THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
5A
Use the Merwyn
he Astoria Public Library
is situated between Duane
and Exchange streets off 10th
Street. The Merwyn Hotel
is between City Hall and the
library on Duane. The library
shares a wall with the hotel. An
interior door could be installed
in the shared wall between the
library and the hotel.
By remodeling the hotel
into an additional facility for
the library, and installing a
street door off Duane, the Mer-
wyn Hotel could become the
Astoria Public Library Annex.
JEAN H. JOHNSON
Warrenton
T
Vote McIntosh
udge Philip Nelson is retir-
ing in January after 24
years on the Clatsop County
bench. Dawn McIntosh is the
best person to ¿ll his shoes.
Dawn was born and raised
in Banks, and attended Wil-
lamette Law School. She has
been a trial attorney for 24
years, 12 years as a prosecu-
tor for Multnomah and Clat-
sop counties and 12 years in
private practice handling civil
and criminal matters in Clat-
sop County and throughout
Oregon. As a trial attorney
she has earned the respect and
endorsement of judges, attor-
neys and clients. No other can-
didate possesses Dawn’s expe-
rience in the courtroom.
Dawn is well versed in
both criminal and civil law,
she is intelligent, and is a tire-
less worker. She is the most
Tuali¿ed candidate to succeed
Judge Nelson. I enthusiastically
endorse Dawn, and urge every-
one to vote for her when ballots
come out later this month.
BLAIR
HENNINGSGAARD
Astoria
J
Dig safe
pril is 2016 National Safe
Digging Month. Now
that the sun is shining, many
homeowners will be digging
into do-it-yourself projects.
Whether planning to install a
fence, mailbox or plant a gar-
den, NW Natural reminds you
to call 811 before you dig.
Calling 811 two business
days before starting a project
to locate underground utilities
is not only the safe thing to do,
it’s the law. Unfortunately, the
majority of pipeline damage is
due to a homeowner or contrac-
tor digging without the proper
locates done in advance.
No damage to a pipeline is
too small to report to NW Nat-
ural, even a dent or scratch
could compromise the sys-
tem. If you smell rotten eggs,
see or hear gas escaping, leave
the area immediately and then
call 911 and the NW Natu-
ral 24-hour emergency line at
800-882-3377.
Remember to keep our com-
munities safe and call before
you dig.
TERESA BROWNLIE
NW Natural Community
Affairs
Astoria
A
Vote yes
erhaps someone from The
Daily Astorian should have
talked to craft distillers in Clat-
sop County before declaring
that we oppose the initiative
to allow liquor sales in Oregon
grocery stores (“Liquor initia-
tive has a dirty little secret,”
April 5). I strongly support it,
and so do other craft distillers
here.
The initiative is simple. It
will allow Oregon consum-
ers to buy liquor in grocery
stores that already sell beer
and wine, just like consumers
in most other states. It ends the
post-Prohibition era state distri-
bution monopoly that creates
hurdles for many Oregon craft
distillers, hurdles Oregon craft
brewers and wine makers don’t
face.
The editorial argued that
craft distillers would “lose their
access to a statewide retail net-
work.” In fact, under the cur-
rent system, small distillers
can’t compete on a level play-
ing ¿eld with large manufac-
turers because the state controls
our pricing, distribution and
sales. The initiative will allow
us to set our own prices, and
sell direct to local stores and
restaurants, instead of forcing
all our distribution through the
state warehouse.
The editorial claims there’s
something hidden in the initia-
tive because it doesn’t address
P
MORE TO SAY
Protect programs, forests
t is important for all of us here in
Clatsop County to take into account
the full economic, social and environ-
mental bene¿ts we enjoy from our state
forests when considering joining Linn
County and other Forest Trust Land
counties in their lawsuit against the
state.
Clatsop County, more than any other
Oregon county, relies on funds from sus-
tainable active management on state for-
est lands. Those funds do not only allow
the county to carry out critical mission
components, such as public health and
public safety, they also support valuable
community institutions such as the Port
of Astoria, Clatsop Community Col-
lege, our Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District (SEPRD) and many
more. It is the community that is at the
heart of this issue, as programs like the
I
state liquor revenues. It’s ridic-
ulous to suggest that the legisla-
ture would allow tax-free liquor
if the initiative passes, and give
up more than $200 million a
year that supports state and
local budgets.
The Of¿ce of Legislative
Counsel assured legislators in
February that they have time
in 2017 to determine the best
method for replacing liquor
revenues when the state is out
of the liquor business. What-
ever method they choose, it
will be more transparent and
accountable than today’s sys-
tem, where liquor revenues
are determined by unelected
political appointees instead of
elected lawmakers.
The initiative would help
craft distillers like me. I encour-
age people to join me in sign-
ing the petition and voting yes
in November.
LARRY CARY
Owner and craft distiller,
Pilot House Distilling
Astoria and Seaside
Astoria needs both
egarding the editorial
“Workforce housing may
cause Astoria discomfort”
(The Daily Astorian, April 7):
Weighing work force housing
with performing arts groups
is like comparing apples to
oranges. Astoria needs both for
great livability. There have to
be other solutions for afford-
able housing without demol-
ishing the local performing arts
community.
Even the Portland developer
who made an unsolicited offer
to buy the Clatsop Community
College (CCC) property at 16th
Street and Franklin Avenue
indicated intent to preserve the
Performing Arts Center (PAC)
as a community center, while
incorporating affordable hous-
ing at other locations on the
site.
The CCC Board members
who voted to deny the offer
were sensible in their deci-
sion to protect the PAC, the
college and the community’s
best interests. While the offer-
ing price was not revealed, it
must have been low and proba-
bly didn’t take into account the
Estey organ in the auditorium,
or the magni¿cent stained glass
windows that are sitting under
wraps in the chancel.
Performing arts groups have
not been using the PAC rent
free “for decades,” as the edi-
tor claimed in his comments.
Music, theater and dance
were once part of the curricu-
lum at CCC, and their faculty
was housed in of¿ces at the
PAC. Partners for the PAC pay
$1,819 monthly for the use of
the building, while the college
controls scheduling.
The PAC is no differ-
ent than a historical home in
Astoria built in the 1920’s
and needing maintenance. Big
projects do not need to be done
all at once, but can be priori-
tized. Partners for the PAC
and the preservation classes
at CCC have already started
on the windows. Once the fate
of the PAC is stable, perhaps
other community groups will
rally to support and update it.
Local nonpro¿t perform-
ing groups are not “hogs at the
trough” as portrayed in a recent
editorial. They have been doing
the college and the community
a service by providing mem-
bers performance opportunities
and audiences affordable local
cultural events.
Not everyone can afford to
travel to Seattle for the opera or
Ashland for Shakespeare the-
ater or San Francisco for the
R
recreation district’s have lost an untold
amount in potential funds, due to man-
agement decisions made by the Board of
Forestry.
SEPRD has been serving the commu-
nity since 1969. It has always been our
goal to meet the needs of an ever-chang-
ing demand for quality aquatic, recre-
ational, youth and senior oriented ser-
vices and programming and we are
proud of the role we play in keeping
our community’s kids safe, our resi-
dents healthy and our seniors engaged
and active.
From the beginning, securing ade-
quate funding to cover our program
and facility/equipment needs has been a
challenge. We do not live in a wealthy
community and cannot get by on usage
fees alone. The funds we receive from
state lands are, therefore, incredibly
valuable. Any increase in the amount
and stability of those funds would be
a huge win for community organiza-
tions like ours and would allow us to
meet the needs of the people of Clatsop
County without having to raise fees and/
or taxes.
Sustainable forest management that
will shape our county can, and should,
go with sensible conservation measures
that preserve our forests. Protect the for-
ests, but also protect the social/commu-
nity institutions upon which we all rely.
Directing the state to ful¿ll its obliga-
tion to manage state lands for the great-
est value for counties like ours is the
right step.
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
Executive director, Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District
Seaside
Forestry has not upheld their
¿duciary responsibilities to
the trust counties.
A major reason for this is
that the term “greatest per-
manent value” was changed.
“Value” originally meant
income to the counties. It
was rede¿ned in the 1990s
to include recreation, habi-
tat, etc., which have resulted
in millions of dollars in lost
revenues to these almost
exclusively rural county gov-
ernments, schools, ¿re depart-
ments, and other taxing dis-
tricts. It is obvious to me that
we can have all these bene-
¿ts and harvest public timber
at increased and sustainable
rates.
I was a member of the
Lower Columbia Salmon
Recovery Team in the early
2000s, and was not surprised
to learn that Big Creek in
Northeast Clatsop County
was selected as a “sanctu-
ary stream” for wild salmon
and steelhead stocks. This
selection was made, in large
part, because of the excellent
aquatic habitat available in
Big Creek and its tributaries.
The Big Creek watershed
is almost entirely privately
owned, intensively managed
commercial timberland. The
ballet. Local performing arts
group whose members include
your family, friends and col-
leagues offer quality affordable
cultural opportunities here in
Astoria.
It’s not an either-or situa-
tion. Astoria needs affordable
housing and the community
bene¿ts from a performing arts
center and healthy performing
arts groups. They can coexist
and both offer something that
makes Astoria a better place
for all. We should be looking
for solutions that bene¿t both
interest groups and not calling
for demolition of the existing
community performance center
and debasing local performing
groups that are trying to sus-
tain it.
JANET BOWLER
Astoria
Not the answer
feel compelled to respond
to Roger Dorband’s let-
ter (“Disastrous lawsuit,”
The Daily Astorian, April 1).
While I’m not sure a lawsuit
is the best way to resolve the
issues raised by some of the
Oregon Forest Trust counties,
it is a fact that since the 2001
Forest Manage Plan (FMP),
the Oregon Department of
I
area also holds healthy pop-
ulations of big game species
and non-game animals and
birds. While providing habitat
for these creatures, along with
recreational opportunities for
the citizens of the Northwest,
this forest has provided a
large portion of the raw mate-
rials for local sawmills, which
provide high paying jobs at
mills and hundreds of jobs.
It is indeed unfortunate
that the federal government
has chosen to withhold funds
from Oregon. I feel this was
a political decision, not one
based on any science. Many
entities, including the federal
government, want to force the
state to adopt untested pre-
scriptive regulations rather
than sound, science based pol-
icies to “protect” that which is
already protected by Oregon’s
Forest Practices Act.
Yes, recent clearcuts
are unsightly to some, but
if one wanted to observe a
truly “massive” clearcut,
one needed to be in Clat-
sop County in the 1920s and
1930s, when virtually all for-
est land was clearcut. Almost
all timber in the county is sec-
ond or third growth.
Regarding the “crowded
tree” statement: Yes, the FPA
Turn to Page 8A for
more letters from and
about the region.
requires two trees or snags
over a certain size be left for
each acre harvested. With
an average clearcut size of
around 70 acres, 140 trees
are left, in addition to any left
for stream or wetland buffers,
I don’t think squirrel over-
crowding is an issue.
BUD HENDERSON
Knappa
Doesn’t serve
ive or 10 years ago, I
would have been an
enthusiastic supporter of a
measure to privatize liquor
sales in Oregon. When trav-
eling to states like Califor-
nia, it seemed that the selec-
tion of spirits was much better
than here, and the prices much
lower.
Since then, however, the
Oregon Liquor Control Com-
mission (OLCC) has signi¿-
cantly increased available
brands and bottlings, and pro-
vided opportunities to spe-
cial order items not ordi-
narily stocked. Prices have
stayed competitive, particu-
larly because no sales tax is
added on.
The privatization initiative
in Washington state has been
a great lesson in how not to
increase selection and reduce
prices for the consumer. After
it went into effect, Washing-
ton buyers swamped Oregon’s
liquor stores near the borders
because prices and selection
had degraded so much.
The revenue currently gen-
erated by OLCC sales is con-
siderable, and without it the
state will necessarily look
elsewhere or deliver a major
hit to state and local services.
The big grocery chains and
big box stores will be the ones
getting all that revenue, and
customer selection will suf-
fer considerably. This mea-
sure does not serve Orego-
nians at all.
JEFF FRANE
Portland
F
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