Letters, letters, letters

Last updated Oct 28, 2003 12:0pm0

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

My hat's off to The Nugget Newspaper. You really do a great job of keeping me informed of current events in the City of Sisters.

However, your recent article on the Sisters Library has omitted information on which city (and Deschutes County) residents should be aware of and concerned.

The Deschutes County Public Library Board, led by Director Michael Gaston, has elected to sole-source the design to architect Richard Turi from Coos Bay, instead of following the Oregon statutes which require a public bid process.

This decision was apparently based on the idea of utilizing the La Pine Library plans for the new Sisters Library in order to "save on design fees," which incidentally appear to be higher than normal design fees for a new design (Cascade Business News, October, 15).

It has also been stated that "input" from area residents will be incorporated in the design, as well as City of Sisters architectural requirements.

This double talk from Mr. Gaston not only doesn't make sense, but he has failed to adequately justify and explain his decision to sole-source the design to a non-Central Oregon designer and not support local professionals (or at least give them a chance).

In the end, the Library Board will not save money on the design (added travel expenses, design changes, etc.). Gaston's comment "We hear things about aesthetics and when some of them blow the budget, it will come back to the major stakeholders: City of Sisters, Friends, and the Sisters School District" (The Nugget, October, 22) is just a means to try and pass off these additional cost overruns to the Sisters residents.

Central Oregon has a wealth of design professionals which can produce excellent, cost effective designs. If you need an example, just look to the new Sisters High School.

Eugene Trahern

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To the Editor:

While policing up a one mile stretch of road in Crossroads a while back, I made an interesting and disturbing discovery. Must be my military training, but I did notice a number of cigarette butts on the side of the road, lying in pine needles and other combustible materials.

So I decided to pick them up and count them after my walk, and believe it or not they totaled nearly 100 -- and this scares me.

I personally have never smoked, have been tolerant of friends that did, but we do live in a tinder dry climate and I appeal to your sense of propriety.

If you must smoke in your car, please use your ash tray, or other container and do not throw them out your window.

Let's remember the devastation caused by the B&B Complex Fire and try not to have it repeat itself in our community; we all have too much to lose, and I don't think this is too much to ask of you.

Jim Ward

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To the Editor:

One of the best advertisements I've seen in The Nugget was entered by Certified Property Management with a full page ad and a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for killing the cat which was deposited at the Bad Ass Coffee Company.

Let's all rally around the lead of these animals lovers and donate to the reward pool showing our support that Sisters doesn't tolerate cruelty to animals within our community.

Sincerely,

Bernice Rossana

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To the Editor:

Thank you to the superb organizers of the Sisters Soccer Club, which just concluded another fun fall season.

Thanks to the dedication and unflagging energy of Suzy and Mark Peterson, Robin & David Carlson and Jim Cummins, the children of our community can learn sportsmanship and the thrill of competition through the great sport of soccer.

These adults deserve our appreciation for organizing the teams, scheduling practices, gathering release forms, lining the fields, setting up and taking down goals, coaching teams, distributing equipment, ordering uniforms and scheduling referees, in short, in making the league a smooth-running affair.

The league is actively recruiting new coaches, and looking for new volunteers to assure it remains an on going activity in Sisters.

It's a fantastic way to get to know the great kids that are growing up in our community.