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Opinion Letters Letters and comments for the week ending January 19, 2008
Letters and comments for the week ending January 19, 2008
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A recent letter to the editor misinterprets the Community Comment I wrote a month or so ago and my stance on change. While I do believe change is scary, which is why the status quo is resistant to change, I also have been advocating for change during much of my time on the La Grande City Council. The city has made great strides in the last decade or so: Max Square, Blue Mountain Conference Center, the renovation of the Veterans Pool, ODS Dental Hygiene School, N.K. West Building, Cook Memorial Library, Gekeler Business and Technology Park, reconstruction of Gekeler Lane, implementation of curbside recycling and yard debris programs, a new Veterans Clinic on 12th Street and the start of a greenway along the Grande Ronde River. While none of these projects happen in a vacuum or as the result of one person, I'm proud of my involvement in advocating for all of these projects that have lead to great and positive change in the city of La Grande. Yes there is more to do, but I firmly believe that La Grande has enormous potential to be the jewel of Northeast Oregon. It will take hard work and hard choices to get there, and yes, it is scary, as the unknown always is. For me the question is, do we look forward to what we can be and help make it happen or look back at what we were and remain satisfied with the status quo? I hope for the former.
Colleen F. Johnson, mayor La Grande ___________________________ The La Grande schools were closed during my daughter's (Class of 2001) high school years due to high winds. On this occasion, the bleachers at the middle school were blown into the middle of the soccer field. I can't remember the exact date, but I know it wasn't 20 years ago. Lynn Strandberg Union ___________________________ In my Dec. 31 letter to the editor I stated, "David Mikkelson and his wife, Barbara, founders of the website, snopes.com, stated that 80 percent of all erroneous political e-mail is created by right-wing pundits." This is not correct and I take full responsibility for this error. Kudos to Sheralyn Weller for catching this. Michael B. Farmer Wallowa ___________________________ Solving our overcrowded downtown parking is going to take citizen input and city government decision making. I see the problem compounded by: 1. Active businesses that are indistinguishable from inactive ones. This contributes to motorist confusion, rubber-necking and traveling around endless blocks. Also, some streets intersecting with Adams are signed, and some are not, further adding to congestion. 2. Parallel parking is obsolete and impedes traffic flow. Angled parking, such as that on the side streets leading to and from Adams, accommodates more vehicles without jeopardizing motorist safety. By reducing the center turn lane to short turn lanes opposite the no-parking curb-zone at the end of each block, room could be had for angled parking on Adams. There is also the possibility of narrowing sidewalks in front of businesses, in order to widen the existing Adams to permit angled parking, at least for compact vehicles. 3. While there are an abundance of vacant buildings in Old La Grande, paved parking lots and parking garages are conspicuous by their absence. These could be a viable solution for use by the general public if accompanied by adequate security. 4. Housing for seniors and university students in the downtown area has a quaint charm, but in the event of fire, flood, earthquake and all manner of disasters or human predation, it does not contribute to their safety. New housing for seniors and students in appropriate locations are in order. This would eliminate residential parking downtown. Congratulations to the Red Cross for their innovation of free delivery of prescriptions to area residents thus removing some of the parking crunch. A task force as proposed in the Jan. 9 editorial of The Observer seems a splendid start. Barbara Ann Shank La Grande ___________________________ After reading Mayor Johnson's letter printed in Monday's paper, I can only conclude that our mayor believes that she is the one-eyed queen in the kingdom of the blind. Great strides? Please spare us the premature celebration and shallow perspective. La Grande hasn't really changed at all in the last 10 years. To suggest that such accomplishments as a new library building and an empty business park "have led to great and positive change in the city of La Grande" is ludicrous and insulting. If La Grande genuinely wants to be the "jewel of Northeast Oregon," then it will require the visionary, inclusive leadership that it deserves. The only scary thing about the unknown is not knowing whether Mayor Johnson and her cronies will continue to politically repress, deceive and mislead this community. Berkley Scott Summers La Grande ___________________________ The folks in our beautiful county have a very thoughtful person to thank for our New Year's free from DUIIs. I would like to thank Kevin Loveland for his role in delivering over 200 people home free of charge for a safe holiday for our county. Jim Evers La Grande ___________________________ Any time a university must eliminate programs due to fiscal restraints is regrettable and sad. Eliminating the physics program and the German language program at EOU is particularly disturbing to me. I am a chemist and physics is absolutely necessary for understanding chemistry, especially understanding physical chemistry. Physical chemistry is the "glue" for all other chemistry disciplines. Physics "dictates" chemistry and chemistry as well as physics dictate biology. German, an important scientific language, was one of the language requirements necessary for earning a degree in chemistry. I was required to take two years of German for my degrees. This fact proved invaluable later in my career since I conducted soil chemistry research at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. Hopefully, when EOU recovers from its current financial difficulties these programs can be restored.
Rudy Candler Union |
