“While you were preparing for the day and the lesson plan we took the time to pray for you! May God bless you for your dedication and commitment to our education and may you see the fruits of your labor even when it seems to be an impossible task … ‘The Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)’.”
The note was not met favorably by some of the staff. In fact, some were offended. One was quoted as saying, “This is wrong ... this is illegal.”
What is this world coming to?
We are amid a national government that can’t fix our educational problems, and a state legislator who puts education on the bottom of their list of priorities. Teachers complain of over-crowded classrooms and not enough resources to get the job done. In most schools there is an atmosphere on the border of chaos, hate crimes committed in the hallways, students cussing out their teachers for the homework they did not complete.
Students are dying right before our eyes because of poor choices; and all the while, a total lack of respect, self-control and basic human decency toward one another. Have we been so conditioned to the ugliness and curses of our day that we look a gift horse in the mouth?
What is this world coming to?
I personally would like to go on public record in favor of the students of faith for taking time out of their day and putting others before themselves. They are part of the solution instead of the problems. In a world that seems so bent on the negative, I welcome any blessing I can get.
All students of faith will find that great is their reward.
Rebuttal to Wally Aiken from JCSO volunteer
From Charles MacNeil
Cave Junction
Untruths, let us count the ways. We will wait for Wally Aiken (IIllinois
Valley News Letter to the Editor, Sept. 19) to remove his shoes.
First, I am not a deputy sheriff; I am a volunteer for the sheriff. I do not wear a gun, carry handcuffs, or get paid. We buy our own uniforms, coats, shoes and hats. If Aiken grows some, we will be happy for him to join us, or the CJ Citizens Patrol.
Aiken was breaking the law by parking across handicap stripes and parking space. It was at 3 in the afternoon, and he was unloading (I suppose) band equipment. There were other spaces to park (not handicap). And man has invented a device called a dolly; he might try to figure out how to use one to move his equipment.
He suggested that I should be in Baghdad issuing citations for littering. On 9/11 I tried with many other vets, but was turned down because of my age. I am 62. I am a proud Vietnam vet, with three Bronze Stars and other medals. In 1966 and ‘67 I did not see Aiken, but if he was there, thank God he made it home.
Across the street at Sterling bank, people were getting money out of the ATM for lunch (at Nacho Mama’s) where he was blocking the handicap space. Now they will never eat there because of the conduct of him and his friends conduct. They are proud parents of a son in Iraq, so Aiken and his voiceless friends should remove their feet before yelling.
Toler seems to write off forest industry, she feels
From Jennifer Phillippi
Rough & Ready Lumber Co.
Cave Junction
I was astonished to see Josephine County Commissioner Dave Toler’s recent guest opinion coming out against the Bureau of Land Management’s preferred forest harvest plan.
With less than one year of the timber safety net remaining, we face the loss of funding for law enforcement, libraries, health care and public works. We count on our commissioners to look out for our county’s economic and social well being, and the BLM preferred Alternative 2 provides a much-needed opportunity to stabilize our county.
Toler’s position on the place of timber harvest in our county’s economy is markedly at odds with three other prominent voices heard recently.
Grants Pass Daily Courier editor Dennis Roler did an excellent job describing the need for a diversified local economy. Roler, in agreement with Toler, points to health care and service jobs as important components of a robust economy. But where the two diverge is in the role forestry should play in creating economic resiliency.
Roler points out the need to protect existing jobs in the forest sector and hopefully add to them. He notes that given the vast forest tracts in the county, the forest industry can, and should still, contribute significantly.
Harvard Business School’s Dr. Michael Porter corroborates the view Roler holds. Porter told the 2006 Oregon Business Leadership Summit that Oregon’s competitive advantage for economic growth in the global economy is its potential to combine unique strengths in abundant natural resources with capabilities in high-technology, higher education, and its tradition of strict environmental standards. Porter believes that it is a mistake, for example, to think of forestry and high-tech as separate or competing clusters.
The third voice endorsing forestry’s place in Oregon’s economy is that of Gov. Kulongoski. In a recent letter to several eastern Oregon counties, the governor offers support relevant enough to warrant substantial inclusion here. He says:
“News reports of mill closures in Harney, Grant and Wallowa counties are deeply troubling to me … any Oregonian who values the diversity and independent spirit of our state should be equally troubled. The wood products industry has been and continues to be a major industry in Oregon and we must do more to ensure that the raw material with which we have been naturally blessed continues to be harvested, in a predictable, competitively priced, sustainable and ecologically sensitive fashion.”
In conveying his distress at the loss of 200 jobs in a region of 22,000 people, the governor describes the often-overlooked contributions of rural counties, a subject close to my heart:
“The social fabric and health of rural Oregon communities must be protected, and I am committed to working with you to preserve the fundamental economic infrastructure that has served as a cornerstone of your region for decades. Oregon has a long and rich tradition of placing great value on the work ethic and independence of our rural areas and I am equally committed to preserving your right to enjoy economic self-sufficiency.”
In contrast to Toler’s seeming willingness to write off the forest sector, Kulongoski’s letter offers heartening support. He states his readiness to “ensure more dependable and sustainable harvest of timber from our federal lands;” and “to ensure our remaining mills a dependable supply of timber from our federal lands.”
Toler worries about “turning back the clock.” But a more in-depth look at Josephine County forests (more than 70 percent federally owned) points out a different reality:
If the BLM plan is implemented, 80 percent of total federal ownership will continue to be managed exclusively for ecological and aesthetic purposes including wildlife, clean water and air, and recreation.
Harvest levels would be only 20 percent of the annual growth on federal lands in Josephine County under the BLM Preferred Alternative and the current U.S. Forest Service plan.
Strong regulations and modern forest practices safeguard the ecological values we all cherish.
Toler, in discounting the BLM plan, offers little in the way of alternatives. The safety net disappears just next year, and the new service and tourism economy Toler extols seems far away. He describes an old-fashioned and shortsighted “either/or” paradigm in respect to forest management and economic diversity.
Considering the enormous effort to restore health in over-dense, fire-prone forests, it becomes clear that healthy forests and active management are not only compatible, but inseparable.
Moreover, economists consider “traded-sector” jobs, such as those in forestry, to be particularly valuable because products are largely sold out-of-state, and bring new money into the economy. While health care is also important, it is a “nontraded sector” with most of its consumers local.
Toler believes that reliance on forestry “confuses and distracts” citizens from considering economic alternatives. But, Toler’s view itself leads away from diversity. It is no wonder that many county residents are reluctant to pass needed tax measures, knowing that an incredible resource is being overlooked as part of a sustainable economy.
During the years, Oregon has developed a world-class infrastructure around its forest sector: The best forest research program in North America at the OSU College of Forestry at Corvallis; technologically innovative manufacturing capabilities; and leadership in sustainable forest management.
And we have maintained high environmental standards in our forests while remaining the nation’s leading lumber producer for nearly 70 years. What a shame it would be to walk away from these hard-won achievements. They provide our region with unparalleled environmental, social and economic advantage.
(Editor’s Note: The guest opinion by Dave Toler to which Phillippi refers was printed in the Courier on Sept. 19, and subsequently in the Oregonian. It was not submitted to Illinois Valley News.)
Kulongoski’s pay hikes for managers raise ire
From Ken Allen,
executive director
Oregon Council 75, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees/Portland
Rank-and-file state employees have been slapped in the face with the news that Gov. Kulongoski has issued top-heavy pay raises for all state managers.
With 33 years of collective bargaining experience, 16 of them at various state “central table” negotiations, I thought I’d heard and seen everything. But we are outraged at this proposed package for state managers. Having just finished months of face-to-face bargaining with the state, we feel like we’ve been lied to.
Some quick background. We, AFSCME, are the second-largest union of state employees, and we represent several state agencies with unique jobs and job classifications that are difficult to fill under any circumstances. We represent a variety of scientists and other advance degreed people at DEQ, DLCD, the State Lands Division and others.
We represent most Corrections employees in the state, both correctional officers and the others who work inside prison walls. During the past 15 years, there have been pay freezes during seven of those years for state workers, so they’ve only averaged a raise about every other year.
In late August, after months of negotiating for our members, we signed off on a deal that the state said was the absolute maximum it could afford. As part of that process, we spent weeks comparing data from other states and some Oregon counties and with a special eye on classifications where we know the state has special recruitment and retention problems.
But noteworthy is the fact that DAS (Dept. of Administrative Services) always balks at using cities and other local governments as comparators for us, especially the cities of Portland and Salem that absolutely compete with the state for employees. Yet DAS is happy to turn right around and use such cities as comparators for justifying its management raises.
Here’s another problem: This management package is more than triple than what our agreement was, and the state has unilaterally given this across-the-board increase to every manager. But not every management position is a recruitment and retention problem for the state. Yet every state agency will now have to “eat the costs” of these raises, meaning our members could face layoffs -- or at the least, face increased workloads as agencies won’t be able to “afford” to replace front-line workers.
Finally, this move is short-sighted because it portends a bad future for the state in coming negotiations. How can we trust DAS when it tells us, “This is all we can afford” in the future? Why would we ever settle again before we find out what management is giving themselves?
Our trust has been violated: We’ve been slapped and lied to -- and we will not forget it.
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