Letters to the Editor 06/20/2007

To the Editor:

In an article in the June 6th edition of this newspaper concerning Sisters School District's recent bond sale, I described the school board as "self righteous and arrogant." That was way too harsh and unkind, and I apologize to the board for it. ("Residents question school bond issue," The Nugget, June 6, page 3.)

I am critical of the recent bond sale as it denies district voters the right to approve new debt for capital improvements and precludes a broader public discussion the proposal of a bond issue would have generated. The board should have asked the voters to approve a bond issue to meet critical needs. It is the school administration and board's job to, in a timely manner, identify and prioritize needs and then sell the voters on the need to finance them with persuasive arguments.

The elementary school is overcrowded and will only get more so. More classroom space is needed now, and that is a critical need that temporary modular classrooms solve. I would have framed an argument for passage of a bond issue something like this: We have these critical needs, and we can pass a bond issue, or we will use the funds in the Lundgren Mill account to meet the most critical needs. The board can use the Lundgren Mill funds to meet what it feels are critical needs. If timing precluded a voter-approved bond issue, then the board should have used the Lundgren Mill funds.

I also object to the idea brought up in board meetings that this new debt can sometime down the road be rolled into or covered by a larger voter-approved bond issue. That kind of reasoning is presumptive and again puts voters in a future bind. The board should not bank on future voter approval of a bond issue to cover new debt.

It is simply not the right thing to do.

Mark Yinger

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To the Editor:

As I read Mike Morgan's criticism of the recent nonvoter approved bond issue of over $2 million ("Residents question school bond issue," The Nugget, June 6, page 3), I was convinced that it is another of a series of attempts to get around tax limitations - cite all the money raising issues on voter pamphlets.

The recent "earmark" scandals in Congress, just approved by our new Democratic Congress (I happen to be registered as "Independent"), the payment of six-figure Congressional pensions to members who are convicted felons (some currently in prison for stealing public monies), now this, on a local level has convinced me of the truth inherent in Alexander Tyler's 1787 observations on democracy.

In discussing the fall of the Athenian republic of 2,000 years earlier and the limits of democracy, he said: "A democracy is always temporary in nature - it cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will exist up until the time that voters (in this case a school board) discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."

Quoting again: "Every democracy will finally collapse due to a loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

Tyler lists the eight steps Democracy goes through from its beginnings "from bondage to spiritual faith" to where I see us now: Step 6, "from complacency to apathy.'

This complacency can be represented by apathy toward the new legalization of the immigrant status or by ignoring what I and Mr. Morgan believe is the case regarding this bond issue.

As we review this bond issue and the continuing of the "generous gifts from the public treasury" and the continuing power struggle between our President and Congress, I have to ask myself just how close that dictatorship might be.

Are we just a microcosm of what is America's "Step 7" or can we still move back from the apathy?

Russell B. Williams

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To the Editor,

Is anyone else out there growing weary of reading about Mike Morgan's latest diatribe against Sisters School Board members? I, for one, feel our community would be better served without the type of self-appointed watchdog Mr. Morgan fancies himself to be.

Every one of our current and former school board members are unusually dedicated, honest and intelligent citizens who have done and are doing their level best for our district. Mr. Morgan, on the other hand, has done more than his share of damage through his litany of false accusations and spurious legal actions.

Enough is enough. It is time for this so-called "advocate" to find a more constructive hobby and lay off the trustworthy members of the school board.

Kris Calvin

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To the Editor:

The Sisters City Council was right to pass a resolution in support of Senate Bill 30, which seeks to ban the construction of destination resorts in or near the Metolius Basin. We can argue about whether concerns over a resort's impact on Sisters take precedence over Jefferson County's jurisdiction, but there is a much more fundamental and personal issue at stake here for every local resident.

Most of the Metolius Basin is public land located within the Deschutes National Forest. I own it. If you're an American, you do, too. The construction of a destination resort in the area would have a devastating and irreversible impact on this peaceful and pristine land owned by you and me. Every one of us who is concerned about the Metolius Basin's water levels, air quality, wildlife and traffic and population densities has a right-both legal and moral-to speak out against this beautiful land's potential sacrifice for the commercial gain of a few people.

I have backpacked, hiked and climbed over six thousand miles throughout the West. Yet, in all my wilderness travels, I have never seen a river as beautiful as the Metolius. Dear friends, the Metolius is endangered. Speak up now or lose it forever.

Michael Cooper

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To the Editor:

Fifteen members of our family spent the Memorial Day weekend camping in the Deschutes National Forest along the Cold Springs Cutoff Road. Friday evening we were greeted by a Forest Ranger who reminded us to be careful with fire and have a nice weekend.

He left when we talked to him about the litter all around us that was left by a crew of pinecone pickers. He said they have a permit to camp in the forest for three months. We enjoyed our camping experience much more after we cleaned up the trash. Much of it we were able to haul home with us, but we did not have room for all of the bagged-up garbage.

We observed small trees that were cut to make frames for tarp shelters and larger trees that were cut for firewood. Fire places were taken from campgrounds and placed in the forest. One was under low-hanging branches and another was under a tarp that had a hole burned through it.

If the Forest Service continues to give permits for pinecone pickers to camp in the forest, they should require a bond to pay for the cleanup and replant trees after the workers have left. There are solutions to this litter and vandalism problem. If cone picking work was available for minimum wages to local young people now that school is ending, there would not be a need to live in the woods without bath and toilet facilities. One can only suspect the wages are not what they should be, and we Oregon residents are being exploited, too.

Louise Myers

Turner, Oregon