A View Against ORVs In Town

Recent city council meetings involved heated debate over a proposed city ordinance that, if passed, would al­low unlicensed, uninsured, unsafe, and extremely noisy off-road vehicles (ORVs), including dirt bikes, to be driven on designated streets covering the length of Day­ton heading to Eckler Moun­tain.

Furthermore, this ordi­nance would allow loading and unloading of such four-wheel ORVs and dirt bikes from conveying pick-up trucks and flatbed trailers at any point along the route, be­tween the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. It would permit these conveying vehicles to park, all day and night, in front of our homes. The mayor and council temporarily "tabled" the bill to study the issues of safety, liability, insurance and noise. They should also study the issue of future crime. The ordinance is being proposed by Sheriff Walt Hessler, Public Works Super­intendent Jim Costello, and is supported by Lisa Ronnberg of the Chamber of Com­merce, who was speaking as a citizen. I believe that these three influential citizens are being extremely near-sighted. They are not looking at the poten­tial

dangers that lie ahead. Their intentions are probably good, but 'the path to hell is paved with good intentions.' Let me explain myself. In 1995 my wife, Beth, and I moved to Grants Pass, Ore., and opened a book­store. It was a wonderful place to live. Then Time Magazine gave Grants Pass the "kiss of death." It listed GP as "one of the best places in America to live."

Fueled by sub-prime mortgages, the Californians poured in. Many brought money and bought homes, although some people were far less desirable. But overall GP had a bright future. How­ever,

around 2001 the bright future was becoming a dark nightmare. The city and the Chamber of Commerce, quite natu­rally, wanted more business. Against the advice of law enforcement and folks like myself they began to court the motorcycle groups. The chamber argued that the bik­ers were middle-class people who shop. Initially the chamber was right. Most were good people, much the same as the ORV owners who at­tended Dayton's second city council meeting to discuss the ordinance. I argued at the Grants Pass Chamber and City Council that they might open the gate to mo­torcycle gangsters. I had been a counselor/therapist who had worked with prison­ers

and ex-cons. Some were motorcycle gangsters. I came to know my clients well. I explained that these well-or­ganized

gangsters thrived on small-town infiltration. They didn't listen. The biker events were initiated. The hardcore bikers followed.

At first business increased. But the "gate" to hell was ajar.

Then it happened. A strip­per bar, backed by biker-gang money, opened up. It was a front for more nefarious things. They re­cruited teenage girls with promises of money and free dope. They supplied false ID cards. They brought in outside strippers and prosti­tutes. Pornographers, sexual perverts, and more drug deal­ers moved in. The numbers of missing children greatly increased. Crack cocaine and methamphetamine were easy to buy. "Meth tweekers" be­came an everyday sight. The psychopaths dug in. This was followed by an ever-increasing level of noise, which eventually be­came

horrendous. Gunned-up dirt bikes and four-wheel ORVs drag raced through the neighborhood streets. Cars with 1,000-amp "boom box" radios and children with mega-decibel motor scooters were going 24/7.

The town became an in­sane asylum. Crime increased dramatically. Burglaries sky rocketed. There were bar­room knifings, kidnappings, murder, and bank holdups. A finepolice force was over­whelmed and undermanned. The townspeople went into denial. Property taxes went up, and the gangsters moved into the wealthy neighbor­hoods. Good citizens began leaving. Priorities and values became so corrupted that the Chamber of Commerce openly opposed the county sheriff, who was trying to crack down on the gangs. The gangs started to drive down 6th Street, past our bookstore, in groups of 100. Thirty miles south, Medford, Ore., became aka "Meth-ford." And we all know the fiasco that happened in Bend, Ore.

In the late '80s, I had a client who was an ex-con and ex-biker drug dealer. He found a conscience and was in recovery. He said that when good folks start mov­ing

out, it creates a vacuum which is, in part, filled by drug addicts. He called this an 'inverse reaction," which causes crime to escalate fol­lowed by a downward spiral. He explained that the gangs are always looking for an opening to move into. The opening for an inverse reaction is present in Dayton right now. If our public servants get their way, Dayton will invite many bikers to town. Meth and crack addiction are here. That means there are drug dealers here. Often drug deal­ers are "pawns" connected to biker gangs, who control an enormous share of the U.S. market. Moreover, Columbia County has an extremely high ratio of adolescent al­coholism.

Alcohol is a drug, and one drug can, and often does, lead to more serious addictions. Let's say that my fears do not come to pass. Dayto­nians will still be faced with loud, unruly, dirty, stinky, unlicensed, uninsured and dangerous ORVs that will hamper our decent lifestyle. Can you picture 100 of these things roaming our streets? Undoubtedly some people are going to say that this commentary is an overreac­tion

and there is nothing to worry about. That's what they told me in Grants Pass, Ore. Al Capone once said "that I am responding to the will of the people." Actu­ally, Al was responding to the will of some people and the apathy of the many. Are you listening?