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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 2015)
OPINION 6A Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager What’s going on? T Suddenly, Scott Somers’ righthand man is a nonperson he sudden departure of Clatsop County’s second-highest ranking executive was largely hidden from public view and never explained. Our reporter Kyle Spurr discovered a terse item on Dean Perez’ leaving in county commission documents. As head of the Department of Administrative Services and the county’s human resources direc- tor, Perez was a big deal. He was County Manager Scott Somers’ right hand. With 16 years of ser- vice, Perez was second only to District Attorney Josh Marquis in his longevity as a county depart- ment head. In Somers’ May 19 memo to county commissioners he said Perez was moving to Bothell, Wash., to become its human re- sources director. What’s going on here? Where GRHVLW¿WZLWKLQWKHTXHVWLRQVVXU- rounding Somers’ management? Perez was under pressure re- garding a terminated sheriff’s deputy whom an adjudicator said must be reinstated. But it could be argued Somers himself was just as responsible for that costly person- nel matter. The striking aspect of this story is the swiftness with which Perez disappeared, the ostensible elim- ination of his position and the absence of a clear story line. If this were China or the old Soviet Union, we would assume the par- ty hierarchy had made Perez into a nonperson. The so-called 360 Review of Somers’ management will give us a window on how the county is being administered. That process, done by Portland-based Kennedy Consulting, will presumably provide details on the many managerial departures un- der Somers’ leadership. There is an unfortunate ten- dency at the county to label ques- tions about the many management changes as personnel matters, which shields them from public view. Now the county has reached a point where all managers have been swept from the playing board. We the taxpayers have a right to know whether there is a larger plan at work, or whether county govern- ment is bouncing from termination to termination. The commission is the board of directors, and we the taxpayers are the shareholders. The public deserves from the Clatsop County Commission a systematic inquiry, as well as an element of candor and insight. The return of the sea otter? Now is time for us to help restore them to their former home waters T he last time sea otters were in the public consciousness around the Columbia River estu- ary and Willapa Bay, the Wright EURWKHUV ZHUH VWLOO OHDUQLQJ WR À\ and the Titanic’s sinking was big news. In the quiet way of species edg- ing into extinction, otters were shot for money and few took no- tice of their passing until there were none left. A century later, it is now possi- ble that sea otters are sidling back out of extinction along parts of the mainland West Coast, even though unfortunately two have recently been found dead on the seashore at Long Beach, Wash. It may be these otters were living in local waters and en- FRXQWHUHG VRPH GLI¿FXOW\ EXW D federal biologist speculates it is also possible they were part of a recovering colony of otters on the north Washington coast and that the southbound California Current delivered their bodies to Long Beach. One or possibly two living ot- ters were observed at the mouth of the Columbia in 2009, though it was suspected they were just pass- ing through. Since a few dozen Alaskan otters were transplanted to Washington state waters in 1969 and 1970, they have increased in numbers to more than 1,000. A recovery plan envisages an eventual total of up to about 2,700 in Washington waters. With luck, the deaths of the two ot- ters is just a temporary setback on the way to this goal; like all wild animals, they naturally die from time to time. The goal is a self-sus- WDLQLQJ SRSXODWLRQ WKDW LV VXI¿- ciently widespread and genetically diverse enough to survive disasters like oil spills and plagues. In California, a separate pop- ulation of southern sea otters has reached a comparatively safe tally of around 3,000. Sea otter recovery has been nowhere near as successful in Oregon. Here, a 1970s reintroduc- tion program failed for unknown reasons. Occasional sightings in the past several years may be young adults venturing out for adventure from Washington or California. At www.oregonwild.org/wild- life/otter-watch, Oregon Wild makes a good argument for re- sumption of efforts to restore otters in our state, where the last known resident otter was killed in 1907. “Ongoing implications for ma- rine ecosystems are far reaching,” Oregon Wild observes. “Sea ot- ters are a keystone species, which means their presence or absence has a huge impact on their envi- ronment. In marine habitats, sea otters help maintain balance by controlling populations of sea ur- chins. When sea otters are absent, sea urchins gobble up the kelp forests that many other species depend on for food and shelter. In Oregon, as kelp forests have de- clined, so to have populations of URFN¿VK DQG PDQ\ RWKHU NHOSGH- pendent species.” Sea otters once were a pillar of the economy in Astoria and the Chinook Indian Nation, their rich pelts enticing the Chinese to pro- vide silks and other luxury goods that were sold for gold by U.S., British, Russian and other traders. +DYLQJ SUR¿WHG IURP WKHLU GH- struction, it now is time for us to help restore them to their former home waters. 7KH2UHJRQ'HSDUWPHQWRI¿VK and Wildlife should get busy with a sea otter recovery plan. THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2015 Summer tourism begins, but who plans all these events? Bumper-to-bumper WUDI¿FLVDEXPPHU E very town on the North Coast has its own way of signaling summer, and when summer does arrive on the weekend of June 20 this year, it will be duly noted by thousands of visitors. From Cannon Beach to Astoria, WKHZHHNHQGSURPLVHVWREH¿OOHG with activities — if anyone can get to them. My question is this: Do the plan- ners of these events ever talk to each other? In Cannon Beach, the Sandcas- tle Contest Weekend runs from June 19 to 21, when the tides are low enough to accommodate the crowds, cars and the sandcas- tle-crafters. That is also opening weekend for the Coaster Theatre’s “Little Shop of Horrors.” Meanwhile, in Seaside, two of the city’s largest events, the Seaside Beach Soccer Tournament and the Muscle and Chrome car show, will occupy the downtown core area. Gearhart Golf Links will host the Greater Oregon Brew Tour on June 19. Astoria will be the site of the annual Scandanavian Midsummer Festival June 19 through 21 at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds. And, for those who can make it to the Long Beach (Wash.) Peninsula, the annual Northwest Garlic Fes- tival is being staged in Ocean Park June 19 and 20. And so, the summer begins. /DVW VXPPHU WUDI¿F VQDUOV caused consternation among driv- ers up and down the coast. When there’s only one main road con- necting those towns and every town has a big event, there’s bound to EH EXPSHUWREXPSHU WUDI¿F $QG that’s a bummer. I admit that, after eight years of being a full-time North Coast resi- dent, I’m becoming tired of seeing all the visitors in town every week- end. I’m turning into a curmud- geon who growls when six cars are parked in front of a vacation rent- al home on my street for an entire weekend. At the same time, I know our area thrives on the generosity of strangers. Without them, we would have few resources to maintain the lifestyle we would like to become accustomed to. EO Media Group file Between 10,000 and 15,000 people, according to an informal esti- mate from City Councilor George Vetter, turned out for the 2014 Sandcastle Contest. I MPRESSIONS B Y N ANCY M C C ARTHY Finding the balance So there’s the balance we need to consider. The Seaside Visitors Bureau and the Seaside Chamber of Commerce have done a bang-up job of attracting crowds to local events. Astoria’s event planners also pro- duce myriad tourism opportunities. The Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce has managed to coax a 1 percent lodging tax increase out of the city’s budget committee. Seven- ty percent of that increase will go to help the chamber bolster the staff at the information center, which, ulti- mately, will result in more “visitors and tourism” for Cannon Beach, according to City Manager Brant Kucera. Yippee. Just this past week, two of the “old guard” in Cannon Beach have died. Steve McLeod, an artist who may be remembered for his paint- ings of Haystack Rock that looked PRUH OLNH SKRWRJUDSKV ZKHQ ¿Q- ished and who also created artwork from seaweed, lived in Cannon Beach since the time the town was an early arts colony. Pat Friedland, former operator of Pat’s Coffee Shop from the late 1970s to 1998, died May 30. She lived a quiet life in Cannon Beach, but she was a generous benefactor to the local arts, conservation proj- ects and student scholarships. Those who raised a cup of black coffee in Pat’s honor at a recent informal tribute, recalled how she used to tell the tourists who came to her shop on our rare sunny after- noons to head to the beach instead of to the stores. That attitude may not be very popular now. At another recent gathering of friends, a few people fondly recalled Cannon Beach’s “old days,” when the North Coast was sparsely pop- ulated and tourists were relatively unfamiliar with the area. When the town’s gnarly “characters” were welcome and the town’s streets ZHUHQ¶W ¿OOHG ZLWK GD\WULSSHUV They agreed those days are long gone. We can’t — and don’t want to — send all the visitors away. We de- pend on them. Maybe too much. My favorite season used to be summer. Now, it’s winter. Especial- ly January and February, the darkest time of the year. There are few cars parked on the streets. It’s easier to drive on the highway. Local towns are quiet. Full-time residents turn to each other for company. We may not be able to have that ambiance all the time here on the North Coast. But we need more con- versations about what we do want here and how to plan for it. We need to ask ourselves how much is too much. Nancy McCarthy is a freelance writer who recently retired as editor of the Cannon Beach Gazette and the Seaside Signal. Her column ap- pears monthly. My road to the White House about Fiorina to have any to. One of these is central opinion of her, 60 percent to my life. Skeptics will focus on said the same about Car- son, and 56 percent said know a hot trend when I see the pesky gaps in my ré- that about Graham, even one and I hate to hop aboard sumé. I’ve never won elec- WLRQWRDQ\SROLWLFDORI¿FH though he’s been in Con- too late. So here goes: But neither have Trump, gress for two decades and I’m announcing my candida- Ben Carson or Carly Fiori- had himself surgically conjoined with John Mc- cy for the Republican presidential na, and her batting average, zero for one, is worse than Cain. nomination. mine, which is zero for I used to think that a Frank groundswell of support Sure, I have severely limited zero. I’m undefeated. Bruni I made the requisite trip name recognition in the hinterlands mattered. Not at all. Last and, come to think of it, in most ur- to Israel, but it was ages ago and I I checked, Jindal and George Pataki ban, suburban and exurban areas as stupidly neglected to alert the media, were both polling below 1.5 percent. well. But that isn’t stopping Lindsey tote along a publicist, pose for pho- That must have them losing to the tographs at the Western Wall and sup margin of error. Graham. with Bibi. You live and True, I have question- I used to think that a shot at vic- you learn. able hair (what’s left of tory was the point. Ha! There are I haven’t published spoils aplenty on the path to defeat. it). But that’s not going a book with a title like to deter Donald Trump. I’ll get to ride around in an Esca- There On My Honor (Perry), lade with my very own Huma. Min- My weight has been Rising to the Challenge ions will buff my Facebook page. NQRZQ WR ÀXFWXDWH EXW are (Fiorina), Tough Choices “Morning Joe” will beckon, and that connects me to Mike (Fiorina again), Unintim- I hear that you leave the set with a Huckabee, Chris Christie spoils idated (Scott Walker), commemorative mug. and Jeb Bush, whose Pa- leo regimen has worked aplenty American Dreams (Ru- I could even come out of this with bio), American Patriots my own show, provided that I’m not slimming wonders. For- on the (Rick Santorum), Lead- picky about the network, hour, for- get his position on im- and Crisis (Bob- mat or guests. And with the right migration and check out path to ership by Jindal) or Unbroken kind of stump speech and pandering, those new cheekbones! wrong genre). Memo to self: Out with I could emerge as a deity to one mi- defeat. (oops, My memoir, Born cro-constituency or another and have the rigatoni, in with the Round, doesn’t belong. a guaranteed place at podiums forev- rib-eye. But perhaps I can reissue ermore. My legs aren’t as stur- dy as Rand Paul’s. The only way I’d it as The Hunger for Greatness or If I don’t make the cut for the PDQDJH D PDUDWKRQ ¿OLEXVWHU LV LI Fire in the Belly, if the latter doesn’t Fox News debate in August, I’ll just the Senate allowed a Barcalounger sound too much like I just ate bad watch it in a nearby pub with Pataki and microwave popcorn. But I don’t Thai. and Graham. Fun! We’ll do shots of Clearly I need a super PAC and Wild Turkey whenever Walker men- share his unsettling habit of berating female journalists. I just beg the ones D EHQHIDFWRU ZLOOLQJ WR ÀRDW PH , tions unions, Huckabee invokes God don’t know, $10 million? Possibly or Ted Cruz praises Ted Cruz. I know to retweet me. And I have cool eyeglasses that $15 million? Do I hear $20 million? On second thought, maybe we’ll I’ll go to the highest bidder, and if stick to seltzer. make me look a whole lot smarter WKDQ,UHDOO\DP,¶OO¿WULJKWLQZLWK LW¶VIRUDVXI¿FLHQWO\KDQGVRPHVXP I haven’t mentioned a platform. I could last until the Florida primary What’s the point? Christie was for Rick Perry. Like Marco Rubio, I have an in- and charge a Coconut Grove hotel the Common Core before he was spiring immigrant story. My fore- suite and dinner in South Beach to against it. The Walker who ran for bears arrived penniless on these the campaign. re-election in the Wisconsin gover- I used to think that faintness on nor’s race and the one wooing Io- shores. Unfortunately, their country of voters’ radar was an impediment to wans are second cousins at best. origin was Italy, which people no running. Hardly. In a recent Quinnip- Every candidate turns to mush. longer associate with struggle. They iac poll, 69 percent of respondents So I, in a blow for integrity, will start associate it with Prada and prosciut- said that they didn’t know enough out that way. By FRANK BRUNI New York Times News Service I