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Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
7
OPINION
when I have had questions.
Prior to the pandemic, he
Continued from page 6 had begun several projects
which he would like to see
to completion. He has an
Saunders, Gladys Rivera,
affinity for Parks and Rec.,
Mark Zanmiller and Kate
and safety in the community.
McBride for City Council
From what I have seen, Rich
and Mayor. They have a track is able to listen to both sides
record of doing the work we
of a situation and make rea-
need.
soned responses, also being
Greg Crafts able to remain silent when it
Hood River is prudent.
There’s a line in an old Bob
Dylan song that says, “I’ll
I would like to let you and know my song well before
Goldendale residents know
I start singing.” That’s why I
you have the best represen-
research who I’m voting for.
tative out there. I am very
Yes, by the way, I’ve heard the
grateful and thankful for Gina controversies. After looking
who truly is a voice for the
into those, I have decided
people. I had written about
that Rich Mays would be the
animal abuse and how it
most appropriate choice for
needed a tougher penalties
Mayor. Hope you do too.
for the people who abuse
Thanks for your time.
them. She reached out and
Widge Johnson
met with me took lots of
The Dalles
notes and started the re-
.
search needed to make sure
there were no surprises or
anything to stop the pro-cess.
She updated me through the
legislative process and had
I have talked to Joanna
me come to Olympia and
Turner. I found her to be
testify. Scary but my wanting intelligent and a good lis-
animals helped gave me the
tener. She sincerely wants to
courage and Gina was with
do what is best for Klickitat
me. The Bill passed and my
County and all of its res-
stepdaughter and myself
idents. She wants to find
were there when Inslee
a solution to the county’s
signed it. Such a great experi- housing crisis. She strongly
ence for us!
supports bringing broad-
Gina Mosbrucker is the
band internet to all parts of
voice of the people! Vote for
the county. She supports
Gina!
senior programs and wants to
Jill Ketzenberg find solutions for the county’s
Selah, Wash mental health and drug prob-
lem. She won the support of
58 percent of the voters in
So, many of you have seen her district. I believe that she
deserves to be elected county
me over the past 50 years,
commissioner and that she
standing on a street corner
will serve us well. I will be
protesting something or
voting for her and en-courage
another ... usually against
you to do so as well.
a war. I’m 73 now. I do a lot
I recently received a letter
of research before deciding
what and who I will support. from Dan Christopher. It
stressed that he consid-
As a voter I try to educate
ered himself a “bipartisan”
myself on all the candidates
candidate (he underlined it.)
and ballot measures.
I am an unaffiliated voter; Compare that to his state-
ment in the Voters’ Pamphlet
I cross party lines and try to
where he states, “It’s time we
vote for the person who will
best support my country, my elect a ‘REAL’ Republican to
represent ‘Real’ Republicans.
community and my beliefs.
Sounds a little two-faced.
I have done that re-search
I will vote to re-elect Jim
again this year for the local
Sizemore.
Mayoral race. After hearing
Roger Gadway
differing opinions, listening
White Salmon
to candidates and watching
what is happening with our
city council, I will be voting
to retain Rich Mays as our
America is at a time of
Mayor.
great rancor and division
Rich has a long history
requiring people in Congress
of community service and
to come together for solu-
administration. He has been tions. For 10 years Rep. Jaime
accessible and responsive
Herrera Beutler has proven
LETTERS
Vote for Gina
Turner and
Sizemore
Retain Mays
Voting for Jaime
herself to be that person. She
has sponsored or supported
numerous successful bipar-
tisan bills. Jaime is ranked
among the top 15 bipartisan
officials in Congress as well
as the most effective legisla-
tor from Washington State.
She’s championed issues
from maternal-child health
and veterans to forestry and
fisheries. As a senior mem-
ber of the powerful House
Appropriations Committee,
she wields tremendous clout
for our region.
Critics complain she
doesn’t hold town hall meet-
ings, but Covid-19 prevents
any large in-person gather-
ings, so she’s used electronic
means to connect with her
constituents. Prior to the vi-
rus, I had no problem speak-
ing with her in public many
times, including job fairs she
sponsored to a pleasant half
hour visit walking around the
Clark County Fair last year.
She listens carefully and gives
honest, thoughtful responses.
Being raised in Clark
county and living in Battle
Ground, she is in touch and
deeply cares about southwest
Washington. Her opponent
is a recent Oregon trans-
plant who has never won
nor held a major office, but
only taught political theory
out of a book. This is not the
time to learn on the job. We
need Jaime’s experience,
influence in Congress, and
healing touch now more than
ever. I support her without
reservations.
Pete Bartel
Ridgefield
Choices for
wildlife
I write concerning a letter
in the Oct. 14 issue of Gorge
News falsely claiming that
Congresswoman Beutler has
helped our declining salmon
and steelhead runs. Killing
sea lions and additional
spending on hatcheries are
not going to recover salmon
or prevent further decline.
My letter published in the
White Salmon Enterprise
on Oct. 11, 2018, describes
why previous comments by
Rep. Beutler and those in
a letter to me from her are
erroneous.
Many published scientific
studies describe why preda-
tor control is usually an inef-
fective wildlife management
strategy. More specifically,
science has shown that sea
lion mortality is a small per-
centage of adult Columbia
salmon mortality. Sea lions
have a zero percent mortality
on juvenile salmon. Bigger
problems, greater sources of
adult and juvenile salmon
mortality, are the hydropow-
er system, its management
and river habitat (which
includes water that is too
warm.)
Another difficult truth
to understand is that our
already huge and awfully
expensive hatchery system
is harmful to wild salmon,
both young and adult. If
hatcheries were the an-
swer, we would not be in
a salmon crisis; they have
not been successful. See
this from UW Fisheries
scientist Ray Hilborn: www.
seattletimes.com/opinion/
letters-to-the-editor/the-
alaska-hatcheries-model-is-
not-for-washington.
Also, 90 percent of the
time, Rep. Beutler has voted
against bills friendly to fish
and wildlife, for clean water
and air and others for envi-
ronmental conservation. This
means that she has a 10-year
League of Conservation
Voters (LCV) score of only
10 percent. Please see www.
LCV.org which tracks these
Congressional votes. Both
U.S. Senators and seven
U.S. representatives from
Washington have lifetime
LCV scores of greater than 90
percent. I am sure candidate
Carolyn Long would have a
score of more than 90. So, if
you support salmon recovery
and a healthier environment
in southwest Washington,
vote for Carolyn Long.
Oregon voters will also be
interested to know that US
Rep. Greg Walden also has a
lousy lifetime LCV score of
10 percent. Candidate Cliff
Bentz would continue that
regrettable voting pattern;
Candidate Alex Spenser
will vote for conservation if
elected.
Felton Jenkins
White Salmon
enforcement officer and
supports them.
5. He supports the Second
Amendment.
6. He supports teachers
and the improvement of
schools and school choice.
7. He is for tax relief in
Oregon. He opposes cap and
tax.
Donald Rose
Hood River
Mayor because much of the
Council’s work is conducting
complex public hearings on
finalizing planning actions
(zone changes, transpor-
tation plans, economic
inventories and land use
decisions). Her background
is invaluable to her current
success as our Mayor. She
has also been on the Budget
Committee for seven years.
I have read her opponent’s
web page, and she brings up
some good ideas about how
Council and public participa-
tion could operate differently,
Kate McBride is running
but did not see that she had
for re-election as Hood
the expertise or knowledge
River’s mayor. I have known
to jump in as Mayor of a city
her for 15 years and during
that time she has been active as busy as ours. Serving on
in the City serving eight years other City committees first is
on the Planning Commission a good way to start involve-
ment in local government.
and seven on City Council.
Kate is smart, she is objec-
On Planning Commission,
tive, she has passion, she has
she heard many, many
legislative and quasi judicial knowledge and is the best
person for the job. Vote for
land use applications and
under-stands and knows how McBride, City of Hood River
mayor.
to apply the laws governing
Cindy Walbridge
each. I watched her for eight
Hood River
years at public hearings
listening to testimony from
citizens, asking questions,
and making well-informed
decisions. This is import-
ant knowledge to have as
McBride for
Mayor
‘Stories of Hope’
Each year, The Next Door
hosts “Stories of Hope” to
share firsthand narratives
from Gorge community
members who have been
helped by the organization’s
many services.
“With the ongoing pan-
demic, this year’s Stories of
Hope will take place virtually
Oct. 22-25,” said a Next Door
press release. “The four-day
event will include power-
ful stories of resilience and
triumph from the Next Door’s
Bridges of Health program,
Health Promotion Services
department and more.”
To participate in this
year’s event and access the
videos, visit givebutter.com/
VirtualStoriesofHope.
Jeff Helfrich will get
Stories will include this
my vote for the following
one from a young woman
reasons:
1. He values unborn babies currently participating in The
Next Door’s Bridges to Health
and wants to protect their
program:
lives.
“... For the last couple
2. He served in the US
years, I was abused by my
Air Force and supports the
ex. Finally, for the safety of
military.
3. He is a devoted husband my kids, I left and moved to
and father and values work- another city ... I found a job,
but my kids and I had almost
ing families.
nothing and couldn’t find a
4. He served as a law
Helfrich
gets vote
place to live. Some nights,
we slept in my car, my babies
(ages 6, 2 and 1) all sharing
one blanket ... I felt like I was
holding my breath just trying
to make it one more day.”
Since the COVID-19 pan-
demic began more than six
months ago, The Next Door
has added 13 programs to
meet new and urgent needs,
bringing the total number of
services it provides to 45.
The new programs include
The Next Connection, a bilin-
gual information and referral
phone line, as well as Migrant
and Seasonal Farmworker
Outreach Coordination
and contact tracing script
support.
The Next Door relies on
sustaining monthly gifts to
ensure the survival of these
programs, and others, in the
Gorge community. The goal
of this year’s Stories of Hope
event is to engage 30 new
monthly donors. Visit next-
doorinc.org/donate to sign
up. For more information
contact info@nextdoorinc.
org or 541-386-6665.
In Baja’s ‘Hood River South’, Gorge residents’
good life can make things harder for the locals
■ By Alison MacDonald
First of all I must apologize
for how my anger slips out
about the gringo presence in
Baja. At one in the morning,
I wake to a painful echo of
my snide comments to some
neighbors about shrimp
tacos. It is not kind to mock,
nor is it useful. Creating
resentment is not the way to
help improve the situation in
“Hood River South.”
A large contingent of Hood
River water sports enthusi-
asts go to La Ventana and Los
Barriles during the winter.
Many also bike in the desert
or mountains as well, and
there are plenty of partners
who just SUP, snorkel, and
hike. More recently people
also go to play pickleball, es-
pecially in the 10-court resort
in Los Barriles. It certainly
is a way to escape the harsh
winters of our area.
The problem is the unin-
tended impact on these small
Mexican towns, and lack
of awareness of the locals’
ambivalent feelings about
the foreigners’ presence. The
Gringos bring money and
spend it on food, lodging, and
construction of their large
houses and gardens. Many
locals must be happy to have
work. However, the impact of
the U.S. and Canadian dollars
on their community has large
downsides. The prices of food
and housing are rising astro-
nomically. The houses built
by the foreigners are huge.
They use a lot of precious wa-
ter, and the hotels now have
swimming pools. Meanwhile
the locals cannot always
afford to buy the bottled wa-
ter, and their own tap water
is getting more and more
salinated due to over use of
the aquifers below ground,
which then draws the Sea of
Cortez’s salty water into the
underground reserves. Local
people are said to be having
increasing kidney problems
from drinking their tap water.
The overfishing of the Sea
of Cortez has put local fish-
ermen out of business. The
tourists love to eat fish and
shrimp, oblivious to the harm
to this precious resource for
food. Many locals see huge
two-story houses appearing
between their modest houses
and the sea, pushing them
out of their own town.
Many give up and sell their
meager houses for what they
see as huge amounts of mon-
ey, and move their families
to the north and western
dry hills. They later find out
they sold their property for
a pittance compared to the
gringo marketers, and one
more modest local house
is demolished to make way
for another huge American
“second home” in Baja.
Many of us have tried to
bring improvement projects
for the towns and the locals.
One conscientious American
couple decided to install a
system for recycling their
grey water to use on their
landscaping gardens. They
trucked in water from a town
on the other side of the bay in
order to have non-salty water
for their vegetable garden
(the local tap water being
too salty!) There are projects
by well-meaning visitors
to spay the local dogs to
reduce glut of puppies in the
streets, some of them bred by
Americans’ large, long haired
dogs — not a good look for
dogs in the desert. This effort,
plus garbage pick up pro-
grams are something I have
participated in. However,
come to find out that there is
no public place for locals to
take their garbage, and they
cannot afford hauling fees,
so the problem is not truly
addressed.
The locals and the
foreigners often have little
conversation. I know a lot of
Americans have taken some
Spanish in school, but few
seem to make an effort to
communicate, get to know
the local people, to listen to
their concerns. There is now a
demand from the gringos for
good organic produce, and
the Saturday markets offer a
venue for a few local farmers
to sell their veggies — but lo-
cals cannot afford the prices
that the Gringos pay.
The cost of food in their lo-
cal stores has gone up due to
the catering to gringo tastes
and specialty items. I think
perhaps the ejidos (local
business/governance groups)
are profiting from tourist
business but the locals are
mostly suffering. Yes, some
work for the gringos: Building
their houses, cleaning
their houses, tending their
gardens, feeding them their
much loved “shrimp tacos”,
etc. in a frenzy of tourist busi-
ness during the few months
of acceptable weather. Local
taverns offer American mu-
sic, and beer and cocktails.
La Ventana and Los Barriles
have become party towns for
the rich Northerners, much
like the hugely expensive
and built-up tourist havens
in Cabo at the bottom of the
peninsula. I call it the Cabo
Creep. Does all this improve
the lives of the locals? Are
they just there to serve the
Gringos during the season,
and hope to have enough
savings to last through the
broiling summer and fall,
until the next invasion arrives
months later? Foreigners will
then spend their U.S. dollars
to play and party in their
“Hood River South.” Is all of
this sustainable? I think not.
Global warming will have it’s
way with the desert and the
water shortages. Is it fair, is it
ethical?
Could the situation be
improved?
Alison MacDonald is a
retired teacher who lives in
Hood River.