Letters to the Editor 05/26/2010

To the Editor:

I've read the article regarding the $30,000 for a part-time economic development director several times and still cannot understand what the problem is with setting that money aside for more actively attracting additional stores and manufacturers to Sisters. ("Will Sisters get an economic development director?" The Nugget, May 19, page 16.)

We've had several years to ponder this, and the business failures are still happening, taking Sisters' jobs away with them.

The bulk of revenue for the city is from property taxes and other taxes and fees. Even with the many foreclosures Sisters citizens have had, the city still gets all its property taxes paid, if not by the homeowner then by the bank that foreclosed on them. According to their budget, they only expect a slight reduction in the revenue received.

While Sisters had not engaged at all until the unfunded SBART was created, most other cities around us have had economic development directors working in their behalf for years. How many of their successes would have moved to Sisters instead if we had professionals out there working for Sisters?

Yes, we will have crowds arrive for the rodeo and the quilt show among other Sisters events, and they will be purchasing from our various stores. Will they also be going back home with stories about their favorite stores having closed, among so many other empty buildings?

How much longer must we wait until Sisters becomes determined to go after the industries that other nearby cities are wooing? Some cities have supplied financing to support building construction for new industries to move in. We can't supply $30,000 to get some professional help to create an environment attractive to businesses?

The city budget for 2009/10 shows revenue of $12,432,889 coming in. Out of that amount, $5,218,644 (42 percent) will be set aside for operating contingencies. If we took one percent of that contingency fund amount, we would have the $30,000! In addition, since we voted in favor of the gas tax, the city will no longer have to transfer many thousands to the street fund each year. So, let's put that money to work!

Virginia Lindsey

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To the Editor:

Since recently joining the Central Oregon Patriots, a 912 organization affiliated with the Tea Party Movement, I often hear the question, "Where was the Tea Party when (insert this or that affront to the Constitution that occurred during the Bush administration)?"

It's a legitimate question, because there were indeed many affronts to the Constitution during the Bush years and before, so I'll answer it: The movement was simmering.

What is now called the "Tea Party Movement" has been simmering for years just below the surface of an increasingly collective and progressive political juggernaut known as the American two-party system. Future "Tea Baggers" have felt helpless and hopeless for decades over the choices they were given between candidates that would say anything to get into office and do anything to stay there, while an ever-increasing percentage of the electorate became dependent on government subsidies and handouts.

Election and reelection became dependent on pandering to those with their hands out, both rich and poor, at the expense of the middle class and the nation's true producers.

Heretofore hopeless and helpless patriots have thus been jarred to action, and what began as a small tax protest has drawn followers across the nation searching for an outlet for their frustrations, a vehicle to fight back, and a movement that finally gives them voice.

The Obama administration is not the primary cause of the Tea Party Movement; it's simply the catalyst of its growth. The underlying cause is decades of the central government using taxpayer money to buy votes and grow itself beyond proper boundaries as defined by the U.S. Constitution. The cause is now, more than anything else, the defense of that Constitution as the framers intended it to be interpreted.

Dan F. Brown

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To the Editor:

The presentation of the musical "Grease" was outstanding and enjoyed by all who attended this past week. The musical "Rock and Roll Stage" during intermission was also fantastic.

Thanks for the music and dancing!

Sue Edgerton