THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
Urge to educate
I
am a member of the ONE
Campaign, and I write to you
today as President Obama and
other world leaders prepare for
two critical summits in Sep-
tember that will determine the
future of education for millions
of refugee children.
As they do so, I am encour-
aging the president to com-
mit the inancing and policy
changes necessary to ensure
that every refugee child gets
a quality education as soon
as possible. As a irst step this
year, leaders need to deliver
on the promise of the Lon-
don Summit, and ensure qual-
ity education is provided for at
least one million out-of-school
refugee children.
I have two young children,
and I cannot imagine being
forced out of my home, tak-
ing light along with thousands
of other desperate people into
a life of total uncertainty. There
are millions of people living
in camps all across the globe,
seeking asylum and hope, and
children are at the greatest
risk, especially from the long-
term impact of not having any
options for education. Their
future, their families’ futures
and our future are all intrinsi-
cally linked; it is not their prob-
lem, it is our problem.
If the current education
plight is not addressed, one-
third of primary children will
not reach basic literacy rates by
2050, and universally we will
see an entire generation of illit-
erate adults. I am asking your
readers to join ONE and ask
President Obama to make sure
that the U.S. delivers on a plan
to provide one million refugee
children with an education this
school year.
CRAIG ROTTMAN
Portland
Neglect
The new editor of The Daily
Astorian advises us to accept
the coming of Walmart, Sher-
iff Tom Bergin encourages
us to embrace driving on the
beach, the Astoria City Coun-
cil decides we can afford only a
second-rate library, we add pot
shops and breweries faster than
one can keep track, and tourist
trafic alternates between grid-
lock and unchecked speeding.
The complexities behind
these, and other recent devel-
opments, are admittedly real
— there are no villains — but
when taken together, they sug-
gest a neglect of values that
deine a healthy community.
ROBERT ADAMS
Astoria
Beach privilege
I
am a local Astoria resident,
and have been for the last few
years. I am writing to say I am
highly offended at the complete
misrepresentation of beach
goers who decide to legally
drive on the stretch of beach
from the shipwreck to Gearhart
(“Blue highway,” The Daily
Astorian, Aug. 17).
The “wildlife photographer”
who was the main commenta-
tor in the article, in my opinion,
was completely wrong regard-
ing the privilege of driving on
the beach. For starters, I agree
that driving on the beach is not
a right, but a very rare privilege,
especially in this day and age of
excessive rules and regulations.
I regularly spend many days
each week on the beach, usually
spending hours on end every
weekend, enjoying the beauty
that is the Oregon Coast. Every
time, at least one patrol vehi-
cle drives by and waves. I have
not witnessed any erratic driv-
ing, and most certainly have
never witnessed anyone driv-
ing through a lock of birds
(dogs and people walking are
the main culprits in causing the
locks to take off).
As far as the “camping” the
photographer spoke of, yes,
people do set up tents to block
the wind. It’s the beach, and
many people spend hours on
the beach — that doesn’t auto-
matically equal camping. But if
you go on the beach after dark
(which I have done numerous
times), there is no one out there.
Out of all the days and hours
I have spent on that stretch of
beach, I have never witnessed
any erratic behavior, no out of
control people who are driving
in the dunes, or throwing their
trash out the window or running
into locks of birds. Yes, you will
ind a few pieces of litter every
now and then, but that is on any
beach you go to (especially the
ones that are walk only).
Praise for Astoria Regatta
R
ecently I had the privilege to be a part
of the Astoria Regatta celebration,
and that reminded me of all I enjoyed and
experienced while growing up in Astoria.
The celebrations and festivals of the area
are unique.
While the Regatta admirals, dignitar-
ies and event organizers did a phenomenal
job throughout the week, I write to express
how impressed I was with the young
women of the Regatta Court. Aubrey
McMahan, Brenna Borup, Kristen Travers
Driving on the beach is a
very rare privilege that I will
ight to keep. I just had to write,
because I felt that the people
(like myself) who truly respect
the rules and know what a great
privilege it is to be able to drive
on the beach were misrepre-
sented, and virtually unheard
in the article. The majority are
respectful — not out of control,
as the photographer would have
you believe.
JESSICA CHILDRESS
Astoria
Bad edition
R
eading The Daily Asto-
rian Aug. 9 edition, I am
really dismayed. An editorial
about bailing out PERS starts
right off the bat calling the Pub-
lic Employees Retirement Sys-
tem (PERS) pensions outsized
pensions (“Measure 97 bails out
PERS”).
If you really look into it,
PERS pensions are probably
average. A few are a lot. Mine
is less. But here we go again,
with distortion. This kind of dis-
tortion does not help people
unite to ind a solution. A lot of
people get stuck on the word
“outsized.”
Then, also Aug. 9, “The
sore loser uprising.” Well,
when elections are stolen, the
loser (the winner) is supposed
to walk away in an acceptable
manner, being polite and all.
And the people’s vote? Who
cares about that? Do you real-
ize that the writer of this arti-
cle from The New York Times is
saying that democracy doesn’t
matter? Who cares about
democracy? Just be polite and
leave, loser (winner).
And then the article goes on
to say that it would be almost
impossible to rig an elec-
tion in this great country of
ours. Excuse me? It is so easy
with these electronic voting
machines. So if you want to
know how the Democratic Pri-
mary was rigged, search for
“Election Justice USA An Elec-
toral System” on YouTube.
Check out “Massive Elec-
tion Fraud seen in Primaries”
from the news show “Redacted
Tonight,” hosted by Lee Camp,
also on YouTube.
I really like the town of
Astoria. I like the people there,
who seem to care about their
town and our country. This
issue of The Daily Astorian
seems more like a newspaper
written for people who don’t
know too much. It reminds me
of The Oregonian.
So I say poo on The Daily
Astorian’s view of the PERS
problem. I say poo on their
choice of articles to put in
the paper about rigged elec-
tions. Instead, they should
be bringing to light how our
elections are rigged, and what
we can do about it.
DIXIE GAINER
Nehalem
Bad planning
R
ecently a small segment of
Astoria’s entrenched 16th
Street got blacktopped. But-
toned up. Put to bed. Praise the
Ford … albeit it’s only between
the intersections of Duane and
Exchange streets.
Still, I joyfully hosed off
a thick layer of airborne ilth,
which for weeks had set-
tled upon the Heritage Muse-
um’s western porch, plus adja-
cent sidewalks. No more dust to
track indoors.
Suddenly, glancing north
towards the river, my delight
turned dark. A murky puddle
covered the corner of Duane
and 16th. Why? Because at its
low spot, where water’s nat-
urally going to pool, there’s
no sewer opening. Instead,
said grate lies 9 feet uphill. So
over the next hour, my swash
meandered east until Duane
met 17th in front of the Moose
Lodge.
This high level inability to
and Victoria Holcomb are outstanding rep-
resentatives of their schools and the com-
munity. They displayed their knowledge
of the area and their maturity in the inter-
views and on stage.
I have been an educator for a number of
years, and I can assure you that with these
young women as representatives of your
schools, the future of your community is in
good hands.
MIKE BLAIR
Port Orchard, Washington
connect the dots infuriates me
on several counts. Hundreds of
thousands of taxpayer bucks get
pocketed by big-wheel contrac-
tors — now well into their third
month disrupting major arter-
ies — yet here’s vivid evidence
that once they’re inally out of
our hair, they’ll leave behind
another soppy pedestrian obsta-
cle for local yokels to sputter
about.
Yes, indeed, it’s no isolated
incident. Last year similar mis-
laid drainage was installed
above the crosswalk at Duane
and Seventh streets, behind the
Clatsop County Courthouse.
Doesn’t anyone in City Hall
oversee repaving? Astoria foot
trafic deserves a better return
on their dollar, not dolor.
Hefty penalties should be
assessed for such asinine engi-
neering to deter further muck
ups. This ain’t rocket science.
Every grade schooler knows
water will low to the lowest
point. Slotting a runoff above
that spot won’t do diddly when
rains return.
LARRY ZIAK
Astoria
A hand up
T
here was a recent article in
The Washington Post about
Albuquerque, New Mexico cel-
ebrating the irst anniversary of
its “There’s a Better Way” pro-
gram, which hires the able-bod-
ied homeless for day jobs keep-
ing the city clean. The program
works in partnership with
local nonproits that serve the
homeless.
I was trying to igure a way
Astoria could fund such a pro-
gram, and kept stalling at the
only choices I thought avail-
able: Laying off the city work-
ers who do this work, or rais-
ing taxes.
Then, lo and behold, The
Daily Astorian came to my res-
cue with a front page article
about the Scandinavian mon-
ument planned for downtown
(“Scandinavian monument
planned downtown,” Aug. 16).
From the article I learned that
the city pays a private company
to maintain downtown green
areas and the Riverwalk, and
that the company is paid with
tourist dollars, not homeowner
taxes.
Well, what do you know?
Maybe this program can work
here. A private company, not
city workers, does certain spe-
ciic grounds-keeping work,
and a company good enough
and savvy to contract with the
city of Astoria will probably
do just ine if that contract isn’t
renewed.
Or, a new contract with this
company could include hir-
ing able-bodied homeless peo-
ple. And, given the amount
of tourists we see each year, I
don’t see the cost of such a pro-
gram falling back on Astoria
homeowners.
But, inally, wouldn’t it
be a feather in our cap if we,
too, could celebrate giving the
homeless a hand up instead of
a handout? Something to think
about …
JULIA SNYDER
Astoria
Thank you
T
he Astoria Open Studio
Tour, July 30-31, was a
fantastic success with 46 art-
ists all across Astoria shar-
ing their unique and inspiring
artistic spaces with the public.
Our appreciation is especially
extended to the city of Astoria,
The Daily Astorian, the Asto-
ria Downtown Historic District
Association (ADHDA), Asto-
ria-Warrenton Area Chamber
of Commerce, Coast Commu-
nity Radio, Fort George Brew-
ery and Buzz and Lisa Smith
Bissinger. See the Astoria Open
Studio Tour Facebook page for
the full list of contributors.
Also, “bravo!” to our local
artists for all your hard work.
Thank you all for making this
event such a success and an
enjoyable experience.
REBECCA RUBENS
President, Astoria Visual
Arts
ANNIE ESKELIN
Coordinator, Astoria Open
Studio Tour
Amendments
W
e need to get the govern-
ment of this country back
into the hands of “we the peo-
ple.” We need a Constitutional
Convention now, to get our
country back into our hands.
Some of the most important
issues to address are as follows,
in proposed amendments for the
U.S. Constitution:
No. 28: Elected oficials
shall not serve more than two
consecutive terms in the same
ofice. After being out of an
ofice for at least one term, the
voters may re-elect a person
back into that ofice. Elected
ofices were never intended to
be lifetime careers.
No. 29: Appointed oficials
shall not serve in ofice for lon-
ger than one and one half times
the length of time that the per-
son making the appointment
serves in the ofice from which
the appointment is made.
No. 30: Elected oficials
shall not pass any law, rule or
tax that does not apply equally
to all citizens of the U.S. Con-
gress and the president should
not be above the law of the
land.
No. 31: All laws not spe-
ciically included in the Con-
stitution shall have an expira-
tion date. Laws currently on
the books shall be assigned an
expiration date by the body
which originally passed the
law, not to exceed 50 years in
the future. Laws approaching
expiration, if deemed appro-
priate to continue, may be
assigned a new expiration date,
by a simple majority vote of
the sponsoring body, unless
otherwise challenged.
No. 32: Any child born in
the U.S. to parents who are
not in the country legally shall
not be considered a citizen of
the U.S. unless proper natural-
ization processes are followed
(modiies Amendment XIV).
No. 33: No person, who is
not in the U.S. legally, shall be
entitled to beneits derived from
public money, including but not
limited to, schooling, welfare
aide and medical assistance.
CLEVE ROLFE
Seaside
Ferry future
N
ot long ago, a friend in
Astoria sent me an arti-
cle from The Daily Astorian
regarding the return of Tour-
ist No. 2 to her home (“Tourist
No. 2 is ‘a loating museum,’”
Aug. 2). I was surprised that in
part of the article it mentioned
the plans for Tourist No. 2 were
uncertain. Another thought was
that she be placed in Heritage
Park.
Wouldn’t it be more mean-
ingful if she were back at the
site of the old ferry slip down
by 14th Street? I know that the
slip is all but gone, but what if
something like a concrete pad
extending three feet beyond the
measurements of Tourist No.
2, and two feet above the high
water line of the Columbia?
Doing this would make main-
taining her much easier and
might relieve any anxiety of
the cost of Coast Guard inspec-
tions since she wouldn’t be in
the water.
Add to that a replica of the
ramp that was used to board
and unload vehicles for the fer-
ries. The timbers wouldn’t have
to be as heavy as they used to
be, since there would no lon-
ger be vehicular trafic using the
ramp, unless it happened to be a
catering truck for those special
events held on board.
And let’s not forget a
mock-up of the lift pilings and
mechanism that used to raise
and lower the ramp. Since the
5A
ramp would not have to move
with the tide, and Tourist No.
2 would be on a solid pad, the
ramp wouldn’t have to move.
What better place for Tourist
No. 2 to spend her days where
she spent so much time with
her sisters? She would certainly
look better there than sitting in
a park.
BRUCE D. QUINN
Keizer and Grand Rapids,
Michigan
Don’t trivialize
I
n reading the article “Blue
highway” (The Daily Asto-
rian, Aug. 17), I was surprised
at the snarky response to the
safety concerns expressed by
citizens over the matter of cars
on the beach. The person mak-
ing that comment was Sheriff
Tom Bergin.
I never thought I would
see the day when the chief
law enforcement oficer in the
county would seek to minimize
citizen concerns over safety and
lawlessness on public beaches.
Bergin states “It’s a very small
group of people who complain.
They own these homes along
the beach and want their own
little walking space. It’s not
going to happen.”
That is an outrageous state-
ment. First, he indicates that
only beach homeowners care
about safety and lawlessness,
and secondly, that they are only
complainers who want a private
walking trail. Is Sheriff Bergin
aware of the law in Oregon that
intends for people to safely use
public beaches?
His elective ofice is
charged with the responsibil-
ity of law enforcement. He
says that there’s only a few
complainers who are only try-
ing to close public beaches. I
don’t believe this is true, and
I don’t think Sheriff Bergin
has any reason to question the
motives of the public. I am not
a beach front homeowner but
I, too, have witnessed speed-
ing cars and reckless driving
on the beach. Although this is
by a minority of motorists, it is
still an important problem, and
should not be trivialized by an
elected oficial.
I recommend to the sher-
iff: Less personal opinion, more
professionalism.
JACK OSTERBERG
Astoria