Illinois Valley News

(Editor“s Note: Views and commentary, including statements made as fact, are strictly those of the letter-writers.)

Typed, double-spaced letters are considered for publication. Hand-written letters that are double-spaced and legible also can be considered. “Thank you“ submissions are not accepted as letters.

Hare best for JoCo
From Herb Carter
Grants Pass

To a great extent, a candidate“s character may be measured by those endorsing him.

Reading the May 5 Illinois Valley News and seeing names of those endorsing Simon Hare, one cannot fail to notice those who are prominent community members: clergymen, public safety officials, civic leaders, attorneys, business owners, resource conservationists, educators and political statesmen.

Also, there are many individuals whose names are familiar, all highly respected professionals in their fields in Josephine County.

All have one common denominator: they have invested in and been part of our community for years, some for generations.

These people know that Simon Hare will be the best commissioner for Josephine County, and openly support his campaign for the betterment of their community. They are not swayed by negative ads spouting half-truths or lies nor libelous innuendo in others“ letters to the editor.

They have invested time getting to know Simon Hare face-to-face; looking him in the eye, making the determination to support and vote for a man of character, one who will stand behind his beliefs and convictions into the future. They possess high standards, and they see the same in Simon Hare.

Don“t be misguided; make your own determination of the facts. This is our community; let“s make sure we get the best person for the job of Josephine County commissioner.

In my opinion, that person is Simon Hare.

Community care-taking rule
From George Lee McElroy
Cave Junction

Warning: You are under the protection of “Community Care-taking Function.“

Definition: Law enforcement must ensure the welfare and safety of a community by making sure that its citizens are acting safely and not endangering other citizens. An officer“s action must be based on the officer“s subjective belief that life or property is threatened.

When enacted, certain of our rights become null and void; specifically our Fourth Amendment “protection against warrantless searches.“ Also our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are no longer secure.

If an officer gives you a command, and you do not follow it immediately, you will be charged with failure to obey a “lawful order.“ If an officer makes a move toward you or grabs your arm, and you move or pull away from him, you will be charged with “resisting arrest.“

The problem we are facing is a total lack of respect law enforcement is showing for law-abiding citizens.

“This Constitution and the laws of the United States“, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.“ (Article VI, “Constitution of the U.S.“)

All lower court judges are to make a determination as to a state statute being in conflict with the U.S. Constitution. If it is, they are to rule against the statute. (It is part of their oath of office.)

When members of the justice system fail to honor their oath of office (Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution) the people are faced with an oppressive form of government.

Our judges and prosecuting attorneys are giving false instructions to our juries. “The jury will judge by the law as I define it to them even if they do not agree with it. The jury must follow the law whether they agree with it or not.“ I have been present and witnessed these instructions.

“The jury has the right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy.“ (John Jay, first Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court 1780.)

“&ellip; In all criminal cases whatever, the jury shall have the right to determine the law, and the facts under the direction of the court as to the law &ellip;“ (Article 1, sec. 16, Oregon State Constitution).

This is a safeguard against attorneys and over-zealous legislatures saddling us with oppressive laws and depriving us of our rights.

All jurors need to understand their power and execute it in a manner consistent with God“s law and the rights He has bestowed on us.

Keep Dave Toler
From Sue Lily
Cave Junction

From a recent letter to the editor in Illinois Valley News:

“The reason Josephine County is out of money is that it no longer receives O&C funds, lost when the environmentalists were successful in shutting down the timber industry. This effort was assisted by the Siskiyou Project, which Dave Toler was affiliated ...“

American citizens do not want the last of their old-growth cut to fund counties, especially when those counties have the lowest tax rates in the country. (Jackson County has quadruple our tax rates, and Douglas County has double our tax rates.)

JoCo is getting federal money, and probably would not be if it were still dependent on the O&C Act.

The timber market is dead due to the dead housing market, so there would not be receipts from timber sales to provide funds.

However, the Secure Rural Schools Act is providing funds. Our Democrat Sen. Wyden authored that act, and deserves re-election.

Had there not been a decoupling, the counties would truly be bankrupt.

If you really care about government efficiency, you would vote now for Dave Toler, so he will win in May. Then he could stop campaigning and put all his energy into being an even better Josephine County commissioner. He is a good manager and could help us move forward more quickly were we to muster our political will to get things accomplished.

A good leader is hard to find. We“ve got one; let“s keep him.

Honors Jack Brown
From Bill Patrick
Grants Pass

Since his youth at Western Washington, Dave Toler has matured into what some call a slick politician. He can work the special interests, including Paradise Ranch, Merlin airport and Rogue Truck Body to gain their support, while at the same time beguiling the citizens.

Only those who are willing can go beyond the myths and fallacy to seek the truth.

One incident citizens remember: When Toler accused fellow Commissioner Sandi Cassanelli of wasting $10,000 on unnecessary inspection of county vehicles.

The JoCo Public Works Dept. requested funds to replace all vehicles with at least 120,000 miles on them with brand-new vehicles, regardless of their condition. Sandi knows that many citizens of the county are driving vehicles with considerably more than 120,000 miles on them. In fact, the sheriff“s office recently replaced some of its older cars with used vehicles that already had more than 100,000 miles on them.

Sandi asked Jack Brown, a licensed auto mechanic, to inspect the vehicles that were scheduled to be replaced. He agreed to do it at no cost, as a service to the citizens of Josephine County. Some questions were raised during the inspection about the maintenance of the vehicles.

The county responded by hiring another mechanic to review the maintenance process and reinspect one vehicle. The mechanic hired by the county said that the vehicles had been properly maintained and were perfectly safe. Commissioner Dave Toler, who had originally voted to rubber-stamp the acquisition of new vehicles, accused Sandi of costing the county $10,000 by investigating whether these vehicles really needed to be replaced.

When asked for an itemized breakdown of those costs, Public Works Director Rob Brandes said that the actual cost was $263 for the mechanic hired by the county.

I see this as a deceitful maneuver by Toler in an attempt to gain support at the expense of another. Is this really the type of person we want for another four years“

I will stick with Jack Brown, a man of honor.

She“s dismayed
From Anita Savio
O’Brien

Although I do not usually bother to read Tales from the Police Blotter in Illinois Valley News, last week I happened to glance at it, and was dismayed at a change from the last time I saw it.

It“s now full of jarring comments such as “creepy people,“ “criminal dorks,“ “brain-dead person,“ and so on in that vein.

The Blotter always suffered from triviality, but it now appears to add the sin of unprofessional language. Perhaps the alleged perpetrators of criminal mischief are, in reality, creepy, dorks, brain-dead, etc. But are not the readers capable of deciding that for themselves“ Perhaps there are even mitigating circumstances (e.g. mental illness, abuse in the home).

I have written before, and will continue to write, about the failure of the News to distinguish between news stories and editorials. Professional journalism recognizes the power of simple, factual reporting. Factual reporting alone has been responsible for immense advances in social and political history.

While editorial and commentary pages are valuable for encouraging discourse and discussion, it is factual reporting alone that puts those pages in perspective.

Shame on Illinois Valley News for once again falling short in the practice of professional journalism.

Tea Party hijacked
From Catherine A. Swift
Grants Pass

I was sadly disappointed to see that political zealots had hijacked the name, “Josephine County Tea Party,“ to endorse their candidate, Jack Brown.

Many diverse people and groups came together to make up the Grants Pass “tea party“ on April 15 to let Washington and our representatives know that spending is out of control, and that we want to return to our founding fathers“ vision of America. We were never told this was a campaign rally and that everyone attending would be endorsing Jack Brown by doing so.

This effort by Jack Brown promoters to deceive puts the legitimacy of all “tea parties“ in question and has done incomparable damage to the open structure of the “tea party“ movement.

The dishonesty is not worthy of Jack Brown.

Candidate flaws
From Lorraine Rafferty
Selma

Jack Brown is the only candidate who has stated he would honor our charter which states that a commissioner“s salary is to be $30,000.

It is beyond me to understand an elected official who cannot do what is obviously right in this regard, and if that is the case, why should we expect them to do anything else right“ This one issue disqualifies all the other candidates.

Other candidate flaws:

Incumbent Dave Toler favors grants over freeing things up and allowing people to make do with what they have. The library thing is a joke. I don“t get it; we the people paid for all of those books. Now a private organization owns them“

Ed Bowers says that there“s a lot of stimulus money to be had. Is he any different from our Congress which passed the stimulus package and indebted our country“ Those who knowingly accept this money are especially guilty.

What all this stimulus money is about is that government wants to take over business. Like it has taken over GM. Ford is doing the American thing and doing much better than GM.

Simon Hare appears to be pretending to have Conservative ideals. He was on the board of directors of two very liberal organizations, including CFA, which claims that our Second Amendment right does not mean what it says; CFA is against the public owning guns.

Go figure, and vote for Jack Brown.

Jack Brown values
From Ron Smith
Grants Pass

The people I see supporting Simon Hare for commissioner are many of the same people who supported me in 2002. I am surprised they cannot see Toler“s political scheme unfolding. This is the way I see it.

Toler knew that he did not stand a good chance of being re-elected without splitting the Conservative vote. His plan. Get Simon Hare to run as a Republican. You know that the Liberals will vote en masse for Toler.

What are Simon“s true values“ He says he has Conservative values. Where did he learn these values“ From his father, or was it growing up in a Liberal household“ Maybe former Sen. Smith taught him conservatism; after all, he worked for the senator three and a half months.

Simon says six years of experience qualifies him to be our commissioner. How does being a D.C. lobbyist and a board member of organizations that are so against our rights qualify him to run the county or defend our constitutional rights“

Wake up, check this person out; Hare is just Toler“s “RINO“ puppet on a string. A vote for Hare is just a vote for Toler.

Jack Brown is an honest man of strong moral character. God first, our Constitution, private property rights and a limited and leaner government — these are the things Jack stands for and believes in. Vote Jack Brown our next county commissioner.

Electronic vote-stealing
From James Walmsley
Cave Junction

The midterm elections coming up are perhaps the most important vote in years which will determine the direction America will go.

There is irrefutable evidence that the electronic voting machines and the optical scanners can be compromised with software containing instructions on how the vote count should be and then it erases itself making it impossible to detect.

The solution is to hand-count paper ballots and hand-deliver the results by deputies to election headquarters. Internet connections and modems also can be compromised. There are those who will say that the “Help America Vote Act“ requires electronic machines. Not true.

The federal government recommends the use of these machines and dangles carrots in the form of millions of dollars worth of grants to facilitate their use. The states are responsible for conducting their elections, and the feds have no authority over them. Anyone heard of the 10th Amendment“

Support your sheriff and demand that paper ballots be hand-counted and that no electronic means be used to transmit results. He/she is the ultimate law enforcer in their respective jurisdictions.

Don“t be fooled by the argument that voters in Portland and Eugene outvote the rest of the state. That only implies that voters in those cities don“t understand the Constitution and their rights.

If any election officials want to sit down with the experts and the sheriff to pooh-pooh my contentions, I will be happy to set up a meeting.

Problem-gambling help
From Gail Stone
Cave Junction

As the community of Cave Junction decides to vote on adding poker-type card game genera to our community, I encourage Cave Junction city residents to vote against the gambling issue on your ballots.

I would like to announce that problem-gambling is an issue in our community. As a gambling-addiction counselor, I have recently begun seeing clients who live in our community to assist them in cleaning up the wreckage of their lives that gambling addiction has caused them.

Gambling is an addiction often unrecognized until a family“s finances are exhausted or until the gambler commits a crime to support his or her compulsive behavior. Gamblers have an extremely high suicide rate. The state of Oregon provides treatment to gamblers and their families without charge.

We have a treatment group and individual counseling in Cave Junction on Wednesdays. If you know someone with a gambling problem, or if you need help contact Options for Southern Oregon at 541-472-9983 and ask for Jean Linck or me. For more information on problem-gambling the state has a wonderful Website; (1877mylimit.org).

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