Crossword

Continued from page 6

along the trail, at the trailhead, or hanging it on a tree is not the last step in the process. Taking it home is step number three.

The question now becomes, how do we, as citizens who love this area, help dog owners become the responsible owner that keeps the forest beautiful and clean for everyone? Let’s put our heads together and find a solution to this problem so we can keep Whychus Creek an area we all treasure.

Kristie Miller

s s s

To the Editor:

I read John Baldwin’s February 10 letter discussing the 40 executive orders signed by Biden and Paula Surmann’s February 17 response stating only 29 executive orders have been signed. I’m hoping to clarify the discrepancy here.

As of February 11 (22 days in office), Biden has signed 48 executive actions per the Federal Register. This included 30 executive orders, eight proclamations and 10 memoranda/ other documents.

I believe Baldwin’s letter was referring to all actions signed by Biden, not just executive orders. This is made evident by Baldwin’s reference to the shutting down of the border wall construction, which was actually a proclamation signed by Biden, not an executive order.

Also, Surmann wrote that Baldwin “failed to mention that Trump issued 220 executive orders.” Her number is correct; however that is the total number signed during his four years in office. An accurate comparison to Biden would be the number of orders signed by Trump during his first 22 days in office. That number is 12.

But really, should the number of executive octions be the focus here or should it be the impact any one action will have on our great nation?

Cheryl Pellerin

s s s

To the Editor:

This May, the residents of the Cloverdale Fire District (CFD) will have the opportunity to approve a five-year operating levy at the rate of $1.35 per $1,000 of assessed value. I plan to support this levy for numerous reasons.

Currently, the CFD rate is $1.09 per $1000. This is the lowest rate in all of Central Oregon, and is the same as it was when the district formed in 1963. Cloverdale has done quite a bit of growing since then and has recently seen call numbers increase by 27 percent in the span of five years. They currently have two paid staff (neither of which are paramedics) working weekdays Monday-Friday, and volunteers supplementing weekends and evenings. There are students who live at the south station (where around 70 percent of the calls occur), but right about the time you get students trained up to operate effectively, they tend to move on to a job somewhere else. Students also need supervision, which they don’t have when the staff isn’t there.

Cloverdale Fire District doesn’t have an ambulance. When you need an ambulance, it typically comes from Sisters, but Sisters often has multiple calls which reduce their ability to staff ambulances, so you might get one from Black Butte Ranch or maybe even Bend or Redmond.

There have been several incidents where response times were well more than 10 (and even 20) minutes for a Cloverdale engine to respond to a fire. That would have been devastating with the Rabbitbrush fire.

The volunteers come from home to respond. It has worked well for a while, but the time has come to help them help us.

This levy will provide 24-hour staffing, seven days a week, with an officer and a firefighter/paramedic at the south station off Highway 20. This will also add a medic unit in Cloverdale, provided and maintained by the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District (SCSFD). Those in the fire service have learned working together is far more cost-effective than being an island unto yourself. This levy will improve response times and staffing for both fire and emergency medical calls in Cloverdale.

I expect you would like to know what this will cost you. It’s easy to figure out. Pull out your tax statement and look for the line which says, “Cloverdale Fire District.” Multiply the indicated amount by 1.24 (that’s how much more $1.35 is than $1.09) and you’ll know how much your increase would be. An average home with an assessed value (NOT real market value) of $200,000 is currently paying $218/year and the increase would be about $270/year for a total of $488/year, an increase of about $22.50/month. None of your other taxes are affected by this, and the current Cloverdale bond stays the same as well. If you have any questions or concerns, give Chief Olsen a call at 541-389-2345.

Full disclosure: I am a volunteer lieutenant for Cloverdale Fire District.

Damon Frutos

The Nugget Newspaper Crossword

By Jacqueline E. Mathews, Tribune News Service

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