Letters to the Editor: Nov. 9, 2018
Help the homeless
I am so disgusted with all the protesting, violence and destruction going on in support of illegal aliens. They are breaking our laws.
We should be out protesting against injustices toward our homeless Americans, who are legally here. Instead, we have adopted the mentality, “Not in my backyard!”
We have put our mentally handicapped, seriously ill, military veterans and just down on their luck people out on the streets. Then we harass and fine them for trying their best to survive, as we are doing to people on Marsh Lane and Dustin Court, and formerly Doran Drive.
In Portland, people want to tear down a multi-million dollar tax-funded building, the Wapato Jail, in preference to seeing it become a homeless shelter. What a waste of resources.
It would be a perfect fit to help our homeless. It could be set up with a clinic to help with mental and physical issues and drug and alcohol rehab.
Yet when illegals come here, we set them up with housing and government assistance, even though they have not contributed one penny to our economy.
What is wrong with us Americans that we don’t take care of our own first? Why do our hearts not bleed for them?
June Horowitz
McMinnville
Say no to bullying
Head Linfield volleyball coach Josh Davis should read the book, “Gifts From The Enemy,” by Trudy Ludwig. She speaks in the public schools about bullying.
It’s pretty sad to read about an adult teacher who needs to learn bullying isn’t acceptable and can be very damaging.
My best friend, Alter Wiener, is a Holocaust survivor who speaks also in the public schools. He teaches we must all treat each other with love and respect.
Volleyball is supposed to be a fun, competitive sport, with coaches encouraging and teaching skills.
My advice to Shelli Wainwright is to place her daughter back into the game she loves and teach her to hold strong on her rights, not allowing herself to be bullied.
Carol Olsen
Lafayette
Gated and locked
Are you a hiker, biker or hunter? Do you enjoy a scenic drive on a rural public road in Yamhill County, due to your age or disability?
Gates have slowly found themselves blocking access to these public roads. Some are posted “No Trespassing” and others are locked.
Keys to at least two gates blocking one Yamhill County public road are sold to the highest bidder by a timber company. Unlike a Yamhill County taxpayer, the leaseholder exchanges money for access to your public road.
County road signs erected after the gates go up read either “Dead End” or “No Outlet.” The actual truth would be, “Your outlet is now blocked due to gated, posted and locked gate across your county public road.”
I hope you express your concerns about the propriety and legality of these gates across local public roads, as I did publicly on Oct. 18, Oct. 25 and Nov. 6. I assumed I would get more than three minutes to speak when this issue was listed on the agenda, but did not.
Taxpayers are currently paying to maintain High Heaven Road, which provides public access to BLM land as well as safe passage for residents like me in the case of an emergency.
Our county commissioners are using ORS 368.056 to justify gating off a public road. That statute was designed for private ranches with public roads winding through them. It allowed cattle guards or unlocked gates to contain livestock.
Allowing a locked gate on High Heaven — or on Commissioner Mary Starrett’s road 11 months ago — is a betrayal of the public trust.
The Yamhill County commissioners are holding the keys to unlocking your access to both public roads and public lands. A meeting to revisit this issue is now scheduled in early December.
Mary Bryant
McMinnville
Damage to economy
I’ll try to explain simply why I believe the current administration has inflicted irreparable harm on the U.S. economy. It may also explain why the U.S. continues to back Saudi Arabia, no matter what actions its ruling monarchy takes.
The U.S. dollar is used by many countries for international trade, including China and Saudi Arabia. This has made it one of strongest currencies, if not the strongest, in the world.
By hitting China and other countries with billions of dollars in tariffs, Donald Trump has angered a lot of governments.
Some of these governments are talking with each other about using a different currency. And some of them undoubtedly will, notably China and Russia, and perhaps the European Union as well.
If the ruling House of Saud decides it no longer wants to use U.S. dollars for trade in Saudi Arabia, other countries will follow suit as well. This will hurt U.S. oil companies in particular, making their operations more expensive.
What do oil companies do with their money? One thing they do is contribute to political campaigns.
This is a very brief explanation, and probably oversimplified. It doesn’t take into account the inflation caused by price rises as a result of the tariffs, for one thing.
But even the aspects discussed above could prove very damaging.
Sam Bear
McMinnville
Wage disparity outrageous
I recently learned about Latina Equal Pay Day. But it’s not a holiday to celebrate, or one we should even have to see on our calendars.
Latina Equal Pay Day is the day we recognize how gender and race-based wage gaps impact Latinas — we’re paid only 53 cents for every dollar our white male counterparts are paid — and look at the causes behind it. As the daughter of Latino immigrants, my family has taught me the value of education. I’m working hard to get good grades and be the best I can be, because I want to be the first in my family to go to college.
I’m putting in hard work right now, and so is my family. But even though we’re investing in my future, the reality is that when I graduate college and enter the workforce, I’ll likely still have to work an extra 11 months to catch up to the annual earnings of a white, non-Hispanic man. Even though I’m still a student, and not yet working, I know this is unfair. And I can’t understand why it happens. A person should be paid based on his or her abilities, not the gender or color of skin.
While women are generally paid far less than men, women of color face an even wider wage gap. As a Latina, it is disappointing to know that on top of all the struggles I already face, this is yet another I’ll have to confront once I’ve finished my education. I know it doesn’t have to be this way. I look forward to talking with others about this issue.
I hope my community will agree that this is unacceptable. It’s time we change this for all girls of color!
Maria de Jesus Gonzalez-Romero
Salem
Voter suppression
The Arizona GOP has filed a lawsuit to stop the counting of mail ballots in the state’s two largest urban areas, where 75 percent vote by mail, as we do.
Verifying voter signatures is done before the ballots are counted. The GOP lawsuit claims signature validation should halt when the polls close, and remaining ballots discarded.
In this case, more than 600,000 votes remain to be verified and counted.
In what twisted universe do we toss ballots in the garbage after they were cast on time and according to law? This system has been in place for years without problems. In an extremely close Senate race, this is a brazen attempt to disenfranchise a huge number of urban voters who statistically lean Democratic.
I love our vote-by-mail system. If this lawsuit leads to tossing out votes in Arizona, then our system becomes vulnerable to a similar attack in Oregon. I don’t think any of us, no matter who we vote for, would be happy to have our legally cast ballots turned into trash.
Fred Fawcett
Lafayette
Comments
T.W.S.
June Horowitz - WELL SAID! It is something like a dramatic tragedy, isn't it! Just how messed up does someone have to be to be so intolerant towards their own countrymen, especially veterans, spitting on them whilst kicking them to the curb; meanwhile they are accepting and tolerant of non-citizens with no legal right to be here with open arms, homes and bank accounts?
Mudstump
Mary Bryant - Access to public land is complicated. If you look at a map you will see a checker board of private and public land all across Oregon. I don't know about county land and access, but I do know that federal land and access roads are closed because it's expensive to maintain roads and budgets have been cut. It is my understanding that even if you can't drive on federal land you may go around a gate and walk the roads. Access is normally denied to vehicles that cause damage during the winter months. One vehicle can cause potential damage that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars to fix. An example would be the Middle Creek slide in Coos County. It's thought that one blocked culvert may have caused a slide 1/2 mile wide. A blocked culvert can be caused by vehicles and lack of maintenance. Who pays to fix that? Taxpayers do. Most of these public roads are a mix of private and federal. Some roads are paid for by private interests and some are paid for with federal dollars. Ask anyone at the BLM about funding for road maintenance. They will tell you that it has been cut drastically. That means that they have to shut down access to vehicles. To enjoy public land you are going to have to park and walk until the roads dry up in the summer. Also, some roads are not graveled. Ruts caused by vehicles can change the course of water run off and that can lead to even more damage and slides.