OPINION
4A
Tom McCall
Mark Hatfield
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015
Vic Atiyeh
John A. Kitzhaber
Former Oregon Govs. Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield and Vic Atiyeh left things better; John Kitzhaber left wreckage.
When humility vanishes,
political wreckage follows
O
ne
consequence
of
John
Kitzhaber’s sudden resignation
is that Oregon will elect a governor
three times in three years. Kitzhaber’s
successor, Gov. Kate
Brown, must run
for election in 2016.
Then we’ll have an-
other governor elec-
tion in 2018.
Of all these, the
pivotal race will be
the Democratic pri-
Steve
mary election 14
Forrester
months from now.
The big question is
whether state Treasurer Ted Wheeler
will challenge Brown.
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stirrings of the 2016 presidential race
are out there, with Republican Ted Cruz
launching his campaign this week.
It is a safe bet that few of us antici-
pate greatness as an outcome in all of
these races. That is not the political cul-
ture we inhabit. We will be fortunate
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Churchill summed up an attitude of re-
alism toward politics and government.
“Democracy is the worst form of gov-
ernment except all those other forms
that have been tried from time to time.”
The bargain we make in a democrat-
They don’t realize they are temporary
and the office is permanent.
ic society is that occasionally we’ll get
a strong governor or president. We hope
for a decent batting average.
T
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Oregon postwar political history
overlapped Jan. 9, 1967. After Tom
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left by a side door to begin the trip to
Washington, D.C., where he entered the
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our consciousness about civil rights.
McCall widened our vision of the en-
vironment.
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to McCall, my father visited with
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chief of staff.
As Nunn and his subordinates were
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of McCall, Nunn had a startling mo-
ment of self-awareness. “I realized that
we had been there so long that we had
come to believe we were the govern-
ment.”
Nunn’s observation speaks volumes
about what easily happens to people
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to the virtue of a two-term limit on our
governors and the president.
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grasp their own mortality. Humility
goes out the window. They don’t real-
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permanent.
T
he best governors and presidents
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nation in better shape than they found
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Atiyeh did the same. All three of them
were Republicans.
By contrast, Gov. John Kitzhaber in
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abandoned the wreckage.
President Abraham Lincoln led the
nation through its worst national trau-
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the worst national trauma on the nation
— what President Gerald Ford called
“our national nightmare.”
I
f you watch politicians at close
range long enough, you see many
who are unable to separate themselves
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tory of Clatsop County government
to a newcomer, I mentioned how two
separate commissions imploded from
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eral bunch, the other was at the other
end of the political spectrum. What
they had in common was a lack of hu-
mility about themselves and their task.
Perspective went out the window.
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countered a friend who doubted wheth-
er the Port of Astoria Commission
would ever improve. Its malady over
decades is a succession of players moti-
vated by self interest.
There were rumblings about opposi-
tion candidates for the Port Commission
in the May election. But the incumbents
are running unopposed. There should
be no surprise in that. With the excep-
tion of John Raichl, the commission has
conditioned us to expect wrong-headed
decisions motivated by self-dealing.
— S.A.F.
Open forum
Shocked by sign
A
s I drove to work recently, I was
shocked by the raunchy new sign
that has been installed by Annie’s Tav-
ern. To maximize impact and poke the
decent folks of Astoria in the eye, the
sign is positioned to make a horrible
impression entering Astoria. The sign
is an affront to Astoria, to the neigh-
borhood and to the effort to make
our community a better place. It’s a
disgrace to see children waiting for
a school bus with Annie’s over their
shoulder.
It is a widely reported fact that strip
bars are a common entry point in the
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to challenge our school coaches, com-
munity leaders, church members and
our various great service organizations
that work so hard to lift people up to
take action.
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cation of women and an industry that
leads to so many tragic life stories.
Astoria deserves better. The standards
of decency in our community should
be higher. Don’t let Annie’s bring us
down.
FERGUS LOUGHRAN
Astoria
Hoorah for the vote
I
absolutely loved the editorial “Bad
behavior” (March 19). It warmed
the cockles of my heart, and gave me
a modicum of faith again in The Daily
Astorian’s editorial thoughts and opin-
ions.
And hoorah for Cindy Price and
Drew Herzig for their votes against
the quite questionable proposed enter-
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(“Council rejects enterprise zone,” The
Daily Astorian, March 17).
Perhaps Zetty Nemlowill thought
that the Port of Astoria commissioners
do not read The Daily Astorian (which
could possibly be correct, consider-
ing their stand on so many issues that
affect the working people of Astoria)
and she felt prompted to tell the Port
commissioners in person how sorry
she was that she couldn’t vote because
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if she coulda.
If Nemlowill is going to apologize
to anyone, it should be the constit-
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meet and greet event as a City Council
member was held in another ward, not
her own. There are several quite nice
places here in Uniontown that would
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would have appreciated the gesture.
MARY TANGUAY WEBB
Astoria
prevent use by anyone with large
hands or a large dog. I can barely
wedge one of my mitts into the things,
and the advantage of the opposable
thumb, upon which I rely is negated
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my digits inside. These bags are entire-
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of my dog’s deposits, not only failing
to collect the object in its entirety but
leaving no plastic with which to tie off
the package. It has been recommended
that I use two bags for each episode,
but this does not alter the limitations
noted above.
It is my understanding that this
low-quality option was intended as a
cost-saving measure by the Parks and
Recreation Department. Of course, the
savings will be even greater in that a
large proportion of the population will
not be able to use the bags at all, there-
by making them last even longer, un-
less some people with small hands end
up using two bags, which, of course,
would negatively impact said savings.
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Sad sacks
cation, why not cite the same motive
hen I moved to Astoria two and refrain from purchasing any bags
years ago, I was delighted to at all?
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Ostensibly, these bags are provided
high-quality dog waste disposal bags. to aid in keeping the city free of pet
These well-placed, attentively re- waste. But I would argue that to pro-
stocked, biodegradable Mutt Mitts vide a product that won’t serve the
made it easy for owners to clean up very group in greatest need — those
after their sidekicks, keeping the Riv- whose large dogs leave the largest,
erwalk and the entire town far more most offensive statements — is un-
“doody-free” than they would be oth- dermining the purpose of providing
erwise. However, the recent down- WKHPLQWKH¿UVWSODFH,UHFRJQL]HWKDW
grade in the quality of the bags has ef- budget cuts are occurring everywhere,
fectively, by and large, rendered them and that provision of these bags is a
useless.
privilege.
The new bags are so small as to
And sure, I can resume use of the
W
T HE
D AILY A STORIAN
Founded in 1873
plastic bags from grocery stores, until
the county votes to ban them, at which
time I can add the expense of purchas-
ing bags to the dog budget. But if the
goal of a town free of pet droppings is
taken seriously, I would ask that a vi-
able product once again be provided.
NATE MARTIN
Astoria
Not a ghost town
P
lease don’t misunderstand what I
am saying. The improvements in
Ilwaco, Wash., are great. Cleanup and
“new” are always good. Here is my
concern: There has been so much fo-
cus on what Ilwaco doesn’t have, little
has been said about what we do have.
Ilwaco is not a ghost town. Does a
ghost town have the sound of children
playing, dogs barking, joggers, bicy-
clists and the hustle of regular truck
deliveries? School buses, city buses,
trucks, cars, mobile homes? It’s time
to stop rolling through the light on red
at First Avenue and Spruce Street —
we have pedestrians.
Businesses in Ilwaco made a choice
to take on new opportunities elsewhere
or to retire. Maybe those of us still here
did not have any other opportunities?
Maybe we are just willing to risk it all
in our desire to be self employed? May-
be we are too young to retire? Or too
young to know any better?
I don’t know. I would like to know.
I would like to see some focus on
those of us who are still here in Il-
waco. Those of us who survived the
worst economic crisis since the Great
Depression. We deserve an award.
Before we are drowned out by the
thrill of the new, could we have a nice
write-up in The Daily Astorian, Coast
River Business Journal? Maybe by
looking at what worked in Ilwaco, we
will encourage those looking to go in
to business to give Ilwaco a chance.
I took a chance, and Ilwaco took a
chance on me. Thank you for 10 years
of ups and downs, and most likely 10
more years.
KELLY FRECH
Ilwaco, Wash.
Dogs and graveyards
T
hrough recent decades, the Asto-
ria Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment has grown to an abundant size,
although the population of Astoria has
remained the same 10,000. All sorts of
entertainment can thus be enjoyed by
children and retirees. Now, a dog park
has been suggested to be added to the
amenities, at an added cost, with pos-
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With parks’ department budget
fully used for all of the many current
amenities, it seems that the city’s cen-
tury-old responsibility for upkeep of
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be negated by the young.
To solve that budget problem, may
I suggest that the city incorporate the
proposed dog park into the whole
cemetery, where there would be all
sorts of space for dogs and parking.
This would also relieve the congestion
of dogs and bicycles on downtown
sidewalks, and might alleviate some
of the costs of lawn fertilization at the
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3$8/9$1'(59(/'7
Astoria
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