THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015
Thanks, Astorian
We are exporting our youth
F
or a mighty slim newspa-
per, The Daily Astorian
is packed full of newsworthy
news. Always something inter-
esting, relevant, topical, cutting
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servative-liberal viewpoints, re-
gardless, moron or enlightened.
Thank you to the editor/pub-
lisher, for a great small big time
paper.
JEFFREY CAMPBELL
Astoria
Recall and lies
A
s a citizen and registered
voter of Gearhart, I be-
lieve this recall attempt is noth-
ing more than spending $7,000
(plus) because of a friendship
gone sour. All the Gables want
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thousands of dollars are wasted.
Harold Gable read and sub-
mitted a letter at a council meet-
ing stating the mayor demanded
that a business owner remove
a Kevin Lee Willett sign. The
store owner was present at the
meeting and stated that the may-
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Gable wants transparency?
The recall group needs to stick
to facts then and not make them
up as they go. They say the
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what, I ask. This recall group
are the ones with a personal
bias against a strong mayor. If
you really want honesty and
trust, get the facts before you
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whole story, but then again, in
politics, do they ever?
By the way, the mayor knew
nothing about the recording until
after the fact. Nancy Pelosi was
questioned about her knowledge
of the Health Care Bill. She was
asked if she had read and un-
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formed one.
JEFF BOWMAN
Gearhart
Credibility problems
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hile not diminishing citi-
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Mayor Diane Widdop suffers
serious credibility problems.
Reasons for my low regard
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disinterest in conciliating their
dispute, prior to launching a di-
visive crusade; 2) their focus on
highly disputable accusations,
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derogations of character, and
warnings of political intimida-
tion; and 4) their disinclination
to give the mayor even a mod-
icum of credit for her 20-year
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serve, enhance and protect our
little city by the sea.
JOHN DUDLEY
Gearhart
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
I
have watched with interest and con-
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keep rejecting industries that would
provide jobs for our young people.
They have to move to other parts of the
country to put their educations to good
use.
We have to be more than a nice place
to retire. Most of our decisions about
what we will let come into our county
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DQG MXVW ZDQW WKLV WR VWD\ D VDQG ER[
for Portland and the Interstate-5 corri-
dor. The same bunch of people show
up in the county every time we have
a chance to bring industry and jobs to
our area. They have no lasting interest
in the county, and just want to keep it
a nice place to spend a few weekends
during the summer.
Tourist industries help our county,
but most of the jobs do not supply fam-
ily wage jobs for the workers. Lique-
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dirty word without the truth being told
about what it could do for our area. In
the past, we have had many industries
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I, for one, would like to see indus-
tries that would enable us to employ
our youth and keep our most valu-
ovate the historic barn into an
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Shannon Smith needs to fol-
low the laws, be accountable
and bring the barn up to code,
legally.
BRIER C. PORTER
Gearhart
to $50,000 contributors. Is it
really necessary to have con-
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perpetuity in order to induce
them to give up a few of their
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As it considers its goals for
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toria City Council will have
to determine how to recognize
Never fear
contributors providing mil-
y reasoning for this letter lions for library renovation, the
to the editor is to add un- structure for the Safeway pit, a
known information regarding QHZODGGHU¿UHWUXFNDQGDSHU-
the complaints against Mayor manent facility sheltering the
Widdop by those who peti- homeless.
tioned her recall.
In a recent campaign, a can-
These complaints did not didate praised Astoria as the
stop with the mayor, but went greatest city in the world. Work-
beyond to include myself, as ing together to donate time and
WKHFLW\¶VEXLOGLQJRI¿FLDO2QH money for the above-men-
of the players attempted my re- tioned projects might move us
placement with a seven-page closer to the truth of that state-
complaint letter to the Oregon ment. Perhaps that accomplish-
State Building Codes Agency ment in and by itself would be
requesting that I be replaced VXI¿FLHQW UHFRJQLWLRQ RI RXU
immediately.
contributions.
They stated that I was be-
GEORGE MCCARTIN
ing unprofessional, along with
Astoria
other misleading statements,
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It’s about trust
mise the health and welfare of
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the general public. But because
Mayor Dianne Widdop is
I did what was right by follow-
ing the rules, the complaint was about the loss of trust in her
judgment and ability to govern
to no avail.
Another player made a RXUFRPPXQLW\,WLVWKHH[SH-
statement that there was a cer- rience of many that during the
tain amount of fear for Mayor two years Dianne Widdop has
Widdop, and those within City EHHQ *HDUKDUW¶V PD\RU WKH\
Hall. In my 40 years in this pro- have been singled out, cited,
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I can say this for the city of ably denied use of their prop-
Gearhart: The entire city staff, erty. She does not refute the
Mayor Widdop included, have reasons for her recall, but con-
made this one of the most peo- strues a list of accomplishment
ple-friendly cities I have ever DV UHÀHFWLYH RI KHU SRVLWLYH
contributions.
worked for.
I, along with Mayor Wid-
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promise you, those who follow
the rules for the best of this
community should never fear
retaliation from this city.
JIM BRIEN
Seaside
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able natural resource working in this
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our young people year after year?
The two main industries that have
kept us going over the years have been
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constant battle to keep both of these
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was needed was a good work ethic,
and you could go right to work. Now
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How much longer can we afford to
let outsiders rule our county?
ED MCNULTY
Astoria
In another instance, she
sent her husband to see a
homeowner to request he
come to City Hall to talk to the
mayor about the recreation-
al vehicle (RV) parked at his
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the city requesting a meeting
have a more appropriate ap-
proach? Widdop prides herself
in this hard, direct confronta-
tional style without thought
to the impact of her words,
actions and style on other. She
directly inserts herself into
situations and establishes an
antagonistic interaction from
the start
The second and even more
troubling revelation reveals a
darker side to how this mayor
conducts city business when
out of the public eye.
October 2014, a string of
personal emails was forward-
ed to the mayor and city man-
ager. The subject of the email
was private discussions be-
tween homeowners who had
attended a city meeting about
short-term rentals. This email
was not addressed to the city,
nor had it been sent by any of
the authors to the city. Mayor
Widdop choose to forward
this to selected city members
and one City Council candi-
date. Nothing could be more
divisive. By communicat-
ing with only some council
members, and only one of
three council candidates, she
divided the city government
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our community. This is not
transparency.
Worst of all, these out-of-
sight communications helped
to create an environment in
which someone thought it
acceptable to send an anon-
ymous Christmas card with
the greeting “Changes are a
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who spoke at the city meet-
ing on short-term rentals. Was
the forwarding of this email
the catalyst for the card send-
er? This is not the Gearhart I
know or want.
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leadership and ability to be im-
partial and fair. Please join me
in voting yes for her recall.
PATRICIA ROBERTS
Gearhart
Split apart
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enough signatures for a vote
to unseat the elected mayor
of Gearhart. The chief recall
petitioner, and the shadowy
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never made their motivations
clear, since their rhetoric re-
lies not on fact, but on innu-
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against the petitioners, or what
powers she could possibly use
to cause such injury.
Mayor Widdop herself is no
stranger to carrying petitions
door-to-door in Gearhart. Just
a few years back, she used the
referendum process to make
the City Council reverse its
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outlawed in our zoning ordi-
nance. That action was typical
of her courageous stands over
the past 20 years in support of
the Gearhart Comprehensive
Plan and its implementing or-
dinances.
A generation ago, when we
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comprehensive plan, we un-
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enant with the community, and
the basis of all its laws, from
land use to public safety. More
than a vague statement of “col-
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representatives over the past
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semi-rural, low-density resi-
dential character of Gearhart.
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and guidelines for the preser-
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environment and quality of
life, and restricts commercial
activity to the needs of the
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allegiance to that plan has
been the hallmark of her po-
litical career. This is, and must
be, the basis of our trust in her
leadership: We know she will
support the comprehensive
plan, no matter how loudly or
(in the present case) abusively
the special interests may pro-
test.
Gearhart must not be forced
to abandon that trust. We must
not allow the community to
be poisoned and bullied by a
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mors and allegations. We urge
all citizens, and especially
those who were hoodwinked
into signing the recall petition,
to vote no on the recall.
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spokesman on the city council,
we trust that, when the dust
has settled, he will remember
the voices of his better angels
who had urged him to resign
from the council (“Jesse asks
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The Daily Astorian, Jan. 8). He
chose instead to ask for Wid-
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leging that it was Mayor Wid-
dop, and not in fact his own
partisans, who were “splitting
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are now burdening the city
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a recall election.
BILL BERG
KENT SMITH
Gearhart
Raise the gas tax
R
epublicans support a raise
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ers and consumers of goods.
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because it raises revenue from
fossil fuels.
Economists should support
Pettiness needs to stop WKHJDVWD[EHFDXVHRIWKH¿VFDO
his letter is in support of multiplier. In theory, a dollar
our Gearhart Mayor Di- invested by the government in
ane Widdop, and I would like infrastructure projects create up
to encourage the residents of to $1.70 in increased Gross Do-
Gearhart to vote no on recalling mestic Product (GDP) during a
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period of low labor force partic-
It should be noted that the ipation. This was documented
Gable group of petitioners by the International Monetary
have lost their focus as to why Fund (IMF) in December 2012,
they are recalling our mayor. when they published a white
What started out as a simple paper that marked a reversal in
misunderstanding, turned into the support of austerity policy
a gossip fest. Each time the by most of the European Union
story was told and repeated, it (http://tinyurl.com/imf12eu).
changed and changed, depend-
The spending would be
ing on who told the story and DQ H[SHULPHQW WKDW WHVWV WKH
who was or was not listening. economic policy of Keynes-
/LVWHQXSSHRSOHZH¶UHQRWLQ ian stimulus. In fact, it is the
high school anymore.
UHPRYDO RI LQFRPH VSHFL¿FDO-
All this pettiness and vin- ly from the middle and lower
dictive action against the mayor class, and reinvested into low-
needs to stop.
er and middle class jobs, using
Mayor Widdop has served some of the windfall from the
this community for 20 years drop in gas prices.
as a city councilor, volunteer
If Keynesian policy advo-
and as mayor. Her accomplish- cates like the White House and
ments overrule any bad public- Elizabeth Warren are sincere in
ity and rumor mill this group their beliefs, they will raise the
has caused, not to mention the JDVWD[HVDQGUHLQYHVWWKLVUHYH-
amount of dollars the city has nue into infrastructure and oth-
accrued because of this mess to er hiring just to demonstrate the
recall.
validity of their stated ideals.
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I would pay a nickel more
who is at the root of all this per gallon to test this theory.
trouble, and that is Shannon
ROGER LINDSLEY
Smith, the barn owner, whom,
Astoria
I might add, has been very qui-
et during the whole proceeding
Reaching city goals
of recalling Mayor Widdop. I
personally would like to see
hile walking with Moi-
an events center in Gearhart;
ses (the daddy Basset)
,WKLQNLWZRXOGEHQH¿WDOOWKH through the Surging Waves
businesses in town and would monument, I was puzzled by
be a great accomplishment.
the paving stones engraved
However, the problem is ZLWK GRQRUV¶ QDPHV DQG WKH
with Shannon Smith. She is silver plaque glass pieces in-
wrong, and if she wants to ren- scribed with the names of $500
T
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