Landlords/tenant issues exaggerated

It must be editorial misguided wisdom that drives reporters to write articles that attempt to add flames to the fire when only a little smoke is being created. The "tenant/landlord rights" (editorial) on Wednesday July 16, "Reopen talk on landlord/tenant rights," is a classic example.

Having been in the property management business for almost 30 years in Corvallis, I speak for over 200 owners and over 1,000 tenants. The issues (in the editorial) were greatly exaggerated. Here are the facts:

• City code is being enforced regularly and has substantial teeth.

• HUD has yearly inspections and stringent enforcement.

• Checking and savings account numbers are unnecessary and never requested by professional property management companies.

• Landlord/tenant law is very specific and easily accessible. Grey areas are a rarity, not a "vast misty moor."

• "Trickery" happens but it is rare, not "plentiful." I would be willing to wager that out of approximately 12,500 rentals in Corvallis, fewer than that 1 percent result in a dispute annually.

If you are really serious about continuing your investigation and reporting accordingly, contact a professional in the business who makes a living at it and get your facts reported accurately for a change.

In summary, this is not a "simmering issue." It never has been. Your biased reporting does nothing but harm to all of our ongoing attempts to make Corvallis a comfortable environment for both tenants and landlords.

Jerry L. Duerksen, Duerksen & Associates Inc., Corvallis

Surge working? Don't you believe it

Sen. Barack Obama needs to challenge John McCain's claim that "the surge" worked. If the surge against terrorists has worked, why are they gaining ground in Afghanistan? McCain's support of a policy that shifted al-Qaida and other terrorist factions from Iraq to Afghanistan is a failure of the broader "War on terrorism." Al-Qaida was never in Iraq until George Bush, Dick Cheney and John McCain let them in, so they claim a great victory cleaning up their mess that has unnecessarily killed thousands, and mentally and physically disabled countless tens of thousands of U.S. young people? If this is a McCain success, we can't afford any more of his good works. There were more Saudis that attacked the United States on 9/11 then any other terrorist supporting country. Afghanistan should have been the one and only war on terrorism and the surge in Iraq has not made any of us safer.

Steven Skarda, Corvallis

Census is 'hiding' same-sex data

Although sexual orientation is not counted directly by the U.S. Census Bureau, the count of unmarried same-sex couples in the 2000 Census was used to calculate that Corvallis has the sixth-highest concentration of lesbians in the nation. (Source: Population Today May/June 2002).

The U.S. Census Bureau's recent decision not to count legal same-sex marriages (Gazette-Times July 18) in California and Massachusetts is pure anti-gay Christian Republican politics. The raw data is already being collected and extra effort will be needed to hide the data.

The Census Bureau claims the "Defense of Marriage Act" prohibits recognizing same-sex marriages for any purpose. This is untrue because George Bush's own justice department recently decided DOMA does not prohibit recognizing legal gay marriages when granting Social Security disability payments to legally adopted children.

Not counting families headed by gay parents will harm all children dependent on federal programs based on an accurate count.

I noticed the Christian Republican press was gloating about this decision several days before it appeared in the mainstream press. The census should not maliciously hide data just to bash gay people for political gain.

Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis

ODOT's crossing closure plan unwise

My advocacy for government against the critics from the Right runs into the idiots at the Oregon Department of Transportation. I travel routes through both (railroad crossings proposed for closure) at Seventh and 11th streets, and I cannot understand what the big problem is. Unless you do not know there is a rail crossing there or are just assuming that there is no train, there is no way you will be hit by a train.

Install warning lights to insure we are alert. If you need gates like we have at many other intersections, install them. The trains are not going fast. If the stop signs are observed, anyone who does not see a train is missing a whole lot more in the real world all the time. But add lights and gates if needed.

Both intersections matter to keep other intersections free of congestion.

If we cannot cross at 11th Street, we will make 14th Street a nightmare. If you think the limited sight at Seventh Street, making a stop necessary, is a mess, try making sense of Sixth Street and Washington Avenue.

Rerouting the rail line so it does not go through Corvallis might be a good idea, but let us talk about it and make the decision. Go away, ODOT.

Don Caughey, Corvallis