Letters to the Editor 8/30/23

More Bunkhouse Chronicle

To the Editor:

I firmly believe Craig Rullman is fully capable of defending himself, to say nothing of his being able to shrug off criticism. That being said, recent critics seem to feel his characterization of the current President as a “demented octogenarian bigot, who is probably a felon” is somehow to be disparaged, while calling the former President a “narcissistic whack job” is somehow laudable. The hypocrisy of these obviously biased critics is laughable. Craig is spot-on with both assessments. What horrible options the voting public has been given lately!

Please encourage Mr. Rullman to continue submitting his thought-provoking essays. They are the first, and sometimes only, things I read when The Nugget hits my mailbox.

I am delighted that Bunkhouse Chronicles has emerged from an apparent hibernation.

Jerry Wright

Biden failures

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter to the editor which appeared in the August 16 edition of The Nugget, submitted by Terry Weygandt. I most certainly respect the freedom of the press provided to us by the Constitution. It is good to hear and respect dissenting opinions. However, wrapped in the bubble of freedom is the right to dissent and express your own reasons for dissenting.

I have absolutely no respect for the performance of the present President of the United States (POTUS). His performance has certainly fertilized a sharp division in operational outcome and the integrity of the implementation of the action. Congress is certainly at fault as well, but we are not addressing that institution. I believe POTUS’ incompetence is exacerbated by a lack of knowledge, understanding, and propelled by the overall divisive effect on the population.

Obscured by all the fog there is no viable expedient answer, as we are at present only screaming at each other. There is very little in the way of constructive advice that is being offered which collects a sufficient audience to see if there is a light at the end of any identified tunnel. The substance of the issues are very lengthy and ignite philosophical collisions. I will not express my opinion on each, as that is not necessary. I personally feel that leadership is absent in all below instances, evidenced by the eventual collapse or start to self-destruct environment that erupts.

The major issues:

1. Afghanistan pullout. Poor preparation, you never never abandon your exit path while continuing to being engaged by the enemy. You certainly do not leave billions of dollars of operational equipment for the enemy to seize and utilize.

2. Inflation. Even the President has acknowledged he miscalculated that move. Yet he is still propelling solutions through obstructed channels to same actions as an accelerant to the underlying philosophy, accelerating the issue even further.

3. Cancelled Operation Legend. Cannot figure out why he did that.

4. He has essentially weaponized federal law enforcement.

5. He gave permission for Nord Stream, weakening the Ukraine defense mechanism.

6. The border crisis. Every bit of it is his or his cabinet’s responsibility.

7. He has signed no bipartisan legislation, in one case negotiated a compromise.

8. He essentially disabled the pipeline and withdrew strategic oil reserves, which he will have to fill with much more expensive product. The action inherently negatively affects our national security.

9. Highest fuel prices in history, highest food, supply chain disruption can all be laid to his inept activity.

10. Where do you think he really stands on the entire Burisma story?

Do you remember the incident several years ago relative to the accusations of plagiarism during the journey he must have undertaken to obtain his law degree? I do.

Enough. We need somebody with courage, guts, intellect, integrity to lead this country, otherwise the bulldozer of dissent, will act as an incubator for the overgrowth of what will eventually become the new growth to cover the lifeless footprints of capitalism.

Art Mitchell

On a positive note...

To the Editor:

There has been so much said about “hot” topics in our small town, I would like to find a positive note about Sisters to be grateful for: Thank God we no longer have “backwards” parking!

I am also grateful we have someone so dedicated to our free weekly paper, The Nugget, and our community as Jim Cornelius.

Bill Anttila

No to shelter

To the Editor:

I recently learned from The Nugget, the Sisters Cold Weather Shelter (SCWS) somehow received $1.46 million of taxpayer money in the form of a grant, but SCWS does not qualify under the law to operate as a permanent shelter — that begs the question, how were they approved for the grant? SCWS then applied to City of Sisters under a law they did not meet the qualifications for, but were not denied by the City — why? Now we learn, again from The Nugget, the SCWS has not been a nonprofit long enough to meet the requirements for a second application under a different law, but the City, instead of denying the second application as it should have, is considering ignoring the law by using the IRS filing date for SCWS becoming a nonprofit as qualifying instead of the disqualifying effective date — this after meeting with “representatives” from Salem.

Playing fast and loose with the rule of law is a slippery slope that can cause irreparable harm to the City’s image and undermine the public trust. This entire process is suspect in my opinion, and there appears to be a concerted effort by activists to force a permanent shelter on our community. This leaves me with little confidence the shelter will be properly managed if approved and our quality of life will suffer as a result.

Crime is a concern. A RAND corporation study determined that winter homeless shelters cause a 53 percent increase in property crime. How many felons or sex offenders will be guests at the proposed shelter? The state of Oregon is home to the most sex offenders per capita in the U.S. There are currently 772 sex offenders per every 100,000 people in Oregon. The national average is 237 per 100,000. There are hundreds of sexual predators (the most serious offenders) not listed in the database because of backlog. Oregon’s public sex offender website currently only lists about 5 percent of the state’s nearly 33k registered sex offenders. To date, Oregon has never had a complete public list of sex offenders — denying citizens the legal right to be informed.

Sisters is a beautiful community — following in the footsteps of Portland will be a disaster for our city. I strongly oppose the shelter.

JK Wells

Editor’s note:

As reported in the August 23 edition of The Nugget, the City of Sisters accepts the August 12, 2020 “effective date” as the determinative date for SCWS’ qualification as a shelter operator. City Manager Jordan Wheeler stated that, “The City considers the effective date of their IRS exemption to be August 12, 2020 based on the letter from the IRS dated January 22, 2021 that notes the effective date of the exemption to be August 12, 2020. However, the City’s legal counsel has cautioned that the language … is somewhat ambiguous on which date is to be used, and that may have to be resolved by the courts in the future.”

The Sisters City Council has set a hearing on the matter for September 5, at 5 p.m. Click here to see related story.

Medicare Advantage

To the Editor:

I am very happy with my Medicare Advantage Plan. I don’t need St. Charles telling me it is not the right plan for me and trying to convince me that they are really doing me a favor by not accepting Advantage plans. I am supposed to believe that? For this great “opportunity” we will be paying $2,000 more a year in premiums. To those people who don’t like their plan, you are free to change. Don’t drag me into it.

Switching to a “non” Advantage plan can have negative consequences since some providers only want patients with Advantage plans. Switching plans involves a lot of paperwork, which is not easy for our elderly folks in assisted and nursing care.

Not-for-profit hospitals receive a federal tax exemption for providing care to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. So, St. Charles will take the tax exemption but not our insurance; that stinks. I think they should be required to take all Medicare insurance plans if they take the exemption. I would like the law to be changed.

I am angry. If you are angry, please contact Wyden, Merkley, Chavez-DeRemer, Senator Findley, and the governor. Tell all of them how this change will hurt you. To our county commissioners – you might want to think twice about going along with a plan that discourages us from living here. We provide significant tax dollars to the school system without the associated costs of having students in the system.

Since St. Charles takes Federal funds, I think it might be possible for the Oregon Secretary of State to audit St. Charles. I would like to see a performance audit of St. Charles’ insurance claims processing system.

Nancy Kelm