OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017
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
Computer hacking
shows need for
more cybersecurity
R
ussian meddling in the U.S. election certainly should make
all Americans angry, no matter our political differences.
Moving forward, it’s important to learn from it and incor-
porate these lessons throughout our personal, professional and
political lives.
Despicable as it was to hack into Democratic National
Committee computers and selectively leak information in a way
that undercut the party’s candidate, such shenanigans couldn’t
have been effective if the DNC had not engaged in embarrassing
acts and stockpiled damaging data in its files.
Three key points to note about this:
• The DNC and, presumably, the Republican National
Committee are guilty of trying to skew the presidential selection
process in ways that support favorites already anointed behind the
scenes. Many in the DNC believed Hillary Clinton was owed her
party’s nomination by acclamation. They resented Bernie Sanders’
spirited opposition. To the extent they are capable of doing so,
the national political committees must resolve to be honest bro-
kers who provide a level playing field for all credible candidates.
Citizen resentment about being force-fed political dynasties —
in the form of the Clintons and Bushes — partly precipitated the
Trump surprise.
• If the DNC was incapable of withstanding or resisting efforts
by Clinton stalwarts to skew the selection process, it should at
a minimum have been much smarter about protecting its inner
workings. For would-be world leaders, they were blindingly stu-
pid. Unlike the Watergate burglary that required physically enter-
ing an office and trying to steal papers, we live in an age when
electronic information is spread throughout the world on computer
servers, protected (and unprotected) in ways few of us understand.
Nothing should ever be sent in an email or stored electronically
that you would not want to have read aloud in a court deposition
or news report. For ordinary citizens, the corresponding lesson is
to zealously safeguard financial information, credit card numbers
and passwords.
• Government and corporations owe an enormous responsibil-
ity to better protect electronic information. Our democracy, econ-
omy and security hang in the balance. Far more important than a
physical fence along a peaceful international border, defending our
electronic frontier ought to be at the forefront of the U.S. national
agenda. If the world tips into chaos — as it has often done in the
past — in today’s world it may be because a madman, tyrant or
criminal enterprise deliberately or accidentally crashes the infor-
mation systems on which we rely for so many vital services in
modern life.
We’ve been delivered a stinging rebuke about sloppy data man-
agement, and it’s not a partisan issue, it affects us all. Let’s never
allow it to be repeated.
Rent control proposal
is a fool’s bargain
O
regon House Speaker Tina Kotek threw red meat to her
Portland constituents by proposing legislation to create
rent control. Portland rents have escalated as the city
has become one of the nation’s most desirable locations. Kotek
extended her rent control proposal beyond Portland’s boundaries,
to all Oregon communities.
Rent control is now prohibited in Oregon statute.
America’s on-again, off-again experience with rent control
began during World War II housing shortages. With almost 70
years of history in various cities such as New York, rent control
has generated enormous economic study and literature. Retired
Portland State University Professor John Walker said: “The
shelves of literature on rent control are bigger than the Astoria
Public Library.”
Of rent control, one can say two things: it will generate a huge
bureaucracy and it is fraught with unintended consequences that
are not what hard-pressed tenants hope for.
South of us, in San Francisco, lies one of the most unfortunate
conundrums, born of rent control. Writing in Willamette Week last
June, Aaron Mesh explored the San Francisco example. “Many
landlords either evict tenants or keep apartments empty,” wrote
Mesh. “Roughly one in 12 housing units in San Francisco sit
vacant, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”
Of San Francisco, Tim Duy of the University of Oregon eco-
nomics department asked: “Has that really been effective at solv-
ing their problems? No. You think you’re helping people, but you
are constraining the stock of affordable housing.”
For Speaker Kotek to propose rent control for all Oregon com-
munities is an especially ridiculous concept.
Asking the Oregon Legislature to embark on consideration of
rent control is a fool’s bargain.
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Looking
at life
from both
sides now
S
orry, this message can’t be con-
veyed in 140 characters or less.
Only a few weeks into the
new year, the nation is plunged into
a tug-of-war on
issues as profound
as our health, our
planet and war. The
deep splits on these
issues not only
exhibit our indi-
vidual preferences — or prejudices
— but regional ones.
An editorial in a sister newspaper
described the gap between rural and
urban Oregonians as “stark and deep.
… In the wake of a bitter presidential
campaign and tight election, the gap
has never seemed so wide.” Only
eight counties out of 36 counties
tilted to Hillary Clinton in Oregon,
but Donald Trump received 220,000
fewer votes.
The editorial nevertheless recalled
Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural
address and concluded on an opti-
mistic note: “We are more alike than
different.”
I would posit that in this state, we
are more different than alike — and
that will require some radically
different thinking.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Will Cannon Beach always be a town you can ride your horse for a
cup of coffee at Insomnia?
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
This affordable home plan design was rejected in 2016.
A matter of perspective
The League of Oregon Cities
listed its legislative session priorities
for the new year in Salem. Among
them, housing, land use, lodging tax,
marijuana and water/wastewater, all
critical issues close to home.
The South County is a little
schizophrenic, developed by hunters,
fishermen and loggers, but today
relying on an economy driven by
tourism, largely funded by a cosmo-
politan audience that couldn’t tell
the difference between halibut and
haddock. That which we valued —
Paul Bunyan ranging overland with
a chainsaw strapped to his back —
does not appear to have the same role
in a world where mountain bicyclists
would prefer to pedal among the
trees sporting Day-Glo insignia and
GoPro cameras strapped to their
helmets.
Visitors come to Cannon Beach
to bask among the natural resources
— vast swaths of timberland, rolling
mountains and fertile streams — not
to exploit them, but to appreciate
their beauty in their natural state.
Do we want more visitors or less?
They supply the city’s tax coffers,
but they also choke downtown streets
and roads.
Is land preservation a good
thing? Conservationist Anne
French, who led a cadre of dowdy
old socialites in front of bulldozers
seeking to pave a rural dirt road,
once told me she hated the word
“development,” because it implied
there was something lacking in
our natural environment. Yet I also
interviewed a New York developer
who said he couldn’t look at a piece
of land without imagining a super-
market on it. Members of the North
Coast Land Conservancy recently
celebrated the $10 million purchase
of 3,300 acres of land at Onion
Peak, this in addition to the $1.3
million Boneyard Ridge acquisition
adjacent to Ecola State Park. Will
business and industry share their
enthusiasm?
The city will be establishing an
emergency management site for
Submitted Photo
Maybe we can all agree on something: the scenic beauty of Cannon
Beach. The Cannon Beach Gallery Group, hosts of the Plein Air Festival,
received a portion of the Tourism and Arts Commission’s grant funding.
mass care shelter. The process will
require rezoning and expanded
urban growth boundaries.
The city’s strategic plan states by
July 2018, an additional 25 units of
affordable housing will be in place.
By the end of that year, the city will
experience a 10 percent increase
in long-term rentals. By July 2020,
Cannon Beach will make an addi-
tional 25 units of affordable housing
available.
More people, more traffic and
so it goes. At the end of this year,
the city will create 50 new parking
spaces in the downtown district.
Is Cannon Beach going to become
more like Bend or Beaverton?
The city’s Ecola Creek watershed
provides municipal water to Cannon
Beach. The Department of Fish and
Wildlife considers Ecola Creek West
Fork a vital area for coho salmon.
The city plans workforce housing
on city-owned land — starting with
placing park model homes at the
RV Park. Since the homes have no
storage tanks or propane tanks, a
permanent sewer will be needed,
as well as changes to the city’s
zone codes. As new park model
homes come to the RV Resort in
Cannon Beach and elsewhere, who
will determine limits on septic and
wastewater runoff?
In November, opponents in
Cannon Beach of retail cannabis
sales sought prohibition. The vote
was close, 51 percent to 49 percent.
Whose rules will we play by? Future
decisions could tilt either way.
Fresh ideas
Environmental consequences of
overfishing, water contamination,
clear-cutting or other man-made
activity are all too apparent. Social
consequences — lack of affordable
housing, medical care and need for
educational opportunities — will
only become more pressing. Risks of
tsunami and natural disaster will be
competing for dollars in a session that
starts already $1.7 billion in the hole.
Our differences are real and hard
and at times we share little common
ground.
My message: that’s OK. Dig in
and stand firm.
Our points of view are our stron-
gest asset, combined with a will to
sustain our values.
The legislative session lasts only
160 days. In Cannon Beach, these
issues are discussed year round at
council, planning and design review
meetings.
So ladies and gentlemen, to your
corners. Get involved in city politics.
Hold representatives accountable.
Show up at City Hall. Tell us what’s
important to you. Annoy your friends
on Facebook with political barbs.
We’ve never needed fresh ideas more
than now, or to do more with less.
Let’s keep the discussion alive
and have confidence that our tol-
erance — and our tenacity — will
yield results we can all live with.
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori-
an’s South County reporter and edi-
tor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon
Beach Gazette.