Support Brady
There are many reasons I support Phil Brady for Wasco County Commissioner. But what has impressed me the most is Phil’s ability to communicate his personal views while respecting and honoring the views of others.
To be an effective county commissioner one has to listen to all the residents of Wasco County who often have widely differing views. That’s not always easy. But Phil Brady can and will listen to make Wasco County an even better place to live and raise our children.
Scott McKay
The Dalles
Brady endorsement
This is to endorse Phil Brady for Wasco County Commissioner.
Phil was the first person I ever met in The Dalles. We struck up a conversation on a weekend visit here, and the tenderness and enthusiasm with which he and his wife, Mary Jo Commerford, spoke of this community, set the stage for my decision to move here.
Phil’s ceaseless work for the community has inspired me to volunteer in many ways — as a member of the Planning Commission, The Dalles Art Center board, and the Northwest MuralFest, to name a few.
A lifelong resident of The Dalles, Phil sees and values people, regardless of their background or orientation. His selfless work helping communities in South America and teaching juvenile detention students at NORCOR are ample demonstrations of his desire and ability to make a difference.
He also is a level-headed and diplomatic bridge-builder. His priorities — housing, childcare and education, community preparedness and resiliency — are issues that make a difference in all our daily lives. And Phil is someone who gets things done.
His focus on people’s similarities rather than differences allows him to bring together folks with different viewpoints to collaborate on solutions that work for all. In this spirit, I respect that he is not accepting financial contributions from any political party in this non-partisan race for the commissioner’s seat.
I know Phil will be a fantastic Wasco County Commissioner, and I encourage you to support him with your vote.
Learn more at www.votephilbrady.com.
Philip Mascher
The Dalles
Legislation protects Gorge
As an artist in the Columbia River Gorge, I draw inspiration from the environment around me. My work is centered thematically around the belief that humans are disconnected from their environment in much the same way that they are out of sync with the workings of their own bodies. I see parallels between the rise in chronic health conditions among humans and the crises we see mounting around the world due to climate change. I aim to communicate this connection by referencing the biological aesthetic of anatomy reflected in nature throughout my work, while using bone, leather and other such organic materials to reflect the relationship between the body and the natural world. Beyond this, I explore the process of healing and suggest that a mutual respect and understanding between humans and their internal and external environments will provide a cure for both.
Protecting the forests on Mount Hood and in the Gorge Scenic Area is the best tool that we have to heal from and slow down climate change in Oregon. Trees and vegetation are a major carbon sink and we must take action to ensure their health and growth. Conserving the fast growing, long lived forests around Mount Hood and the Gorge will result in long-term storage of carbon. This storage will help to offset emissions caused by human activity and slow the climate related changes we are experiencing. If we protect our forest, the Pacific Northwest can become a leader in action and hopefully start a domino effect of countries protecting areas that can sink and store carbon.
With my voice and artwork, I strive to impart some kind of value in the way we treat ourselves as well as our environment as an intrinsic part of holistic living, essential to the health of the body and environment. Please join me in voicing support of Earl Blumenauer and Ron Wyden’s proposed legislation to increase recreation, protect clean water and air, improve habitat for wildlife and most importantly, sequester carbon.
Joey Rose Cardoso
Hood River
‘Nightmare’ at DMV
Oregon DMV, a parent’s nightmare! It all started with my 17 year old daughter taking a drivers education course beginning in December 2021. I got online to schedule a “Behind The Wheel Drivers Test” on the DMV website on Dec. 15. For the next 12 weeks, I checked availability at the DMV office in the county I reside in. I also checked the availability at the next county and made two phone calls to DMV. After 12 weeks of trying to obtain an appointment, I checked availability at all 60 offices in the state of Oregon. There was only one, Bend, 165 miles from my home.
This is unacceptable! If the state of Oregon requires its citizens to have a valid driver’s license, then they need to provide the service to the citizens at the office in the county they reside! I contacted my state representatives regarding this issue. They both contacted Oregon DMV and were told that due to staffing shortages and other reasons, this scenario is commonplace. Attention Oregonians! It is not OK for a state office, DMV, to provide inadequate services to its residents. Email, call, write your local representatives. We the people have to say something!
Kari Goben
Cascade Locks
For Runyon
Vote for Rod Runyon. He listens to his constituents, has experience, having been a county commissioner, working on many county and state committees at that time. He also has a business background. Rod is also a longtime and strong supporter of our veterans. He listens formulates a great plan, then puts it into action.
Rod is the man for the job. He knows the job and will hit the deck running!
Linda Holcomb
The Dalles
Not just politics
So one of the topics that people are talking about lately is the price of gas. One of the letters to the editor last week was putting the blame on a political party. Well, here in Oregon, there is one thing that drives up the price and that’s the Oregon gas taxes. If you look at the sticker on the pump you will see three categories of taxes. The first one is the Federal tax around .18/gallon, the next one is Oregon tax around .35/gallon, and then there is the local tax at .03/gallon, which is what the gas station makes off of every gas filling transaction, so that comes out to .56/gallon on top of the wholesale price of gas and that is what you see on the big price board when you pull in to your place to fill up. So bottom line, it isn’t just politics that are involved with the price; you can “thank” the state for some of the sting that comes with filling up that tank.
Ron Dunn
Dee
Seconds matter
In the recent Hood River City Connect newsletter, we were presented with three options under consideration for the Heights Renewal project. Unfortunately, all three options propose reducing traffic flow on 12th Street to a single lane northbound. This busy stretch of road is the primary route for ambulances to take patients from the Hood River upper valley to the Providence Emergency Department. In a crisis situation, seconds matter. Impeding hospital access could be life threatening. I urge the Urban Renewal Agency Board and Advisory Committee to maintain the current two lane northbound traffic on 12th Street.
Jonathan Maletz
Hood River
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