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Legislators pound Starr By Sean Wolfe Ashland Daily Tidings Reacting to the controversy surrounding Sen. Charles Starr (R-Hillsboro), Ashland School District Superintendent Juli Di Chiro pressed Ashland state legislators Sen. Lenn Hannon (R-Ashland) and Rep. Alan Bates (D-Ashland) on what could be done to force Starr to step down. "I want to know what can be done about the senator. It seems inconceivable to me that he can chair the Education Committee and hold those views on public education," DiChiro said. "What about taking him out?" Starr has come under fire in recent weeks when correspondence to one of his Tualatin constituents surfaced that advocated home schooling, and said the senator tells "any parent who will listen to run, not walk, to remove their children from public schools." The letter goes on to question his constituent's mental stability, and notes that the "dumbing down of the population has reached such a level that we are the most illiterate our nation has ever been," and that "children are being taught the humanist/socialist world view." Starr has since apologized for the letter, saying it was not his "intent to run down public schools." While Hannon acknowledged that he would call for his dismissal "in a heartbeat," he said the support wasn't there to pressure Starr to step down. Instead, Hannon said he has since met with Senate leaders to pull all the bills related to home schools and private schools out of Starr's committee. "Senator Starr has jeopardized his objectivity. A member can say anything they want, whenever they want, but to be in his position affecting public education is a violation of the public trust. That's why we took those extreme measures," Hannon said. Comparing Starr's position on education to former Senate majority leader Trent Lott's remarks on the Dixiecrat ticket, Bates said Starr's mistake had been getting "caught out in the open." "The problem is I don't think Starr is much of an exception. The big problem up here is you often don't know which (legislator) is which," Bates said. The conversation between Di Chiro, Bates and Hannon took place at this morning's legislative hotline, arranged by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, and hosted in a meeting room on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's campus. Local tax options for education, as well as the search for new revenue sources, continued to dominate the conversation, as well as the need for the Legislature to meet more frequently. Hannon said discussions he has had with the Senate Revenue Committee explored local tax options for schools, but failed to win his support. "I said to them I'll support the local option on the day you bastards repeal Measure 5 � I voted against it, and you gave it to us, and now you don't like it. If you go with a local option, and put in new taxes, who's to say we won't be having this discussion in five years when you're complaining about the tax burden," Hannon said. "When you have the guts to say that this is a statewide problem instead of a local problem, then we can talk." Hannon said he also questioned the sincerity of two fellow GOP legislators, Sen. Steve Harper (R-Klamath Falls) and Sen. Roger Beyer (R-Molalla) on their proposal to temporarily suspend the two percent kicker in order to ease the state's budget woes. "Give me a break," Hannon said. "Let's not suspend the kicker. Let's repeal it. I am frustrated with these people who dance on a needle. It's called leadership, it has a price. But they do this rope-a-dope stuff, like a boxer in a ring instead of fighting." Both Hannon and Bates expressed their dismay with the Legislature's approach to fighting deficits without additional taxes to bring in revenues. Ideas under consideration, according to Hannon, could include suspending tax breaks and incentives. "Tax breaks are OK for good times, but we're not in good times," Hannon said. "One thing we're talking about are contributions to candidates and campaigns. These monies go to different functions and are deducted from state income tax. We need to review those," Hannon added. Bates said that support for sales taxes continued to be at low ebb in legislative halls. "What's happening in the House is very partisan. So the chance of a sales tax coming from this building is very low," Bates said. "We've seen people talk about it, but we've never seen them cross the line." Both Hannon and Bates said the state's current budget crisis is caused in part by its inability to accurately forecast economic trends two years in advance. "One of the things we need to consider some day is whether a state as big as this is being run properly by the Legislature. When it was first set up (under the biennium model), things moved a lot slower," Bates said. "I strongly wonder if we should have a year-round Legislature. We're no longer a state of a half-million people." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -