OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MAY 2, 2016
Working-class fraud
Founded in 1873
cial lives broken by First
this country,” he said with
Data — in Hagerstown, in
a shrug, when asked about
Maitland, Florida, in Den-
it on CNN.
Well then, how about
e descended from the sky ver and on Long Island
—
was
a
buyout
by
a
pri-
the
maids, bartenders and
last Sunday in a helicop-
vate equity irm, Kohlberg
food servers at his ive-
ter that could have come from Kravis Roberts, designed
star hotel in Las Vegas?
heaven, landing outside a hangar to enrich a few. It hasn’t
They’ve been protesting in
front of his gilded mono-
in Hagerstown, Maryland. He gone so well. “Drowning
in
debt,”
as
The
Wall
Street
lith because he will not
would talk for little more than an Journal reported, First
allow them to join a union,
Timothy
hour, mostly about himself, how Data has been slashing
which could raise their pay
Egan
he is “a smart guy” and “I look workers to hit a stock tar-
an additional $3 an hour.
really good” and “I equal love.” get price after going public last year. China and Mexico are not a problem
Trump never mentioned any of there. Other hotels in Vegas pay union
To chants of “build the wall!” he
that. It’s too complicated, and nasty. wages. Las Vegas is one of the few
said he would “talk about jobs for a The villains don’t match his narrative. success stories for low-skilled people
second, then we’re getting the hell And his prescriptions for winning — looking to ride an escalator to a bet-
out of here.” He made good on both a trade war with China, a wall costing ter life. But Trump, the working class
promises. He closed with a vow that upward of $30 billion on the Mexi- zero, is sticking it to them.
Trump’s solution to the woes of
no more jobs would leave Maryland, can border — would do nothing to
bring those jobs back to Hagerstown. working families is to slap a 45 per-
and then Donald J. Trump disap- Nothing.
cent tariff on goods coming from
peared back into the
So it goes for China. The Chinese would retaliate,
sky.
Trump, a traitor to the of course, meaning American compa-
‘So it
As he spoke, jobs
class he professes to nies that sell aircraft, medical equip-
were leaving Maryland.
speak for. He “loves the ment and vehicles to China — part
goes for
Credit card proces-
undereducated.” He’s a of the $116 billion in exports there
sors, which had found
working-class hero to last year — would have to cut jobs to
Trump,
a home in a place where
the angry white masses make up for losses.
a traitor
people used to make
who lock to his rallies.
In Pittsburgh he promised to bring
pipe organs and leather
Of all the parts Trump steel mills back. What’s left of the
to the
car seats, were “consol-
has been playing, this American steel industry has found
idating,” as they put it.
one is the phoniest.
a home in the low-wage South. But
class he
The biggest company,
With Trump, you even China is losing $10 billion a
First Data Corp., had professes
can be sure of one thing: year on its struggling steel indus-
let people go at their
He will betray those try. Manufacturing jobs are in global
to speak people. We know this decline, as robots replace people.
big ofice at the edge of
Hagerstown.
because he already has. “When I’m president,” said Trump,
for.’
But these jobs were
Wage stagnation is the waving his hand as if holding a magic
not going to Mexico.
most glaring symptom wand, “steel is coming back to Pitts-
And they were not leaving because of a declining middle class. Trump’s burgh!” No sane economist, or even
dirt-cheap operations in China could solution? He believes that “wages are steel industry shill, believes this.
track credit cards any better than too high.”
“We can’t be fooled,” said Richard
the people of Hagerstown. They left
Jaws dropped when he irst said Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, at
because the company wanted “to this at a November debate. Then he its annual convention in Philadelphia
upgrade the talent and skill sets avail- said it again, in a morning show.
this month. “Trump isn’t interested in
able to us,” as it said in a news release.
Would he support raising the solving the problems he yells about and
Where would that be? Possibly some- pathetic federal minimum wage, from swears about. He delivers punch lines.”
where in the New York metro area, the current $7.25 an hour? No. Higher
Yet they are being fooled. Meet the
the company announced in another of wages make it hard for the United new boss, worse than the old boss. He
its disruptive moves. Essentially, the States to compete. This he knows fooled the folks in Maryland, a state
jobs were following Trump to New from personal experience, outsourc- he’s unlikely to see again in the gen-
York. Others were disappearing. No ing his signature products to low- eral election. “You’re gonna remem-
wall could prevent that.
wage Chinese shops. “It’s very hard ber this day,” he said, just before
The root cause of all the inan- to have anything in apparel made in being lifted out of Hagerstown.
By TIMOTHY EGAN
New York Times News Service
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
EO Media Group/File Photo
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers carry a captured Columbian
white-tailed deer netted near Skamokawa in 2013. Some deer were
moved to Ridgefield in an effort to make sure the species survives.
Some species protection
may become impossible
Transplantation and strategic
triage will become the norm
H
ur region boasts outstanding examples of once-endangered
species that now prosper — bald eagles are perhaps the
most obvious. Once teetering on extinction, they now are easy
to see every day around the Columbia River estuary. Ongoing
struggles of other species, however, give cause to wonder
whether endangered wildlife strategies need a big rethink.
One such story concerns make them especially vulnera-
Columbian
white-tailed ble to inbreeding, diseases and
deer, an elegant and sympa- natural disasters. These are the
thy-arousing little species that very same issues that led to the
dwindled to about 300 by 1967. deer being listed as endangered Blindsided
Furthermore, I have had several of Experts predict Columbia chinook
t’s not every day one is unfairly, pub- her clients give me rave reviews of the extinction by 2018. Commercial ish-
Since then, intense efforts have 49 years ago.
licly slandered by self-appointed level of service, energy and intellect ing will likely fall into major decline.
probably succeeded in ensur-
It may be that the deer live in value experts (“City to hold hear- that she brings to the job. I think anyone
Regarding eco-tourism, our endan-
ing the survival of the species. brushy backwaters of the estu- ing on property sale,” The Daily Asto- who considers the broad range of attri- gered Southern Resident Orca pop-
April 19). It created a moment of butes Dawn possesses will agree with ulation relies primarily on Colum-
This is mostly because deer ary not because they prefer to, rian,
self-relection on working nine years me. Hopefully, the voters will give this bia basin chinook for food. Since their
have been successfully nur- but because that is all the habi- for the Clatsop County Assessors serious thought before casting their bal- Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing
in 2005, over 40 individuals have died
tured in southwest Oregon’s tat left to them after decades of Ofice, and 32-years as an indepen- lots for this ofice.
dent fee appraiser in Clatsop County,
Once again, I support and will vote due to conditions they may have sur-
Douglas County, where they intense land conversion efforts responsible for valuing over $115 mil- for Dawn Mclntosh.
vived had there been an adequate sup-
RICK NEWTON ply of salmon. Their extinction would
number more than 6,000.
by white settlers. These areas lion of residential property last year, and
career total of over $2 billion in valu-
Warrenton city commissioner equal nearly $34 million in lost annual
Meanwhile, several pock- are likely to become even less a ations,
resulting in a corresponding dol-
revenue.
Furthermore, we are in a power sur-
ets of deer on Columbia River tenable deer habitat as the sea lar amount of local mortgages, estates, Judicial character
and
marketed
properties.
I
am
proud
of
plus,
wherein removing the four lower
islands — including Oregon level rises, the climate luctu- the work I’ve done for the community.
have been chief deputy district attor- dams would not cause power dei-
islands east of Tongue Point ates and additional millions of
The situation presents a teachable
ney here in Clatsop County since cits. However, their continued upkeep
moment,
to
inform
the
public
about
real
January
2004. I have been a prosecu- wastes taxpayer money, as the return is
— and adjoining loodplains people move to the Northwest.
estate appraisals. Appraisals are objec- tor for 29 years, and an attorney for 37 only 15 cents on every dollar spent. So,
totaled nearly 1,000 last year.
White-tailed deer are far from tive, unbiased opinions of real property years. I have been Dave Goldthorpe’s are we willing to suffer the economic
and environmental repercussions that
Though better positioned to the only regional species in these value based on a description of the sub- supervisor for the past six years.
ject
property
and
a
supportable
analysis
In
fact,
I
hired
Dave
over
the
phone
come with doing nothing?
survive disaster, a tripling straits. From snowy plovers to of the most comparable sales.
because I was so impressed with his
Call Obama at 202-456-1111 and
of deer numbers here on the pocket gophers, dozens of spe-
While a value amount can easily be good attitude and family and work encourage executive action to breach
Columbia is not very impres- cies — including iconic salmon criticized by homeowners, borrowers, ethic. I have not been disappointed the dams immediately. Save our endan-
loan reps, realtors, engineers or other since. Dave is very conscientious gered species, save our tax dollars, and
sive or reassuring after nearly — hang on, thanks only to con- unintended users, I know profession- about his work and he handles every- save our economy.
ally the set of comparables I’ve selected thing from major felonies to drug cases
ARIEL YSETH
half a century of intense spend- stant human aid.
and analyzed yielded a report which is to sex abuse cases, and is a member of
Lynnwood, Washington
ing, community disruption,
The white-tailed deer story not matched or exceeded by others who the Clatsop County Multi-Disciplinary
predator control and so on.
demonstrates a worrisome choose biased or limited information. Team, which deals with the county’s Collective thanks
An April report by the truth, that it may cease to be And, Real Market Values (RMVs) from issues of child abuse and neglect.
the assessor, list prices, or Zillow “Zest-
Dave is very easy to supervise
ongratulations and thank you
Washington Department of possible to preserve a particu- imates” are usually just slanted, unsup- because he has a great work ethic. He
to Columbia Paciic Common
never complains, and always has a pos- Sense and Columbia Riverkeeper for
Fish and Wildlife concluded lar species in every region they ported numbers.
So, I take the opportunity to assure itive attitude. He has tried a lot of jury their work in opposing the liqueied
most Columbia River subpopu- once occupied. As this trou- Clatsop
County, and especially the res- trials of all types, and is a veteran in the natural gas (LNG) push to build a $6
lations of the deer still aren’t at a bled century moves forward, idents of the city of Astoria, that I was courtroom. He has the respect of the billion terminal and pipeline on the
self-sustaining level — though transplantation to new habitat never aware of, participated in, or had police, the private bar and the judiciary. Skipanon Peninsula.
any involvement in a conspiracy of the I have never had a single complaint
We, who have not been actively
they aren’t actually sure what and strategic triage decisions “Astoria Order of the Well-Connected.” about either Dave’s personal or profes- involved, have no idea of the time,
The staff of the city of Astoria has sional conduct or decision-making.
physical and emotional energy and
that level is. Such low numbers will, sadly, become the norm.
O
Open forum
I
I
C
FYI:
Clippings from the press of the
Paciic Northwest and the nation
ESPN’s talent dynasty
is walking out the door
If ESPN were one of the teams
ESPN covers, it might describe itself
as an organization “in transition,”
which is a dainty sports cliché that
means the immediate future isn’t as
promising as the recent past.
One reason for pessimism: The
“Worldwide Leader in Sports” has
seen a steady drain of superstar talent
over the past 10 months, an exodus
that is occurring amid deeper struc-
tural changes that are eroding ESPN’s
once-unassailable fortress.
— The New York Post
A German on England’s
European Union question
In any case, leaving the European
Union is not in the end an option for
Germany in the way it is for the UK.
Germany is simply too central to the
EU, which, after all, was created in
part as a solution to the vexed “Ger-
man question”. The EU could survive
a British withdrawal, but not a German
one.
— Hans Kundnani in The Observer
always engaged appraisal services from
me in a completely open, transparent
and professional manner. I never accept
assignments where I feel there are con-
ditions which are not completely honest
to all parties involved, including lands
owned by the public.
I was totally blindsided on April
20 to read that the appraisals of three
unique, limited-use properties in Asto-
ria, with dificult access, challenging
topographies, and restricted potential
ownerships were somehow diabolically
connected to the “AOWC.”
STEVEN WEED
Gearhart
Voting for Dawn
ust a note to let people know that
not all of the Warrenton City Coun-
cil agrees with the mayor’s endorse-
ment of David Goldthorpe. After giv-
ing thought to the amount and types of
experience listed in the array of articles
that have appeared in The Daily Asto-
rian, I endorse and will vote for Dawn
Mclntosh.
J
Above all, Dave has far better judi-
cial temperament than his opponents.
Dave remains calm under ire and
never reacts angrily. He is always fair
and compassionate with victims.
Dave Golthorpe will make a great
judge. You can count on it.
RON BROWN
Astoria
money that the activists, farmers,
ishermen and estuary residents have
put forth on this for the last several
years. There are hundreds of us who
thank you.
KATHY WEIGEL
Seaside
Dam concerns
I
apitalism frequently grapples with
saving money over saving nature,
but what if one choice could be iscally
and environmentally responsible?
Our region faces such a solution.
The Snake River, which conluences
into the Columbia, boasts 15 dams pro-
viding largely hydroelectric uses. The
four lower Snake River dams, how-
ever, prevent endangered chinook
salmon from reaching critical spawn-
ing grounds.
High temperatures the last two
years have obliterated lower river basin
spawning habitat and, thus, chinook
returns have hit unprecedented lows.
C
Woltjer for judge
am voting for Ron Woltjer for Judge
of the Circuit Court, 18th District,
Position 2. I have known Judge Woltjer
from my years in the Astoria Regional
911 Center, collaborating on audio evi-
dence while he was senior deputy dis-
trict attorney and through his years as
judge for several municipalities in Clat-
sop County.
I suggest all voters review the vot-
er’s pamphlet, because it provides
important details. I think his back-
ground, experience and temperament
will shape his performance as an excel-
lent Circuit Court judge. I recommend
you vote for Ron Woltjer.
DICK LANG
Astoria