I wonder how many other taxpayers were as appalled as I was to receive a phone-book-sized voters’ guide delivered to their front door? I had never seen such a monstrosity (Mind you, this was only labeled "Volume 1 of 2"!). How much did it cost taxpayers in preparation, printing costs, and delivery costs? Is this what our wonderful initiative system has brought us?

I certainly do not wish to be inundated with a plethora of initiatives at election time. Most of these initiatives don’t deserve to be on the ballot. When are the voters of this state going to get wise and throw out the likes of Lou Mabon and Bill Sizemore, and quit wasting taxpayers’ time and money? We don’t need bigots and self-serving sleazebags to squander our time and money on distasteful and ludicrous ballot initiatives.

Does anyone remember the initiative to require more signatures to get an initiative on the ballot? I voted for it; perhaps you should have, too. Bill Sizemore and the likes of him are making a mockery of our initiative system.

If we don’t like the way our government is working, we have a choice — it’s called a vote for a candidate. Or, if none of the candidates suit you, why not get involved yourself? Are we going to let Bill Sizemore run our state? I didn’t vote for him, did you? 

— Pamela Hogan, Gold Hill

Making it simple

Yes sir, the authors of "26 Ballot Measures Made Simple" made it simple for me all right! I plan to vote the opposite of their recommendations in 95 percent of the cases. (How they missed on a few, I can’t imagine.)

Incidentally, I wonder who put this out? No return address or other identification that I could find. You don’t suppose Taxpayers United was involved, do you? 

— Jim and Gwynn Sullivan, Medford

Smith deserts Oregon

I want to commend Sen. Ron Wyden for his efforts to block legislation in Congress that would render Oregon’s "Death with Dignity/Assisted Suicide" law null and void by penalizing doctors who participate. I also want to condemn Sen. Gordon Smith for turning his back on Oregonians in this matter and supporting this legislation.

Is this the same Gordon Smith who campaigned under the Republican banner of "less federal intervention in our lives and more state control"? What hypocrisy! The majority of Oregonians voted yes on this issue twice. If Sen. Smith cannot put his personal feelings aside and do his job, which is representing the majority view of the people of Oregon, then it’s time for him to go.

In 2002, let’s elect someone who understands the words "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" ... someone like Ron Wyden. 

— Neil Whiteford, Central Point

County needs Wright

Jackson County has had major problems in the past few years trying to properly manage their budget. The county has a treasurer, financial officer, assistant administrator, county administrator, a full staff of attorneys, and last but not least, three full-time county commissioners.

One would think that with all of this financial knowledge, the county could come up with a budget that would not cause the loss of jobs and a cut in every county department. Unfortunately, these cuts did occur even though most county departments returned unused budgeted funds back to the general fund. Commissioner Kupillas continuously cried that the county did not have any money, but when she wanted it for some unnecessary cause, she never had a problem coming up with the money. What is going on here?

Please elect a commissioner that will be accountable to the public. Elect Cleve Wright. 

— Mary L. Wagner, Medford

Deceptive vote guide

I hope that journalists will investigate this electioneering ploy: who are "The Executive Committee, 2000 Voters guide"? They provide no address, list no one’s name, and may not exist. They are not registered as a PAC with the secretary of state’s office. But someone has spent a lot of effort and a huge amount of money to try to sway the votes of Oregon’s electorate.

Evan Manvel, director of education and research of 1000 Friends of Oregon, said that KPAM radio (860 AM) reported that Larry George, director of Oregonians in Action, was behind the sham guide.

I know one fact about "26 Ballot Measures Made Simple": the guide’s recommendations on 12 of the measures are the opposite of the recommendations of the League of Women Voters of Oregon. 

— Hal Cloer, Ashland

Measure 7’s real goal

Measure 7 is a stealth proposal: it sounds reasonable at first glance, but it will result in loss of our quality of life if passed. It subverts the land use planning laws, it requires that taxpayers subsidize developers, and it is likely to end our justly famous "beach bill." Instead of having long stretches of the beach available for leisurely strolls, we will be faced with fences across the beach erected by every owner of property facing the ocean.

I quote from an excellent commentary by Dick Trout that appeared in the Daily Tidings: "The estimated cost under Measure 7 to maintain our current laws and regulations protecting the environment, if we have to compensate land owners for loss of theoretical profits, is $8.4 billion each year. Well, of course, we don’t have that kind of money. This measure’s real intention is to eliminate our land use and environmental laws."

Vote no on Measure 7! 

— Don and Phyllis Reynolds, Ashland

Vote for leadership

A vote for Sue Kupillas for Jackson County commissioner will be a vote for sound, experienced leadership. Her 12 years in office have honed her skills and demonstrated her ability to involve both sides of issues when making wise decisions.

It would be difficult to find anyone in Jackson County more qualified. Please vote for Sue Kupillas for commissioner. 

—George H. Jess Jr., Eagle Point

Last chance for kids

Everyone has a chance to do something for the children by voting yes on Measure 9. Night is near upon us, with just a little glimmer of light left. This may well be our last chance to do well for our kids. Please vote yes on 9. 

— Dave Hale, Eagle Point

Thanks for generosity

My name is Tanya Wray and I am 27 years old. In February of this year I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. I have been on medical leave from work and undergoing treatment for nine months, and my prognosis is excellent.

I would like to thank the entire Southern Oregon community for your moral, spiritual, and financial support. People from all walks of life have reached out to me, and with your help I am on my way to overcoming this challenge!

My husband and I have struggled financially during this difficult time, so I would especially like to thank all of the people who made generous donations to the Tanya Wray fund. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the many businesses who showed their support through donations and by allowing me to place donation cans and posters in their establishments. 

— Tanya Wray, Ashland

Volunteer at shelter

Are you lonely? Do you find yourself watching endless re-runs on dreary afternoons? If you answer yes to either of these questions, I would like to suggest a solution which can brighten your day and change the lives of many. Be a volunteer at the Jackson County Animal Shelter. As a volunteer you will meet a lot of wonderful people and help a lot of homeless animals. By giving a few hours a week as a volunteer you will make many new friends (some of them people) and fill a desperate need at your Jackson County Animal Shelter.

There are many jobs that need to be done on a daily basis to maintain the high quality of care and caring now practiced at the shelter. Many jobs involve hands-on work with the homeless cats and dogs the shelter cares for, such as bathing, brushing, and walking. Many more jobs require clerical, organizational, driving, computer, and phone skills.

So, if you find yourself eating too many potato chips and talking back to TV commercials, why not call 774-6646 or 774-6644 and become a volunteer. The hours are flexible, the people are wonderful, and the rewards are great. 

— Lynita Zajack, Central Point

Giving up freedom

Hurrah for Gore: We need better gun control in this country! Poo on the yahoos that say we have a constitution. Only the police and military should have guns — that way no one would die by gunfire except those shot by the police, military or criminals.

We could have a president for life, save a lot of money, and have a more effective government. Visualize world police and think what a better world we could have. Our freedoms are a small price to pay for security. 

— Arthur Wechlo, Medford

When you vote, stop and think — both candidates for president are making lots of promises. Neither one can keep any of those promises, he can only propose them. He has to have a Congress that will back him.

So when you vote, make sure your candidate is able to keep his promises by also voting for the men and women in Congress who will support him. 

— Iris Bradley, Applegate

On Sept. 1, the HOPE Equestrian Center, a nonprofit therapeutic horseback-riding program, moved from Lighthouse Stables in Eagle Point to Wagner Creek Farm outside of Talent. We owe a debt of thanks to our volunteers who assisted with lots of packing and preparation for that move. We also owe many thanks to the Oregon National Guard HQ Company 1st Battalion 186th Infantry. Their staff and equipment helped move a large storage shed and a large, heavy wheelchair ramp used in mounting the horses.

Capt. Mark Parrish arranged approval for the assistance, and Sgt. Gary Johnson supervised and worked on the move itself. He was assisted by Sgts. Dave Pearson, Tom McNeil, and Darren Waites, as well as A-4 Mike Sherril. Moving the shed, in particular, was a daunting task which they struggled with late into the evening, solving numerous logistic puzzles. In addition, some of these men had to leave early the next day to fight fires in Idaho. They handled the entire affair with good humor, a high level of skill, and hard work.

So, thanks from all of us on the HOPE board, staff, and riders for a job well done. 

— Donald A. Azar, Board President HOPE Equestrian Center, Talent

I don’t know about others, but I am irritated when three governors from other states who don’t know diddley-squat about Oregon come out to tell us how to vote. The worst was Gov. Jane Hull of Arizona. She praised Bush for his education "miracle." When someone asked about Texas’s 40 percent dropout rate, she said she wasn’t familiar with it.

Look, lady, do your homework! The figures are available from both the Texas and U.S. Departments of Education.

She also forgot to mention that Texas is 50th in teachers’ salaries and benefits, and 48th in literacy (Texas Workforce Commission).

Texas has some firsts: first in executions, first in DUIs, first in gun-related child deaths (Texas Department of Public Safety).

We Oregonians have done quite well for 141 years, thank you. We’ll muddle through without your advice. 

— Jeff Cheek, Medford

Ashland faces monumental changes in the next four years. How we deal with them will determine the future of our city. Several changes — the new library, two new fire stations, and the redesign of Siskiyou Boulevard — require experienced oversight of major construction projects.

I have proven experience in successfully overseeing large construction projects and bringing them in under budget. My practical experience can do that for Ashland. Times of change are not easy, but I will keep a steady hand on the operations of the city, maintaining fiscal responsibility and mutual respect as our protocol.

I have spent my life working for Ashland, both in the public and private sector. Held between the bookends of Shakespeare and the university, my hometown embodies all I value and work for: education, the people, pristine natural beauty, and the arts. As Ashland’s mayor I will work to protect all of these. 

— Alan DeBoer, Ashland

Ashland needs a mayor who’s smart, who knows the issues, who listens and who has experience in the city’s government so she can hit the ground running. My vote goes to Carole Wheeldon. 

— Sheila Straus, Ashland

Now that the ballots are out, voters will be doing a last-minute consideration of how to vote on the issues. I urge your yes vote on Measure 87, which would allow zoning of adult bookstores and adult entertainment businesses.

When a new business decides to locate in town, it looks for a site which is compatible for its purpose and zoned appropriately for the business. School zones are posted "no smoking" within the school zone as well as "no guns," "no drugs," etc. Why, then, do we allow "adult entertainment" to locate right across the street from an elementary school as they did here in Coos Bay?

Let’s allow cities and counties the right to zone adult entertainment businesses the same as we allow the zoning of other businesses! No special privileges for porno houses! 

— Mary Griffin, Coos Bay

If you want the federal government dictating more rules and regulations to our public schools, vote for Al Gore.

If you want to continue to pay the highest taxes in our country’s history, vote for Al Gore.

If you want the federal government to take care of you from birth to death, vote for Al Gore.

If you want an under-funded military, sent all over the world to be a "baby-sitter," vote for Al Gore.

If you want the federal government dictating to the sates what they an and cannot do by withholding our tax dollars, vote for Al Gore.

If you want the federal government to continue to take our public lands and put them off-limits to "We the people," vote for Al Gore.

If you want another president who doesn’t know the difference between a lie and the truth, vote for Al Gore.

Vote G.W. Bush. 

— Rosalie Lindvig, Medford

I am urging all voters with a conscience to vote yes on Measure 97. This measure would ban the use of cruel steel-jaw leg hold traps, other body-gripping traps, and several poisons used to kill wildlife, mainly for the fur industry. If 97 passes, over 40,000 animals a year will be spared horrible pain, suffering, and slow, lingering deaths.

Steel-jaw leg hold traps are not only cruel, they are indiscriminate. For every intended animal trapped, between one and 10 "nontarget" animals are caught. Many of these animals, including family pets, chew their legs off rather than continue to experience the excruciating pain of having their limbs crushed in the trap. The target animals that do survive are bludgeoned, strangled or shot by the trapper.

This is the greatest opportunity that Oregonians have ever had to rid our state of these inhumane traps. Please vote yes on Measure 97. 

— Janis Rosenthal, Ashland

Did I miss it, or was Southern Oregon excluded from the areas that will have upgraded phone and Internet services? The insert article spoke of small communities including Baker and LaPine, but failed to mention Jacksonville, Medford or Ashland.

Why is Southern Oregon being ignored by the phone company, particularly in the face of cable’s head start in high-speed Internet access? Maybe we should consider Charter for our telephone too. 

— Michael Hoyt, Medford

Although I have never written a letter to the editor, I am compelled to do so for Alan Bates. In particular, I am impressed with Alan’s commitment to education and work ethic. As the athletic director at Eagle Point High School, I put in some long hours. However, I can’t compete with Alan Bates. Dr. Bates has juggled a school board position, served as the team doctor on the sidelines, attended school events from theater to athletics, and managed to chaperone the majority of our school dances.

On Sunday evenings, Alan Bates is facilitating a youth basketball group, but he is often interrupted in order to approve an unscheduled, last-minute sports physical. This is particularly hectic during wrestling season and when our student athletes require the OSAA weight certification cards.

Alan Bates’ dedication to our community and our youth will serve us well in Salem. 

— Bob Bergen, Ashland

If you are a voter still undecided about the presidential candidates, please consider this.: A vote for Vice President Gore is a vote for national leadership on environmental issues. Of all the issues being debated, the brightest line between the two leading candidates is the environment. This shows up time and again in the polls — Gore and his party will do a much better job of protecting the quality of life we enjoy here in our state.

The race is close in Oregon. The leadership in the environmental community recognizes the importance of a vote for Gore. Make your vote count for who leads the country over the next four years. Weigh in with the one person who has a chance of winning and who will protect the environment. That’s Vice President Al Gore. 

— Steve Haskell, Ashland

I just can’t understand the Bush attempt to push young workers into putting the money normally combined with an equal amount of money by the employer into the Social Security fund, instead of placing their money into the stock market (forgetting the employer), and hoping for a bonanza. I’m retired now, but I remember my hesitation, and it lasted for many years.

What no one has even mentioned is the IRA fund which you can currently place up to $2,000 annually into an account (market or otherwise) which is tax deductible; or, if you want to put the money into the market there is the Roth account, where you don’t take the tax deduction for the current amount, but after you retire, you get the entire amount tax-free.

Oh yes, Congress passed an increase in IRA funds during the next few years to $5,000 per year. I’d buy that over Bush’s recommendation in a moment. Think hard about these Bush plans. 

— Norman Miller, Ashland

So here we go again ... we are being asked to vote for either dumb or dumber. It is either Wooden Head or Georgie’s little boy. What a choice! I faced a dilemma this year — should I vote for myself and obviously waste my vote? Although I would be making a statement by voting for myself, it would all be for naught.

Well, I decided to cast my vote for someone other than Tweedledee or Tweedledum. I know well that the man will not win, but he stands a better chance than I do of sitting in the oval office next January.

I mentioned in an earlier letter that we should all vote for none of the above; well, I need to amend that statement, I was wrong. We should vote for anyone but Lil’ Georgie Dubya or the Talking Totem Pole. We should have learned from the past that if they get in it is business as usual. No matter the lines they feed us to get elected, they are the same disaster with a different name. Please take a stand and vote for anyone but the two major buffoons. 

— Allan L. Wattenberg, Medford

In reading many of the letters in opposition to Measure 97, it is very clear most people’s knowledge about trapping has been gained from movies. Traps with teeth have been unlawful since the early 1940s. Any trap with a 4-inch jaw opening or larger must have a 5/16-inch opening when shut to allow small animals and birds to escape unharmed.

A properly set trap only restrains; it does little or no harm to an animal. I seriously doubt there is one veterinarian in Jackson or Josephine County who has ever treated an animal for a trap injury. Animal populations must be controlled, and trapping is the safest and most humane method. Vote no on 97. 

— Karl Keen, Grants Pass

I recently attended a meeting in Shady Cove concerning the ruling of bait fishing versus fly fishing on the Upper Rogue River, sponsored by Alma Spicer and the Shady Cove Chamber of Commerce.

Susan Morgan and Jane Hunts were guest speakers. Susan is our District 46 representative in the Legislature, running for re-election. Jane Hunts is running for the District 52 seat. They are both supporters of the no-bait issue on the river. They are wise and intelligent ladies, and I support them both in their respective districts. 

— The Cadwalladers, Shady Cove

When you on the Mail Tribune editorial board declared yourself "undecided" about endorsing a presidential candidate because Bush looked like a "better leader," did you consider that a leader who leads this county in the wrong direction — on tax cuts, the environment, health care and other important matters — is of little value?

And to those people declaring for Nader: He is a good man, and it’s true he is talking about important issues that have not been addressed by either Bush or Gore, but Nader will not be elected, and Bush will not address them. Elect Gore and then hold his feet to the fire.

To anyone thinking the "tax-reducing" initiatives on the ballot sound pretty good, read the fine print very carefully. They will have a devastating effect on the quality of life in your state and your community. Mr. Sizemore is in the initiative business for his own profit and will do a lot of harm to most of the rest of us if his measures pass, no matter how often or vehemently he denies it.

Consider very carefully. Then please vote. 

— Carol Ampel, Medford

Aren’t elections great!! A chance for the voters to unload those who put themselves ahead of the people who elected and trusted them. Sue (I gave myself a raise and I don’t care what anyone thinks) Kupillas, I think, is brazen, arrogant and self-serving, however, certainly not indispensable.

Vote for Cleve Wright, the right person for the job as one of our county commissioners. 

— A. Chipman, Medford

Watching the presidential debates, I lost track of the times Al Gore said "I will fight." He said he will fight business, drug companies, energy companies, insurance companies, the stock market, and on and on. What weapons would the Gore government use — harsh regulations, taxes, lawsuits, etc. to defeat the enemies?

In any case, one of the few things I believe from the Gore campaign is that, if elected, Gore will, in fact, fight. Not only with he fight business, but he is almost certain to continue the partisan political fights against Republicans carried on by Bill and Hillary Clinton. If, like me, you are sick and tired of the fighting, vote for George W. Bush. 

— David W. Vannatta, Medford

Cleve Wright is better qualified, a straight shooter, trustworthy, works well with people, and is endorsed by a Supreme Court judge. He is also endorsed by successful professionals, business people, and chiefs of police. He was a cop; he received a pension for injury in the line of duty. He moved to the Rogue Valley, and with his wife, created a successful business.

Cleve listens. He’s a family man, qualified and trustworthy.

His opponent put the county urban renewal tax into effect without a vote of the people, in direct violation of the county charter III (14) (9). That tax is protected by a short 90-day statute of limitation and is still in effect, still taking our money without a vote, and spending it on new construction in another city.

Cleve Wright is better qualified and trustworthy. My wife and I met him, we were impressed, and we support his campaign and will vote for him. 

— George Fuller, Trail

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