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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2017)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager OUR VIEW Legislators need to take message on taxes to heart O regon voters place a top priority on K-12 public schools but don’t really trust the state to tax and spend wisely on education, new opinion polling indicates. Our Capital Bureau reported earlier this week on a poll com- missioned by the Oregon School Boards Association. All polls, especially those sponsored by entities with a vested interest in their findings, must be viewed with intelligent skepticism. But the new poll results ring true. According to the poll, 60 percent of the public believes any new tax money should be earmarked for state education and should be combined with spending cuts elsewhere. Ironically, this mirrors what the business community itself has indicated it would support. Legislators need to take this to heart. Oregonians are big believers in public schools. You don’t need a poll to know this. Time spent in any Oregon community or neighborhood is a revealing lesson in how schools are fundamen- tally bound up in our lives and our sense of who we are as a peo- ple. We’re united around the idea that schools impart essential knowledge and social skills, partnering with families in preparing children for lives every parent hopes will be financially rewarding, intellectually gratifying and emotionally fulfilling. Anxiety As our nation and world become more complex and demand- ing, any sense that schools aren’t fulfilling their vital mission is certain to provoke anxiety. While more money is rarely, if ever, a complete solution to any problem, Oregonians are strongly inclined to bolster school funding. Ninety-three percent of vot- ers say it’s important to fund K-12 education. Nearly two-thirds would support boosting taxes on corporations if the proceeds were certain to go to schools. But the state just overwhelmingly rejected new corporate taxes in the form of ballot Measure 97. This was despite the objec- tive fact that companies contribute less to state coffers than voters commonly believe — less than 6 percent of general fund revenue, by the Oregon School Boards Association’s reckoning, while citi- zens believe the number is around 36 percent. In rejecting Measure 97, voters didn’t trust that new revenue would be well spent and feared the taxes would be passed on to us in the form of higher prices. And as a matter of fact, Oregon firms already pay a lot of taxes — an effective rate of 7.6 percent, third highest in the far West. Budget gap Faced this year with a $1.6 billion gap between revenue and expenses, legislators are struggling to find enough money for all the state’s priorities, including more for schools. A majority of the public may say they support targeted cuts coupled with some tax fix, but the devil is very much in the details. The Tax Foundation on Monday released its latest analysis of fiscal burdens in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. It found Oregon ranks 10th in state and local tax burden as a percentage of state income. It has the sixth-highest individual income tax collec- tions per person in the country, $1,814 compared to the U.S. aver- age of $967. On the other hand, it is smack in the middle in terms of state and local property taxes — 25th, with average collections of $1,350, less than the national average of $1,462. It’s worth add- ing that the Tax Foundation gives Oregon good marks for its cur- rent business tax climate, rating it 10th best in the country. So it’s fair to say Oregonians aren’t undertaxed, an understand- ing reflected in the continuing strong rejection of a general sales tax, even if it went to education, according to the poll. But it’s also fair to observe that a state’s citizens get what they pay for. Some of lowest-tax states on the Tax Foundation’s 2017 index — Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama — aren’t models of civic success. Difficult choices So what should we do in Oregon? Clearly, some very diffi- cult choices will need to be made. Most Oregonians want to pro- tect and enhance public education, but will have to recognize that doing so will force undesirable cuts elsewhere. Elected leaders and state agencies have to embrace the same conclusion, that it is time to zealously root out wasteful spending, while circling the wagons around schools and a few other paramount priorities. On the tax front, the new polling suggests considerable support for dedicating 2 percent of income tax kicker funds to K-12 edu- cation — particularly a rainy day fund to see schools past budget crises like the one they currently face. Beyond this, a business tax hike with strict links to education might just stand a chance. Voters feel they have been burned too many times. State lead- ers must commit to governing in accordance with the wise words of that favorite primary school role model, Dr. Seuss’ Horton: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faith- ful one hundred percent.” Promise only what you can reasonably achieve, tax only enough to achieve it, and then rigorously keep your promises. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Street parking nough about politics, for now. On my frequent walks around my neighborhood, I have noticed that on various streets in the area there are cars parked on both sides of the roadway. These avenues were laid out in the 1940s, for the most part, and are barely wide enough for today’s automobiles to negotiate them when vehicles line both sides. School buses and other support vehicles such as garbage trucks are, in some cases, unable to travel down these streets, yet only one of the five or six residential ave- nues in the area in which I live are posted to indicate parking on only one side of the street. I was under the impression (obviously wrongly) that a builder was required to establish off-street parking as part of the require- ment to build a house in the city. In many cases, homeowners have turned their garages into stud- ies or libraries as I have, however, the driveways still exists, and yet some residents refuse to use that off-street space to park, choosing instead to park their vehicles on the street, thus impeding traffic flow. Perhaps it is high time for the city of Astoria to take a hard look at these streets, and designate many more of them “parking one side only,” if for no other reason, for possible accessibility of emergency vehicles, such as ambulances and fire trucks. That is what I think; I could be wrong. DAVID GRAVES Astoria E Leash your dogs egarding dogs and leashes in Astoria: Too many times when we walk our dogs on the Riverwalk or at other locations in Astoria — which is always done with them on a leash — we see others letting their dogs run free. First off, that behavior vio- lates the City Code (Chapter 5 — Dog Control) and is punishable by a fine of $25 to $500. But much more importantly, this behavior of not using a leash is dangerous and foolhardy. No matter how “nice” or well-behaved you think your dog is, you are putting people (includ- ing children), other dogs and your own pet at risk for injury or death. This also puts you at risk of legal liabilities if your dog hurts some- one else. This rule is not meant to incon- venience you, but rather to protect all of us, either human or canine. RICHARD WOLF Astoria R Warrior pride joined the Air Force shortly after graduating from Warrenton High School in 1988, and have spent the last 29 years proudly serv- ing my country in various assign- ments around the world. I was lucky enough to rise through the ranks, and will retire as a chief master sergeant, or “chief,” as we are known. I’m proud to have an Indian chief bust on my desk, and chiefs around the Air Force have many symbols of Indian chiefs as a symbol of pride and heritage of the rank and their legacy as proud leaders. I’m retiring this summer, and was back in Oregon for a job inter- view this past January, and staying with family in Warrenton, and just so happened to drive by as they were mounting the Warrenton War- rior mascot on West Main Avenue, and pulled over and snapped a cou- ple of pictures. I I had heard rumors that the mas- cot was being taken down, and was saddened that someone could con- sider something created by students to show their school pride and heri- tage think that it was somehow rac- ist. If anything, it shows our pride in those who came before us, and honors their leadership and wis- dom. I am saddened that civic and school leaders in Warrenton were forced to bow to political correct- ness, and had our school mas- cot removed because of the nar- row-mindedness of a few people. I’m glad local business own- ers took the initiative to retain the Warrenton Warrior mascot, and I only hope that it remains there for generations to come. There are those of us who take pride in our past, and understand that it is not racist to honor the American Indian. To me it reflects the pride we have as Americans who came together from all over the world to create a free country. I have the utmost respect for those who were here before us, and hope that we can remain united in a common goal to keep America as a beacon of hope, freedom and peace. TOM KEYSER APO, Armed Forces Europe Affordable housing? read with interest the recent arti- cle about Blue Heron Pointe (“Affordable housing project may be tripped up by sidewalks,” The Daily Astorian, March 3). Max Ritchie calls his develop- ment “affordable workforce hous- ing,” and hopes the city of Seaside won’t make him put in sidewalks just now. And I really wonder — in what universe are $300,000 homes “affordable workforce housing”? Maybe, if you share the house with five other people. The workforce housing we need in this area needs to come with a much smaller price tag to the consumer. This isn’t it. TERRIE POWERS Astoria I Going to pot was told many years ago don’t believe everything you read in a book or newspaper, and what you hear on the news or from another person — it’s only as good as the person who wrote or reported it. On March 2, Page 5A, in The Daily Astorian, “Pot is produc- ing jobs, revenue in states where it’s legal,” is a prime example, written by the Associated Press on Gov. Kate Brown defending pot in Oregon: “There is no bet- ter type of laboratory than the initiative process, and voters in Oregon and Washington and Cal- ifornia and Alaska and Nevada, and there’s a few other states, have voted to legalize marijuana. On the West coast alone, that’s 49 million people.” What? Wait a minute, that’s the entire population of all the states mentioned combined. You mean everyone voted, including children under 18? So I did the research, and combined the voting results for all states mentioned: No, 8,701,210; and yes, 11,258,722. Puzzles are worthless if you don’t have all the pieces, so is reported news or stories told by people. BOB BINGHAM Astoria I Conflated fter reading the letter to the editor “Sportfishers respond” (The Daily Astorian, March 3), I felt compelled to comment. Columbia River fisheries reform A (the Kitzhaber Plan) is a very com- plex issue and, unless you are involved with its inner workings on a regular basis, keeping all the moving parts and interest groups involved straight can become extremely confusing. The editor of The Daily Asto- rian does an excellent job of writ- ing factual editorials on our natural resource issues, but as the sports- fisher points out, he did make a mistake in claiming the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association owes its existence to Texas oilmen. That distinction would be attrib- utable to the CCA (Coastal Con- servation Association) a Houston, Texas, based recreational fishing advocacy group that hides behind a thin conservation flag. Read “Wet- land Riders” for their true agenda. It is easy to understand how the editor got the two groups confused, because their agendas are the same. They both worked to get Measure 81 on the Oregon ballot in 2012 that would have eliminated gillnet- ting on the Columbia River, and cost our local fishermen and pro- cessors hundreds of valuable jobs. Today they both promote pol- icy that would create a 100 percent recreational priority for Colum- bia River nontribal fisheries. That would eliminate crucial rural jobs and rob the taxpaying and electri- cal rate paying consumers of the ability to purchase Columbia River salmon they paid to raise. Many other anti-commercial pursuits make the two groups exceedingly similar. The author’s claim that the statement Columbia River reforms “are aimed at coddling politically correct urban dwellers” is inaccu- rate rings hollow to us rural peo- ple, when his West Linn address puts him in one of the most affluent urban locations in the state. In closing, the 600,000-plus sport fishermen the author claims to represent seems to be a bit inflated, as that would be 15 per- cent of the total population of Ore- gon. If you tell untruths (or “alter- native facts”) long enough, some people start to believe them — but thankfully, not everybody. JIM WELLS Gillnetter Knappa Tweak it epublicans repeatedly announce they want to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. Were you aware that Sen. Marco Rubio and other Republi- cans passed legislation that lim- ited how so-called “risk corridors” compensated insurance companies during the 2015 budget process? The risk corridors were intended to help insurance companies if they ended up with too many sick peo- ple in their plans. So here I am, defending my family and my fellow Oregonians for the so-called “replacement” we are about to receive. Also, defend- ing the conservative Heritage Foundation Health Plan, which the ACA is based on. The Republican Party has sab- otaged the current ACA, with no comparable replacement in sight. Here are a few ideas: a pub- lic option; Medicare for all; a sin- gle-payer plan; and restoring the risk corridors Republicans recently removed that would lead to lower premiums, and encourage more insurance companies in the mar- ket place. In short, don’t “repeal it and replace it,” instead, “keep it and tweak it.” JOHN D. SAMP Astoria R