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Letters: Committee urges support for Ontario charter changes

Letters to the editor may be sent to [email protected].

Here are the letters in the editor’s mailbag this week.

To the Editor:

We, the appointed members of the City of Ontario Charter Amendment Committee, urge you to vote yes on the Charter Amendments which will appear on the May ballot in Ontario. 

Our group spent four months reviewing the current City Charter and unanimously supported the amendments that will be on the May ballot. These important changes include:

• Requiring any Council proposal to impose a general sales tax in Ontario to be referred to the voters,

• Requiring a 2/3 Council majority to approve any other change in city fees,

• Allowing a majority of the Council to take away the authority of the Council President,

• Allowing a majority of the Council to remove the City Manager,

•Allowing a majority of the Council to remove any Councilor that resides outside of the city limits, and

• Requiring that every ten years the Council must appoint a charter committee to review and make recommendations regarding the City Charter.

These Charter Amendments were also unanimously approved by the full City Council in December of 2021.

The City of Ontario Charter was last updated in 1985 and it is time to make these well researched changes to meet the needs of Ontario in 2022. Thank you for your consideration.

 – City of Ontario Charter Amendment Committee members:

Sam Baker

Ken Hart

John Kirby

Michael Miller

Susann Mills

Jaime Taylor

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Keep covering reload issues

To the Editor:

Thanks for putting on the county candidate forum at the Four Rivers Cultural Center. I was disappointed more weren’t in attendance.

And thanks for keeping Malheur County citizens continually informed about the Treasure Valley Reload Center in Nyssa. Your April 20 coverage was excellent, as usual.

What started out as potentially something to help the county’s onion industry and economy sure went off the rails. The indignant behavior, lack of transparency and truth, and negligence is unbelievable, besides unacceptable. I hope a lot more folks feel the same and vote in new “leaders.”

Keep up the great work you and your staff do.

– Mike Castro-Shrader

Ontario

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State’s sinking to new low?

To the Editor:

Now after legalizing the sale of pot in Ontario and opening up the doors to the hordes of Idahoans to come and get their drugs, I understand that the Oregon legislative leaders have announced a fund of $15 million to help mothers come to Oregon to get their abortions. I suspect that money is from Oregon taxpayers. Planned Parenthood has jumped on the bandwagon with the announcement of opening a clinic in Ontario so they can cash in on that fund of taxpayer money.

I’m not sure how much lower we can sink but I’m afraid that we are going to find out eventually.

– Bob Butler

Vale

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