Letters to the Editor: Dec. 5, 2025

Ferrua best choice

As a past long-time employee and board member in the McMinnville School District, I am writing in support of maintaining Dr. Kourtney Ferrua as school superintendent on a permanent basis.

I was a member of the board during the last superintendent search.

We conducted a comprehensive search with the assistance of a professional superintendent search firm. We held countless meetings and spent hours and hours reviewing candidate applications and credentials.

We made our decision and hired the candidate we thought would be the best to continue and build on the success of our district. Sadly, state data served to prove otherwise.

Dr. Ferrua is a proven success as a leader in our schools. She has a deep understanding of both the district and community culture.

As a past principal and curriculum director, she was an integral member of the team that made McMinnville School District a leader in the state. And her knowledge and experience can take us there again.

No other candidate has such a thorough understanding of the standards, curriculum and staff training in our district. Dr. Ferrua can seamlessly lead our district forward.

Our students and staff have been through enough changes and disruption. Her tenure as interim superintendent has been positive.

Her ability to lead has been proven. Our best permanent superintendent is already here.

Barbara Carter

McMinnville

Time to speak out

The recent actions by federal immigration officials in McMinnville should trouble all of us.

The detention of a McMinnville High School student is not just an isolated incident. It is part of a pattern that now lives in the shadows of our streets, our schools and our homes.

The absence of clear information has only intensified the alarm. What we do know is stark: These tactics are inflicting fear.

I hear it in the hesitation of parents wondering whether it’s safe to take their children to school. I see it in the eyes of people unsure whether they can go to work, shop for groceries or attend church without risking separation from their families.

This constant hesitation is not just stressful. It is corrosive, serving to contradict the values this community has worked to build.

McMinnville has long prided itself on being a place where people look out for one another. Yet today, many are enduring fear while trying to maintain normal lives, bracing for the possibility that everything could change in a moment.

Our leaders cannot respond with silence. Silence communicates indifference. Silence makes fear feel justified. And silence, in this moment, is complicity.

If officials believe in a safe and cohesive community, they must say clearly, publicly, and without qualification. Anything less leaves those most vulnerable feeling abandoned.

Every resident deserves not only safety, but certainty that they belong here. If we are the community we claim to be, this is the moment to prove it.

Stephen Goldsmith

McMinnville

Just say no

The gas station development currently threatening to destroy Carlton is being pursued by McMinnville resident Birpal Johal. Johal owns approximately 60 LLC’s in Oregon, including those operating the Marathon gas station in Yamhill and the Taste of India restaurant on Third Street in McMinnville.

My family and I moved to Carlton in March. We learned shortly after moving in about Johal’s plan to put up a gas station on Hawn Creek, just beyond our backyard.

The site is surrounded by a winery and agricultural land, and access is tight. It would require modifications to existing codes and requirements to accommodate a gas station.

The Carlton Planning Commission denied the applications, but Johal has appealed to the city council. There is a meeting on it scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9.

I took the liberty of protesting in front of Taste of India on Nov. 17 to let local residents know the owner is behind the gas station plan. The staff there denied this, but the Secretary of State filing make it abundantly clear that they are one in the same.

Of note: The day after I protested at Taste of India, someone changed the ownership structure listed with the Secretary of State, leaving it harder to make the connection. Could this be because locals are not happy about the gas station plan?

I happen to think transparency is a good thing, and that local residents have a right to know who they are spending their money with.

Ian Giammanco

Carlton

Where’s the DA?

I am a 77-year-old McMinnville resident who attends protests in McMinnville and Newberg. I am asking Yamhill County District Attorney Kate Lynch to publicly address the McMinnville incident cited in the attorney general’s Nov. 24 letter of concern — the reported arrest of a 17-year-old high school student holding U.S. citizenship, which included the breaking of his car window by federal agents.

The letter was co-signed by the district attorneys serving Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties, but not by our district attorney. And this incident happened here in our county, which has a large Latino population.

That population includes many U.S. citizens who live, work, and raise families in our community. Members of some of those families work for me and are fearful.

They deserve to know whether our district attorney is actively reviewing this case and coordinating with the attorney general. They also deserve to know what protections exist when federal officers act badly here.

Kathleen Dennis

McMinnville

Terrorists

A terrorist is one who awakens or spreads a feeling of fear. Given this definition, ICE agents are terrorists.

Here in MAC, there is an eight-year-old Latino boy who is traumatized. He knows the high school student whom ICE agents yanked from his car and detained. The boy, a U.S. citizen, is fearful that ICE will take him from his classroom and detain him.

There are Latino adults who are sheltering in place, fearful to venture forth. Before going to a grocery store, they call ahead to see if there are ICE agents lurking in the area.

Through his national police force, President Trump is visiting a reign of terror on the American people. This must stop, but I fear Congress does not have the gumption to defund ICE, thus shutting it down.

Robert Mason

McMinnville

Unconscionable

Rails-to-Trails pathways already exist in every state across the country.

As our region grows, more of our neighbors live in apartment complexes or homes built on very small lots. The Yamhelas Westsider Trail would provide an opportunity for individuals and families to enjoy an affordable outing. For the cost of a picnic lunch and a little fuel, they could lace up their shoes or load up the bikes and enjoy a healthy outdoor adventure.

It is unconscionable that Mary Starrett and Kit Johnston would choose to forever deny the citizens of Yamhill County the use of this rare, available corridor. The only beneficiaries of this action would be their deep-pocketed supporters, not the citizens they were elected to represent.

Joan Buccino

McMinnville

Professional courtesy

Well, of course President Trump pardoned noted crook, felon and fraudster David Gentile file days into a seven-year prison term. For heaven’s sake, people, it’s simple professional courtesy

David Pichette

McMinnville

Potential giveaway

The efforts of Yamhill County Commissioners Johnston and Starrett to remove the Yamhelas-Westsider Trail from the county transportation plan could end up giving farmers along the route free land.

Under the law, ownership of the 12.48 miles of right of way the county purchased from Union Pacific would likely be transferred to the abutting landowners at no cost were the commissioners to pursue its vacation and abandonment. The limited uses for a narrow old railroad alignment suggests it lacks market value to others. Cancelling the trail project likely requires repayment of the $3.3 million in federal and state grants and a waste of the $1.5 million in county funds put toward purchase the right of way. Taxpayers could be on the hook for that while the farmers get the land back for free.

Why would these commissioners cancel a planned trail project that has strong public support?

Because farmers do not like public trails near their fields, and the agriculture and timber industries are the major campaign contributors for these two commissioners. Commissioner Johnston received more than $40,000 from these groups when he won his seat in 2022, and will need their support again for the 2026 election.

Why the rush to remove the trail project from the county transportation plan and schedule hearings over the holidays? Commissioner Starrett is leaving office and Commissioner Johnston has opponents trying to unseat him in the upcoming election.

These commissioners need to be reminded they took an oath to represent the best interests of their constituents and taxpayers, not their campaign donors. They can be reached at BOCInfo@yamillcounty.gov.

Sheryl Patterson

Lafayette

Ask the people

Fifty-some years ago, when I graduated from Mac High, the city’s population was 11,000. Now it is more than triple that. At this rate of growth, the city’s population will hit 100,000 in another 50 years and could reach 300,000 in another hundred years.

In what manner people and goods will be transported in 100 years, I have absolutely no idea.

But destroying one of our future generations’ options by selling parts of the county’s existing right-of-way is selfish and shortsighted. It favors the few to the detriment of the many.

Leaving the destiny of this intact thoroughfare to only two county residents is a big mistake. We have an election in May, let’s put it to a public vote.

Dan Armstrong

Yamhill

Shining example

I am writing to lend my voice to the growing number of McMinnville residents that view the escalation of ICE actions in our community with alarm — in particular, the recent detention of a McMinnville minor, which greatly concerns me.

McMinnville prides itself on being a family-friendly town. Do we only extend that friendship to “certain” families?

These actions ripple out into the greater community. The damage is not confined to the people directly involved.

I’m sure there are many teachers that can attest to the impact the removal of a classmate has on students.

I urge McMinnville to join Salem, Hillsboro, Forest Grove and other Oregon cities in acknowledging the crisis. I also ask that our city go further — to outline the city’s role in mitigating harm.

McMinnville must stand up for its neighbors now. I call on our local leaders to respond swiftly and publicly, affirming that McMinnville values the dignity and safety of all residents, regardless of immigration status.

Please, let’s be a shining example of what “family-friendly” truly means.

Chantelle Sims

McMinnville