Last modified: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:11 AM PST Jeff Koterba EDITORIAL CARTOON FOR NOV 2 2007 BENCHMARKS Letters to the Editor Government power should be curtailed Editor,  I have not written many editorials, but I am bothered and feel a need to explain the proper role of government.  When we the people established a government, we were only able to give it powers we ourselves had. We could not give it any powers we did not have. If we had the right given to us by God to defend our lives, our families and our property, we could collectively hire a sheriff to help us with this right. We could not give the sheriff any powers we ourselves did not have. We had no right from God to murder or steal, so all of us as a society cannot hire a sheriff to murder or steal for us.  America today thinks government can trespass on every right God gave us. Through taxation, we steal from those who have and give it to others. We cannot do that individually, so we cannot give government power that we do not have.  I feel especially bad for the woman in the Burns area. She owned property of 150 to 200 dogs. She might have made a living or some income from them. You or I cannot go to her place, judge her to be a poor steward over her property, and justly steal from her. God gave her the right and stewardship over that property, and no one ought to be able to take from her without consent. We cannot give the power to government to steal what we cannot steal individually. Government only gets it’s power from the consent of the governed, and the governed only have the rights God gave them.  Government cannot pick and choose which property and which rights it can steal or deny. Most of us like to eat meat, yet some would say a cow is being mistreated because someone exercising their right to property was butchering and eating her. Some would deny them their right to eat their meat because it infringed on the cow’s rights or on someone else’s rights to regulate them and take away God-given rights. It becomes a religious war. In the Bible, God says man has dominion over everything that walks, crawls, creeps, flies, climbs, swims, etc., on earth. This is man’s stewardship, individually, not collectively. We, as people, need to protect private property by not trespassing on individual rights with government power. Shannon Pearce New Plymouth More should be done to improve city wages Editor,  I’m sick of reading that some of the City Council members, as well as Mayor Dominick, were surprised to learn that Scott Trainor was a candidate for city manager in other cities. Why are you surprised? I agree with the statements in the newspaper about city employees being run off by the new council and mayor. It’s an understatement to say that Mr. Trainor is an excellent city manager and the best Ontario has had for a very long time. Mr. Trainor came to Ontario during a very difficult time for the city and its employees. The prior city manager had made several changes leading to cuts in staff and a horrific blow to morale for city employees. Once taking the position, Mr. Trainor put a lot of staff worries to rest. His “open door” policy and ability to interact with people in a professional, yet personable, manner increased staff morale and production within the city departments. Partly at the direction of the City Council, continued changes were made and positions reorganized or eliminated, but without the maliciousness felt before. Mr. Trainor successfully made more information available to the public through newsletters and articles in the newspaper than had been offered in the past, something people had been requesting for a long time. I wonder how many people in Ontario remember, prior to last year’s election, Mayor Joe Dominick and another Ontario citizen attacking city employees’ wages. Because of their concern about those wages, the city created a compensation committee. For your information, since 1999, city staff has been conducting and submitting to the council annual wage surveys in order to create a fair wage base for positions with the city government, the same information that now goes to the compensation committee on a regular basis, creating more work for the city’s one-person Human Resources Department. The surveys are based on wages paid to employees in Oregon cities of comparable size to Ontario. Mr. Trainor’s wages, along with most other city employees, were in line with the median to high end of the wages paid to Oregon city employees in cities of comparable size to Ontario. Some of Ontario’s wages were actually lower than the low end as well (not because of lesser education, but simply because of underpaying the position from its inception). When you question why any position should be paid closer to the high end, maybe you don’t remember the old phrase “you get what you pay for.” In order to attract educated and experienced applicants, the city must offer wages comparable to that of similar government positions. Is it fair to pay higher wages to city employees for positions found in non-government organizations? Sure it is. Non-government organizations can pick and choose their customer base. They can terminate service with any unpleasant customer they want. Government organizations cannot. A city employee serves everyone in the city, no matter how rude or impertinent. How often has a city employee heard from the public “My taxes pay your wages!”? Hello — city employees are not tax exempt — all of them contribute to city wages somewhere. Most live here, shop here, buy gas here, eat here. I’m sorry to see Mr. Trainor leave Ontario as well as all the other employees who have left in the last year, all good people and excellent at what they do. Good bye and good luck people! Citizens of Ontario, rather than complaining about city employee wages, we need to require our elected officials to explore ways to increase business and population growth in Ontario to provide better job opportunities for the underpaid and unemployed. Shannon Aguiar Ontario Community will remember Sgt. Brennan Editor,  It takes a community to raise a child, and our community is responsible for raising such a man as Sgt. Joshua Brennan.  Joshua was raised by his family, friends, school and community to be a caring, responsible and dependable man. Those values brought Joshua to enlist in the United States Army to serve his community and country and to ensure our safety and freedom. Joshua’s service expanded that mission to assist others throughout the world to those same opportunities and freedoms that we seem to take for granted. Sgt. Brennan has paid the ultimate price for that desire to keep us secure here at home and to provide that same security to the people of Afghanistan. Sgt. Brennan is my brother and my hero. The John Ogburn Post of the Veterans of Foreign War and others of this community feel it is now our duty and honor to give Joshua and his family our gratitude for their sacrifice. “Blessed are the Peacemakers as they shall be called the children of God.” God has brought his child Joshua to his eternal home.  The tears and sadness that his mother, father, relatives, friends, community and country have today are a small price to pay for the honor of having Joshua in our midst. Stand down Sgt. Brennan, you have more than accomplished your duty. We who are left behind will never forget you or your sacrifice. As we gather to say good bye, we vow to keep your memory alive and provide the respect and memory alive and provide the respect and assistance to those you have left behind. We will work to continue your mission. Timothy “Tim” McBride Fruitland National VFW Recruiter Animal trapping is inhumane Editor, The ODFW press release in your Oct. 25 issue, “What dog owners should know about legal trapping in Oregon” fails to disclose important facts. Traps are indiscriminate and catch as many, if not more, non-targeted than targeted animals. Oregon does not require trappers to report non-targeted species caught, but studies indicate the ratio is at least 2-1 non-targeted to targeted animals. In 2003, about 20,000 furbearers were reported trapped in Oregon. “Humane” is not a word that applies to fur trapping. The mandatory check interval for fur trappers in Oregon is 48 hours. That an animal remains in a leg-hold trap for two days to suffer pain, thirst, fear and attacks by other animals is not “humane.” From a dog owner’s perspective, the ODFW information is unhelpful. We are told to be aware of where and when trapping occurs. How? When our dog is caught? Trapping areas are not required to be posted. There are no restrictions as to how close to trails, roads or paths traps can be set. Although fur trapping occurs in winter, animal-control trapping continues throughout the year. Hunters are urged to remain in close contact with their dogs and are reassured that site bait is not allowed within 15’ of leg-hold traps (although bobcat sets have bait suspended directly above the trap). But Conibear traps and neck snares, both kill traps, are baited. If your dog is caught in one of these, there is a good chance he will be killed.  So, the ODFW is saying, “Leash your dog.” Wally Sykes Joseph, Ore.