6
Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
HoodRiverNews.com • TheDallesChronicle.com • WhiteSalmonEnterprise.com
OPINION
that Dan Christopher is a liar.
One of his lies is claiming
Continued from page 5 that Jim Sizemore supports
I-1639.
I-1639 is a pretty
historian Paul Johnson wrote Democratic law. Why would
in his book, Modern Times,
someone who says that he is
that the greatest menace to
a Pro-Democrat Republican
the world over the previous
be slandering another candi-
century had been (and is)
date for supporting that law?
the rise of the professional
A little further sleuthing
politician.
and you read more about
Mike Goodpaster Dan Christopher in the voter
Goldendale pamphlet. He’s a member of
Sheriff Bob Songer’s “posse.”
Who is more of a “Republican
I’m wondering how many Good Old Boy” than Bob
Songer?
Port of Hood River custom-
He doesn’t care about
ers who have a “breezeby”
Democrats or the truth any
pass are being deluged with
more than Donald Trump
the wasteful bills being sent
does. In fact he’s just like
trying to nick us $5 for a $1
Trump — he’s doesn’t know
bridge crossing. It seems
what the truth is.
that if your Breezeby sticker
Ryan Dougherty
does not cross-reference
White Salmon
properly (via computer) with
the car/truck/motorcycle
you happen to be driving,
you get one of these bills in
the mail trying to fleece an
extra $4 out of us when we
Voting’s not easy. There
already have an account with are complicated ballot
the port. And just how many measures,nonpartisan
people are paying this when candidates, etc. You ask
they don’t need to?
your-self where do I drop the
To me it seems like having ballot off and by when, which
a “Sears” credit account
envelope, has my signature
and charging something in
changed? There are voter
Chicago and then something pamphlets/services, forums,
in San Francisco. It’s an ac-
newspapers, communica-
count — who cares what we
tion with candidates/your
are driving, we have an ac-
community, etc. This is a lot
count with the Port and they of necessary work to use your
charge our credit cards, they vote-power wisely. There
still get paid. What a waste of are rare times when you
time, effort and money ... and still don’t see a clear choice.
then we have to respond to
One race on my ballot that is
this bill and waste our time to confusing is Klickitat County
clean their mess up.
Commissioner, District 3.
Motorcycles were always
Dan Christopher has confus-
cheaper than cars/trucks as
ing information out there. I
we do ZERO damage to that
went to Dan’s website in the
bridge, now we are the same primary and found things
as a car, ridiculous.
about being a “constitution-
And now the port has the
alist” and promoting access
“option” to buy the property to guns. I go there now and
off Country Club Road (for-
he’s talking about change
mer potential Super Walmart and he won’t serve the “good
property) to the tune of $4
old boys.” I saw a mailer he
million. Why? What do you
sent to Democrats where he’s
need that property for and ... calling himself Bipartisan
who’s paying for it? Oh that’s but in his application for
right, the Port has a print-
endorsement to the KCDPhe
ing press for money called
said he didn’t agree with
the toll bridge. Aren’t you
Democratic values. Who is
supposed to be saving money this flip-flopper?
in the “Bridge Replacement
What is this deceit?
Fund” to replace the 95-year- Where is the authenticity?
old bridge?
Democrats hold a lot of
How much is enough Port power in this race and I know
of Hood River? You have
Danhas made it confusing (is
the bridge, the marina, the
he who says?), and tempting
Waucoma buildings, the
to others (maybe we should
Sprint buildings, the DMV
burn it all down?). The an-
building, the airport, and I’m swer is we don’t know who he
sure more than that (Odell
is (and from what I’ve seen,
Business Park), how much
I’m worried), so how has he
is enough? And why are you
earned our vote? And no, we
competing with the private
should not burn it all down
sector? You have a distinct
(do you remember 2016?).
advantage with your toll
Let’s use our vote-power in
bridge money machine.
this race. Vote Jim Sizemore.
The port is like an out of
Vote for honesty, respect,
control cancer gobbling up
integrity, kindness, reliability.
everything in it can, like the
Sasha Bentley
out of control medical system
White Salmon
in this country, they keep
getting bigger and bigger
and more bloated eating up
everything in its path.
Stephen J. Curley
In the midst of a conten-
Hood River tious and divisive election
like this one, it’s easy to
think that the parties have
always been unable to work
to together and that bipar-
I recently received a letter tisan-ship is a pipe dream.
from Dan Christopher in the But it hasn’t always been this
mail in which he claimed
way.
that he is a “Bipartisan
During the 2011 and 12
Candidate” despite being a
legislative sessions, the
Republican.
Oregon House and Senate
I was intrigued. Being a
were nearly evenly divided
progressive from the western with an almost equal number
side of Klickitat County,
of Republicans and Demo-
I often lament my lack of
crats. In the House it was
representation in my county. and even 30-30 split and the
For the past several elections Senate had a narrow 16-14
in District 1 the Democrat
advantage for Democrats.
has won the primary only to In the evenly split House it
lose the county-wide election meant that every part of the
for the very same seat to a
legislative process was bipar-
Republican that is supposed tisan. From the committee
to represent the western side. hearings to the floor of the
Now here is someone saying House every piece of legis-
that I deserve a “seat at the
lation had to have support
table” which so many “Good from both Democrats and
Old Boy” establishment
Republicans in order to be
Republicans have unjustly
considered and passed into
taken from me. Hell, yeah,
law. There was no place for
Dan Christopher! Tell me
extremism on the left or the
more!
right and moderation ruled.
Then I did a Google
In short, it was a picture of
search — “Dan Christopher
collaboration. The legislative
Goldendale.” The sixth result sessions were hailed far and
is an article about another
wide as an example of how
one of Dan Christopher’s
state government should
letters which basically says
function.
LETTERS
Bridge issues
Vote for
Sizemore
Helfrich for
balance
Truth
challenged
Fast forward to today:
Democrats in Salem now
have super-majorities with a
huge 38-22 advantage in the
House and an 18-12 margin
in the Senate. How has this
impacted the process? The
majority party completely
dominates the committee
process and can pass any
legislation it wants from
policy bills to new taxes. The
minority party has little to
no input. Rather than being
known as a model for collab-
oration, Salem is now known
for its division and conten-
tion as the majority party
imposes its extreme will.
That’s why I’m support-
ing Jeff Helfrich for State
Representative. Electing
Jeff will help reduce the
Democrat super-majority
and restore balance to Salem.
He will stand with us and
not vote in lockstep with the
Portland crowd as his op-
ponent has done in her first
term. Please join me!
Rosemary Brown
Parkdale
ICG
endorsements
Indivisible Columbia
Gorge (ICG) is pleased to
endorse the following candi-
dates and ballot measures at
the local, state, and federal
levels.
Hood River City: Mayor
— Kate McBride; City
Council — Gladys Rivera,
Megan Saunders, and Mark
Zanmiller.
State: Attorney General —
Ellen Rosenblum; Secretary
of State — Shemia Fagan;
State Treasurer — Tobias
Reed; State Representative
(HD52) — Anna Williams.
Yes on all state ballot
measures: Measure 107
(campaign finance limits),
Measure 108 (tobacco and
e-cigarette tax increase),
Measure 109 (psilocybin
mushroom services pro-
gram), Measure 110 (drug
de-criminalization and
addiction treatment).
Federal: President/VP —
Joe Biden/Kamal Harris;
U.S. Senator — Jeff Merkley;
U.S. Representative — Alex
Spenser.
Submitted on behalf of the
ICG Steering Committee.
Bonnie New
Hood River
Sizemore for
Klickitat
When I filed to run
for Klickitat County
Commissioner in District 3
back in May, I knew it was
a long shot to win, but after
years of serious effort and
some success in advancing
economic development in
Klickitat County as both a
paid consultant and a vol-
unteer, I had to run. Though
I’m sorry about the outcome
of the election, it was worth
effort, and I’d like to thank
my supporters, former col-
leagues who endorsed me,
and the hundreds of voters
who cast their ballots for me
in District 3 on Aug. 4.
The runup to the prima-
ry was unlike any I’ve ever
seen in a Klickitat County
Commissioner’s race. With
the restrictions in place due
to the COVID-19 pandemic,
getting the message out to the
voters wasn’t easy. But one
candidate, Dan Christopher,
stood out during this cam-
paign for his inflammatory
and unsubstantiated claims
regarding his other opponent
in District 3, Jim Sizemore.
Dan Christopher garnered
a majority of the votes in
District 3 and I urge Klickitat
County voters to reject his
candidacy in the general
election because of his lack of
leadership experience.
While Jim Sizemore and I
don’t always see eye-to-eye
on important issues such as
EDA grants, and economic
development, I’ve known
him for years and respect
him as a public servant
who takes his position on
the Klickitat County Board
of Commissioners very
seriously.
In Klickitat County District
3, Jim Sizemore is the candi-
date who deserves your vote
this November.
Miland Walling
Goldendale
of October.” I’ve spoken with
several parents and district
staff members regarding
their return to the classroom.
The reactions have covered a
range from tentative eager-
ness to outright fear, with
impending anxiety felt by all
who will make that personal
decision for themselves and
their families.
The district website goes
on to say, “Lastly, we are
working towards bringing
back K-6 students into a
hybrid model, with board ap-
proval, when state and local
I first met Tom Lannen
health department measures
seven years ago when Tom
are met.” The time is right
was leading a volunteer
community group exploring to elect the candidate best
qualified to assist school dis-
how to insure a more sus-
tainable revenue stream from tricts in making these kinds
our State and Federal Forest of community decisions;
decisions that will affect the
partners. Tom understood
the delicate balance between health and well-being for
all of our families. Dr. Tracy
the timber industry and the
Rushing is running to repre-
recreational/environmen-
sent us in Legislative District
tal concerns and was an
advocate of sustainable forest 14. She is the representative
for these times.
management.
Dr. Rushing is well-
During this time he de-
veloped strong relationships equipped to tackle public
health issues. As our LD 14
with both the State, Federal
Representative, she will assist
and private timber interests
who control 98 percent of the our schools and communities
in making tough decisions.
land in our county. This re-
lationship remains critical to Dr. Rushing relies on data,
sustaining a balanced coun- research and best practices,
while focusing steadfast
ty budget. He has lobbied
on behalf of the local school attention on the well-being
districts efforts to find a long of the public. She’ll bring
her calm, thorough deci-
term solution to the Secure
sion-making to Olympia and
Rural Schools funding. And
work in the best interests of
Tom continues to work
all her constituents. We need
with staff to seek partners
Dr. Rushing’s expertise now
such as the Department
and we’ll need it in the future,
of Transportation or grant
as we navigate the aftermath
agencies to help with the
of living through a pandemic.
maintenance of existing
Please join me in voting for
infra-structure. Our county is
unique and we need creative Dr. Tracy Rushing for LD14
leadership that understands WA State Representative.
Michelle Mayfield
the needs of its citizens while
White Salmon
preparing for potential new
business developments and
maintaining a good working
relationship with our State
What this letter’s not: This
and Federal agencies.
letter is not about the Good
Mary Ann Duncan-Cole News, even though you’re
North Bonneville having seen a sick person
becoming the utmost in
spirit is not an unwelcome
experience.
Seems just a few short
Blood: Nor is this letter
years ago (well, 19, actual-
about the kind of blood we
ly — remember 9/11?), law
inherited — genes and all;
enforcement were heroes;
but about whether our blood
praised and held up high.
Today they have become the is — flowing — in our veins.
What’s that got to do with it?
villans in society, perpetra-
Pardon my language but
tors of all sorts of evil things,
racists and who knows what we can gum it up with exactly
what we eat, or not.
else ... What has happened?
It turns out that our bodies
As one previous contribu-
tor suggested, “Just the facts, and minds can feel health
and vibrance to the end of
ma’am.”
our days by eating a lot of
FBI UCR datea (fbi,gov/
certain things, not including
services/cjis/ucr) 2018-19
meds.
data:
That is true based on years
Last year — 10 milion
of
scientific evidence. The
arrests by police.
Of those 10 million arrests evidence is in “How Not To
Die” by Michael Gregor M.D.
— 1,004 officer-involved
Check it out.
fatalities.
Donna Gray Davis
Of those 1,005 officer-in-
Hood River
volved fatalties — 41 individ-
uals were unarmed.
Of those 41 officer iin-
volved fatalities — 19 were
white, nine were black (the
data does not specify the cir-
She has continued to be
extremely effective as our
cumstances of those killed).
representative in represent-
Number of police officers
were killed in the line of duty ing small businesses, military
— 89. (We certainly do not
vets, those looking for
often hear their stories.)
employment and families in
Want some scary num-
Southwest Washington.
We need more people in
bers? Just check the week-
congress that truly care about
end shooting/death toll in
the people they represent
Chicago or New York — any
and work on meaningful
weekend will do.
legislation, like our con-
Are there racists? Of
course, the reality is that evey gresswomen, Jamie Herrera
organization/society/demo- Beutler.
graphic has some, maybe
yours? Institutional racism?
Not so fast on that. If I dial
Jaime Herrera Beutler
911 I prefer the police and
was ranked by Vanderbilt
not Ghostbusters!
University’s nonparti-
Steve Nybroten san Center for Effective
White Salmon Lawmaking as the most effec-
tive legislator in Washington
State throughout the last
two years. This is based on
Lannen
understands
Health in blood
Scary numbers
Reelect Jaime
Herrera Beutler
Retain Beutler
Rushing is
prepared
The White Salmon Valley
School District website states,
“The district is starting the
planning process for bringing
our students back into an
in-person hybrid learning
model tentatively for the end
Yes to HR
incumbents
Mike Kitts and I developed
Katie’s Way, Andy’s Lane and
Cottage Lane in an effort to
create housing for people
who work in Hood River.
They aren’t as affordable
now, but at the time, they
were a great option. Building
these homes was complex
and required discussion and
negotiation with the City
and neighbors because we
needed to densify to make it
affordable. A shorter process
would have saved us some
money, but the bottom
line was that we could do it
because the cost of the land
coupled with densification
allowed us to do it.
I received a postcard in
the mail today that said “If
we want affordable/attain-
able/middle housing to
be built, we must be clear
that Planning and Building
department functions are
time-critical priorities.” This
naïve statement is disturbing
because it ignores the biggest
challenges — the cost of land
and neighbor concern about
densification. When lots cost
over $200,000, a faster pro-
cesses won’t create housing
for the people who work
here — we need thoughtful,
creative solutions. Check out
bigriverclt.org for what I’m
working on now.
My wife received a post-
card that said “more parks,
not less”. She was disturbed
by this because it implies that
the City is trying to decrease
the number of parks. In fact,
the City Council worked with
multiple local and regional
agencies to create a multi-ju-
risdictional park plan for our
area. The next step is working
out how to move forward.
We need people on the
City Council who take the
time to understand the
complexity of land-use issues
that affect our area. We
need people who value all
members of our community.
We strongly support Megan
See LETTERS,page7
Th ank you Hood River and
Stevenson for your support!
FRESH SALMON CAUGHT DAILY
KLICKITAT DIP-NET TED FISH
Dr. Cullen’s
Student of the week
Kramer
Keegan
Ku Benjamin
Ku for Global
Studies:
as the Algebra 1 Student of the Week:
Keegan
comes
class every
Regardless
of the to
struggles
present day
in the
distance
learning attitude
format, Benjamin
has
with
a positive
and works
shown not
resilience
and determination
in his
hard,
only improving
himself,
math studies. Thank you Ben for all your
but
classmates
as well.
hard fellow
work and
excellent communication!
Congratulations
her ability to work with her
colleagues and get legislation
across the finish line.
Recently, Jamie Herrera
Beutler reached across the
aisle to pass legislation to cut
the cost of prescription drugs.
As a result, big pharma ran
attach ads against her — but
Jaime is going to keep stand-
ing up to the drug companies
to make prescription drugs
more affordable.
Jaime bipartisan ACE
Kids Act that was passed,
and signed into law by the
President, makes it easier
for children on Medicaid
with medically complex
conditions to access high
quality health care services
across state lines. As a result
of ushering in this monu-
mental legislation, Jaime
received the “Champion for
Children’s Health” award
from the Children’s Hospital
Association.
Jaime Herrera Beutler
helped introduce the
Continuing Coverage for
Preexisting Conditions Act
of 2019 which would ensure
people with preexisting con-
ditions are guaranteed health
care coverage, regardless
of the outcome of ongo-
ing litigation related to the
Affordable Care Act.
Jaime Herrera Beutler
Will keep working in the
best interests of Southwest
Washington to lower the
cost of prescription drugs
and make health care more
accessible and affordable.
Carl Keels
Camas
Benjamin Ku
Kramer,
TDHS
Keegan
Ku, TDHS
Columbia View Dental
Wild Columbia Salmon
KING SALMON
STEELHEAD
BLUE BACK
AVAILABLE
FRESH & SMOKED
WHOLE or FILLET
108 Hwy 35, Hood River - next to Lampoei’s
columbiasalmon@gmail.com
- Th is location closing for the season Nov. 1
S T E V E N S O N L O C A T I O N
230 1st Street, Stevenson, WA
Commercial Kitchen, Cedar Smoker
1915 E. 19th Street | The Dalles
Victor Cullen, DDS
541-296-5677 | Se habla español
We Open
buy mushrooms
daily, 12-5 pm
daily 9am-6pm
We accept VISA and Mastercard