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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2017)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2017 Legal immigration ver the last couple of years, there has been more and more (deliberate?) blurring of the terms legal immigration and illegal immigration. It has become: If you are against ille- gal immigration (i.e. if you are for effective borders), you are considered to be against immi- gration, period. In America, unless you are an American Indian, you are a descendant of an immigrant. My father was an immigrant from Russia. But, I don’t understand con- doning illegal immigration. The Astoria City Coun- cil is considering a Resolu- tion of Inclusion, supporting immigrants (“Astoria considers adopting ‘city of inclusivity’ resolution,” The Daily Asto- rian, Feb. 22). Well, unless it points out that it is not encour- aging illegal immigration, I’m afraid it would be a sanctu- ary city thing after all. I do not understand why illegal immi- grants who commit crimes should get off easier than citi- zens who commit crimes. Those interested in these matters should attend the March city council meeting, as I hope to do. By the way, on another matter, the politics of “the wall” is one thing, the engi- neering is another. Those who want the wall: Don’t be dis- appointed if it isn’t a pile of bricks or concrete, if there are more economical, effective ways to protect our border. LELAND KERIN Astoria O Port accountability he Daily Astorian reported the “Port Commission needs to stop its in-house squabbling” (“Port Commis- sion’s petty infighting needs to stop,” Feb. 14). It may seem disruptive to point out that the Port president submitted an award nomination, even though the Port’s bylaws for- bid commissioners from act- ing independently. This action demonstrates the Port’s lack of accountability to the Port’s rules; the bylaws require open meetings and decisions made by a public vote. Had the Port followed proper procedure, it wouldn’t have released a lien and incurred a potential $700,000 collateral loss. This occurred when staff disregarded com- mission direction and didn’t appraise the property prior to releasing its lien for less than the established value. If staff was providing the com- mission with a weekly activ- ity summary, or attested doc- uments by the commission secretary (actions required in the bylaws), the improper lien T FRIDAY EXCHANGE A stranger’s kindness warms visitor hank you Astoria, Seaside and Can- non Beach. I am not a resident of the area, but absolutely adore it, and it means more to me than you know. I’ll explain. I have been coming to the area for some time, five years ago, to be exact, since I first discovered it. I adore it, and come as often as I can, it’s truly special. In fact I’ve been here for the last few days. A little over a year ago my mother and father died, 13 days apart, and it ripped me to pieces. They loved the ocean, my mother especially. The last ocean they laid their eyes on was at Seaside at sunset. I can’t imagine a better end. Since then, the area has been a refuge, something good and a feeling of some sort of familiarity of my parents to hurt, rejoice and connect. When I’m there it’s like they’re not gone, like I’m not gone. Not long after they died, my dog (her dog as well) fell ill with cancer. She’s getting treatment, but will pass away. She is the last living link to mother I have, to something special just between us. She’s always gone with me, and she will con- tinue to until she can’t — she shares the T release could have been uncov- ered and reversed. However, the commission majority chose to retroactively approve this transaction, rather than hold anyone responsible. At the Port meeting, Feb 22, the commission president attempted to block a motion to allow discussion on the Englund Marine subordination contract. Allowing a transfer of a contract is simple for the commission, but very import- ant to one of the Port’s valu- able tenants. In this case, the president’s action to censor dis- cussion could have harmed one of the Port’s tenants. This is why I have been critical of the commission majority: They continue to allow themselves and staff to operate outside of the bylaws, without accountability. The Port Commission should be accountable to prevent the waste of taxpayer money/ property and to avoid unnec- essary risk. I support hold- ing the Port’s leadership being accountable to our taxpayers. STEPHEN C. FULTON Commissioner, Port of Astoria Astoria Play by same rules he growing unregulated, short-term vacation rent- als and operations like Airbnb and others must play by the same rules as the hotel/motel industry. Local and state tran- sient taxes should be collected by each entity and paid to the local and state agencies, and all city and state regulations required by the hotels/motels T Submitted Photo Michael Quatrociocchi and his dog in Cannon Beach. love of the area with me. She means so much. We are the best of friends, she’s all I have. I will continue time to give her the best life possible. Something happened Sunday. Along Cannon Beach, adjacent to Haystack Rock, my dog and I stopped to watch the must be required for any entity offering the same type of ser- vices (overnight accommo- dations). It is fundamentally wrong to require hotels/motels to have smoke detectors, sprin- kler systems, health depart- ment codes to follow, build- ing requirements, and much more, and not require the same thing for a vacation rental or an Airbnb operation. The current loophole for these mostly nonregulated businesses creates an unfair advantage, as they do not have the same costs as the regulated operations. Businesses left to their own devices will seek the absolute minimum required to get the job done, and this can mean trouble. Buildings con- verted for vacation rentals cause problems for local infra- structure in residential neigh- borhoods, which have been planned for residential use, not transient traffic coming in and out on a regular basis. Short-term rentals (less than 30 days) cause problems for neighbors with noise and park- ing, and also threaten the value of property surrounding those operations. Tourists staying in those operations pay no addi- tional fees or taxes, but get the benefits of all that Clatsop County, and especially Asto- ria, has to offer. The Astoria City Council must create reg- ulations as soon as possible to avoid the many problems a multitude of communities are now experiencing as a result of the unchecked proliferation of these short-term rentals. If these unregulated opera- tions want to play in the hospi- tality industry, then they need M ARCH 7 Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Nigel Jaquiss A Columbia Forum Presentation Nigel Jaquiss is an American Journalist who won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for his work exposing former Oregon Governor Neil Goldschmidt’s sexual abuse of a 14-year-old-girl while he was mayor of Portland. His story was published in Willamette Week in May 2004. He continues to write for Willamette Week. Jaquiss graduated from Dartmouth College in 1984; he spent 11 years as a Wall Street and Singapore-based crude oil trader, working for Cargill, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. After some concerns about business practices, he sought a career change, eventually enrolling at Columbia University Graduate School of Jour- nalism and got his master’s degree in 1987. He began his journalism career in Portland in January 1998, working for Willamette Week. TO ATTEND: LIMIT E SEAT D For Members: Dinner & Lecture:$25 each; Lecture only: no charge RESER ING SPACE VE YOUR For Non-Members: Dinner & Lecture: $35 each; Lecture only: $15 ea. TODA Y! Appetizers will be available at 6 p.m. • Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. The speaker will begin after the dinner service is complete and non-dinner members and guests of the audience take their seats. Forum to be held at the CMH Community Center at 2021 Exchange St., Astoria. ColumbiaForum FOR RESERVATIONS OR TO JOIN COLUMBIA FORUM CONTACT: Holly Larkins at 503.325.3211 ext. 227 or forum@dailyastorian.com by March 3, 2017 Columbia Forum is sponsored by: The Daily Astorian • Craft3 • OSU Seafood Laboratory • KMUN-FM Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa sun go down. Those sunsets are the most beautiful; Sunday was the most beautiful. Now I know the people of the area are wonderful. I’ve interacted with them for years, and they’ve been kind to my parents and pooch, and myself. As I was leaving, a woman approached me and said she was a photographer. She said she had a picture for me, and normally doesn’t approach subjects, but felt I needed a picture she had taken of us. When I saw it, I didn’t know what to say, but cry. First it made me happy, sad she was going to die, sad for my parents gone, but joyous in its connection, it’s love, hope, and something we all share that can’t ever die. All because a resident I didn’t know — a stranger’s kindness, a common thread of all residents — who knew enough to know what it meant, and that I needed it. I know the area is special, and has given me, us, so much, and brought it all together yesterday. I’d like the communi- ties to know that. MICHAEL QUATROCIOCCHI La Grande to play by the same set of rules, regulations and requirements. If not, we are asking for many of these operations to continue to spring up all over, and eventu- ally cause many more problems for our local community. The hotel/motel industry is required to follow the rules, so must the vacation rentals and busi- nesses like an Airbnb. I would also argue that the Astoria City Council has an obligation to make this a priority. DON WEST Astoria Sportfishers respond wo clicks and one can access an infinite array of accurate information from countless sources. That is why it is so baffling that the edi- torial, “Brown puts political correctness above jobs” (The Daily Astorian, Feb. 13) would actually be published. The editor made statements that were simply untrue. How- ever, the claim that the North- west Sportfishing Industry Association (NSIA) “owes its T existence to fat-cat Texas oil- men” was a blatant fabrication. I would challenge the editor to respond with the source of this ludicrous claim. NSIA is a trade organiza- tion made up of hundreds of businesses. Most are small and locally-owned, not politi- cally correct urban dwellers, as reported. Members make their living serving the recreational fishing industry, and employ thousands of hard-working people. They’re the citizens who guide our waterways, sell tackle, build rods and manu- facture boats. They don’t live in Texas, and they certainly aren’t oilmen. Please correct this baseless assertion. The argument that the reforms are aimed at coddling politically correct urban dwell- ers is simply inaccurate. One call, one email would have produced a wealth of codified data regarding the real eco- nomic metrics from recent studies. NSIA could have pro- vided member profiles and the demographics of the 600,000- plus sport fishermen we serve. 5A In reality, the commis- sion’s decision runs counter to corroborated science and economic data. The opin- ions of Washington, the Ore- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and most who are not invested in the gillnetting industry, flies in the face of the editor’s assertions. I don’t expect my response will be published expeditiously, or at all. I can however, assure you that it will ultimately get much greater exposure beyond your readership. Remember, just two clicks … DON M. NEW Board member, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association West Linn Immigrant confesses y family arrived by boat. Our language, reli- gion and skin color were vastly different from the majority population. We came to avoid religious persecution and to seek better economic opportu- nities. These reasons for emi- grating to America may have been the same for your family. I understand the vast major- ity of people seeking to be America’s newest immigrants are trying to escape ethnic or religious persecution, often threatening their very lives. Of course, most would also realize economic advantages, as have virtually all immigrants. As with your family, their success will contribute to our nation’s success. The boat my family arrived on was named Mayflower. The year they arrived was 1620. In the nearly 400 years my family has lived here, our country has welcomed mil- lions of immigrants of diverse ethnicities, religions and socioeconomic status. That practice should continue. I don’t believe the arrival date of my family, or your fam- ily, bestows any authority to deny entry of new immigrants to this good country. Neither does race, religion or country of origin of those who wish to join us in calling America home. JACKSON ROSS Astoria M Is now hiring! W e a re c u rre n tly s e e kin g a fu ll/ pa rt-tim e Phys ic ia n As s is ta n t to jo in o u r te a m w o rkin g in a priva te , s in gle M D o w n e d u rge n t c a re c lin ic . D u ties: Dia gn o s in g a n d tre a tin g a va rie ty o f ill o r in ju re d pa tie n ts in c lu d in g M V As a n d W C in ju rie s . It w o u ld a ls o in c lu d e s c ho o l a n d DOT phys ic a ls . Exp erien ce: Expe rie n c e pre fe rre d , b u t is n e go tia b le . Q u alification s: Ore go n PA lic e n s e , AC LS a n d DOT Exa m in e r c e rtific a tio n s . S alary/ B en efits: Ne go tia b le . To Ap p ly: Ple a s e s e n d c o ve r le tte r a n d C V to K a tie .e rve n @ u rge n tc a re n w a s to ria .c o m o r b y fa x to (503 )3 25-63 3 3 Q u estion s: C o n ta c t K a tie a t (503 ) 577-8410 503-325-0333 A storia 2120 E xch an g e St. Su ite 111 H ours: 9A M - 7P M D A IL Y www.UrgentCareNwAstoria.com
