Editorial

Forging an understanding

"Slow down." That's what voters seemed to be telling city leaders when they rejected Measure 3-87 by a 2-to-1 margin. Apparently, the Canby City Council was moving too fast when it put the 301-acre annexation request on the ballot.

The decisive vote was somewhat surprising, given the fact that previous annexation requests have received overwhelming approval. But it's important to note that none of those requests called for such a dramatic expansion of the city's boundaries.

Why did voters defeat a proposal that was endorsed by city officials, local businesses and county leaders? Maybe folks want Canby to remain a small town, at least for now. Maybe the idea of a huge industrial and commercial area runs counter to people's notions of what Canby should be.

Or maybe - just maybe - citizens want the city to devise a plan that the council, the Planning Commission and the Canby Fire District can all live with.

From the start, the city's annexation proposal faced an uphill climb.

Planning commissioners unanimously rejected the plan out of hand, noting that it failed to meet two of 10 key criteria. The fire district, meanwhile, never received ironclad assurance that it would have the resources needed to provide fire protection for the industrial park.

The City Council and Mayor Scott Taylor made a good case for annexation, and they had the support of many local merchants and county officials. In the end, however, the lack of unity between the city and two major players in our community spelled doom for Measure 3-87.

The Herald maintains the plan would have been good for the city. It would have attracted industries and businesses to the area, providing family-wage jobs in a community that needs them. It also would have allowed for cohesive development of an area that has been set aside to accommodate future growth.

But the voters have spoken, and now it's time for the city to find out why opposition to the measure was so overwhelming. Taylor has pledged to talk with citizens to gain a better understanding of the issues that influenced the vote. He also recognizes the need to forge a partnership with the Planning Commission and the fire district before another annexation request is sent to voters.

Getting everyone on the same page will be difficult, but it's worth the effort. Cities that work in a spirit of cooperation can accomplish great things; cities that are divided face an uncertain future at best.

Letters to the editor

'Barnum' was
an absolute treat

In a time of exorbitant prices for big-name entertainment, it is nice to find that some of the most pleasurable outings can be had in our own backyard.

Last weekend, my family and I traveled up from Salem to see the Canby Community Theater production of the musical, "Barnum." What an absolute treat it was to visit a first-class arts facility and to see a first-rate musical performance by local citizens.

Six bucks, great music and free parking. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that!

Kudos to Canby for supporting arts at its most important level - the grass-roots level - and a big thank you to all who made "Barnum" such an enjoyable evening. Hopefully, more people caught the final weekend of performances by this energetic and talented group of people.
Brian Fenderson
Salem

Head Start helps
low-income families
in Clackamas County

My name is Sue Elder and I am the director of Clackamas County Children's Commission, located in Oregon City. Our agency operates a Head Start program and has been serving families with 3- and 4-year-old children who are from low income families for more than 27 years.

We serve 340 children from the entire county and have centers in Sandy, Estacada, Milwaukie and Oregon City.

I am a new director, although I have worked as Education Coordinator here for the past eight years. We are starting up our school year now and are conducting parent orientations and beginning the home visits. School will start Sept. 21.

Head Start believes families are the prime educators and advocates for their children. We encourage and support the active participation of parents in our program.

We provide comprehensive services to children and families through intensive home visiting and classroom experience that are free of charge to qualifying families.

A certified bus driver transports children from their home to school. A nutritious breakfast and lunch are provided. A professional teaching staff works with children to enhance all the areas of development (social, language, self-help, large and small motor, cognitive).

We also assure that families get the medical and dental care they need, and those children with special needs are provided services.

We work collaboratively with other county agencies such as the Education Service District, Mental Health and AFS. We screen all children for hearing, vision, speech, dental and development.

We currently have about 305 children on our waiting list. However, in a few areas we still need more children. We are low on families in the Sandy area and the Oak Grove area in Milwaukie.

To qualify, families need to meet the following income guidelines: Family Size: 2 - $11,250; 3 - $14,150; 4 - $17,050; 5 - $19,950; 6 - $22,850; 7 - $25,750; 8 - $28,650.

We will enroll up to 10 percent over income children, especially if they have special needs. Twenty-eight percent of our families have children with diagnosed disabilities. We collaborate with Clackamas County Education Service District to provide speech, language, occupational and physical therapy for children who need it.

We also have an Even Start program that provides English as a Second Language classes for parents, classroom experience for children, and home visits. This program has been very successful in helping parents get their G.E.D.s and learn about parenting. Unfortunately, Even Start is in its last year of funding and will not continue unless we can secure funds elsewhere or collaborate with other agencies to provide similar services.

We operate two therapeutic preschools that serve children with special emotional needs. Clackamas County Mental Health and the Education Service District are partners in this effort.

Head Start is a nonprofit organization funded by the Federal Administration for Children and Families. The State Oregon Pre-Kindergarten Program (OPK), and public and private donations.

We have received a grant from Oregon Pre-Kindergarten to expand the number of children we serve in 2001. Next spring we will add 40 three-year-old children to our centers in Milwaukie, Oregon City and Sandy.

Over the years we have been very fortunate to work with excellent community volunteers who help out in the classroom or make hats for children or just want to give their time for a worthwhile cause. We have lots of room for more volunteers, and we encourage anyone interested to call us.

Visit our web site at cccchs@worldstar.com. For further information about our program, visit the main office at 16491 S. Springwater Road in Oregon City, call 631-8035 or fax 631-8038.
Sue Elder
Oregon City

To our friends in Canby:

On Monday, Sept. 25, 2000, our family celebrated the one-year anniversary of our daughter, Cheryl Olson, receiving a new heart via a transplant surgery performed at the University Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Cheryl (Wright) graduated from Canby Union High School in the class of 1986, then moved to Canada in 1989. She then married her husband, Darren Olson in June of 1990, and they now have two children, Lindsay, born in 1993; and Erik, born in 1996.

We, as a family, would like to thank our many friends and those we have not met in the Canby area for their prayers and thoughts of love and concern for Cheryl and our family during the trying times we faced in August and September last year.

It is not an easy time to see your loved one go from a very strong and healthy person to one who is in a medically induced coma and on full life support systems in only six weeks. We could not have made it through this time without your support.

As a result of a donor heart becoming available, in what appeared to be the last hours of Cheryl's life, she is now doing extremely well and able to take on the full responsibilities of life as a wife and mother.

She is doing many different functions in regard to the Donor Awareness programs in Canada, and we know she would ask each of you in person, if she could, to be sure to have your driver's license and identification cards indicate your willingness to donate your organs so you can make a difference in someone's life as someone has done for her.

We thank God for this undertaking, and for you who supported us.
Dave and Edie Wright
Former Canby residents

There's plenty of
evidence for agenda

No homosexual agenda? What about the "1972 Gay Rights Platform" that includes in 17 demands: "Federal . . . support for sex education courses, prepared and taught by gay women and men, presenting homosexuality as a valid, healthy preference and lifestyle . . ."?

What about the seven demands of "Platform of the 1993 March on Washington For Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Equal Rights"? It calls for $$ for AIDS education, "inclusion of LGB and transsexuals in the educational system" and "LGBT studies in multicultural curricula."

What about the 20 "Recommendations for Addressing the Concerns of Gays and Lesbians in Education" handed out to the National Education Association by its Gay and Lesbian Caucus? What about the 31 recommendations of Gov. Straub's Task Force on Sexual Preference which called for "non-biased presentation of the subject of homosexuality . . . in sex education classes given to students in the seventh grade and older." (State-mandated AIDS/sex ed curriculum in now K-12).

Charles Hinkle, a consistent opponent of OCA efforts, was a member of that task force according to The Oregonian, Dec. 31, 1978. Nine members of a 1991 Task Force on Sexual Minority Youth (c/o Phoenix Rising - a homosexual organization) authored a "Sexual Minority Youth Report" that National Education Association distributed to "locals" nationwide.

And then there is the Oregon Education Association newspaper (Sept./Oct. 1982) listing "Sexual Orientation" as one of the inservice day workshops for teachers, two full pages supporting Clinton for president and one full page opposing OCA's 1992 Measure 9.

No agenda? You be the judge. Our schools are not the place for pushing the radical homosexual activist agenda.

I hope you'll join me in voting yes on M9-2000, the Student Protection Act.
Pat Smith
Canby

Market Center
fund-raiser was
a success

Thank you for the great article and pictures about the fund-raising at the Canby Market Center. They were great!

Secondly, thanks to all the riders and non-riders and volunteers who showed up and participated. We all know it went to a good cause.

Thirdly, a heartfelt thanks to all the merchants who helped make it a great success.

Last, but not least, Peggy and I would like to thank John and Sandy Booze of Billy Bob's fame for all their support this racing year.
Peggy Smith and Terry Brown
Schrapnel Racing
Portland

Debate on annexation
was fair, reasonable

Early in the public debate on Canby's industrial area annexation issue I was concerned about the public possibly making a decision based on distorted and misleading information. I now want to compliment both sides in this debate for presenting their positions in the form of opinion letters in the Canby Herald without name-calling and mudslinging.

I especially want to compliment those in positions of community leadership for keeping the campaign clean and straightforward. Mayor Scott Taylor present the proponents' position very clearly. David Eatwell of the Canby Business Revitalization group provided a good explanation of the advantages to the business community. Fire Chief Ted Kunze provided a very objective statement on what, for the Fire District, is quite a passionate topic. And planning commissioner Corey Parks put the issues into a concise and very well written opinion letter that clearly stated the opposition view.

All of this led to a reasonable conclusion without leaving damaging divisiveness between the leaders involved. I congratulate all those who presented their arguments to the public in an honest and straightforward manner. The end result is a clear choice made by an informed public. And that is why we have voter-approved annexations.

Now the city's leaders know much better where the public stands on a major issue that has an enormous impact on the future of our community. Thank you all for keeping it fair and reasonable.
Roger Harris, city councilor
Canby