Letters to the editor: Oct. 25, 2019

A better way

At 400,000, the latest guestimates of the opioid overdose death toll exceeds that of military casualties in all our previous wars except the Civil War. But there are demonstrated ways of making big inroads into solving this dreadful problem.

Recently, local son Nicholas Kristof pointed out in his New York Times column that Portugal has had stunning success with its health-first program, which offers free opioids to addicts for use in special clinics.

More recently, Switzerland has adopted this approach as well. While the two nations make opioids available to addicts free of charge in clinic setting, they continue to make sale and distribution of illicit drugs on the street illegal.

While these clinics give free opioids to those unable to free themselves from the grip of addiction, their first step is counseling against continued use, then substitution of methadone or suboxone if counseling fails. Only if that also fails are opioids provided as a last resort, and even then, only in a controlled setting.

Swiss voters have repeatedly approved this approach to hard drug use, thanks to its success in reducing petty crime to pay for costly illegal drugs. And because there is no longer any need to recruit others to help cover an addict’s drug bill, addiction levels are gradually dissipating in both Portugal and Switzerland.

Perhaps we should follow their lead.

Anthony Bell

McMinnville

Re-set the conversation

On behalf of the Campaign for Seniors and People with Disabilities, I write asking for your YES vote on Ballot Measure 36-202. The campaign is being mounted by a broad coalition of stakeholders, coming together to advocate on behalf of seniors and people with disabilities.

We were shocked to learn about a city instituting new fines and fees on senior care providers, as these providers are regulated by state and federal government, not city government. In fact, McMinnville is the only city in the entire United States that has passed something like this.

This is a horrible idea on its face. As Del Zook wrote a few weeks ago, different care regulations on a city-by-city basis is a dangerous precedent to set. It would create a patchwork quilt of regulations that would be hard to understand and completely antithetical to quality care.

Additionally, we must be wary of any action that increases the cost of care without also improving the quality.

A $200 per bed tax and a $500 annual business licensing fee, targeted only at care providers, does nothing for the seniors in these communities. It simply fills a budget hole for the city — another dangerous precedent.

Please vote YES to repeal these fees and fines. Let’s re-set this conversation and engage all stakeholders fairly.

Kyndall Mason

Portland

Care industry taking advantage

With regard to the proposed EMS fee for senior care centers, City Councilor Zack Geary hit the nail on the head when he said he sees “a private industry using public services to underwrite their effort to have little overhead and provide no adequate level of service to their customers.”

The care centers have mounted a campaign portraying the fee as an unfair tax on seniors. It is no such thing. It is, rather, a simple user fee.

The city has documented clearly that the care centers overuse EMS, calling paramedics out unnecessarily for care for which the patients have already paid handsomely.

Seeking compensation for these needless calls represents neither a tax on seniors nor a denial of care. It represents fair payment for services rendered.

The city ordinance bars care centers from passing the cost of excessive EMS usage on to their patients. They can pass on another element, a new licensing fee. But if they do, it is they, not the city, that is imposing a surcharge on seniors.

Further, fee opponents have paid for the printing and mailing of a slick postcard to area voters decrying the city’s attempt to secure fair compensation. They have also produced and aired a prime time TV commercial urging voters to reject the proposed fee.

It seems to me that any group with sufficient cash for an expensive two-pronged media campaign can afford to reimburse McMinnville for the use of taxpayer-supported city resources.

Kent Stevens

McMinnville

No logical justification

I understand the city’s desire to recoup the cost of unnecessary 911 calls by care facilities. I don’t have a problem with it, although the $1,500 fee for a first offense seems excessive.

Unfortunately, most of the publicity has been focused on this part of the ordinance.

What I do have a problem with is imposing a new business licensing fee on senior care facilities that are regulated by the state. I have yet to hear a logical justification for either the purpose or amount.

The residency of the owner of the facility is irrelevant. Care centers are not the only businesses inspected by the fire department. Seniors will not receive any new benefits from the increased revenue the city receives.

I am a small business owner. How do I know the city won’t decide at some future date to impose fees on gas stations, hair salons, dental offices or my business?

The city should not be allowed to start picking businesses off one at a time. I am therefore supporting repeal of this arbitrary and excessive measure.

Mark Bierly

McMinnville

City oversteps authority

The city council of McMinnville has been on a money-grabbing extortion spree for some time.

Anyone who can count to 10, and knows where the sun goes at night, can see through the veil of deceit that permeates the council. It acts more like an organized crime family than a servant of the city’s populace.

At council meetings, we are kept in the dark. No tongue or pen has been able to successfully penetrate the dense thicket of intractability that members seem to hold dear.

Now councilors have overstepped their authority with a parade of unjust ordinances.

First, they enacted an ordinance targeting travelers with an 11% transient lodging tax. Then they pushed through a sewer surcharge. They knew they couldn’t tax our groceries, so they enacted a tax on the end product of our digestive tract.

That’s a novel way to subvert the state constitution. A federal judge recently ruled it unlawful for Trump to divert dedicated military funds to build his border wall. Here, the city is guilty of doing the same thing.

The final insult to our intelligence is the discriminatory, overbearing, money-grabbing Ordinance 5059, an assault on seniors in our care facilities. Especially alarming is the $500 licensing fee and $200 per bed inspection and training fee.

This cannot stand. The immortal words of novelist Walter Scott — “O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive” — is most appropriate.

I’m not going to tell you how to vote on the repealer, Measure 36-202. I’m confident you’ll know what to do.

Dan Hilbert

McMinnville

Most unworthy creature

Some 25 years ago, it was my great privilege, as a graduate student, to study for a year at the American School for Classical Studies in Athens.

Many of my fellow students were from top institutions, including Princeton, Harvard and Yale. Many also knew they did not stand a chance at achieving their ultimate goal — to become tenured professors in ancient Greek studies at a college or university.

They were extremely intelligent and dedicated to the task of scholarship and teaching. Their backup was the Foreign Service.

That is why I take William Taylor’s testimony with the utmost gravity. He’s a man of service in the military as well as the foreign service, has deep experience of the world, and is likely fluent in a number of foreign languages.

I have met people of his ilk. Dedicated and measured, they have the welfare of our country at heart.

I compare this to the crudeness, corruption and complete lack of seriousness of our president, who is maligning him.

This is a corrupt and ignorant man who betrayed our men in uniform in Syria, betrayed a key European ally, betrayed the Kurds, and, to be blunt, betrayed our national sovereignty and all of his spouses. He is the very opposite of a decent and dedicated public civil servant, or for that matter, husband, father or president.

I urge all who read this to consider in their hearts whether they want the most unworthy of creatures to hold the future of their children and grandchildren in their hands any longer.

Steve Rutledge

McMinnville

Senior voting no

I’ve received countless glossy advertisements from different folks and organizations trying to convince me that my city is “taxing seniors” who use the 911 system.

It’s NOT true. They appear to assume that I’m not an intelligent, thinking human being who can read the original ordinance and understand it.

When the petitioners were out gathering signatures, I twice heard misinformation about this measure and declined to sign. They managed to get enough signatures anyway, to bring about this special election.

If we want to talk money, how much are these out-of-staters costing us for this election?

I’m a McMinnville senior citizen who’s voting NO on this measure, because our EMTs need to concentrate on true, essential emergency calls. We need to quit paying for the non-essential ones.

If any of the care facilities or their residents call 911 with a real emergency, they will not be fined. If the call is for a non-emergency medical service or other nonessential service, then I expect them to be fined.

Please go to www.mcminnvilleoregon.gov/ordinances and click on Ordinance ID 5059 to read it for yourself.

Peggy Rouse

McMinnville

Patients put at risk

At the Alzheimer’s Association, we work every day to improve access to quality care and services for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. As a staff member for the local chapter, I urge, on behalf of all families in Yamhill County affected by dementia, a YES vote on Measure 36-202. The measure would repeal expensive fees levied by the city — fees that do nothing to enhance quality care for seniors living in care facilities, including those living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. These fees could force the cost of care to rise or require cutbacks to existing programs offered to seniors in care facilities.

The cost of care is already a great concern for many families, especially those dealing with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, as it requires a wide variety of thoughtful programing to enhance quality of life. The fees imposed by the city on residential, assisted living, nursing and memory care facilities negatively impact people living with dementia.

By age 80, some 75% of them will be admitted to a nursing home, compared with just 4% percent of the general population. Among those living in residential care settings, 42% are living with dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association is deeply concerned that the current ordinance does not serve the best interest of individuals and families living with dementia. Please support them by voting yes.

Kendall Ekerson

Newberg

Keep control local

We have been carefully following the efforts by the McMinnville care homes to stop the city from levying reasonable charges for ambulance and fire department services.

They would have you believe their primary concern is for their elderly residents. But based on the broad, expensive, misleading and high-pressure campaign they have launched, we’re skeptical.

The arguments in support are mostly from either organizations with close ties to the large corporations that run the homes, or groups who are afraid not to cooperate. It’s basically about corporate profit.

All four of our parents spent their last years in a McMinnville care home, so we have a very good idea about the arguments, both pro and con. The staff was mostly kind and caring, but undertrained for many tasks.

The citizens of McMinnville should not have to pay taxes to provide services the care homes are obligated to provide.

Since Ordinance 5059 was passed by the city council, the number of unnecessary calls from care facilities has dropped dramatically. It is obviously working, with no adverse effects on senior residents. And it needs to continue.

There have been suggestions that perhaps the ordinance could use some refining. They may be true, but let’s keep it local. City government is closer to our citizens and more responsive to them.

If you agree that Measure 36-202 should be voted down, fantastic. Get your ballot in as soon as possible. And please urge your family and friends to follow suit.

The blizzard of TV ads, mailers and phone calls is reaching a lot of people who may not have access to the information they need to make an informed decision.

Skip & Claudia Huwaldt

McMinnville