LETTERS: Readers lobby Legislature amid crunch time in Salem

Responding to letters about Sherwood High disability accommodations

You are right the high school doesn't accommodate for disabled students or guests, but we are working on making changes.

Thirty years ago, I researched all the neighboring school districts, looking for the one that would mainstream and accommodate our disabled, wheelchair-bound son. Sherwood won.

Through his years in the district, they continued to make accommodations for all less-than-able-bodied students, staff and guests.

Unfortunately, when they built the new high school, the person in charge and the architecture firm paid little attention to accessibility in the school and outdoor facilities.

Teachers and others are volunteering their time and developing maps and signage to let people know where to park. Students have developed logos, poles and signs have been donated, to have five extra parking spaces for people that have mobility challenges.

I have been working with the Oregon Department of Transportation trying to get five more handicapped parking spaces near the stadium. I got three wheelchairs donated, and students are volunteering their time to provide those wheelchairs to take people with mobility challenges the quarter-mile from the parking lot to the bleachers and then back to their vehicles after the event. The district is also considering making some changes to parking that should help the problem.

I appreciate people letting us know of the problems. Since Sherwood School District was so good to our son back in the day, I am very determined to do what I can to make it good for others.

The important thing is that we work together as a community to make things better. Please email me if you are planning to attend an event at the stadium and need assistance: [email protected].

Dorene Steffeck

Sherwood

King City's expansion plans endanger Tualatin River

The Tualatin River holds a reputation of being a quiet river, even though one-third of it runs through urban areas. The only evidence of surrounding development in the lower watershed is from bridge crossings, such as the I-205 and 99W bridges.

But this urban intrusion is gone just a few hundred feet upstream from the 99W bridge. Once the sound of traffic dissipates, honking geese quickly replace honking cars, and paddlers are surrounded by one of the one of the most peaceful, natural stretches of waterway in our region.

Nature preserves and refuges surround the Tualatin on each side, for a stretch that runs 5 miles. Bald eagles and red-tailed hawks hunt prey from above, and great blue heron swoop down over the slow-moving river as natural areas managed by multiple agencies come together to create an important wildlife corridor.

But new development is coming to the corridor.

In early May, the King City Planning Commission recommended a transportation plan featuring an arterial road — the Fischer Road extension — running parallel to the Tualatin River, coming as close as 400 feet at one point. The road would cross several vulnerable streams that feed directly into the river and would bisect Columbia Land Trust's beautifully restored Bankston conservation easement, requiring the extraordinary step of condemnation of a perpetual easement held by a land trust.

This would not only set a dangerous precedent for conservation in our region, it would exacerbate an already serious regional stormwater issue and allow additional pollutants to enter the streams and river directly.

And unlike the perpendicular crossings downstream, the proposed road would run parallel to the Tualatin, where increased traffic noise will disturb recreational and wildlife activity for a long stretch of the river, significantly diminishing any positive impact created by the corridor.

The most disappointing aspect of this proposed arterial? A similar number of homes could be built using one of the less environmentally impactful alternate routes, as identified by King City's own Metro-funded study. An alternate route further north would protect this critical habitat while still providing the housing our region needs, in an area adjacent to a jewel of a natural amenity that would serve as a significant draw for the thousands of perspective new King City residents.

In short, King City can have a win-win scenario if it so chooses.

Tualatin Riverkeepers and our members support new housing in our region, but it must be done in a manner that protects wildlife corridors and recreation in our watershed. We urge the King City Council to choose an alternate route.

Glenn Fee

Executive Director, Tualatin Riverkeepers

Patients should have access to medicines they need

As a person who relies on prescription medications for cholesterol levels, gout and my blood pressure, I was glad to see I'm not the only one stressed about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans in our health care system that contribute to higher out-of-pocket costs for patients like me.

A recent op-ed by Professor Mike Millard from Pacific University highlighted pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the little-known but ridiculously influential groups that control the majority of the prescription drug market. In it, Millard thoroughly explains some of the highly questionable practices PBMs use to boost their own profits at the expense of prescription access and affordability.

One of the biggest ways they do this is by keeping the drug rebates they negotiate with drug manufacturers for themselves rather than passing the savings involved down to consumers to help reduce our out-of-pocket expenses — can you believe it? Incredulous greed.

That threatens access while forcing already-financially stretched patients to pay more for the prescriptions they need to maintain healthy lifestyles.

Congress should step in and do something about this. Fortunately, the Senate Finance Committee, which Sen. Ron Wyden chairs, has outlined a solid framework on how to reform some of these broken policies and help bring relief to patients at the pharmacy counter.

Other members of Oregon's congressional delegation should support Sen. Wyden and help pass much-needed legislation as soon as possible.

Mark Nielsen

Tigard

Public education deserves Legislature's full backing

Like many Oregonians before us, my father immigrated thousands of miles from his homeland in search of a better life for himself and his children. Since the early 1990s, I have been blessed to call Oregon home.

Despite his second-grade education, my father understands the positive long-term impacts of education. He has always encouraged my siblings and me to figure out a way to obtain a college degree.

Today, I am a financial specialist with the federal government, and despite being a formerly undocumented student have earned a master's degree, an achievement I would not have been able to accomplish without a public university education.

I have experienced and witnessed firsthand what an education can do for individuals seeking to improve their lives.

As a proud Beavertonian, I am disappointed that Oregon ranks 45th in the country for per-student state funding of public universities and invests less than half the national average in financial aid per public university student.

Investing in our students and public universities will allow more students to earn a four-year degree.

I understand that Oregon's Legislature is making difficult budget decisions this year. Still, I urge them to support Oregon's students by fully funding our public universities at $1.05 billion and the Oregon Opportunity Grant at $400 million.

This investment will allow public universities to continue offering education and critical services for students like myself. This investment will strengthen Oregon as we continue to face the unknown challenges ahead of us.

Victor Mena

Beaverton

Support state action on flavored nicotine products

Do we want a future where our children are thriving members of society? We must do everything possible to prevent them from becoming enticed into using flavored nicotine products.

House Bill 3090 does exactly this. It ends the sale of flavored tobacco products that are designed to attract and addict our kids.

Passing this bill means that our kids avoid preventable illnesses, early death and the massive related health care costs to society.

The tobacco industry has a long history of targeting our kids with flavored tobacco, most recently with e-cigarettes, because they know that virtually all tobacco use begins before the brain is fully developed, when nicotine addiction is often swift.

Eighty-one percent of kids start smoking with a flavored product. Flavors, including menthol, mask the harshness of smoking and vaping, making it easier for kids to start. New research has found that any e-cigarette use among youth leads to increased risk of continued smoking and frequent tobacco use before they leave their teens.

I have seen firsthand how big of a problem flavored e-cigarette have been in our schools and communities. The most effective way to combat the youth vaping epidemic is to end the sale of flavored products.

We must do everything possible to prevent future generations from becoming lifelong tobacco users. HB 3090 would prevent another generation of addiction and will put our kids' health first over tobacco industry profits.

Connie Ramaekers

Volunteer, Parents Against Vaping and Tigard Turns the Tide

Congress should curb pharmacy benefit managers

Greg Davis is exactly right in his recent column, "Pharmacy benefit managers put lupus patient health care at risk." As a fellow patient with a chronic disease, I can tell you from first-hand experience how many problems insurance companies and their pharmacy benefit managers create.

My auto-immune disease requires complex, biologic treatments to keep me healthy that must be taken on a monthly calendar. It is not uncommon for my medication to be delayed, sometimes by a month or more, while insurers determine if I really need the medication even though I have been taking it for years.

This has been particularly problematic when I change insurers. The delay in treatments has had adverse impacts on my health which is why I am a strong proponent of removing the middlemen who come between patients and their physicians.

Due to their compensation-driven business model, pharmacy benefit managers do not put the medication needs of patients first. They only withhold rebate savings that could help lower out-of-pocket expenses for prescriptions, but they also can dictate which specific pharmacies patients can pick up their medicines from.

That means they can overrule your local pharmacy and force you to travel farther to one of their affiliated locations to further increase their profit margins.

Congress needs to act and thanks to Sen. Ron Wyden for recognizing that PBMs are a serious problem. I hope Congress will pass meaningful reforms so that patients like Greg and I with chronic conditions can get the care we need.

Elizabeth Cochran

Southwest Portland

Former Beaverton city councilor says support CERT

Coming out of COVID and dealing with inflation, the Beaverton City Council has some tough decisions to make to balance the next budget, but they are making a big mistake with the proposed cut of the Beaverton Emergency Management staff from 4 to 2 people. The staff has many responsibilities. One of the most important that will be affected is their ability to provide the necessary training, support and oversight for the Beaverton CERT — Community Emergency Response Teams.

Beaverton has had many hundreds of active CERTs volunteering over the years. They serve as boots on the ground for our parades, Flicks by the Fountain, and other large outdoor events to keep people out of harm's way, help with medical emergencies until paramedics arrive, help with lost children, and radio in any other problems they observe. Other activations include searches for missing people, staffing cooling centers in the crazy heat we have seen the last two summers and are likely to see again.

They are trained to help with major events that exceed the capacity of our first responders, such as after wildfires or earthquakes. They can be called to aid in school reunification activities after a shooting or other crisis (God forbid).

It would be foolish to cut the support needed to keep our CERT members trained and ready to help. I hope the City Council will understand this and stop the bleed that will occur with the loss of half the Emergency Management staff.

Cate Arnold

Beaverton