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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015 FRIDAY EXCHANGE Keep beach bill safe A fter reading Louis Sar- gent’s letter “Beach love” (The Daily Astorian, Oct. 23), I wondered why Sargent was puzzled by Matt Love’s un- relenting paeans to Oregon’s “historic Beach Bill,” which created Oregon’s public beach access. Love’s constant con- cern for keeping Oregon’s coast an open road should be encouraged, not criticized, be- cause without people like Love, Oregon’s Beach Bill would not exist “in perpetuity,” as it is now written. Sargent’s ramble about the use of the public beaches in oth- er states, walking more miles than Love, and being twice his age, is irrelevant. What Sargent omits is the fact that if you look up beach access laws in any of the states he mentioned, you ZLOO¿QGWKDWWKHVHVWDWHVKDYH major problems when it comes to private versus public access. This is why Love continues to cry out for us to protect Ore- gon’s beaches, and to help him in celebrating the 50th anniver- sary of Oregon’s historic Beach Bill on July 6, 2017. Perhaps Sargent doesn’t know that Love’s 2009 hard- back compilation of the best of Oregon writing, “Citadel of the Spirit: Oregon’s Sesquicenten- nial Anthology” also contains a '9'RI7RP2OVHQ¶V¿OPGRF- umentary “Politics of Sand.” If Sargent were to see Love’s participation in that documentary, and listen to his passionate and perceptive commentary concerning the political process that resulted in Oregon’s Beach Bill, then I’m sure Sargent would not ask, as he has in his letter, “Why doth Love protest so much?” But if an answer is needed, Matt Love might quote Abra- ham Lincoln and say, “When- HYHUWKHUHLVDFRQÀLFWEHWZHHQ human rights and property rights, human rights must pre- vail.” In terms of Oregon’s statewide open-road free access beaches, that cannot be said enough. REX AMOS Cannon Beach Vote yes for school A very important vote is com- ing up in the next couple of weeks and in fact, for most Time to call Gov. Brown about LNG H ow many meetings have you attend- ed that start with, “We are here to lis- ten to your input”? Oh come on now, it’s OK, and won’t be cheating if you count the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- sion (FERC) in your total. Clearly, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown wants to hear your opinion, because there is a phone number, 503-378-4582, and a real staff person to record your comments. You are probably thinking, “What am I going to call the governor about?” Glad you asked. How about the fact that 68 percent (no that’s not a typo, it really was nearly 7 out of 10) of Clatsop County voters said no, they did not want a OLTXH¿HGQDWXUDOJDV/1*SLSHOLQHLQWKH jaw droppingly beautiful Lower Colum- bia area we call our home. Period. And that wasn’t just Warrenton and Astoria voters, it was the whole county. Now comes Oregon LNG, who wants to build an LNG terminal on the Skipanon peninsula that is so big, it will cost enough of us, it is the only item on the ballot. Ballot Measure 4-177 is a renewal of the retiring operat- ing levy for the Seaside School District that is absolutely es- sential to the district’s ability to continue providing a quality education for our children. As the parent of three chil- dren who have attended Sea- side schools, and now graduat- ed from the high school, I have been continually impressed with the depth of knowledge and the level of education our kids are receiving, even after the storm of budget cuts the district has already had to face. I cannot imagine what will hap- pen to our educational system if we fail to renew this commit- ment. As the husband of a Seaside educator, I understand the chal- lenges our teachers face with growing class sizes. In some cases, classes are close to 40 students in size, almost double what they were when I was in school, and they seemed nearly unmanageable back then. By voting yes on this bal- lot measure, you and I will be renewing the local tax option, providing close to $1.3 million per year in operational funding for the district, which is es- sentially equal to 18 licensed teaching staff. It’s also import- What will the Oregon economy look like in 2016? money to wear out your calculator batter- ies, and will release 2.6 billion tons of car- bon monoxide, plus methane gas, annually into the air we breathe. Wow. That sounds important enough to me to be a 2016 cam- paign election issue — cough, cough. So how else would this terminal affect our daily lives? In all likelihood, it would KXUW:DUUHQWRQ¿QDQFLDOO\ZLWKGHFUHDVHG property values and increased insurance rates for homes and businesses in the huge blast zone around the terminal. It would also likely reduce revenue IURP VSRUW DQG FRPPHUFLDO ¿VKLQJ ,W would destroy downtown Astoria with the hundreds and hundreds of trucks trans- porting construction material through downtown, from Tongue Point to the Ski- panon, for four years. In addition, it would put all Lower Co- lumbia residents at serious risk because of the earthquake/tsunami zone location. If a person doesn’t care about that, they should probably check their pulse to see if their ant to remember that this is not increasing taxes or creating a new tax, it is simply a renew- al of the currently retiring tax option. With all of the recent discus- sion around raising minimum wage to help those in pover- ty earn a better living, I think we tend to overlook the single most important way to combat poverty: education. I encourage everyone to join me in voting yes on Ballot Measure 4-177 and renew our support of the Seaside School District. DARREN GOOCH Warrenton heart is still beating. For goodness’ sake, Oregon LNG doesn’t even have land to build on, be- cause the court ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has an easement on that property. Ask Gov. Brown to use her authority, the Coastal Zone Management Act and the Clean Air Act to stop this project. No matter how hard anyone tries, you can- not mitigate a major earthquake/tsunami, global air pollution, the extinction of a salmon run or the will of the people. So whip out those cell phones and call Gov. Brown again and again and again at 503-378-4582 — there is no limit. The EHQH¿WVDUHOLPLWOHVVDQG\RXVKRXOGIHHO much better after you have had your say. Some people even say it’s therapeutic. So come on, folks. This is our democ- racy. Let’s make it work the way it’s sup- posed to. CARL DOMINEY Astoria taining what we already have, DQG DOO ZLOO EHQH¿W IURP LW LQ the end. Renewing this levy is about investing into the fu- ture of this community. We need to grow a community that makes people want to be a part of it and stay and invest in its growth. By voting yes, we will con- tinue to enrich and improve all four of our schools. We will continue to retain quality teach- ers and programs that will grow young smart adults who will contribute to society in a posi- tive way. AMY GOODDING Seaside owners were eager to rent their homes non-stop for high rental fees. Because of the abrupt entrance of nationwide rental agencies like Vacasa, the quiet and charm that once graced Gearhart has been in- terrupted. This situation is not reserved for holidays or week- ends, it exists every day during the summer and into autumn. We have a short term rental next door to our home, where we have been observing one bunch of renters packing up and leaving in the morning and another group showing up in the late afternoon after the cleaners have come and JRQH7UDI¿FKDVLQFUHDVHGGUD- Invest in schools matically on our street, South am writing to thank Kath- Action needed Marion — a narrow, dead end pen letter to the mayor and street with little or no shoul- erine Lacaze for writing a council members of the GHUZKHUHWUDI¿FÀRZLVRIWHQ thoughtfully detailed article on the Seaside school levy (“Vot- city of Gearhart: My husband impeded, as has been the case ers given option to renew local and I have owned a home in with garbage pickup. tax for Seaside school district,” Gearhart for nearly 20 years. Realistically, most rent- When we purchased our home, al agencies don’t know how The Daily Astorian, Oct. 14). (YHU\RQH¶V ¿UVW UHVSRQVH Gearhart was relatively un- many people are staying in any to hearing about any new tax known. Many home owners one rental, let alone how many or renewed tax is generally to rented their homes to friends cars, boats, trailers, or camp- cringe. Lacaze did a great job and relatives, or they used local ers they have brought with of clarifying this levy. I will be UHDOHVWDWH¿UPVWRKDQGOHWKHLU them. voting yes for kids because re- rentals. There has been talk of poll- This system has worked ing Gearhart homeowners. I newal of a tax that I’ve already been paying towards isn’t going well until recently, when na- believe there have been enough to hurt my wallet any more than tional and international real committees, emails, letters, and saving for my children’s future. estate agencies discovered words of complaint by those of We are investing and main- that many Gearhart home- us who have been impacted by I O 5A this sorry state of affairs, which often pits neighbor against neighbor, and has changed the very essence of our commu- nity. Now it is time for action, before next summer, when this situation will surely escalate as more and more homeowners are tempted to take the mon- ey these competitive rental agencies offer for renting their homes. The mayor and city council members need to enact rules and regulations that are enforceable and have teeth, not $10 parking tickets, but ones with conse- quences. Like other commu- nities in our area, they should consider capping the number of short term rental units allowed in Gearhart, limit the number of occupants allowed in a rental unit, and set a minimum num- ber of days a property may be rented. We urge the mayor and city councilors to act quickly so we won’t have another “lost summer.” TERRY AND CATHY GRAFF Gearhart Be fair W e are writing this letter because we disagree with the way the short term rentals in Gearhart has been reported. While I would sus- pect that The Daily Astorian is trying to be unbiased, the re- porter has not interviewed any- one who rents out their home. “Why?” we ask. Chad Sweet mentions that he has received letters of sup- port on both sides of this issue. How many of the letters are in favor of restrictions, and how many are opposed? We don’t know. Isn’t it the reporter’s duty to make sure it is reported? Also, we do agree that the number of short term rentals has increased in the last year or so. Readers should ask, as the reporter did not, how many KDYH EHHQ UHQWHG IRU VD\ ¿YH years or more. I suspect that WKHUHSRUWHUZLOO¿QGWKDWPDQ\ homes have been rented for quite some time. All we ask is that the re- porter do his or her job. Be fair and honest with the reading public. GREG AND NANCY MARSHALL Gearhart TO ATTE N D : F or M em bers: D in n er & L ecture:$25 ea . L ecture on ly: n o ch a rge F or Non -M em bers: D in n er & L ecture: $35 ea . L ecture on ly: $15 ea . Joe Cortright November 5 Joe Cortright is president and principal economist of Impresa Consulting of Portland. He is chair of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors. Also he is director of a new think tank called City Observer, funded by the John S. Knight Foundation. Appetizers w ill be a va ila ble a t 6 p.m . D in n er w ill be served a t 6:30 p.m . T h e spea ker w ill begin a fter th e din n er service is com plete a n d n on - din n er m em bers a n d guests of th e a udien ce ta ke th eir sea ts. F orum to be h eld a t th e CM H Com m un ity Cen ter a t 2021 E xch a n ge St., Astoria . IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR! ⁄ 2 PRICE 1 MONDAYS LIM ITE SEATIN D G RE SE R SENIORS EAT FOR HALF PRICE ALL DAY VE SPACE TO Y D O U R AY ! 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