OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2016
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
OUR VIEW
Myers leaves
long legacy of
statesmanship
H
ardy Myers was a gentleman.
That is a too-rare quality in today’s political climate,
but it was more of the norm during Myers’ long tenure
as a legislator, speaker of the Oregon House and attorney general.
Myers, who died Tuesday at 77, will be remembered as one of the
last of his breed, as well as a statesman in his own right.
For generations, “The Oregon Way” — innovation and collabo-
ration despite partisan differences — governed state politics.
Remnants of that time, when the common good often trumped
party affiliation and political ego, still remain. For example,
Oregon candidates rarely indicate their party affiliation on their
lawn signs and in their fliers, whereas in neighboring Washington
state, political party is featured prominently in campaign materi-
als. And in contrast with other states, Oregon officials don’t plas-
ter their names all over “Welcome to Oregon” signs; they usually
drive their own cars instead of being chauffeured; and they com-
monly are on a first-name basis with constituents, as was “Hardy.”
In that spirit of commonality a decade ago, Democratic state
Senate President Peter Courtney and Republican House Speaker
Karen Minnis worked together to improve the antiquated con-
ditions at the Oregon State Hospital, where “One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest” was filmed, and to lay the groundwork for new
psychiatric hospitals in Salem and Junction City.
It’s no surprise that Courtney reacted to word of Myers’ death
by saying that the news broke his heart: “He taught me everything.
… He taught me to respect other people and other viewpoints. …
He was a genuinely nice human being.”
Myers was raised in central Oregon, and following his con-
science was more important than his ideology as a Democrat.
As a state representative, he succeeded — for a short time — in
blocking reinstatement of the Oregon death penalty. His con-
science stood up to intense political pressure inside and outside the
Capitol.
Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith would later take a similar
stand of conscience at the federal level, refusing to support physi-
cian-assisted suicide even though Oregon voters twice approved
the process. Myers was on the other side, fighting to uphold the
Oregon law.
In the days since Myers’ death, he has been lauded for his
national work on school safety after the Thurston High School
shooting in 1998, his legal fight against tobacco companies and his
tenacity in strengthening Oregon laws against domestic and sex-
ual violence.
But above all, Hardy Myers should be remembered as a true
Oregonian.
A man who kept his word.
A statesman.
A gentleman.
Columbia Senior Diners
needs community’s help
olumbia Senior Diners, a nonprofit that serves meals at the
Astoria Senior Center and delivers them to homebound
residents, is in jeopardy of closing next year, and the com-
munity must not let that happen.
The organization has a long history dating to its origin as
Loaves & Fishes 43 years ago, and is operating on financial
reserves to offset a severe budget shortfall.
The program is all volunteer except for a salaried chef. It pro-
vides more than 550 meals on site and delivers more than 250
meals within city limits each month, functioning as a local Meals
on Wheels. For homebound clients the program’s drivers may be
the only contact they have that day, and it also serves as a check-in
service.
The program operates out of the senior center, where it leases
the kitchen. The senior center received a federal grant for the
building’s recent remodeling with a stipulation that it must provide
at least one meal a day, five days a week, to seniors. If Columbia
Senior Diners goes under, the senior center would have to fill the
gap.
Columbia Senior Diners board treasurer Steve Mills says the
program relies on an annual $4,000 grant from the city, a $6-per-
meal charge and private donations. Mills estimates the organiza-
tion’s reserves will only last about eight months before it would
have to close. Meanwhile, the program is seeking additional grant
funding and donations while it works to reduce expenses and
achieve sustainability.
We hope all of those things happen because the program pro-
vides an invaluable service and needs the community’s collective
help.
C
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Heroes wanted: Daring to
‘go there’ with tsunami safety
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
T
wo guys can move mountains.
Well, at least they can move
schools and build bridges.
Catching the wave for Seaside
City Council was Tom Horning.
Horning, the unlikely hero of Bonnie
Henderson’s nonfiction book “The
Next Tsunami,” didn’t even expect
to win.
He was a one-issue candidate
who during the campaign frankly
admitted he didn’t
care much about the
day-to-day business
of city governance.
He dared to “go
there” when it
came to the issue of
tsunami preparedness.
What he did want to see was
tsunami preparedness. The new
school location was just the start
for Horning, and probably not the
best way to save the most lives in
a catastrophe. He wants to see the
city’s tsunami-vulnerable bridges
replaced.
“Tsunami preparation should
touch every issue,” Horning said.
“The city likes to not rock the boat
too much. They like to appear in con-
trol. That’s reassuring to the tourist
and business community. To say the
town has problems is upsetting to
some business people. We don’t stand
out as the worst-case scenario, even
though we are, but there’s every rea-
son to do something about it. Simply
hike up your pants and get to work.”
Like Horning, Seaside School
District Superintendent-emeritus
Doug Dougherty is a hero of
Henderson’s book.
Dougherty took a lot of heat in
2013. Cannon Beach residents were
not pleased with the decision to
close the elementary school due to
its $1.15 million budget shortfall and
high per pupil cost. “Shocked and
angry,” was how the Cannon Beach
Gazette characterized reaction. “It’s
not just a building, but a communi-
ty’s heart,” said one mom.
At that time, the tsunami was
almost an afterthought. When the
new campus plan was unveiled,
voters didn’t like the $128.8 million
price tag on the bond vote, which
stumbled at the polls and left the
district with no “Plan B.”
“I think we need to go back to the
drawing board,” Mike Morgan, the
Cannon Beach mayor at the time,
said after the result.
Personal time
When Dougherty stepped down
earlier this year as district superinten-
dent, he dedicated much of his own
personal time to ensure the passing
of the bond vote.
It looked iffy and passage was by
no means certain. Even at a reduced
price the bond was a tough sell to
voters; in Seaside, 4 out of 10 homes
are vacant, and in Cannon Beach,
6 out of 10 are seasonal or vacation
properties, putting the tax burden on
people who don’t even live here full
time. Residents couldn’t let go of the
idea of “gold-plated doorknobs” and
property owners are never ready for
tax hikes.
Dougherty spearheaded “Vote Yes
for Our Local Schools” and teamed
bond supporters from throughout
the community. He lobbied in Salem
and brought U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
to Seaside to see the threat firsthand.
He brought national attention to the
issue in Kathryn Schulz’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning New Yorker article,
“The Really Big One.”
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Seaside School District Superintendent-emeritus Doug Dougherty
points out a student evacuation route to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden as Tom
Horning looks on during a visit to Seaside earlier this year.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Supporters of the district’s bond rallied in Seaside in early November.
This year saw a donation of
an 80-acre campus land gift and
the prospect of $4 million in state
funds to move the schools. Bond
rates were low, adding cost savings.
But voters weren’t supporting this
because of favorable accounting
data. Dougherty’s cheerleading led
the community to take action.
The marches and the rallies, the
lobbying — led by student leaders
and representatives throughout the
state and in Salem — all had its
result in the polls. In a 65 percent to
35 percent vote, residents endorsed
the plan to replace deteriorating
schools by moving to the city’s East
Hills adjacent to Seaside Heights
Elementary School.
The decision to build a new
school campus on the hillside “is
a hugely important step not just
for Seaside but for families from
Arch Cape to Gearhart,” Henderson
said immediately after the election.
Work to do
With the bond’s passage, there is
work to be done, and quickly.
The district is required to expend
85 percent of the bonds within three
years to avoid paying taxes on the
funds. At the new school site, engi-
neers will have to work with 80 acres
of hillside to construct a quake-resis-
tant campus for a 21st-century edu-
cation, resiliency and a safe gathering
spot in the event of a catastrophe.
Plans were on hold as architects
waited for the result of the bond.
Submitted drawings, so far, are
general and limited to a campus site
plan.
The school district needs to ask
Seaside to bring the land into the
city’s urban growth boundary.
Transportation studies must
be devised to get Cannon Beach,
Seaside and Gearhart kids to the new
location — and there isn’t even a
project manager yet.
Students still have four or five
years in their current schools — their
day-to-day plans and infrastructure
needs must be met.
If the Cannon Beach Academy
opens next year as planned for kin-
dergartners through second-graders,
what is their tsunami safety strategy?
Children will not necessarily be safer
in a Cascadia event at the temporary
location on Sunset Avenue than they
would have been at the elementary
school.
And as enrollment increases and
grade levels are added, where can the
academy safely relocate for the long
term?
Protecting residents
Dougherty and Horning
approached this election from vastly
different places, but in the end their
platforms had a similar goal: to
protect our residents to the risks of a
catastrophic quake and tsunami.
Luckily they’re not alone. In
November’s vote, the entire com-
munity shared its own awareness of
a risk larger than our community,
our state and our region. Continued
scrutiny and delivery by both critics
and supporters of this ambitious
project will ensure the safety of
students during the school year, and
serve as a model for future efforts
to reach out to residents and visitors
alike. Dougherty and Horning are the
first wave. Time for the rest of us to
step up.
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori-
an’s South County reporter and edi-
tor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon
Beach Gazette.