Letters to the Editor: Feb. 5, 2016

Board sides with militants

Are there other News-Register readers who see the irony among the various stories in last Friday’s paper?

Our esteemed county commissioners once again governed (and I use that term loosely) by knee-jerk response, spending time, energy and county money to align themselves with the recent disastrous occupation in Harney County.

Granted, the $4,000 was allocated to the “litigation fee” to help fund a lawsuit brought by other counties against the Bureau of Land Management and not necessarily directly to the militia groups amassing in Burns. But if one is to believe the original perpetrators of the Malheur Refuge takeover, their purpose was to confront the BLM over land use practices -- so it is not much of a stretch to connect the commissioners’ action as supporting the occupation.

It appears that the $4,000 of county money was approved just prior to the commissioners allowing a “3 Percenter” paramilitary patriot to basically direct the rest of the meeting, spouting his views on the illegal militia occupation.

Now look at some of the other stories in the same issue, The City Council was told that crime is up in Mac and heard discussions about minimum wage and the lack of available housing in our county. It is my understanding that our commissioners were elected as nonpolitical/nonpartisan civil servants to address and attend to the many issues that affect Yamhill County, not to espouse their political views and agenda.

They are also to respect and uphold city, county, state and federal laws whether or not they agree with them They also need to gather all the facts before making irresponsible statements such as blaming the BLM for LaVoy Finicum’s death. Our commissioners are accountable to all the citizens of Yamhill County, not just self-named patriot groups who hold similar ideological beliefs.

Eric Witherspoon 
Yamhill

School deserves money

I am writing to urge a yes vote on the upcoming school bond.

There are two distinct components to this bond: funding for needed upgrades throughout the school district and funding for a continued remodel of the existing high school.

The first component is straightforward. We need our schools to be safe, healthy, energy efficient and well-maintained. To do anything less would be a disservice to our community, our teachers, and, most of all, our children.

The second component of the bond is funding to continue the remodel of the existing high school. Over the past two years, I have been part of McMinnville School District’s Long-Range Facility Task Force. The task force was made up of citizens, school board members and district staff with a charter to determine how best to manage the infrastructure requirements of the district. When we started, like many members of our community, I was confident that we needed to build a new high school on Hill Road. Over the course of our meetings and deliberations, my view has changed. As much as we all want to abandon the old campus, there are insufficient arguments to make the case.

The cost to build a replacement high school would require an untenable increase in property taxes. Although I would personally vote for the tax increases, we have no confidence the voters would pass such a bond. The proposed bond will allow the school district to complete Phase II of the remodel started after the last bond and do so with no change in the tax rate.

The improvements at the high school will further expand the vocational offerings available to our students, replace antiquated infrastructure and make energy efficiency upgrades.

A community’s health is measured by many features, chief among those is the strength of the schools. A vote for this bond is a vote for the community we call home.

Carson Benner 
McMinnville