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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016 GUEST COLUMN Founded in 1873 Way to Wellville looks back on Year 1 By SUSAN CODY :D\ WR :HOOYLOOH 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 Don’t blow it TKH 3RUW¶V ¿QDQFLDO LPSURYHPHQW PXVW QRW EH VTXDQGHUHG he legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne was renowned for his halftime locker room pep talks. In one of those, Rockne says: “And when you get ’em on the run, keep ’em on the run.” T That is good advice for the Port of Astoria. After years of bad financial reports, this year’s audit is worth pause and praise. Edward Stratton’s Wednesday story describes auditor James Lanzarotta’s ap- pearance at this week’s com- mission meeting. In a nutshell, the Port’s ¿- nancial condition is $1 million better than at this point in the prior ¿scal year. The Port has improved its ¿nancial position in three of the past ¿ve ¿scal years. And, as Lanzarotta not- ed, it is worth remembering that ¿ve years ago the Port had in- suf¿cient cash to last 1 days. It is also important to remem- ber that it took Port Executive Director Jim Knight more than a year of ¿nancial digging to get the Port’s books to a number that was reliable. The Port and its commission were such a basketcase that civic leaders explored ways to change its governance. There is no substitute for sound management, and that is what the Port has for the ¿rst time in a decade. Knight brings a broad perspective to the Port, and he has withstood the some- times bafÀing and demoraliz- ing arguments within the Port Commission. Large challenges remain. The commission made a disastrous choice in a management con- tract for the former Red Lion Inn property. Instead of choos- ing experienced professionals, they chose a relative amateur with dubious ethics, and they have bled dollars for that mis- take. As the commission takes the next step in developing a long- term plan for the hotel footprint, it must not let cronyism get in the way of smart management. To paraphrase Rockne, the Port’s positive momentum must not be squandered. ay to Wellville recently completed the ¿rst year of the ¿ve-year initiative to get Clatsop County and four other selected communities around the nation healthier. W “We are in a good place after the ¿rst year,” said Nicole Williams, vice chairwoman of the Way to Wellville Strategic Council. The main focus for Clat- sop County is early childhood education, she points out, and there is a plan in place to exe- cute it. “I think the biggest ac- Susan complishment Cody in 21 for all Wellville Five communities, and in Clatsop County particularly, is form- ing a cohesive leadership team,” says Rick Brush, CEO of HICCup (Health Initiative Coordinating Council), the organization that launched Way to Wellville. Brush and Marya Stark, chief investment of¿cer, recently vis- ited Clatsop County to meet with the Way to Wellville Strategic Council. “The council has a broad represen- tation, with ongoing rhythm setting priorities and is making progress,” Brush said. “It is a leadership group that represents the community.” “We have the same voice in the community,” added Williams. “I’m most excited about the fact that our strategic council represents all different interests. We have come to- gether to recognize that prekindergar- ten education is a great area of focus. We have come to recognize that this priority is part of all our initiatives. “Our partnership with HICCup has expanded our knowledge of re- sources outside our community and state.” E trawlers routinely nudged close to, or even within, our 12-mile territorial limits. Basic human behavior, lack of laws and enforcement, poorly designed rules and other factors are all contributing to far more ¿sh mortality than is of¿cially recognized, UBC researchers say in their new study. They believe the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization does a decent job of counting catches from large- scale industrial ¿sheries, but that it drastically undercounts the quantity of ¿sh caught by small- scale commercial ¿sheries and subsistence ¿sheries. Discarded bycatch and illegal ¿shing also are undercounted. This undercount, the research- ers say, totals more than . bil- lion pounds a year, more than the weight of the entire human pop- ulation of the U.S. They also say that a reported worldwide decline in ¿sh caught since the 199s has been much larger than previously believed. “This isn’t because the world is doing less ¿shing, it’s because over exploitation means there are simply less ¿sh being caught,” according to a story by the BBC. It is time for all nations of the world to arrive at the same con- clusions Columbia River and U.S. West Coast ¿shermen did decades ago: Long-term survival requires enforceable rules, coop- eration among ¿shermen, timely information about stocks, and a commitment to common-sense conservation that ensures deli- cious ¿sh for consumers and jobs for future generations of ¿shing families. Pam Ackley, Windermere, real estate broker and Warrenton city commis- sioner Steven Blakesley, Clatsop County Public Health health promotion specialist Stacey Brown, Seaside Police Department communications manager Dan Gaffney, Clatsop P3 coordinator and Clatsop Early Childhood Clinic director Jeff Hazen, Sunset Empire Transportation executive director Chris Holen, Baked Alaska chef/owner Nancy Knopf, Columbia Pacific CCO community health partnership manag- er Paulette McCoy, Providence Seaside Hospital public affairs manager Debbie Morrow, Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization and War- renton School Board member Greg Peterson, Clatsop Community Bank vice president Jill Quackenbush, Clatsop County Juvenile Department prevention coordi- nator Jeanette Schacher , Lower Columbia Hospice and Columbia Memorial Hospital home health manager Kristin Tschannen, Seaside Yoga owner Nicole Williams, Clatsop Care Health District chief executive officer The main focus for Clatsop County is early childhood education. Launching initiatives Clatsop County Way to Wellville is rolling out Rx: 4 Play, a program in which doctors will prescribe physical activity to their patients who are obese, diabetic or simply could bene¿t from more activity. The prescription will come with a voucher for free parking at national and state parks and another voucher for Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District or Astoria Parks and Recreation. The program was funded by a $1, grant from Providence Health & Services. The national parks are also planning a prescription pro- gram for free annual passes. “We want people to take advantage of the wonderful natural areas and facil- ities we have here in Clatsop County,” said Sydney Van Dusen, coordinator for Clatsop County’s Way to Wellville. Looking forward “In 21, the challenge will be to form clear goals and metrics, establish baselines for initiatives, then identify speci¿c outcomes Way to Wellville hopes to reach by the end of the chal- lenge in 219,” Brush said. HICCup now has ¿ve employees who will act as “navigators” for each of the Wellville Five communities. Marya Stark is the navigator for Clatsop Coun- ty. She says her expertise is in structuring ¿nancial deals, organizing communities, and “connecting the dots and making connections so initiatives are investment ready.” “We all see the big picture,” Wil- liams said of the strategic council mem- bers. “Even if education is not what we represent, we can see that investing in early childhood education has a pos- itive impact on the areas we do repre- sent. Down the line, it will affect jobs, graduation rates and the economy. “I have always seen that the best things are achieved through collabora- tion, and that’s what Way to Wellville is all about. We can leverage partnerships for a healthier community with help from outside sources.” SXVDQ &RG\ LV WKH FRPPXQLFDWLRQV OHDG IRU WKH &ODWVRS &RXQW\ :D\ WR :HOO- YLOOH SKH LV DOVR D IRUPHU GHSXW\ PDQDJ- LQJ HGLWRU IRU TKH DDLO\ AVWRULDQ My Sarah Palin romance is over docio rather than solutions, So I defended her. I as- and white identity politics sailed her critics. And then rather than any kind of — well, you know what one-nation conservatism. s a political journalist, you happened then. Palin gave interviews I would like to tell you never forget the ¿rst time — terrible, terrible inter- that this is all the fault of you stop just covering a politician views. She was in over her the Republican leader- and start identifying with her. head. Her own paranoia ship — that had they been more receptive to populist The ¿rst time you wed your took center stage. She be- came her critics’ caricature, ideas in 28 or 212, they high-minded vision of what politics embracing a mix of willful wouldn’t be facing a Trum- Ross should be to a real candidate’s perish- ignorance and proud ressen- pian revolt today. Douthat able breath. timent. What was distinc- That’s roughly the argu- My ¿rst time arrived in 28. It tive about her Alaskan career was ment that David Frum makes in this lasted only a short while. Her name subsumed into a much more conven- month’s AWODQWLF, in a sweeping es- tional sort of movement conservatism, say on the roots of Trumpism. And he was Sarah Palin. Let me explain. That spring, in which she picked up from the profes- makes a strong case. A large part of the between the Republican primary and sional ideologues who rallied to her Republican donor class would rather the fall campaign, my friend Reihan during her trial by ¿re. And eventually lose with “you didn’t build that!” than Salam and I had published a book the movement tired of her, the culture compromise on upper-bracket tax cuts. called *UDQG NHZ 3DUW\ HRZ RHSXE- tired of her, and her act ceased to be It would rather try to win Hispanics OLFDQV &DQ :LQ WKH :RUNLQJ &ODVV DQG interesting even as reality TV. with immigration reform a hundred But now that she has re-emerged times over than try to win them once SDYH WKH APHULFDQ DUHDP. As the title suggests, we were to endorse Donald Trump, uniting her on pocketbook issues. It prefers to calling for the GOP to change but brand with his “Make America Great campaign as though it’s always 198 not to moderate in the way that a lot Again” nationalism, it’s worth revisit- and has little to say to people who have of centrist pundits favored, returning ing the original Palin, the outsider who lost out from globalization and socio- to a Rockefeller-Republican model took on a corrupt Alaskan establish- economic change. of ¿scally prudent social liberalism. ment. A critique that stops with GOP A lot of conservatives, elites, though, might let the voting Rather, we thought the par- especially in Ted Cruz’s public off the hook. Because it’s also ty’s opportunity (and the Palin’s orbit, have acted shocked possible that Trumpism, in all its country’s) lay in a kind of or disappointed that Pal- boastful, lord-of-misrule meretricious- socially conservative pop- own in would endorse a ¿gure ness, is what many struggling Ameri- ulism, which would link the family-values language paranoia like Trump, who has no cans actually want. plausible claim to be a of the religious right to an That is, at a certain point disillu- principled conservative. economic agenda more sionment with the system becomes took But given Palin’s Alas- so strong that no wonkish policy pro- favorable to the working center kan past, the endorsement posal is likely to resonate anymore. So class than what the Repub- perfect sense. Her you can talk all you want (as Marco licans usually had offered. stage. makes real roots are not in Rea- Rubio’s water-treading campaign has Unfortunately this mes- ganism or libertarianism tried to do) about improving voca- sage conspicuously lacked a tribune in 28. Mike Huckabee or the orthodoxies of the donor class. tional education or increasing the Àirted with populism in the primary They’re in the same kind of blue-col- child-tax credit, and people will tune but never Àeshed out an agenda, and lar, Jacksonian, “who’s looking out you out: They want someone who will the eventual nominee, John McCain, for you?” populism that has carried arm-wrestle the Chinese, make Mexi- was an “honor and country” candidate Trump to the top of the Republican co pay for the wall, smite our enemies who didn’t care much about economic polls. And it’s a populism that the GOP and generally stand in solidarity with is discovering has a lot more appeal to their resentments, regardless of the policy. But in Alaska, there was a young, many of its voters than the litmus tests policy results. rising-star governor. She was pro-life, of the of¿cial right. Since this is a recipe for Ameri- Which means that, in a certain way, can-style Putinism, it’s not exactly a evangelical, a working mom. And her record way up north was reformist in Trump and Palin together on a stage is good sign for the republic that it seems a distinctly nonideological way: She the closest American politics has come to be resonating. But those of us who was best known for ¿ghting a corrupt to offering the populist grand new par- want a better, saner and more decent nexus of politicians and the oil-and- ty that Salam and I called for two pres- populism than what Trump is selling gas industry, tackling crony capitalism idential campaigns ago. need to reckon with the implications Except that it isn’t what we called of his indubitable appeal. on behalf of ordinary Alaskans. And then, shockingly, McCain for, because we wanted a populism Maybe — hopefully — there’s with substance — one that actually of- a bridge from Trumpism to a more picked her as his running mate. At which point the chattering class- fered policy solutions to stagnant wag- responsible alternative, as there was es went temporarily insane. Or maybe I es and rising health care costs, one that between Huey Long and FDR or from went insane. Who can say? But either could help Republicans reach out to George Wallace to Richard Nixon. way it seemed like everything I hated, upwardly mobile blacks and Hispanics But it’s also possible that my fellow a mix of sneering social liberalism, fe- as well as whites, and so on down an eggheads and I are grasping at a dream cundophobia, anti-evangelical paranoia optimistic wish list. that’s already slipped behind us — lost Whereas Trump-era populism, back in the land of might-have-beens, and class contempt, was being hurled at a candidate who seemed to ¿t exactly while it plays very effectively on eco- where the dark ¿elds of Wasilla roll on nomic anxiety, mostly offers bragga- under the night. with the “Grand New Party” mold. By ROSS DOUTHAT NHZ YRUN TLPHV NHZV SHUYLFH World doesn’t realize A we’re in this together ven the most adamant de- fender of Lower Columbia River-based ¿sheries will admit there was rampant over¿shing during all of the 19th century and much of the th. It was a classic case of grabbing as much as you could before some other guy got it. A new study from the University of British Columbia strongly suggests that these wasteful and greedy patterns continue in much of the world. In our neighborhood, rec- ognition that everyone’s liveli- hood was being endangered led to some of the world’s earliest effective conservation mea- sures. More than a century ago, the commercial industry acted in concert with states to declare some days, and even months, closed to ¿shing in order to pre- serve salmon broodstock for fu- ture seasons. These conservation steps weren’t perfect, but most seasons were economically am- ple. It wasn’t until dam construc- tion that salmon runs fell apart. However, rarely if ever in earlier years was much con- sideration given to what hap- pened offshore. It’s clear from records at the time that ¿sheries enforcement was problematic even within the con¿nes of the enormous Columbia estuary. At sea, it literally was the wild west for those ¿shermen willing to brave the Paci¿c. It wasn’t un- til 1982 adoption of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea that the U.S. really began enforcing ¿shing laws out 2 nautical miles. Before then, in the 19s or example, Japanese and Russian ¿shing WAY TO WELLVILLE CLATSOP COUNTY STRATEGIC COUNCIL
