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Letters to the Editor: Raise the room tax 2 percent I have a suggestion that may help to alleviate the problem of the homeless in Ashland. Raise the room tax 2 percent. Ashland has the lowest room tax anywhere. Seven percent is unheard of anywhere else. No one inquires about the tax when asking for the rate of a B&B or hotel room. And 9 percent is not unreasonable. Many cities charge double and more. The owners of the hotels or B&B's would have no more work than they already have filling out a tax form. Visitors wouldn't even notice it and they are already happy to get the free things we offer, such as parking, Green Show, Lithia Park, etc. That 2 percent would enable the city to purchase land for the homeless to camp on, and eventually we might even be able to build a shelter for them. How about it, Ashland. Do we have heart enough to do this? Vivian Korn, Ashland No one cares about the seniors Like so many Oregonians I was fooled. I received a letter from Oregon Health, saying I can get prescription medicine from the pharmacy I used last month. I ordered my medicine from the pharmacy to find out I was denied. I called Oregon Health Plan to see what happened. I was told these letters were mailed out by mistake - that I do not have the plan because I am on SSDI and that I am not entitled to this. I was told that these letters should never have went out. The joke is that I live on $651 a month (SSDI). I am a 56-year-old college student. My rent is $420 a month. The medicine I am on to help me breathe is $330. I am one of the luckier people, because my doctor had samples. So right now I have medicine. It seems no one really cares about seniors, disabled or the poor. A few years ago when I was trying to get health care, I called Salem to see what I could do. I was treated rudely. When I asked the person if they could live on $600 a month, I was told thank goodness I do not have to - I have a job. Lauren Diane Spector, Central Point Shedding light on the meals tax, and loneliness A little light on the subject at last! Everyone I know including myself has been against the meal tax, from the git-go, in every aspect. We do not eat out that much any more, and I am more apt now to stop in Phoenix, or even Medford, with its speed traps. We see that those in power view the many tourists drawn to Ashland as sheep to fleece, and to hell with those of us that live here and have to face the fleecing on a daily basis. These nincompoops that have made it into office, voted there by more of their own, will never see the futility of recreating the scene they left just to recreate it here. When the model becomes complete, when Ashland has achieved the full status of Berkeley North, I am certain it will no longer appeal to the refugees from the south, and they will seek some other district to ruin. Unfortunately, Ashland has a historic tradition of malcontention, of those seeking to improve everyone around them and look down their nose at the surrounding communities, so by now they have come into full flower. Those that preferred to mind their own business have moved away, given up the fight. It makes me pretty lonely. Robert Wright, Ashland Guest forum: Rebuttal to forum attacking cyclists By Doyle Hirsch Ashland Well, I see in The Tidings that Ashland's own version of Rush Limbaugh, Thomas Howser, has written his triennial screed against bicyclists. I guess, as a cyclist, I gotta open up the ole word processor and at least try to answer some of his more vitriolic tripe as best I can. So here goes. Let me preface this rebuttal by saying that I actually agree with his position on Siskiyou Boulevard. And I'd throw in the "beautification" of Ashland Street as well. Spending large sums of money, during a recession, on what amounts to cosmetic surgery on Ashland's two busiest roads is unconscionable. But using the term "elitist" to describe bicyclists is a load of crap. Somehow, a person on a $500 mountain bike is an elitist, while someone in a $50,000 Mercedes is "just plain folk." I'm reminded of James Watt (anyone remember him?), Secretary of the Interior under Reagan, who called hikers with their $200 pack packs and $100 boots "elitist," while those with their $25,000 ORVs and $4,000 dirt bikes where the lumpen masses denied the opportunity to exercise their god-given right to tear up the "inviremint." Now let me give credit where credit is due. Howser thinks that all vehicles that use the roads, including bicycles, should be licensed. Fair enough. Let's make the fee directly proportional to the damage done to the roads and their immediate environs. Let's see, how many potholes do bicyclists cause? How much trash and garbage do they throw on the street and into peoples' yards? How many dogs and cats and squirrels do they run over? How much noise do they make (ever heard a Dodge Ram diesel start up in the morning, makes a great alarm clock). How many people are killed or injured, trying to cross the road, by bicycles? Yea, bicyclists run stop signs, go the wrong way on one-way streets, and ride on the sidewalk (the only safe place, I know from experience) but how many go 35 mph in a 20 mph zone on A Street or Iowa, or 40 mph down Oak Street (pre-Cathy Shaw Speed Bumps) or on the boulevard? Yea, I'll pay a $100 fee to ride my bicycle in town as long as Howser and his ilk, the ones who are really decreasing the livability of Ashland, pay $500 to license their motorized dinosaurs. Riding a bicycle is hard work. Ain't that what made America great? It certainly wasn't a bunch of overweight, pre-diabetic slobs driving their cars a mile to the grocery store. Howser, maybe if you'd started riding a bicycle a few years ago instead of squawking about how cyclists are impeding your speedy progress through the city, you'd be a little less angry at the world. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | 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 -