4A • August 28, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Will politics as usual derail tsunami safety eff orts?
S
C ANNON S HOTS
tate Rep. Deborah Boone
came to Seaside’s Cham-
ber of Commerce breakfast
at the Twisted Fish July 31, not
long after the close of the 2015
legislative session in Salem.
Boone represents District 32,
which includes Seaside, Cannon
Beach and all of Clatsop, half of
Tillamook and parts of western
Washington County, center of the
Cascadia subduction zone.
A former member of the Or-
egon Seismic Safety Policy Ad-
visory Council, she sees her job
as helping prepare and protect
residents from a quake or its af-
termath. Legislators, she said, are
not always receptive to contem-
plating disaster scenarios.
“When we discovered how
much there was to consider on the
mass casualties, nobody wanted
to talk about that,” she said. “You
think it’s hard to get a tent on the
table in case of an earthquake or
tsunami? Nobody wanted to talk
about body bags.”
By
R.J.
MARX
Boone said the
clean fuels bill
could raise the gas
tax anywhere from
4 cents to $1, “and
puts the money
into the ethanol
industry in the
Midwest and Brazil
but does nothing to
improve Oregon’s
transportation
system.
Policy adviser,
seismic grants
In reviewing the spring 2015
legislative session’s achieve-
ments, Boone touted passage of
House Bill 2270, which creates
the position of resilience policy
adviser reporting directly to Gov.
Kate Brown.
“If it had been part of the De-
partment of Human Services,
it would have been just a desk,
someone doing a million other
things,” Boone said. ”Since the
governor is commander-in-chief,
it makes sense for it to be there.
I really stomped my feet to get
that.”
Boone lobbied hard for a
$300 million grant program to
safeguard schools in earthquake
zones. Grants between $4 mil-
lion and $8 million will provide
matching funds to school dis-
tricts for seismic assessments and
long-range facilities plans.
Funding was delivered as part
of the Capital Construction bill,
presented at the end of the Legis-
lature’s session.
Boone referred to it as the
“Christmas Tree” bill.
“Everybody comes to it to get
their favorite ornament,” she said.
“If you play the game all session,
you may get your ornament after
you’ve been told there’s nothing
available all session. You have to
be the squeaky, whiny child.”
Boone said she is constantly
honing the art of deal-making.
For example, the Democrats’
2015 caucus platform was built
on more funding for schools, sup-
port for small business, greater
access to health plans, economic
incentives for the middle class
and helping small communities,
Boone said.
With those goals in mind,
however, the end result didn’t al-
ways look like that.
While Boone voted with
House Democrats just under 97
percent of the time this session,
including votes for authorizing
retail marijuana sales and chem-
ical disclosure rules, she support-
ed a self-service gas pump bill
and initially voted to extend an
exemption for a ¿ rearm criminal
background check requirement.
She later joined with her caucus
in opposing the exemption in the
bill’s third reading.
And as a member of the energy
committee, “I was very generous
on my side giving my colleagues
on the east side of the state every-
thing they want,” she said.
Who’s on fi rst?
These kinds of trade-offs are
necessary for all legislators in
Salem.
“It’s all politics all the time,”
Boone said. “Some of the votes
you take, you literally hold your
nose to vote for, because you
know if you don’t vote for that
particular bill with your caucus,
you can kiss your whole portfolio
goodbye. I’m serious. Not only
that, if you’re a chair, you can be
stripped of your chairmanship.”
Political in-¿ ghting, even be-
tween members of the same par-
ty, can sink or stall a piece of leg-
islation, especially for those on
state committees.
“Who’s on ¿ rst, who’s likely
to have a bad election, who’s tar-
geted, everything’s taped — you
have to watch what you say and
do when you’re on committee,”
she said. “All that’s constantly be-
ing considered for ‘hit’ pieces for
the next election. That’s a given,
which is really disappointing, be-
cause there’s a lot of expended en-
ergy that is not conducive to good
policy.
“That being said, I try to help
my colleagues,” she added. “I
don’t even think about what party
they are. I look at the bill or policy
they’re trying to pass.”
According to Boone, there
are “two guys” who dictate what
happens in Salem, and one per-
son can stop anything depending
on their position.
R.J. MARX PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
State Rep. Deborah Boone in Sea-
side.
“The Joint Ways and Means
co-chairs, Rep. Peter Buckley
and Sen. Richard Devlin, decide
— with direction at times from
the House and Senate leadership
— which programs and services,
along with amounts of funding
for agencies, get funded,” Boone
said. “Members lobby them for
their support, and decisions are
guided by the majority leader-
ship tempered by certain mem-
bers’ wants and needs. Bills that
do not require funding don’t nor-
mally go to Ways and Means, so
the leadership decides on these.
“In reality there are a handful
who run the show,” she added.
“House speaker, Senate presi-
dent, House and Senate majority
leaders, governor. Also in the mix
are committee chairs who can re-
fuse to hear any bill or just give it
a courtesy public hearing but not
a work session, so no vote.”
With clean fuels
passage, transportation
package stalled
The clean fuels bill divided
legislators throughout the ses-
sion, and its passage had the un-
likely domino effect of sinking
seismic safety measures.
Along with many Republicans
and some Democrats, Boone op-
posed the extension of the clean
fuels bill “because it didn’t really
do much,” Boone said. “Would
it add a penny at the gas pump
or a dollar? No one could answer
that.”
She said the bill could raise the
gas tax anywhere from 4 cents to
$1, “and puts the money into the
ethanol industry in the Midwest
and Brazil but does nothing to
improve Oregon’s transportation
system.”
In the grand scheme, the bill
was a “negotiable chit” and
proved pivotal in the collapse of
the state’s $343.5 million trans-
portation package crafted at the
end of the session. Bundled into
the package were millions for
earthquake protections, espe-
cially bridge and road improve-
ments.
Bruised after the passage of
the clean fuels bill, Republicans
withheld their support for the
transportation package and ne-
gotiations collapsed in the 11th
hour. The failure of the package
strips funds for bridge, road and
infrastructure repairs.
Meanwhile, should a quake
hit, detours will be scarce.
“Driving from Tillamook to
Bay City, you cross over seven
bridges,” Boone said. “That’s
just a small little piece of 101.
All these bridges along the coast
are going to be destroyed by an
earthquake, and it wouldn’t even
have to be a 9.0. Plans to reno-
vate those bridges are not going
to happen now.”
Boone looked back on the
legislative season by paraphras-
ing Mick Jagger. “‘You don’t get
everything you want,’ that was
my mantra,” she said. “Those
Rolling Stones songs have some
truth.
“In 12 years down there as a
rep and 17 as an assistant to dif-
ferent representatives, I’m still
surprised how things work,” she
added.
5HÀHFWLRQV ELAINE TRUCKE
Remembering the contributions of the 41st Infantry
Most of us drive High-
way 26, or Sunset High-
way, at least once a month,
maybe even more. Many
assume that the highway’s
name refers to the east to
west direction, or perhaps
the beautiful shores that
the highway will take you
to, but in fact, the windy
road is named for some-
thing a bit more honorary.
But ¿ rst, a little history
is in order. Construction of
Highway 26 or Wolf Creek
Highway began in January
of 1933 and was a joint
venture of the W.P.A. and
the C.C.C. Portions of the
highway of¿ cially opened
to the public on Septem-
ber 19, 1941. For those
inspired to make their way
to the coast still had quite
a journey. The trip usually
took a full day to make, but
was still better than going
by train.
On Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl
Harbor was attacked, pull-
ing the United States into
the Second World War.
Troops across the nation
set sail or À ew, of course
to Europe or other parts
of the world. The Paci¿ c
Northwest’s 41st Infantry
Division was no excep-
tion. The 41st Infantry
Division was an Oregon
and Washington State Na-
tional Guard unit. Initially
the 41st conducted coastal
defense duty from the Ca-
nadian border south into
Oregon. However, many
eventually set sail for Aus-
tralia as one off the ¿ rst
U.S. Army division sent
overseas. Australians wel-
comed the 41st, as most
of Australia’s troops were
ELAINE TRUCKE
in Europe and the Middle
East and many-feared Ja-
pan may attack from the
north.
While in Australia the
41st Infantry participat-
ed jungle and amphibious
training that would later
prove useful. In December
1942, they were sent to a
combat zone at Papua, New
Guinea. In April 1944, the
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A thank-you for community
support from Campuzano family
Steve Sinkler, president of the Cannon
Beach Chamber of Commerce. Under the
sub-headline “Paying Peanuts,” he said,
We want to thank all the people who “There’s a saying: ‘You pay peanuts, you
have donated to the Campuzano Family get monkeys,’ and we’re paying peanuts.”
Fund set up by Rex and Diane Amos at Co- The logical conclusion of that statement is:
lumbia Bank. When thieves stole our Tahoe we’re getting monkeys. That is, the current
SUV and trailer and burned the SUV in hourly employees at the Visitors Center are
California on our way to Mexico, we nev- monkeys. I was taught that it is wrong, let
er thought we would recover. Aft er the ar- alone offensive and rude, to compare peo-
ticles about this were in the newspapers, ple with monkeys.
many good friends came to our aid. Some
Interestingly, a number of times I wit-
of the people we know and some we do not, nessed one of those so-called monkeys,
but they are all in our prayers because we longtime Cannon Beach resident Dave
believe that God has worked through them. Springer, helping visitors at the center with
Money from the fund has helped Victor to their questions. He was warm, personable
replace some of the tools that were taken so and informative with each visitor, who
he could continue working. It also helped ended the conversation with “Thank you
to pay our utility bills, to replace some of very much, you have been very helpful.”
our personal necessities that were stolen, Ironically I also witnessed, albeit once,
and to put food on the table. Even more one of the Visitor Center’s non-monkeys
than the money, we appreciate all the love (I think that’s a person in Mr. Sinkler’s
people in the community have shown us. lexicon, Courland Carrier, the center’s ex-
We don’t have the right words for it, but all ecutive director, who also attempted to as-
we can say is thank you from our hearts.
sist two visitors. Let’s just say it was more
&DUPHQ9LFWRUDQGWKH&DPSX]DQR monologue than dialogue, ending with the
)DPLO\ visitors’ puzzled looks.
5H[DQG'LDQH$PRV
My point is that, yes the Visitor Center
&DQQRQ%HDFK employees are people, not monkeys, no
matter what their hourly wage, and they
Let’s show some respect for
certainly deserve the respect of the pres-
Visitor Center employees
ident of their employer. Plus, at least one
We have a home in Cannon Beach and of these employees (PEOPLE is doing a
have been coming to the beach for over 25 great job and is an excellent representative
years. An article in the Cannon Beach Ga- of the Chamber of Commerce and the City
zette, dated May 22 titled “Committee pro- of Cannon Beach.
poses 1 percent room tax hike,” contained
3HWHU0XVVHU
a very offensive and disturbing quote by
6HDWWOH
division made amphibious
landings at Hollandia and
Airtape, where resistance
was minor. It was part of
the U.S. military’s “is-
land-hopping” campaign,
attacking or bypassing
Japanese-occupied areas
as it pressed west and north
across the South Paci¿ c.
The division’s bloodi-
est engagement was on the
island of Biak, off New
Guinea’s coast. Oregon’s
162nd and 186th regiments
plus the 163rd defeated
over ten thousand well-en-
trenched and well-led
Japanese forces. The cam-
paign extended from May
through August 1944, and
the 41st earned a new title,
“The Jungleers.”
In February and March
1945, the 41st Division
landed at Zamboanga and
Palawan in the southern
Philippines. In August, the
soldiers were preparing for
a Japanese invasion when
the U.S. dropped atom-
ic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. This action
caused Japan to surrender,
ending World War II. The
division performed occu-
pation duty in the Kure-Hi-
roshima area of Japan until
Dec. 31, 1945.
In 1946, the 41st re-
organized as the Paci¿ c
Northwest’s Army Nation-
al Guard division. In case
you are wondering how the
story gets back to Highway
26, here it is. The 41st In-
fantry Division’s shoul-
der-sleeve insignia is a red
half-disk with a yellow set-
ting sun over a blue base-
line representing the Pa-
ci¿ c Ocean. It was this for
this patch that the “Sun-
set Division” was named,
honoring the bravery of
the 41st. On Jan. 17, 1946,
U.S. Highway 26, from
Portland to Seaside, was
of¿ cially named the Sunset
Highway in the division’s
honor, although it took an-
other three years until its
completion in 1949.
If you’d like to learn
more about the 41st In-
fantry, stop by the Cannon
Beach History Center &
Museum to see their latest
exhibit “World War II on
the Oregon Coast.” The
exhibit features parapher-
nalia from the 41st Infan-
try and also shows a docu-
mentary about them daily.
The museum is open from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednes-
day through Monday and
admission is by donation.
Tickets available for Cottage and Garden Tour
The Cannon Beach Cot-
tage and Garden Tour pro-
vides an opportunity for
visitors to see the work of
closet artists, private col-
lectors and some of the best
beach designs. The tour
begins Saturday, Sept. 12,
at noon, with a luncheon
prepared by Culinary Ca-
pers at the Tolovana Inn,
3400 South Hemlock St.
A round-table discussion
moderated by museum
board president Kimberley
Speer-Miller will explore
the unique history and sto-
ries of Cannon Beach.
After the presentation,
attendees are invited to be-
gin the self-guided home
and garden tour at 1 p.m.
The tour features dream
homes, historic splendors,
cottages, and well-mani-
cured gardens.
The Cottage & Garden
Tour is the Cannon Beach
History Center & Muse-
um’s annual fundraiser, and
contributes a signi¿ cant
amount of the nonpro¿ t’s
annual income. The event
was started 11 years ago
by author and historian Jill
Grady, her colleague Con-
nie Crow, and board.
In its heyday the tour
welcomed at most 60 peo-
ple. When the City of Can-
non Beach’s Tourism and
Arts Commission awarded
the museum funding to pro-
mote the event to now reach
several hundred attendees.
The Tourism and Arts Fund
is awarded to nonpro¿ ts
in order to promote tour-
ism and the arts of Cannon
Beach. With the funds, the
tour has expanded to in-
clude a concert and wine re-
ception, as well as a Sunday
garden tea.
All attendees are invit-
ed to the Cannon Beach
History Center & Museum
for wine, live music, and
hors d’oeuvres prepared by
Sweet Charity. The quilt
rafÀ e will take place at 7
p.m. The quilt was designed
and created by local quilt
artist Constance Waisanen.
The quilt, “Jelly¿ sh,” is
a colorful exploration of
the tide pools of Haystack
Rock. RafÀ e tickets are $5.
The ¿ nal event will be
an English-style garden tea
at the Tolovana Inn. Enjoy
a selection of Oregon-made
teas, homemade scones and
other treats in a À ower-¿ lled
setting. Debbie Teashon,
owner of the Rainy Side
Gardener and co-author of
“Gardening for the Home-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A kitchen on display during
the Cannon Beach Cottage
and Garden Tour.
brewer: Plants for Making
Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider,
Perry, and More,” will be
giving a presentation, “Life
Beyond the Two-Season
Garden Party.”
Tickets for each event
are available to purchase
separately. Luncheon and
lecture tickets are $25; Cot-
tage & Garden Tour tickets
are $30, and Garden Tea
tickets, $20. A weekend
event package is $60. Tick-
ets are available through the
museum’s online gift shop
at www.cbhistory.org or call
503-436-9301.