Letters and Comments for August 25, 2009

Special rate isn’t fair

To the Editor:

Just a simple comment about the Elgin water and sewer rates going up, and raising a banner for fairness.

The new rate is $24.50 per month for 1,800 cubit feet of water use. Seniors get a special rate of $13.50 per month. Quoting The Observer, front page on Tuesday, Aug. 18, Elgin city employees and councilors, firefighters, EMTs and police reserve officers pay only $6 per month.

Maybe the city councilors overlooked reason, or fairness, as the fact is known that the city recorder/administrator gets paid $51,000 a year. The police chief gets paid $65,190 a year and the city clerk/administrative assistant gets paid $31,795 a year.

I ask to question to the seniors in Elgin, “Are you getting a fair deal when you compare your income to the above? And are you required to pay a higher rate than they? Is it trivial and insignificant or is it a matter or principle of what is right?

You decide. Voice your response to the Elgin city councilors and to the city mayor, John Strover. Good people should make good decisions. Remember, we voted them in to office so they should for us, in fairness, make necessary changes to city problems.

In my opinion, an easy and fair solution is to delete the special rate of $6 per month for each specified person above and charge the new rate of $24.50 per month.

Jim Lucas

Elgin

Making Ladd Marsh memorable

To the Editor:

We wanted to express our appreciation to David Bronson of Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area for the time he donated to the Oregon Hunters Education Program. David and his assistant, Tyson Stebbins, did an awesome job teaching the kids, and a few adults, all about gun and archery handling and hunter safety and responsibility.

I’ve known David from his employment with Ladd Marsh and have come to recognize this man as a passionate individual in the activities he pursues. Whether it be his efforts in creating Ladd Marsh into the spectacular area it’s become or his volunteer efforts with the kids, I have enjoyed many a memorable outing on Ladd Marsh due to both David Bronson and Dave Larson. We should also include all the dedicated staff of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in their efforts to make Ladd Marsh the jewel of Union County!

I’m sure I speak for the rest of the class and those of us who appreciate all the things Ladd Marsh offers us when we say, “Thanks David and Tyson for the great job teaching hunter education and for all the individuals that have invested the time and energy provided to make Ladd Marsh a success!”

Mark Girard

La Grande