I’m writing this letter in support of Aurora del Val, for House District 52 of the Oregon legislature. I watched Aurora step up to challenge a huge multi-national corporation that was trying to privatize a precious resource belonging to us all, our drinking water. Her can-do attitude and attention to detail made that effort succeed. I believe her many years as an educator, an advocate for affordable healthcare, her understanding of the unique needs and lifestyles of small communities will bring a reasoned and balanced voice to Salem. I would encourage everyone to support Aurora for this seat.
Mike Kitts
Hood River
What are they thinking?
The exorbitant cost to manage parking at the waterfront, which was agreed to by the port commission this week, is absurd. Two dollars per hour for parking from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for six and a half months and one dollar per hour for the rest of the year, i.e. winter, is outrageous.
Port property is public property and the port commission seems to have forgotten that. Plus, it favors one user group, early morning paddlers, over all others.
What is really upsetting is that now that we have made the waterfront a more attractive and lovely destination, we are pricing people out, especially our lower income residents who need parks the most. The local residents who put up with the high living costs here will pay the same as summer tourists for parking on publicly owned property.
This parking “solution” is complete overkill. The prices for the ticket machines and parking management services are expensive, unnecessary costs and those businesses are the only winners. Let’s encourage the port to break the contracts.
A reasonable solution: The port could continue to collect money on a seasonal basis for the most convenient parking locations along the water, including the Event Site, the Luhr Jensen lot and along Portway south of the Event Site. The hours of collection should be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as that would allow reasonable use by the community the port serves.
We are thankful for what the port has done to collaboratively support recreation and enjoyment of our waterfront property. Please do not ruin that legacy with a “city-type” parking plan which hurts the residents the most.
Linda Maddox
Hood River
Editor’s Note: Port of Hood River Commission voted this week to establish paid parking on East Portway and First streets, but the parking charges and schedule have not been determined.
Fiction City
No doubt by now you’ve noticed how the forces of our everlasting bureaucracy are using their powers to undermine and oppose the duly-elected president of the United States. It seems “Sore Losers Syndrome” is alive and raising hell in Swampville.
And happy to help is the phony-baloney media … and that’s a shame because many Americans who lead busy lives and only have time for the news briefly each day are being kept in the dark or deliberately misled to “Fiction City.” Instead of drumming up truthful, factual information, the “Fake News Hounds of Hate” keep growling and snapping at the president’s ankles. How productive. Donald, keep kicking them away, then toss them into the Trumpster Dumpster.
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