To the editor:
Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall has our support and vote.
Claire Hall was the only commissioner to truly listen to us as we started Save Our Siletz River and immediately joined us in meeting with others who shared our concerns.
With Claire Hall’s support, the other two commissioners, county counsel and others began to listen. They then organized the Biosolid Summit held in Lincoln City. County commissioners and Rep. David Gomberg introduced a bill to change the regulating of toxic sewage sludge (biosolids) from the state to the county level, because the state does not effectively monitor or regulate. Sadly, the bill never made it to the floor of the Oregon Legislature.
Claire Hall worked with us as a core member of Save Our Siletz River. She attended and spoke at the Department of Environmental Quality site authorization hearings for the farms applying biosolids along the Siletz River and continues to be supporter of and member of Save Our Siletz River.
She cares for all the citizens of Lincoln County and has worked very hard on the housing shortage in Lincoln County and made huge progress.
I have read many of Claire’s opponent’s social media posts and his statement in the voters’ pamphlet. I do not follow Rick Beasley closely on Facebook, but I am a member of the Logsden Community page which he was flooding with statements until he was called out. His campaign, in my opinion, is based on attacks. I was appalled when I read a post in which he used a horrific murder for political purposes.
We urge you to re-elect Commissioner Claire Hall; she truly cares for all in Lincoln County.
- Kayleen & Alan Davis/Logsden
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate my commitment to protecting the environment and the health of Lincoln County’s natural resources, especially the Siletz River Basin. Having hunted and fished its most remote valleys for 30 years, I know the importance of this river not only to our ecosystem but to my own conservationist outlook on life.
As a journalist, I cared enough to make this my beat, exposing to thousands of readers how the Siletz River has been despoiled by laundry detergents, flame retardants, heavy metals, antihistamines, polyester and Polar Fleece. I reported on the lax enforcement of regulations and documented with my camera a toxic algae bloom spreading across the river. One story exposed plans to dump municipal sewage-plant residues (biosolids) on farms along the upper reaches of the Siletz River. My role was admittedly small, but the knowledge gained has shaped my opposition to any actions that would harm the river or the environment at large.
Public safety is another issue that worries me. In my campaign, I’ve discussed the need to address crime in our county, particularly after the horrific murder that shook our community. I want to be clear: my intent was never to politicize a tragedy. This event underscores the urgent need to ensure the safety of all Lincoln County residents by fully supporting our law enforcement and addressing the root causes of crime.
Rick Beasley, candidate for Lincoln County commission
Save Our Siletz, Oregon League of Conservation Voters, and Humane Voters of Oregon have all endorsed Claire Hall and want her to be re-elected to the commissioner position. I’m with Claire.