THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2015
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
Public pout
G
earhart is very fortunate to
have a mayor and a council
who will defend the laws of the
community as they have been
put in place by generations of
caring citizens.
Now one man and his clique
are mounting an extended and
expensive campaign to override
some of these laws and allow
them to do what no other cit-
izens would be allowed to do
(“Jesse asks Gearhart mayor to
bow out,” The Daily Astorian,
Jan. 8). This effort can only be
recognized and treated as an ex-
tended public “pout.”
Dianne Widdop, his target,
is a public treasure — she’s
honest, fair, open-minded and
kind, as anyone who knows her
is happy to verify. Count your
blessings that she is defending
Gearhart.
SALLY MANNEX
Gearhart
Polluters should pay
C
limate change hurts coast-
al Oregon, and we are al-
ready seeing the impacts, from
warming oceans to sea level
rise to increasing ocean acidi-
detrimental to many Northwest
-
and steelhead, and increases the
likelihood of algal blooms and
Sea level rise generates
conditions that promote far
greater ocean storm damage
-
sion and compromising coastal
-
carbon-based shelled marine
organisms, such as clams and
oysters.
These hardships are tiny
compared to the challenges
our children and grandchildren
face if we fail to act on climate
change. Every reputable author-
ity — from the Pentagon to the
United Nations — warns that
our current trajectory will result
will lead to unprecedented so-
cial, economic and military cri-
ses. If we cannot secure a transi-
tion from fossil fuels before the
end of the decade, it will not be
possible for future generations
to adapt.
Fortunately, the solution is
in sight. Oregon has the rare
opportunity to lead our country
and the world with the policy
economists and climatologists
say we need. We can hold out-
of-state polluters accountable
for climate change with a price
on carbon, either by charging
them a fee or by requiring them
to buy permits before they burn
fossil fuels.
Last month, the Northwest
Economic Research Center at
Portland State University pre-
sented to the legislature their
long-awaited study on the im-
pacts of a carbon pollution fee in
W
ell, fellow anti-LNG-ers, here
we are in 2015. It has been a
long, hard pull since this all started in
2004. Whether you are like me, or not,
I’ll guess most of our lives would have
been, well, different, these last 11 years
without this issue in our beautiful, his-
toric lower Columbia River area.
You didn’t really want to spend
your time playing golf, or relaxing on
a beach in Hawaii, did you? Letter
writing, making phone calls till our
eyes blurred trying to see the keypad,
meeting after meeting after meeting,
and rallies, have been much more fun
— right?
In any interesting competition, there
economy. It would reward smart
decisions and punish wasteful
ones. Both proven and novel
energy alternatives would attract
new capital. Nothing but a price
on carbon can spark the system-
ic transformation we need, and
that’s because it targets the prob-
lem at its source.
The Oregon Legislature
should hold polluters account-
able for the damage they do
to Coastal Oregon by making
them pay to pollute. And 100
percent of the revenue should
be distributed evenly among all
Oregonians, because the natural
climate change — all of us.
CAMILA THORNDIKE
DAN GOLDEN
Medford
Editor’s note: Camila Thorn-
dike is the executive director,
and Dan Golden is the policy di-
rector, at Oregon Climate (www.
oregonclimate.org).
Port election choice
P
ort election choice To be-
come a commissioner of
Clatsop County’s Port of As-
toria, candidates are currently
elected countywide by the vot-
ers. This is the same process
by which we elect presidents,
federal and state representatives,
and our top county and city of-
that comes later, in the form of
emergency drought relief, hurri-
The problem with using this
process to select port commis-
sioners is that Clatsop County
residents (the port’s owners),
who pay taxes to support its op-
erations, know very little about
their commissioners or the
Port’s business. Hardly any of
Clatsop County’s 15,000 regis-
tered voters have ever attended a
an Port of Astoria Commission
meeting, or can name the com-
missioners who presumably
represent their interests.
When I ran for port commis-
sioner, one commissioner ad-
vised: “The way to get elected in
Clatsop County is to put up the
most signs.” He was running for
re-election and explained, “the
voters don’t know you, and will
vote for a name they recognize.”
That individual spent money
and put up a lot of signs. He won
by about 200 votes out of 3,500
votes cast. His opponent put up
a few signs and lost.
I was unknown and a relative
newcomer to Clatsop County,
and I ran unopposed. I put up no
signs and received 97 percent of
the vote. The interesting thing is
not my vote margin, but rather
that only 92 voters knew some-
one to vote for that they thought
polluters were accountable for
these costs, a price signal would
reverberate throughout our
that. Out of 3,500 voters, only
92 people could think of any-
one, rather than vote for some-
reduction in carbon pollution
and a negligible effect on the
coastal economy.
Our problem is not a shortage
of solar panels or ethanol or hy-
brid cars, nor is it an abundance
of gas and oil pipelines. Our
problem is underpriced fossil fu-
els. We do not pay their hidden
are positions that competitors strive
to attain. In auto racing, its called the
“pole” position. In horse racing, it’s
“on the rail — by a nose.” So many of
us have worked so hard, for so long, to
help our cause reach these positions,
and now it’s 2015 “crunch time.” In
track, it is called “come off the curve
and head for home.” Great runners or
football running backs can smell the
-
ished until the line is crossed.
So please watch for the upcoming
Warrenton City Council meetings, at-
tend them, and have your say regarding
Oh, and by the way, don’t forget
one they never heard of. Is that
commissioners, people respon-
sible for governing our port and
overseeing the spending of our
a better way.
A petition is being circulat-
ed to place an initiative on the
ballot. It would have port com-
missioners appointed, and in-
volve having our locally-elected
personal agenda. This is similar
to how we select our planning
commissioners.
JACK BLAND
Astoria
Working together
I
couldn’t agree more with the
editor in his editorial concern-
ing the homeless, and noting
our lack of affordable housing
(“America in 2015: Warming
the homeless,” The Daily Asto-
rian, Jan. 5).
In 2007, I attended a con-
ference on housing solutions
held at the Seaside Civic &
Convention Center. The speak-
ers’ message highlighted the es-
sential cooperation of all levels
of government, suppliers and
builders to individually pitch in
a little in order to reduce the total
cost, and accomplish affordable
housing in their communities.
Those relatively small con-
tributions by all involved made
the projects successful.
We certainly need this to
happen in our community to
help our veterans, people with
low income, mental health con-
cerns, addictions or whatever
issues have forced them to be
homeless.
(come on, you know the drill) to call
the governor (503-378-4582) and ask
him to use the Coastal Zone Manage-
ment Act and the Clean Water and Air
acts to stop the proposed Oregon LNG
terminal.
You can learn information for your
comments by attending the upcoming
and the Jan. 27 Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality information. Both
meetings start at 6 p.m., and will be
held at the Warrenton Community Cen-
ter, 170 S.W. Third St. in Warrenton.
Go Big Red!
CARL DOMINEY
Astoria
That vision started to erode
under Ronald Reagan and has
been under assault ever since.
-
bor irresistible, enter the Asian
workforce. Made in America
became an anachronism. Re-
lentlessly and methodically
factories closed, forcing the job-
less to seek other employment
or retraining. Labor unions, the
working man’s only ally, were
rendered powerless by the de-
struction of the industrial job
market.
Low pay and part time were
the only options left, making
union dues an avoidable ex-
pense and union membership
became a shadow of what it had
been just a few years before, and
proportionately.
Oddly concurrent with the
erosion of work opportuni-
ties, there arose “the volunteer
army.” During World War II and
after, the military was manned
by conscriptees, young men
chosen to serve through the
draft. From this nucleus the ser-
requirements. The draft also in-
That inconvenience ended with
the draft being replaced by the
“all volunteer” military.
Young men desperate to
make a start in a jobless or part-
time economy found enlistment
attractive, with a reworked Gl
Bill and improved pay and in-
centives.
The rich were no longer re-
quired to put their sons in harm’s
would be the sole province of
the sons of the poor. The gen-
erals, who no longer had to
draftee sons found the situation
totally to their liking, and initiat-
ed the most prolonged period of
invasion and aggression in our
country’s history. We are still in
that regrettable position and will
not get out of it gracefully or at
small cost.
Maybe it’s not so fanciful,
that the real reason for the col-
lapse of the industrial base and
the corresponding need for bod-
ies to carry out our poorly con-
with empire are not somehow
tragically conjoined. Just a few
years ago, I would have scoffed
at such a turn, but the Bush
Years and the Grey Eminence of
Dick Cheney have badly abuses
my innocence.
JACK GUYOT
Astoria
Searching for Jake
W
e are the part-time inn-
keepers for Jake, a hand-
some orange-striped tiger cat
with a rather shortened tail. We
live at the west end of Harri-
son Avenue, and Jake (who
sometimes answers to George)
has been a part-time porch cat
worked up to inside mealtime/
petting status this past year.
We’re very fond of him, but
know some other family must
harbor him, too.
He was gone during much
5A
of the Christmas holiday, and
at New Year’s. He has since
returned and is gone again. We
don’t mind sharing, but would
like to know where to contact
him for messages. If you are in-
volved in Jake’s welfare, please
give us a call at 503-325-8850.
PAT AND DAVID MILLER
Astoria
Seaside parking
R
egarding the Seaside Civic
& Convention Center ex-
pansion: Years ago, this was in
the works and being studied but at
that time, it was to include expan-
sion of the city parking lot also.
Many different scenarios were
mentioned, most being tossed
aside, i.e., library, sports arena, etc.
The parking garage was
wanted by the downtown mer-
chants, as there is not enough
parking downtown as it is. In
answer to the problem, the lot
was restriped to utilize all space
as much as possible.
When Trendwest (World
Mark) came to town and the
parking lot there was sold, they,
in turn, built a garage with the
-
ing. This seemed like a good
trade-off. Why does the city
think it can take away 50 spaces
in the public parking lot, block
off two-way access, block off
and take away immediate area
businesses’ parking? Don’t they
ever think about the downtown
business economic effect?
Just because the convention
center is enlarged, it does not
help the regular tourist coming
-
ing place. I’ve heard in summers
past that tourists get so frustrat-
ed with parking that they just
go on down the road to Cannon
Beach, instead.
To sum up, if the convention
center is enlarged, additional park-
ing must be supplied, not taken
away. That is just common sense.
Don’t make it even harder for the
tourist to get around town than it is
already. Don’t make it harder for
local businesses to make a living
than it already is. We count on
the tourist as well as convention
center, but if one is favored with
no thought of the other, then it is a
“no win” situation.
Just because you build it
does not mean they will come.
M. DIEBOLT
Seaside
session for the Astoria Warm-
ing Center, now located in the
Senior Center building, I was
amazed — and so proud — to
see over 70 people turning out to
contribute in some way toward
a solution.
I am hopeful that we can also
address the problem of home-
lessness on a grander scale. I
know we can — if we work to-
gether.
ARDI CHAPMAN
Astoria
War and work
U
ntil recent times, for a large
segment of our society,
making a future in one of our
factories or industries was a
given. In the blue-collar world,
making steel or building cars or
airplanes held a future that was
dependable, paid adequately
and made it possible to visualize
a better future for one’s children.
Conversation| Good food | Inspiration
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