Urban renewal zone would do Corvallis much good

As a south Corvallis resident, I am in favor of the proposed urban renewal district. South Corvallis has been overlooked for years in many aspects of city development. This plan includes making a large area of south Corvallis a part of our vibrant downtown.

The city will not take on responsibility for the cleanup that is still going on at the Evanite industrial site if this plan is adopted by the voters. All the same laws and codes will still apply that apply now. My hope is that many people will take it on to fix that area up. (How about an outside venue for summer performances?)

I love the idea of Evanite moving on and private investors buying and improving that area. A bike trail, park, homes and businesses make a lot of sense to me. What a beautiful place - at the confluence of the two rivers with a bike bridge connection from south Corvallis to downtown! This would be a safer bike ride for bikers, too.

The urban renewal plan in Albany, although covering a much larger area than the Corvallis plan, is working well with many improvements that would never have happened without the district in place to help people make the improvements.

It isn't Evanite (voters) would be punishing by voting no on this plan, but downtown and southtown residents and business owners who will benefit from a plan to make improvements in this area.

Vote yes for downtown renewal.

Michele Adams, Corvallis

Renewal district too high on beautification

One bad feature of the proposed Corvallis urban renewal district is that it turns the city and county spending priorities upside-down. If asked to identify the most important services local government provides, most of us would list: police, fire, ambulance, the library, parks, road maintenance, health, city beautification and maybe downtown beautification (urban renewal).

We would all disagree on how to rank these services in order of importance. But we would probably all agree that downtown beautification (urban renewal) ranks at the very bottom of the list, or next to bottom.

The proposed urban renewal district forces the city to reverse the normal order of priorities and place urban renewal at the top. It does this by siphoning up to $35 million from local government budgets over 20 years. It "earmarks" those funds so that they can be spent only on urban renewal projects.

It won't matter how desperate the city and county become in trying to fund other essential services. Regardless of economic depression, natural calamity, or other emergency, the urban renewal district forces the city to spend the $35 million on urban renewal projects.

It's easy to foresee that the city and county will have some tough times funding essential services in the coming years. We need to keep our priorities in proper order. Urban renewal is at the bottom of those priorities. Earmarking $35 million for urban renewal now is a bad idea.

David Grappo, Corvallis

Republicans, devoid of ideas, can only rant

It is rather amusing to hear and read the relentless ranting and raving of the hard-core Republicans regarding President Obama's economic package. They still live in a surrealistic world where an "invisible hand" makes sure that the "free market" functions like the fictional system described by Ayn Rand. Their utopian laissez-faire capitalism suffers from periodic failures because they ignore the fact that the majority of humans are irrational and many are extremely corrupt. They live in a past that was only a mirage made possible by irresponsible economic policies based on excessive borrowing and the promotion of life beyond one's means. Many still live in the "la la land" envisioned by Ronald Reagan, who, in only six years, transformed the USA from the number one creditor to the number one debtor nation in the world; quite an achievement!

To them, free market means selling products which are not products at all, e.g. market derivatives that have value based on mere speculation and credit default swaps. Anyone endowed with minimum common sense can conclude that these are fictitious "financial" products that can have disastrous consequences when left unregulated. The Republicans are the architects of a U.S. economy that hardly produces tangible products. They are guilty of promoting uncontrolled outsourcing of jobs, in order to maximize profits for the shareholders, regardless of the consequences for domestic workers.

If they are devoid of new ideas, they are hardly in a position to criticize President Obama for trying a new approach.

Mario E. Magaña, Corvallis

Israel has Palestinians as hostages for too long

A quote from the March 8 Gazette-Times: "Pulitzer-prize winning author Alice Walker -. is traveling to Gaza along with (60) other female activists to highlight the devastation of the Israeli offensive on Gaza's residents."

The Zionists continue the genocide in Gaza. The airport is still closed. The harbors are still closed. All land approaches to Gaza are closed except a few check-points which are controlled by the Zionists.

What does this mean to the citizens of Gaza?

Every Gazan is a prisoner of Israel. They may not leave the tiny territory, the most densely populated area on Earth. They suffer high rates of suicide, depression, malnutrition -. all because the Israelis choose to imprison them.

The situation brings to mind the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I wonder if the Jews who control Gaza have considered that rule? Have they thought about the consequences if

1.5 million Jews were imprisoned in Gaza, suffering from a lack of food, medicines, electricity, fuel?

The Holocaust lasted six years for the Jews. The Palestinian holocaust has now lasted more than 60 years, and the genocide continues today. Citizens (women and children) of Gaza will die today because of the ongoing genocide by the Zionists. And they will die tomorrow.

Israel has no written constitution. Why? Because Israel is an apartheid state. Israel cannot write: All men are created equal. Because Jews are first-class citizens, and all others are second-class. Thus, the genocide.

Pray for Palestine - and f0r the Palestinians who have survived the 60-year Holocaust.

Kirk S. Nevin, Corvallis