Letters to the Editor 04/09/2008

To the Editor:

The recent headline news "Firefighters torch house for training" and the comments by the people who are all in favor of "training fires" makes it clear that none of them have taken into consideration the large number of people that have bronchial problems caused by the smoke.

Many people are seriously affected by the smoke that seems to penetrate everything when there is a large fire. The air quality of Sisters on the day the last house was burned would certainly not stand up to EPA standards, and this should be taken into consideration by the entire fire department.

"I had a lot of fun and learned quite a bit from the more experienced firefighters," is one way to look at the burning of a house; another is to think about the number of people that had to see their doctor because of breathing problems.

The fires that are started by the Forest Service personnel to clear the forests around Sisters are, of course, a problem for a large number of people whenever this is done. Yes, we understand the need to do this to prevent larger fires and understand the Forest Service does try to take wind conditions in consideration in trying to eliminate the smoke that gathers in the entire area around Sisters.

If you don't believe me that this causes a large number of health problems for people, please call any of the physicians that practice in Sisters and ask them how many more patients they see with severe bronchitis during the burning season.

Thank goodness that "Unfortunately, there will probably be less of these (Burn to Learn Exercises) in the next few years . . . ." It will be a godsend to a lot of people if they never burn another house in Sisters again. I certainly hope the fire department takes this into consideration in the future.

Kenneth Ehlers

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To the Editor:

The recent comments of Sisters schools superintendent Elaine Drakulich were outrageous but accurately reflect the agenda of the public school industry. The education industry wants the public out of public education.

The Oregon School Boards Association (OSBA) has a secrecy agenda. This is evidenced by their recent support at the Oregon Appellate Court of a Klamath School District case that greatly expanded the application of attorney client privilege. The following year the Oregon Newspaper Publishing Association sponsored Senate Bill 671 to reverse the effects of the Klamath case. OSBA opposed this legislation but failed to stop it from becoming law.

In February of 2007 I wrote two letters to the head of legal services for OSBA pointing out errors in their pamphlet on public meeting law. They did not respond. These errors are causing school districts statewide to violate public meeting law. I filed suit against the Sisters School District to force compliance with record keeping requirements and prevailed, but this action had no effect on OSBA or other school districts.

Our tax money is funding OSBA lobbyists and lawyers who are trying to get laws written and court rulings to make it impossible to get information from public school districts regarding most everything that they do. A democracy cannot survive without disclosure and public oversight. Please get involved.

Mike Morgan