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April 10, 2008 Opinions |
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Editorial
Express Yourself!
The Record-Courier has several new items that we hope will provide you, our readers, with more opportunities to voice your opinions. We have set up a forum on our Web site at www.therconline.com that will allow our subscribers to comment on current issues. Those of you who have not yet subscribed can read the forum comments, but you must have a subscription to post comments.
Current topics include the recent purchase of a building to house the Baker City Police Department, Sidewalk Fee and the Annual City Report. If there is a particular topic that you would like to discuss on our forum, simply email (news@therconline.com) or call us (541-523-5353) and we would be happy to add it.
We also offer a poll on our web site and the results are printed in our weekly editions. The current poll question is: Should Hillary Clinton drop out of the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination?
You have probably already seen our "For the Record" section that we started printing in The Record-Courier print edition several weeks ago. This provides another opportunity to voice your opinion as our staff reporter Brian Addison hits the streets to find out what's on your mind.
And of course, we continue to accept letters to the editor and guest opinions, which are available to view in our print edition and are free content items on our web site.
We will also be offering a new feature this month called "Since you asked..." Our own in-house guru "Athena" will be answering questions and giving advice on family, love, money, personal challenges and just about anything you would like to get another opinion on. This will be along the lines of "Dear Abby" and should be entertaining as well as informative. Want to know how to handle situations with that tenacious teenager, that spouse with the roving eye, that boyfriend who won't commit, those pesky neighbors or just have a gripe in general - ask Athena, she will give you an objective point of view to consider. This column will launch in our April 17 issue.
The names of those who write to "Since you asked..." will be kept confidential and we will accept anonymous submissions for this feature, which can be mailed to The Record-Courier, Since you asked, P.O. Box 70, Baker City, OR 97814.
With all of these avenues available, there is no reason not to express yourself, and you can do it right here in The Record-Courier, your weekly hometown newspaper. (DS)
Letters
Spend Your Money In Baker?
To The Record-Courier:
Early this month the hospital held its Annual Blood Draw, $50 for the blood profile and $25 for the PSA testing, through Interpath Labs. Then comes the Health Fair where you pick up your results.
This Saturday La Grande is holding its Health Fair with the blood work available through Interpath Labs; $21 for the blood profile and $20 for the PSA testing. And, they mail you the results. $75 vs. $41, hmmm... think about it!
Ted White
Baker City
Applaud The Arts
To The Record-Courier:
What a weekend!
It was such a thrill to see the beautifully restored Carnegie Crossroads Art Center once again become a vital part of our community!
We applaud Kathleen Chaves, the Crossroads Board of Directors, and the many others who made this dream possible.
Now another honor for Baker County. The Baker High School Jazz Band tied for first place in the prestigious Gene Harris Jazz Festival in Boise. Congratulations to Jeff Sizer and the band!
Frances Burgess
Baker City
We Support Chuck Hofmann
To The Record Courier:
We are writing this letter to voice our whole hearted support of Chuck Hofmann as a member of the OTEC Board of Directors.
Chuck possesses excellent business and electrical utility experience. He was the unanimous choice of the current board to fill a vacancy and he has been appointed to the OTEC Policy Committee. He has completed three national cooperative director courses and he has been appointed to the Oregon Electrical Coop Association’s Government Affairs Committee. Since joining the board, OTEC has returned a record amount of capital credits to its members.
He has a successful medical practice that employs fourteen people. He has significant experience in preparing and overseeing multimillion dollar budgets. He understand financial reports and utilizes them as a tool for decisions about future operations.
Chuck has proven his commitment to community through many years of service on the Baker City Council, as a committee member of the Adler Community Fund and on many other local, statewide and national organizations.
We are voting for Chuck Hofmann and we encourage all of you to do the same.
Sincerely,
Richard and Kathleen Chaves
Excellent Essay On The Problem With Dating By Sam Ragsdale
To The Record Courier:
I’d like to commend Sam Ragsdale for the excellent essay on the problem with dating (April 3 issue of The Record-Courier). The way I see it, Sam raises issues and perspectives that are important to us all. The essay was an unexpected and most helpful reminder to look for that which is really true and really real — that which underlies our surface perceptions and actually deserves our full attention.
Sam offers us an essential fact: “The more we seek after things we can feel and touch, the more we come out empty handed.” Not that there is anything wrong with loving someone, but special relationships can have a way of covering up our spiritual nature, the true love that is everywhere.
And a special relationship that becomes a status symbol can be a trap. It can become like a business contract, not love, and a contract that, as Sam states, has limited upside potential for happiness and virtually unlimited potential for despair.
We can give up this seeking for special relationships, whether with a person, a new car, or whatever. We can allow ourselves to love everyone and everything without exception, and thus come to truly love ourselves.
Most sincerely,
Marshall McComb
Baker City
Hofmann For OTEC Board
To The Record-Courier:
Consumers of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) will soon vote to elect their board of directors. Considering the critical role played by OTEC in our communities, it is important that they are an active player in the future planning of Baker, Grant, Harney, and Union Counties. The OTEC board should be both youthful and visionary if it is to stay abreast of rapidly changing economic conditions. It is in that regard that I strongly urge you to consider Dr. Charles Hofmann for a seat on the OTEC board.
I served with Dr. Hofmann from January 2003 through December 2006 as a member of the Baker City Council. It was through his fiscally conservative leadership that we were able to build a city surplus of $2.7 million.
During his 25 years of public service Dr. Hofmann has always answered the call to serve on any and all boards whenever there was need. He has served on many local, statewide, and national boards, including 13 years on the Baker City Council and 6 of those years as Mayor.
It is a rare trait to find individuals in today’s society who are willing to go the extra mile in order to do things the absolute best that can be done and open themselves to public scrutiny. Dr. Hofmann is in that elite group of individuals. His reputation of trust, fair treatment, and placing the customer first, has made him successful. Dr. Hofmann’s work ethic and character are beyond reproach.
Dr. Hofmann has the experience OTEC needs. I strongly endorse him for the OTEC Board and hope that you will too.
Randy Daugherty
Baker City
Hofmann For OTEC Board
To The Record-Courier:
Since its inception, Oregon Trail Electric Co-op has been a quality provider of electric power to many of our NE Oregon communities. The organization seems to have been well run and management has overseen the development of a delivery infrastructure that is adequate to meet our needs.
However, there is one area of community responsibility that I feel this organization has fallen short. Economic and cultural vitality in any rural community relies heavily upon volunteer leadership to provide the visioning and manpower necessary to bring about positive change. This leadership comes from a variety of occupations and each with a different package of motivations. This is what makes each of our communities unique and wonderful places in which to live.
I personally feel that it is the responsibility of primary employers in any community to establish internal policy that encourages employees to actively participate in key community projects and activities. I can’t think of any organization that touches more lives in our communities than our provider of electric power. In this case there is a real synergy in that the health of our communities directly impacts the health of OTEC, and vice versa. Yet through the years I have seen little participation of top OTEC employees in the leadership of some of our most significant projects. OTEC has a significant pool of wonderful employees that could really help make a difference. As in any organization the people at the top (Board of Directors) are the ones who set corporate policy and have significant impact on employee attitudes, emphasis and morale. Because of this, I feel strongly that OTEC’s Board needs someone who fully understands how critical “quality leadership” is to a community’s health and has demonstrated this belief through an impressive resume of community leadership.
Through the past 25 years, Dr. Chuck Hofmann has proven his belief in investing time in community through involvement in numerous civic activities. He served on Baker City’s Council for 13 years, of which he served as mayor for six years.
Additionally, he has been an active participant on many State and National boards. I feel the Chuck brings to the OTEC Board a perspective that is needed and the ability to help implement change. I encourage you to vote for Dr. Chuck Hofmann to serve another term on OTEC’s Board of Directors.
Chuck Rouse
Richland
Crossroads Carnegie Art Center A Success
To The Record-Courier:
The opening of the Crossroads Carnegie Art Center is another example of how lucky we are to live in Baker City.
There is truly something very special about the people in our community. At this time we especially would like to bring attention to how fortunate we are to have comparatively “new,” highly qualified and willing residents who have “stepped up to the plate” to bring new ideas and enthusiasm in many areas and still treasure our history and way of life.
We are proud 48 year residents who moved here by choice and who stay here by choice. Long live Baker City!
Floyd and Betty Duncan
Baker City
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