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Page Updated: Thursday, May 1, 2008 9:22 AM PDT |
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| Letters to the Editor
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Ordinance would be a burden
Must be kind of nice — find something you don’t like, create an ordinance! Lose a dozen shingles in a storm and can’t find the same color? Replace the whole roof because they all have to match. Paint gets a little weathered and cracked here on the Oregon Coast? Paint the house. I guess if you have the money to play with, that’s OK; it only costs a couple thousand to do a roof on a small house, a couple more to paint it.
What about the retired people who live on $1,700 or less a month? They have to decide if they are buying food or medication this month. They can’t afford to go to the doctor in Coos Bay because of gas prices. But go ahead and slap a lien against their place and their kids can pay it off when they die!
How about adding yards to that ordinance? Nothing looks worse than a dead brown yard in the summer. I keep my yard up and have 30 rose bushes. If I can do it, let’s force everyone else to. Looking out the window, I see some mail boxes on an old post. Every box is different; some black and some rusted, large and small combined. I think they should all be on one of those nice aluminum stands, all the same size and color, 12 inches apart, nice and uniform.
Maybe the mayor and city manager should police their own parade grounds first. The rusty nails on City Hall that were mentioned by the city attorney might be a good starting point, but I don’t think those bother anyone. Now let’s drive down to the city shop. On the east side, the fence is about down. North side, the barbed wire brackets on top of the fence are broken. One of the shop doors had to be repaired and the color of the new panels doesn’t match the old. Shame on them, they should have replaced the entire door. But then it would not match the other two — well, guess all three doors must be replaced! On the south side, the trim boards on the eaves of the roof are broken, weathered and have no paint. The entire yard is an eyesore, and should have an eight-foot solid fence around it so nobody has to look at it. Same with their little storage area across the street.
Now let’s go down to Old Town, the mayor’s pride and joy! One of the buildings has rotted trim boards around one of the side windows, and part of it has fallen off. The siding is so rotten it has holes in it. The awning support posts on another building have rotted off at the bottom. Not only does it look bad, but it is a safety hazard. All that brush behind the buildings on the south side of the street probably has rats living there that would terrorize a German shepherd.
That’s all I looked at, but I bet it would not be hard to find a lot of other faults with city property. How about the school district and those old quonset huts? Not only is that an eyesore, but there are probably unwanted creatures living in there, too. Why can’t the city force the school district to remove them? Slap a lien against the school district, give them a citation and threaten them a little. Think they would pay attention?
Mr. Winkel stated that they surveyed other Oregon towns to find a similar ordinance. He never said how many, but they finally found one — a little, quiet pristine town that, according to the 2000 census, only has 342 housing units. They don’t have 80 mph winds in the winter and they don’t have the rain we get. The city of Lowell, out of how many surveyed, was the only one to reply.
Mayor Mary Schamehorn and Mr. Winkel, if you are unhappy with a couple places on Beach Loop Drive, deal with them, but don’t threaten the whole town. After all, not all of us live on city manager wages that come from the taxpayers’ pockets! You should be more focused on the economy here, and maybe try to bring some work into the area for those in need of a good job. Then maybe some of the kids can stay here after they graduate instead of going elsewhere to seek work!
Daryl Barnes
Bandon
Are dentists victims of greed?
Show me a dentist who has an abscessed tooth who has to wait over a month for help and I’ll eat your hat.
It’s all about money.
Show me a dentist who has lost track of his oath — whose profession has lost its touch with the art form in lieu of the almighty dollar — and I’ll eat your other hat.
When people fall victim to the inhumanity of greed, isn’t it time to step down?
No thanks to the criminal malpractice insurance industry who makes things much more difficult for the profession.
Without the Orwellian insurance racketeers forcing malpractice insurance on the good doctors and dentists, do you think the professionals would make their noble deeds affordable? I doubt it.
There are mostly good doctors and dentists, and there are some whose authority has gone to their heads and who see themselves as some kind of a god figure (egomania).
If I were a dentist and someone came to me who I couldn’t — or wouldn’t — help, I’d make sure I’d get someone who could.
I wouldn’t wait a month. Rather, I would see to it now.
Robert Freeman
Bandon
We support John Griffith
We are supporting John Griffith’s re-election and ask Coos County voters to join us, despite the fact that we haven’t agreed with John on land use issues that impact our neighborhood. Over the last few years, we have spoken with and learned first hand about both John and Bob Main. We believe John should be re-elected because of his hard work on behalf of this county, his willingness to address unpopular issues, and his respect for the truth. Even though we disagree with some of the decisions he makes, we recognize his integrity and commitment to serving Coos County.
John is an outdoorsman and his accomplishments speak for themselves. He has fought long and hard to protect and sustain our fishing families. He worked behind the scenes to bring together government, fishing and farming interests to address the collapse of the Klamath River salmon fishery. This year, he was appointed to the Ocean Policy Advisory Council with 12 to 14 county commissioners from Coos, Curry, Lane and Douglas counties endorsing him. He has steadfastly supported having a firearms range in the county. As shooters, we want to see a safe and sustainable range in Coos County, too. We disagree with the proposed location because it’s too close to homes and to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. While we have disagreed in the past with John, we’ve learned that he is not a “my way or the highway” kind of guy and uses facts, not smear tactics, when faced with opposition. We can’t say the same for his opponent in this race.
So what has John done for our county? He is working hard to increase lumber harvest options, partnering with the Coquille Tribe to find alternative sources of timber revenues to replace the federal timber payments. He volunteers countless hours for community organizations and events, including the Coos Art Museum and the Barview Area Charleston Area Parks Association. John puts the county’s interests first and spends taxpayer money like it is his own. If you hear otherwise, check the facts before you believe it.
John’s record is there; he’s been forced to make some hard decisions to protect Coos County’s fragile finances and he’s probably made some mistakes, too. This has been a very hard four years for county government. John is a mature, experienced and tested commissioner. On the other hand, Bob Main’s most notable achievement is the notoriety he gained last year when he closed the Assessor’s Office to the public in a failed power play against the County Commissioners. Is this the kind of judgment we want in our public officials? What does it say about Bob’s working relationships with the commissioners, now and in the future?
Please join us in supporting John Griffith’s re-election. Coos County needs his experience, knowledge, integrity and commitment to public service.
David and Sharon Comden
Bandon
My vote’s for Bob Main
My pal Brian will disagree with me — like he does with every other candidate that I support — but I think it’s time for a change in county government. I personally am supporting long-time assessor Bob Main for the lone county commissioner position on the ballot.
And it’s interesting that since the position is now nonpartisan, the winner will be decided at the May 20 primary, with ballots to go into the mail around May 2.
It’s true that Bob is a pretty conservative guy, just like John Griffith, the incumbent, but the thing I like about him is that he’s not afraid to take on the commissioners when he doesn’t agree with them.
I truly believe it’s time for a change and that’s why I have a huge Bob Main for County Commissioner sign in front of my house.
Mary Schamehorn
Bandon
Join in prayer today
“Prayer! America’s Strength & Shield” is the theme for this year’s National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 1. Our mayor has proclaimed this day to be a Day of Prayer here in Bandon. Our 14th consecutive local observance will again be held at the flagpole in front of the Bandon City Hall, from 12:10 to 12:30 p.m.
We invite you to join with people of various denominations and political affiliations to spend 20 minutes in prayerful unity. The time will be filled with prayer for our government leaders, our military and public safety workers, our schools, our churches, our families and other areas of our lives.
In the words of President Grover Cleveland in his Inaugural Address on March 4, 1885, “... let us not trust to human effort alone, but humbly acknowledge the power and goodness of Almighty God who presides over the destiny of nations, and who has at all times been revealed in our country’s history; let us invoke His aid and His blessings upon our labors ...”
In His service,
Tom Hutton
National Day of Prayer coordinator
Bandon Ministerial Association
Family bingo night a success
The Parent Organization at Ocean Crest Elementary School would like to thank the following businesses who donated prizes for the first Family Bingo Night: Wilson’s Market, Minute Cafe, Copies Plus, Hennick’s Home Center, Port-O-Call, The Hair Club, Second Street Gallery, Big Wheel, The Toy Room, Winter River Books, Bandon Video, Bon Vivant Nail Boutique, Bandon Card and Gift Shoppe, Grotto Gifts, Attractive Touch Salon, Moehring family and Dawna Jackson.
We would also like to thank the following individuals for volunteering their time in helping to make the event a success: Christina Duval, Rachelle Moehring, Monica Boehm, Angela Rouse, Diane Smith, Juanita Robinson and Lauri Mickey.
Rose Hewitson
Bandon
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