Your Voice: Sept. 7, 2022

The newest building being built in the downtown corridor is a monstrosity. I’ve heard it’s a hotel. The usual notice to adjoining property owners was not given; at least, it wasn’t given to me. The existing streets in the commercial district don’t have adequate parking for this building. And I don’t think the developer will be providing adequate parking for this structure either as it would not benefit him to do that.

Last year, this same property owner built a second apartment building where his existing apartment building’s parking lot was with the city’s approval. The neighboring residential areas/areas previously used as overflow parking by the downtown patrons, is being used as this owner’s tenant parking and although there are 20-30 cars parking on the city street every night, this owner is charging tenants $45 a month for “parking.” I know someone who does not own a car or drive who was charged this monthly fee. How does this happen? What was one building with adequate parking is now three buildings with inadequate parking.

These structures do contribute to the city’s budget via short term rental tax, hotel tax, and an increased tax base on the property, and the owner has more income-producing units since he didn’t have to provide parking. The adverse impact will be felt by the neighboring residential neighborhoods and the long-term parking issues involving the downtown corridor will now be the long-term parking issue for non-commercial areas. There are a lot of changes that would be beneficial to the residents of this community. Over-development and utilization of public space by one person is not one of them.

Geri Chaton

White Salmon

Yetter is better!

I was very disappointed that our U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz voted against the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Bentz and his Republican colleagues are falsely claiming that the IRA can’t be paid for, but according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, it can and will be, mostly by stronger tax compliance, holding corporations and the wealthy accountable for paying their fair share. That is why the IRA includes money for more IRS agents! In fact, it is expected to raise $737 billion, but cost only $437 billion, and thus will reduce the federal deficit by about $300 billion.

Think about that ... the IRA will bring in more money than it spends. Compare that to the Republicans’ favorite legislation of 2018, a tax cut for the richest people and corporations in the country that increased the deficit by $1.9 trillion.

Beyond being fiscally responsible, the Inflation Reduction Act does many great things for ordinary Americans. It expands Medicare benefits, including free vaccines, insulin only costing $35 a month, and out-of-pocket drug costs will be capped at $4000 or less in 2024, $2000 or less in 2025.

It lowers energy bills, saving families $500-$1000 a year with more efficient appliances. It makes a historic investment in climate change, cutting carbon emissions roughly 40% by 2030 with incentives for electric vehicles and rooftop solar.

It lowers health care costs, enabling Medicare to finally negotiate lower drug prices, and require drug companies to rebate back price increases that are higher than inflation. The Inflation Reduction Act also creates manufacturing jobs, invests in disadvantaged communities, and closes tax loopholes used by the wealthy.

As election day approaches, remember that Cliff Bentz and every single Republican voted against this ground-breaking legislation.

Joe Yetter, the Democratic candidate for Congress in District 2, strongly supports this legislation. Joe, a veteran, a physician, a teacher and a farmer, will put the people of CD2 ahead of partisan politics.

#BetterVoteYetter

JoeForOregon.com

Karen Murray

The Dalles

Wastewater

I read the article in Columbia Gorge News concerning the Dallesport wastewater system and plant with interest. I was not able to attend the meeting.

First of all, Commissioner Jacob Anderson asserted the Dallesport community had been underpaying our water bills for years. Was the meeting about the wastewater plant or our water district? Dallesport wastewater is currently owned by Klickitat County, and the Dallesport Water District is a separate government entity totally separate from county control. Commissioner Anderson seemed to be talking about a different issue than the point of the meeting.

Commissioner Sauter was quoted as saying the county was no longer willing to fund capital projects on the system. Since I have been told the county has done absolutely no maintenance on the system for the last 14 years, I’m not sure what the county wants to quit paying for. He stated the rest of the county taxpayers didn’t want to continue paying for it. I was surprised. This is one county and we all pay for improvements throughout the area and I believe that helps all of us. If there is a shortfall in the Dallesport wastewater budget, why didn’t the commissioners fix the problem? They could have raised rates every year to cover the “shortfall” and manage the system properly. And, why wasn’t the community informed there was a problem with the budget?

Finally, Anderson’s comment that Dallesport residents should pay their fair share is more then disingenuous. The residents of Dallesport pay their bills, and are not deadbeats as his comment implied.

Did the commissioners forget they decide the cost for this service and are responsible for the “shortfall” in the first place? They set the rates and have the PUD include the cost with our electric bills. I’m not sure how the community should have known to send more money since the commissioners failed in their duty and never informed the ratepayers of a problem.

Lynne Kadlec

Dallesport

Editor’s Note: The original story published in the Aug. 31 edition was incorrect in saying County Commissioner Jacob Anderson said Dallesport has been underpaying their water bills. He said the community was underpaying their wastewater bills.

Betsy Johnson: Not what Oregon needs

On Wednesday afternoon I attended a local Betsy Johnson event. Following a quick autobiographical summary she responded to several questions from the audience, including a prompt about her stance on guns. She mentioned she’s a collector but not that she has voted against every single gun safety bill in Oregon for more than a decade, earning her an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. She related that she’s nudged her strong “2A” views (a reference to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution) in two areas, sounding exactly like a candidate hoping to be considered moderate when, in fact, her views are extreme in a state where a majority of voters support gun safety legislation. She claimed to be the right person to broker the conversation on gun safety and stated Tina Kotek would “take away all your guns,” an obvious lie. The right person to broker any conversation on gun safety is not going to be a machine gun-owning millionaire who votes the NRA line 100% of the time and lies about the stances of other candidates.

In response to a question about homelessness in Oregon, she stated a lack of knowledge of the rate or actions taken in our county, public-facing information she might have sought before sitting in front of us. She has said she wants to reduce “visible” homelessness while repeatedly making dehumanizing statements like calling Portland the “city of roaches.” She claimed the homeless rate is highest there, which is categorically untrue and she should know it: Clatsop County, which she represented in Oregon’s House and Senate for decades, has the highest homeless rate in Oregon, more than three times the rate in Multnomah County. Another important issue, another disappointing response.

Betsy Johnson bills herself as a moderate despite her history of extremist views and use of far-right rhetoric. She bills herself as independent while taking money from big business and rich Republican donors like the Koch brothers.

Betsy Johnson is not moderate and not what Oregon needs.

Stacey Holeman

The Dalles

We trust Tina

On Sunday, Aug. 28, a 20-year-old with a semi-automatic gun killed two innocent bystanders at a shopping center in Bend, and then killed himself. Oregonians should not have to fear going to work, to school, or to the store.

Tina Kotek is the only candidate for governor who is willing to work for the common sense gun safety legislation that a majority of Oregonians support. Tina has our vote for this and many other reasons.

On the other hand, unaffiliated candidate, Betsy Johnson, joined the Republican candidate, Christine Drazan, in voting AGAINST all of the following during their time in the Oregon Legislature:

• Safe storage for guns.

• Background checks at private guns sales.

• Closing the Boyfriend Loophole to keep guns out of the hands of people convicted of abuse or stalking.

• Against Red Flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of people determined by a court to be at risk to themselves or others.

• Allowing schools, airports, or other government agencies to decide for themselves about prohibiting guns on their premises.

Worse, Betsy Johnson is trying to paint herself as a moderate, saying she is willing to consider some gun safety legislation. But why should we believe her now, after her consistent votes against gun safety which earned her an A-plus rating from the NRA? And, at a recent event she held in The Dalles, Betsy was not above lying about her Democratic opponent with the classic Republican trope, “Tina wants to take away all your guns.” What utter nonsense. If Betsy is willing to lie about such a completely disprovable statement, what else will she lie about? And then, there’s that nagging matter of her tax returns … Why won’t she release them, as have both her opponents? Déjà vu, and not in a good way!

Carol and Lynn Miller

The Dalles

Community service worth doing

I read the article about the possibility of CHS Seniors being “relieved” of having to do community service as a graduation requirement.

My grandparents were all about community service. It was something that they were taught as children growing up in rural Oklahoma. They brought their penchant for community service and their work ethic with them when relocating to Hood River Valley in the ‘40s. It was something instilled in them at church and by those around them growing up. They passed it on to their kids. It was a family thing.

White Salmon Valley Superintendent Sean McGeeney is recommending seniors be relieved of the requirement to complete 40 hours of community service. He’s quoted as saying he “believes encouraging and promoting community service, rather than mandating it, can do more to instill good character in young people.”

How does an adult leader promote community service while in the same breath telling kids they don’t need to do it? Leading by example would dictate said leader engage in community service also, would it not? How does one learn to love and nurture something if they don’t engage in the practice of loving and nurturing it?

“I felt it was the right thing to do to honor what kids are going through”, McGeeney said.

Let’s keep feelings out of this unless facts are tied to it, even if it is an expression via a colloquialism. In addition, there is nothing so tragically happening right now in the lives of these soon-to-be adults that they can’t get off their butts for 40 hours of work to be a part of their community. It would benefit them and us. Sending them out to be a part of their community is how you honor them, not letting them retreat into their bedroom to play Xbox.

Retreating into your bedroom to play Xbox is what comes later when you’re 43, burnt out on life and living paycheck to paycheck.

Kevin Herman

White Salmon

Thank you, Chamberlains

I was delighted to read your article about Will and Linda Chamberlain’s blueberry patch and how it benefits Fistula Foundation, the organization that I’m privileged to lead. The Chamberlains are compassionate supporters of women with fistula, a devastating childbirth injury that affects women in Africa and Asia. In addition, through their volunteer efforts, Will and Linda have worked tirelessly over many years to help women in Uganda thrive.

Surgery is the only cure for fistula, so we rely on generous people like the Chamberlains to change women’s lives. Receiving this kind of spotlight on our worthy but little-known cause is nothing short of remarkable. My thanks go to the Chamberlains for their kindness and to Columbia Gorge News for educating readers about women who are all-too-often forgotten. I’m confident this will inspire others to help women who suffer needlessly from fistula.

Kate Grant

CEO, Fistula Foundation

San Jose, Calif.

Apocalyptic environmentalism

Ever vigilant to find something new to blame on climate change, the “Climate Crisis Negatively Impacting Youth Mental Health” article in Columbia Gorge News stands out as an especially absurd stretch.

The truth is, it’s not climate that is having a negative impact, it’s all the doomsday hysteria. Apocalyptic environmentalism is the dominant secular religion today, and like many religions is based more on faith than facts, I don’t believe the facts support the hysteria:

No responsible scientific group has claimed “civilization would collapse” by 2030, or any other future date. Global warming impacts winter temperatures much more than summer temperatures.

One study does predict 365,000 more heat deaths by 2050, but also 1.7 million fewer cold deaths. There has been a 92% decline in deaths from natural disasters in the last century.

The polar bear population is the highest it has been in 60 years. Glaciers have been receding steadily since the end of the Medieval Warming Period, which followed the Little Ice Age.

Petroleum and vegetable oil saved the whales, not Greenpeace. The amount of land used to produce meat has decreased by 350,000 acres since 2000. The big fire events in California and Australia were due to more development in brushy areas and accumulated wood fuel, not climate change.

Carbon emissions from electricity generation in the U.S. declined 27% from ‘07 to ‘18, primarily due to the switch to natural gas, a byproduct of fracking.

Electricity is an “energy carrier,” not a fuel. Conventional air pollution peaked 50 years ago. Fossil fuels return 30 times more energy than they require, vs. 1.6 and 3.9 for solar and wind.

The Amazon consumes about as much oxygen as it produces.

Globally, new tree growth has exceeded tree loss for the past 35 years. Nobody died from the 3-Mile Island accident. A single lung cancer death was (questionably) attributed to radiation from Fukushima.

Climate is changing, as it always has, but humans will adapt, as we always have. Crippling our economy, while global competitors China and India continue to grow at breakneck speeds unrestrained by “Green New Deal” nonsense, is just stupid.

Steve Hudson

The Dalles

Climate votes concerning

Oregon will benefit greatly from supporting candidates who take climate change seriously, and have the vision going forward to help in the transition to an economy that includes renewable energy. Betsy Johnson has shown by her voting record that she is most certainly not that candidate.

Johnson has consistently voted no on any legislation to address climate change. She has vowed to repeal the 2020 Executive order that has put Oregon state agencies on track to reduce greenhouse gases and improve energy efficiency in housing and consumer goods. She also voted no on bills that would develop Oregon’s renewable energy industries, no to establishing incentives for electric vehicles like more charging stations, no even to developing Oregon’s biodiesel industry which would reduce fossil fuel use and carbon emissions.

She also voted no to updating energy requirements for new appliances and no to protections for low income utility ratepayers. She joined Republicans in supporting a bill that would have doubled logging in our state forests and supported bills to undermine wetlands protection.

The consistency of these votes give a true picture of how very radical Betsy Johnson is and how dangerous her mind-set of climate change denial is to the future of our state.

Kathy Gay

The Dalles

Still angry

I attended Representative Cliff Bentz’s recent town hall in The Dalles and I’m still angry.

I get his e-newsletters and see all of his big red “thumbs down” no votes on bills I care about, but I expected more respect shown to both his diverse constituency and his congressional colleagues, and less partisan rhetoric.

Bentz’s attitude about climate change is abysmal. During the town hall he never once acknowledged climate change as an issue, even as he spoke of its affects. He spoke of people’s desire for air conditioning as the world warms and increased world-wide needs for energy production, and said China is building new coal fired power plants to meet their needs.

This becomes a catch-22. Bentz implied that it is pointless for the U.S. to try to lessen our carbon output as China increases theirs, and his consistent votes against efforts to mitigate climate change and environmental damage are evidence of his lack of vision and leadership.

The U.S. leads the world in carbon emissions, and now we need to lead the world in developing and embracing technologies to clean up the mess. Cliff Bentz is clearly not up to the task at hand.

We would do better with Joe Yetter.

Carolyn Wright

The Dalles

Big $ for Betsy

I attended a recent campaign event for Gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson. I listened to her presentation, and stayed for the three or four questions she took from the audience. One question I’ve been most interested in was not asked.

Betsy has accepted very large campaign contributions from a very small list of people and special interest groups. She has accepted millions from Phil Knight, Koch Industries, extractive industries like mining, oil producers and timber industries.

She has raised more money than her two opponents combined, mostly from big wealthy corporate donors. She has said corporations will be her primary customers if she is elected.

Really? Shouldn’t she be working for the citizens of Oregon? She has sought support from Timber Unity, a group financed by Wall Street Timber interests trying to pass as a grassroots organization. Timber Unity has associated itself with the Three Percenters, a group that has promoted white supremacist ideals and participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Betsy appears to be a far right and corporate attempt to buy the governorship in Oregon. I encourage all Oregonians to research where each candidate raises money for their campaign. That may be the best indicator of who they will work the hardest for.

In addition, ask yourselves why Betsy Johnson, a multi-millionaire herself, refuses to release her tax returns as past candidates have done, and as her two opponents have done. I wonder what she has to hide.

Steve Murray

The Dalles

Beautifully written

I would just like to congratulate Debra Lutje on a beautifully written “Opinion” contribution. I think she deserves a parade.

Buz Fletcher

White Salmon