Letters to the Editor: March 21, 2025

Melting down in Mac

My daughter and I are from the Salem area. This was our third year attending the Meltdown fundraiser.

This year, we went to eight places. We visited five on the first day, all in McMinnville. The second day, we went to Newberg and visited three more places.

All the melted cheese sandwiches were delicious, but most importantly, all the staff at each place was friendly, welcoming and gracious. The only suggestion I have is that the Meltdown be better advertised.

At three different businesses in Mac, the person we initially dealt with knew nothing about the Meltdown. And these people were in the age group that would most enjoy such delicious sandwiches.

My daughter got Meltdown brochures and delivered them to people we talked to at these businesses.

They seemed very pleased. I even heard a “yum” from one of them.

Jeannette Spurgeon

Salem

Listen to parents

As a parent of a McMinnville School District student, I recently received a Thought Exchange survey regarding a pending $6.5 million shortfall and resulting budget cuts the district is facing.

The Thought Exchange, for those who don’t know, is a survey the district puts out regularly. You are asked questions, generally open-ended and long-form, then allowed to read and agree or disagree with other people’s responses.

To help the district decide how to manage the cut process, it asked parents to describe the most important things about school that they want the district to try and save. The answers were pretty uniform in their focus on mental health, small class sizes, elementary-focused resources, safety measures and extra-curricular activities, particularly STEM-focused.

I really hope the district intends on listening to the survey and actually prioritizing the things that were listed, that is doesn’t just have a performative rubber stamp that says “we asked.”

The shame is, the district probably used one-time ARPA money on staff with no plan to fund that staff going forward. And that staff primarily performs the duties parents want saved.

So guess who will probably get cut? I imagine the superintendent will still get a raise, though.

Rachael James

McMinnville

Concern misplaced

It was with great interest that I read Judy Hromyko’s concern regarding the $7 million spent on an erroneously labeled “transgender mice” study that, in fact, had nothing to do with gender identity. I wonder if she researched why the study was actually done.

More importantly, I am curious how she feels about him playing golf on 13 of his first 48 days at a cost of $18 million, or about his Social Security plan providing little or no help to those who need it most at a cost of $50 billion a year, or his tax plan spending $4.5 trillion on cuts for the top 1%. Compared to these, $7 million doesn’t amount to much.

Andrew Preble

McMinnville

And the alternative?

I have been reading press releases about town halls throughout the state where the current administration’s attempt to reduce costs are being heavily criticized.

But I have not heard any proposed solutions.

We are currently having a $2 trillion annual deficit, which is $2 million spent a million times. We are approaching a national debt of $27 trillion, and spending more on our deficit interest than the military each year. Meanwhile, the Social Security trust fund is reportedly running out of money.

The current spending does not seem sustainable. So what is the alternative?

John Stensland

McMinnville

No to dictatorship

The president of the United States has a job description just like other federal employees. He cannot make laws, declare war, decide how federal money will be spent, interpret laws or even choose cabinet members and Supreme Court unilaterally.

According to the 14th Amendment, he cannot cancel the citizenship of those born here. Nor should he be able to take away the rights of any citizen concerning their sexual or personal identity.

Where are the checks and balances? Where is a Congress that cares more about our country than it fears Trump or lusts after riches?

We pay taxes to support essential services that benefit all, including defense, highways, police and the justice system. Our taxes also support health, welfare and social services.

How can the indiscriminate reduction of federal employees ensure our tax-paid services will not be diminished to a point of damage to our people or their environment? Identify necessary positions first, then downsize, but don’t resort to a “slash and burn” technique

When white men arrived in this country, it was populated by the First People. The “slash and burn” technique decimated their numbers until they gave up and became absorbed or isolated.

The original wave was followed by European immigrants who were discriminated against until also being absorbed or segregated. And slavers sold Black people to the plantation owners, creating suffering that lasted for generations.

We have thrown away our leadership role in the free world and are now on the edge of a dictatorship. We need to push back on every detrimental policy proposal and let Congress know what we want.

This community acts on local issues, but must be aware of national issues, as well and raise its voice. I do not believe anyone wants a declining quality of life, let alone a dictatorship.

Patricia Cates

McMinnville

Not OK

I would like to offer a rebuttal to the recent “Derangement Syndrome” writer.

I am an actual thinking person, and I do believe that spending “$7 million” (although it was actually $8 million) on studying transgenic mice is worth my tax dollars. Research in this field focuses on helping scientists understand biological process and hormone functions in diseases.

Of the $8 million, only $1.4 million went specifically to transgenic research, and that research had nothing to do with gender identity. The rest was spent on studies involving Alzheimer’s, PTSD and depression, all of which saves lives.

DOGE and Trump are lying to the American people to make what they are doing sound OK. But it is not. It is against the law, which is why the courts keep stopping them.

Always looking for truth!

Vicki Gay

McMinnville

Delay and disrupt

I recently attended two different events featuring our elected public officials. One was a talk by Oregon Rep. Lucetta Elmer, the other was a town hall meeting by U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas.

Both women are in the political minority in their respective jobs, but they handle that quite differently.

Elmer is a quiet, thoughtful person who realizes she is in the minority and will try to find areas of agreement and possible compromise on whatever bill she is working on. She talked several times about working with the majority members on her committees to find a mutually acceptable solution.

I have been to town halls before, but none like the one held by Salinas. The elections are over, but this seemed like a Democratic election rally.

I can’t recall Congresswoman Salinas talking about anything other than how to defy, delay and disrupt President Trump.

She seemed proud of all the judicial decisions that may not stand in the long run, but can be used to delay presidential actions. She briefed the audience on all the ways they could use to show their disapproval.

I don’t watch Salem or Washington, D.C. closely. But I came away with the impression Elmer would do her work as conscientiously as she could, while Salinas would continue to fight against President Trump for the next two years no matter what he does.

What a waste.

Craig Pubols

McMinnville