OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 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
GUEST COLUMN
Larson: A mayor who time,
and Seaside won’t forget
By NANCY McCARTHY
For The Daily Astorian
S
Cliff Mass/University of Washington
Construction of a Doppler radar station on Langley Hill in Grays Har-
bor County, Washington, has meant a major improvement in weath-
er forecasting on the Washington and north Oregon coasts since
it went into operation in September 2011. It cost about $9 million. A
similar facility is needed for the next stretch of coastline to the south.
Doppler radar
needed for coastal
storm warnings
R
ambunctious autumn storms this year highlight the need
for more atmospheric data and better forecasting on the
Oregon Coast. Since many of our worst storms come
out of the southwest, Doppler weather radar for the central coast
would also benefit many communities farther north.
The mid-October tornado in Manzanita was a warn-
ing siren on behalf of closing a dangerous gap in the nation’s
coastal Doppler system. KGW reported at the time that it is the
only stretch of coast in the lower 48 states not covered by the
storm-detecting technology.
The only radar to detect the tornado before it hit — giving a
couple minutes warning — is located on Langley Hill in Grays
Harbor County, Washington. Obtaining that facility was a long-
term project by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who recog-
nized that Doppler stations located along the Interstate 5 corri-
dor are blocked by the Coast Range, Willapa Hills and Olympic
Mountains from seeing much of the weather coming off the
Pacific.
Even when the radar located along I-5 does manage to peer
down the Columbia channel to the sea, it lacks the resolution to
spot some of the tightly packed weather systems that pound our
communities and fishing boats senseless.
“Here at the coast where the weather is probably the most vol-
atile ... to not have (radar) is a little concerning,” a Manzanita
resident said after the tornado. “We got lucky this time around.”
The Langley Hill Doppler has made a big difference in its
five years in operation, giving meteorologists the ability to track
storms over 100 miles off the coast, allowing for more accurate
short-term forecasting. But it doesn’t entirely fix the problem.
Many will remember that weathermen were dramatically
wrong in their forecast of a powerful cyclone that was supposed
to ravish western Oregon and Washington a day after the tornado
hit. Thankfully, in that case, lack of a Doppler radar on the cen-
tral coast meant storm danger was overestimated. It would be far
worse, and not unprecedented, to underestimate a storm coming
from the southwest, as happened with the system of typhoons
that smashed our area in December 2007.
The Northwest coast’s weather is likely to become more
erratic, not less so, as climate change throws unpredictable wild
cards into the serious game of forecasting severe winds and
flood-producing rains.
Writing for the Eugene Register-Guard after the mid-Oc-
tober storms, Paul Ruscher of the American Meteorological
Society said, “Oregon has, arguably, the poorest weather radar
coverage in the nation, when overlaid with population affected.
Technologies are available to fix this problem.” Besides the gap
on the coast, he noted much of eastern Oregon is not covered by
meteorological radar at all.
Although the nation obviously has a great many expen-
sive needs, plugging this dangerous hole in weather knowledge
would certainly save lives. Like New Orleans’ inadequate dikes,
this is a risk we know all about and would be foolhardy not to
address.
easide never really needed a
chamber of commerce. All the
city needed was Don Larson.
Mayor Larson, 80, died Dec. 11
following a long
battle with cancer.
But even that strug-
gle didn’t damper
his enthusiasm for
the town he loved.
No matter how
he was feeling, no matter what per-
sonal or public issues he was dealing
with, Don always greeted everyone
with a broad smile and bright blue
eyes that enveloped the person whose
hand he was shaking.
And there was that laugh. A
delighted, raspy laugh that traveled
through a room packed with business
operators and Seaside’s movers and
shakers at Friday morning breakfast
gatherings. Anyone who knew Don
knew that laugh.
His chuckles could be heard
before City Council meetings when
he joked with City Manager Mark
Winstanley and personally greeted
residents and fellow councilors. Then
he would bang the gavel to signal
that it was time to recite the salute
to the American flag and begin the
meeting. It was a ritual he performed
as mayor for 14 years.
Don was a man of humor — he
could make quick quips that eased
tense discussions — and he was a
man of compassion who encouraged
nervous or emotional citizens, alone
behind the lectern, to speak from
their hearts.
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Seaside Mayor Don Larson, right, along with his wife, Lois, second
from right, shares a laugh with Seaside Fire Chief Joey Daniels
and girlfriend Jaime Oxley, a firefighter with the Gearhart Fire De-
partment, about Oxley’s oversized “Chief Daniels” inscribed jacket
during the 2013 National Night Out celebration at Broadway Park.
Nancy McCarthy/For The Daily Astorian
Accomplishments
A volunteer on city commit-
tees since 1994, he took pride in the
accomplishments that a small town
like Seaside had accomplished.
We all heard him boast continually
about how residents and city officials
pulled together to achieve the new
library, the skatepark, Broadway Park
remodel, the popular Fourth of July
celebrations and even the city’s trans-
portation system plan, among dozens
of other projects.
Although he was mayor and the
city’s leader, Don sought little recog-
nition. His praise went to local stu-
dents, police officers, public works
officials, library staff members, the
visitors bureau, Seaside Civic and
Convention Center employees, the
Seaside Rotary and pretty much
everyone who had anything to do
with making Seaside shine. But it
was Don who was named Mayor of
the Year by the League of Oregon
Cities in 2009.
Winstanly recently called him a
“marvelous mayor.”
“The city of Seaside couldn’t
have been luckier to have him and
it’s certainly a great loss.,” Winstan-
ley said after Don’s death.
Could be critical
Despite his nearly Pollyannish
attitude toward Seaside, however —
or maybe because of it — Don could
be critical of those who he thought
should be paying more attention to
promoting the city. The Daily Asto-
rian and the Seaside Signal often
received his scrutiny, especially if he
thought Seaside wasn’t receiving its
proper share of headlines.
I remember attending a meeting
where Don was presiding. Although
the meeting topic had nothing to do
with the Daily Astorian’s local cov-
erage, the mayor embarked on a
mildly rambling tirade about the
lack of attention the newspaper had
been paying to Seaside lately. I had
Mayor Don Larson crawled through a time capsule at the dedication
of Broadway Park in 2009.
heard some of those views from him
before, only in private.
Well, as the South County
reporter for the paper, I felt called
to action by his comments, even
though they weren’t directed specif-
ically at me. I spent the next full day
going through each paper for the pre-
vious month and writing down all
Seaside-related headlines, includ-
ing sports. I mailed the long list of
headlines and story summaries to
Don, along with a tersely worded let-
ter pointing out that the paper wasn’t
meant to be the city’s public relations
organ, and mailed the packet to him.
The next day, as soon as his mail
was delivered, he called me.
“Nancy,” he said, a bit taken
aback. “It sounds like you’re mad at
me.”
He then apologized and men-
tioned that he had been out of town
for most of the past month.
The incident was forgotten,
and Don continued to be sincerely
friendly.
Respect and joy
Don’s respect for others — no
matter their background — earned
their respect for him. Angela Fair-
less spearheaded the skatepark devel-
opment many years ago and often
attended council meetings to ear-
nestly urge Don and the council to
act on sensitive issues, including
homelessness, police issues and mar-
ijuana legalization. She opposed him
as a mayoral candidate in the 2014
election.
“I’ve come to believe that you
learn more about a man’s character
when challenging him than when you
work cooperatively alongside him,”
Fairless posted on Facebook follow-
ing Don’s death. “I did both with this
man, and what I learned is that his
character was solid and good.”
When I think of Don, I remember
his joy for life.
I remember his glee at holding
a giant pair of scissors while cut-
ting the ribbon to open the new
library, now to be known as the Don-
ald E. Larson Library. I remember
him laughing and grunting while he
worked to unroll the artificial turf at
Broadway Park, signaling the start
of a long-awaited improvement proj-
ect. During Fourth of July parades,
he used to love climbing into “Old
Mac,” the Seaside Fire Depart-
ment’s antique fire engine, and wav-
ing to the crowds. At somber ceremo-
nies, such as the annual Pearl Harbor
commemoration, Don, a retired staff
training officer for the U.S. Army
Reserve, delivered comforting words
to veterans.
In 2009, several local volun-
teers built a time capsule, a tube 24
inches around and 5 feet long, to con-
tain students’ drawings, newspapers,
aerial photos and other memorabilia
in honor of Oregon’s 150th anniver-
sary. The capsule was unveiled at the
Broadway Park dedication.
Don was pretty happy that day.
All sorts of dignitaries were there,
including former Oregon Gov. Bar-
bara Roberts. It was a beautiful sum-
mer afternoon. After the ceremony,
when no one was looking (except
me with my camera), Don, in a play-
ful mood, crawled inside the empty,
open capsule. I have a photo of just
his legs hanging out.
If we could only encapsulate the
time we spent with Don, what a good
thing that would be! But we still have
our memories of the example he set
for Seaside: Continue to love it and
keep it shining.
Nancy McCarthy is the former
editor of the Seaside Signal and Can-
non Beach Gazette and South County
reporter for the Daily Astorian.