Letters to the editor: Oct. 11, 2019

Keep measure in place

Earlier this year, I was approached downtown to sign the Oregon Health Care Association petition. It is aimed at repealing the city ordinance that protects nursing home residents and eliminates wasteful non-emergency calls burdening our ambulance EMTs.

The signature gatherers I talked to were not residents of McMinnville. They were being paid to get the signatures.

They did not understand the background of the ordinance either. They were simply parroting the lie that the ordinance somehow imposed a tax on senior citizens.

Unfortunately, enough people believed their nonsense that sufficient signatures were gathered to require us to vote on Measure 36-202 on Nov. 5. I hope everyone will take the time to see through the propaganda of the nursing home industry and vote NO on this repeal measure.

Fire Chief Rich Leipfert and his team spent several years trying to convince local nursing homes to stop calling 911 for non-emergency medical assistance that the nursing homes are supposed to be providing as part of their service to their clients. I attended several city council meetings over the years where the chief and the council discussed how to end the abuse before they finally settled on the ordinance passed last year — the one the nursing home industry now wants repealed.

And you know what? That ordinance worked!

Non-emergency calls from the nursing homes have been virtually eliminated. Our EMTs are now able to focus on real emergency calls designed to assist everyone, be they in nursing homes or private residences.

As taxpayers and voters concerned with effective government service, we would be fools to repeal this ordinance and go back to subsidizing nursing home services with property tax dollars.

Please vote NO on Measure 36-202.

Mark Davis

McMinnville

Change proving disruptive

It has been said that inertia is the greatest friend of the marital state. A wry perspective, perhaps, but there is a truth in it.

Change is hard. There are many things we stay with even though we may not be fully satisfied with them, including marriages, jobs, eating habits and exercise routines.

We stay with the familiar because changing our habits, our relationships, our daily patterns involves risk and a lot of effort. It’s daunting, intimidating. So we stick with our usual routine and try to improve what we have rather than build a brand-new structure.

When it comes to politics, however, we are far more inclined to seek change, often dramatic change. Millions of Americans did exactly that when they voted for Donald Trump, who has proven to be the most disruptive president in modern history.

Millions of Americans currently support Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, who are also transformational politicians, promising to overturn our medical care, tax and social welfare systems. Why are we so willing to roll the dice for political change when we are so reluctant to do the same in our personal lives?

First, asking for political change involves little to no work on our part. We elect politicians to do that work for us. 

Second, the risk is harder to assess. Changing jobs presents clear hazards, but how do we assess the risk of switching to a Medicare for All system? What would happen if we legalized cocaine and heroin?

With so much uncertainty, it’s easy to project our most optimistic dreams — or horrified fears — on political ideas. We tend to be moderates when dealing with personal change but accepting of more radical change in politics.

Given recent experience, maybe we should consider that inertia might be the greatest friend of the political state as well.

Scott Gibson

Amity 

‘The chosen one’

The president has a messianic complex, and this is dangerous for our democracy. Examples of his God-complex are numerous.

Individually, each might be dismissed as him simply bragging or misspeaking. But together they demonstrate a worrisome mental state.

First and most recently, this week he wrote in a tweet that he has “great and unmatched wisdom.” In August, he called himself “the chosen one.” He later said it was a joke, but he is hardly known for his sense of humor. And several times he has tweeted that he is “a very stable genius.” Who talks like this?

Thus, I appreciate the News-Register editorial supporting the impeachment of the president.

There are numerous justifications for impeachment by the House and conviction in a Senate trial. But, sadly, the most important justification for removing him from office may have been made on Saturday Night Live, when Michael Che suggested something is wrong with the president, mentally, and it may no longer be OK to make fun of him.

Brad Thompson

McMinnville

A nation of immigrants

I was moved by the commentary of Miriam Vargas Corona and Jordan Robinson on new immigration rules, from the Sept. 24 Viewpoints. I admire the work of these two organizations, which are trying to improve the lives of the “stranger in our midst” — or not so much a stranger, as is often the case.

How we treat anybody is how we treat everybody. Fear is a wretched and paralyzing emotion.

I am an immigrant myself. My homeland is the UK. And I happen to have traveled to more than 50 countries around the world.

But even being from a country enjoying a “special relationship” with the U.S., I can honestly say that I was and am more afraid of immigration authorities in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world.

I am an immigrant — completely legal, I grant you, but an immigrant all the same. How would you feel if, like me, a Costco gas attendant said, “Why don’t you go back to where you came from.” It strikes me as odd that a country built by immigrants has turned into one that by and large is institutionally ungrateful and disrespectful. Non-law abiding immigrants should be in fear, but for the rest of us, fear should be something banished to the sidelines so we can go on making our contribution and live in peace.

Jonathan Booth

McMinnville

Values alternative perspective

I was dismayed to read Nicole Montesano’s article describing the Sept. 26 board of commissioners meeting, where the appointment of two members to the county health advisory board was discussed.

Yamhill County has a vibrant and diverse community of constituents. Thus, it is concerning that alternative health care providers do not currently sit on the health advisory board.

Availing oneself of alternative health care is not a sufficient substitute for the valuable perspective that an alternative health care provider can bring to the table. Commissioner Starrett should be commended for her efforts to ensure Yamhill County residents are fully informed and represented.

Sophia Mekkers

Newberg

Working together

I want to thank Commissioners Rick Olson and Mary Starrett for urging a work session to address lack of proper representation for alternative medicine on our Yamhill County Board of Health.

I find it concerning that with the bias and adverse experiences related by many constituents, Commissioner Casey Kulla felt it appropriate to joke about it, confirming our frustration over the board being severely one-sided.

A number of people on the board have financial ties to traditional medicine. Having people on the board representing alternative medicine, thus not carrying that conflict, is very much needed in our county.

From the bottom of my heart, I also want to extend a huge thanks to Jay Pearson, McMinnville Parks & Recreation, McMinnville Noon Kiwanis and other foundations that helped get McMinnville’s fully inclusive park built.

Helping families of disabilities has been something very close to my heart since I was 9 years old. I was tasked with caring for a severely disabled girl following the DTP vaccine in 1990s, and she could not enjoy parks like we all were able to.

Today, I work with families caring for disabled vaccine-injured children to protect their rights of informed consent and patient autonomy. Their children’s disabilities have made it next to impossible for them to play at a traditional park, so the families would venture out to other cities for an inclusive park.

It goes to show that when we work together as a community to make children’s health, wellness and safety a priority, anything is possible.

Brittany Ruiz

McMinnville

Just vote no

Please vote NO on McMinnville Measure 36-202, an attempt by the care home industry to repeal a city ordinance imposing fair and necessary fees on local care facilities.

In 2018, our city council passed Ordinance 5059, which imposes a $1,500 fine when a care home misuses the 911 system and an annual $200 per bed fee to partially offset the cost of inspecting care facilities.

In 2017, fire department EMTs were summoned to more than 500 non-emergencies at care facilities. Examples include assistance with lifting a patient into a bed or wheelchair, taking a resident to the ER for renewal of a prescription, and transporting a resident who didn’t want to be transported. Those calls cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, which is why the fine was imposed.

The city has not yet had to fine a care facility, as non-emergency 911 calls have been virtually eliminated. In other words, the $1,500 fine is working, with the result that local taxpayers are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars and freeing our firefighters and EMTs to respond to real emergencies.

Both state law and common sense dictate that care facilities must be regularly inspected. The $200 per bed fee was imposed to offset the cost of those inspections. The monthly cost to facilities runs $16.67 per bed.

Care facilities charge their residents anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 a month, if not more. So in truth, $16.67 is a small amount — especially given the importance of making sure care facilities are safe for their vulnerable residents.

The industry group backing the Measure 36-202 repeal attempt is calling Ordinance 5059 an unfair tax on the elderly.

Don’t fall for scare tactics. Vote NO on 36-202.

Jerry Hart

McMinnville

Finally, a park for all

In 2013, I welcomed my first baby into the world. He was a beautiful, healthy, blue-eyed boy.

After his four-month vaccinations, I noticed my son lost some motor control skills. After his nine-month vaccines, he was getting very ill, and his doctor said, “Something is wrong with your son.”

I continued to trust my doctor. Then, at his three-year wellness exam, following his flu shot, he went from being severely delayed to getting violently ill, engaging in repetitive self-stimulating gestures, losing eye contact and becoming self-injurious. This is when my eyes were opened.

My son received 32 vaccines in his first three years of life, because that’s what my doctor told me was required.

He should be able to talk. He should be potty-trained. And he should be able to play at parks like all of his peers.

Going to parks in our city has been very tough. Running after my youngest while also trying to accommodate a boy with severe delays has shown him that he’s not equal.

I would like to thank McMinnville Parks and Recreation, local community organizations and the McMinnville Kiwanis Club for developing a park that doesn’t discriminate against my son, a park that tells him his disability doesn’t prevent him from enjoying playground equipment as much as any other child.

As a mother, I can play with my disabled son with one hand and my other son with the other, and do it safely. It’s the most amazing feeling, as a mother, to see both looking forward to the park equally lovingly.

Our family is forever grateful for a park that caters to children who are vaccine-injured or otherwise disabled and makes them feel equal.

Jenee Gleason

McMinnville

Addiction linked to abuse

This is in regard to the front page story on Aug. 30 about the local addiction-recovery nonprofit Provoking Hope.

First, I want to acknowledge the great work Provoking Hope does and how many people it helps in this county and community. A relative of mine has received the organization’s help as well.

But one thing Executive Director Diane Reynolds fails to point out in the article is the astounding association between substance abuse in adulthood and sexual abuse in childhood.

According to www.invisiblechildren.org, “two-thirds of people in treatment for drug abuse report being abused as children.” The website also reports, “more than one-third of adolescents with abuse in their past will have a substance abuse disorder, often before they are 18 years of age”; and, “They are also more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol, compared to those without abuse in their past.”

The website www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov indicates “70% of women in treatment for alcohol use disorders reported some kind of sexual abuse.”

I think that’s something Provoking Hope clients in recovery would appreciate knowing.

Gayle Campbell

McMinnville

No basis for expansion

Every day, county commissioners make decisions affecting the lives of residents. At 10 a.m. Oct. 17, they will make one that could do so by raiding pocketbooks.

Crucial to decisionmaking, the county staff prepares information packets prior to each meeting. These packets accompany meeting agendas and direct the course of business.

Meaningful conversation ensues and important findings are ratified as the basis for an ordinance. These findings are included in the language of the ordinance itself, as a preamble.

But the ordinance to increase the number of county commissioners from three to five, up for consideration at the Oct. 17 session, lacks any objective foundation to inform board action. To remain accountable for their actions, county commissioners owe it to the public to document a basis for any new ordinance.

Increasing the number of commissioners figures to costs hundreds of thousands of dollars the first year and millions of dollars over time. Proponents downplay this concern, casting it aside as a far-off problem.

They expect revenue to materialize to cover the added administrative costs. But saying yes to additional overhead says no to other priorities, like public safety, housing, public health and infrastructure.

The normal avenue for citizens to affect change is via initiative petition. That requires gathering signatures and thus encourages careful consideration of diverse viewpoints.

The process of petitioning itself spreads knowledge to members of the community and serves as a test of the will of the people. Commissioners passing an ordinance to refer an issue this consequential to voters amounts to a subversion of that process.

This ordinance falls short of rightful expectations for a transparent political process. I urge our community to contact the commissioners and encourage them to vote against placement of this ordinance on the ballot.

Dan Masterson

McMinnville