OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 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
Legislators need
to take message
on taxes to heart
O
regon voters place a top priority on K-12 public schools
but don’t really trust the state to tax and spend wisely on
education, new opinion polling indicates.
Our Capital Bureau reported earlier this week on a poll com-
missioned by the Oregon School Boards Association. All polls,
especially those sponsored by entities with a vested interest in
their findings, must be viewed with intelligent skepticism. But the
new poll results ring true.
According to the poll, 60 percent of the public believes any
new tax money should be earmarked for state education and
should be combined with spending cuts elsewhere. Ironically, this
mirrors what the business community itself has indicated it would
support. Legislators need to take this to heart.
Oregonians are big believers in public schools. You don’t need
a poll to know this. Time spent in any Oregon community or
neighborhood is a revealing lesson in how schools are fundamen-
tally bound up in our lives and our sense of who we are as a peo-
ple. We’re united around the idea that schools impart essential
knowledge and social skills, partnering with families in preparing
children for lives every parent hopes will be financially rewarding,
intellectually gratifying and emotionally fulfilling.
Anxiety
As our nation and world become more complex and demand-
ing, any sense that schools aren’t fulfilling their vital mission is
certain to provoke anxiety. While more money is rarely, if ever,
a complete solution to any problem, Oregonians are strongly
inclined to bolster school funding. Ninety-three percent of vot-
ers say it’s important to fund K-12 education. Nearly two-thirds
would support boosting taxes on corporations if the proceeds were
certain to go to schools.
But the state just overwhelmingly rejected new corporate taxes
in the form of ballot Measure 97. This was despite the objec-
tive fact that companies contribute less to state coffers than voters
commonly believe — less than 6 percent of general fund revenue,
by the Oregon School Boards Association’s reckoning, while citi-
zens believe the number is around 36 percent.
In rejecting Measure 97, voters didn’t trust that new revenue
would be well spent and feared the taxes would be passed on to us
in the form of higher prices. And as a matter of fact, Oregon firms
already pay a lot of taxes — an effective rate of 7.6 percent, third
highest in the far West.
Budget gap
Faced this year with a $1.6 billion gap between revenue and
expenses, legislators are struggling to find enough money for all
the state’s priorities, including more for schools. A majority of the
public may say they support targeted cuts coupled with some tax
fix, but the devil is very much in the details.
The Tax Foundation on Monday released its latest analysis
of fiscal burdens in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. It found
Oregon ranks 10th in state and local tax burden as a percentage of
state income. It has the sixth-highest individual income tax collec-
tions per person in the country, $1,814 compared to the U.S. aver-
age of $967. On the other hand, it is smack in the middle in terms
of state and local property taxes — 25th, with average collections
of $1,350, less than the national average of $1,462. It’s worth add-
ing that the Tax Foundation gives Oregon good marks for its cur-
rent business tax climate, rating it 10th best in the country.
So it’s fair to say Oregonians aren’t undertaxed, an understand-
ing reflected in the continuing strong rejection of a general sales
tax, even if it went to education, according to the poll. But it’s
also fair to observe that a state’s citizens get what they pay for.
Some of lowest-tax states on the Tax Foundation’s 2017 index
— Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama — aren’t models of civic
success.
Difficult choices
So what should we do in Oregon? Clearly, some very diffi-
cult choices will need to be made. Most Oregonians want to pro-
tect and enhance public education, but will have to recognize that
doing so will force undesirable cuts elsewhere. Elected leaders and
state agencies have to embrace the same conclusion, that it is time
to zealously root out wasteful spending, while circling the wagons
around schools and a few other paramount priorities.
On the tax front, the new polling suggests considerable support
for dedicating 2 percent of income tax kicker funds to K-12 edu-
cation — particularly a rainy day fund to see schools past budget
crises like the one they currently face. Beyond this, a business tax
hike with strict links to education might just stand a chance.
Voters feel they have been burned too many times. State lead-
ers must commit to governing in accordance with the wise words
of that favorite primary school role model, Dr. Seuss’ Horton: “I
meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faith-
ful one hundred percent.” Promise only what you can reasonably
achieve, tax only enough to achieve it, and then rigorously keep
your promises.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Street parking
nough about politics, for now.
On my frequent walks around
my neighborhood, I have noticed
that on various streets in the area
there are cars parked on both sides
of the roadway.
These avenues were laid out
in the 1940s, for the most part,
and are barely wide enough for
today’s automobiles to negotiate
them when vehicles line both sides.
School buses and other support
vehicles such as garbage trucks
are, in some cases, unable to travel
down these streets, yet only one
of the five or six residential ave-
nues in the area in which I live are
posted to indicate parking on only
one side of the street.
I was under the impression
(obviously wrongly) that a builder
was required to establish off-street
parking as part of the require-
ment to build a house in the city.
In many cases, homeowners have
turned their garages into stud-
ies or libraries as I have, however,
the driveways still exists, and yet
some residents refuse to use that
off-street space to park, choosing
instead to park their vehicles on the
street, thus impeding traffic flow.
Perhaps it is high time for the
city of Astoria to take a hard look
at these streets, and designate many
more of them “parking one side
only,” if for no other reason, for
possible accessibility of emergency
vehicles, such as ambulances and
fire trucks.
That is what I think; I could be
wrong.
DAVID GRAVES
Astoria
E
Leash your dogs
egarding dogs and leashes in
Astoria: Too many times when
we walk our dogs on the Riverwalk
or at other locations in Astoria —
which is always done with them
on a leash — we see others letting
their dogs run free.
First off, that behavior vio-
lates the City Code (Chapter 5 —
Dog Control) and is punishable by
a fine of $25 to $500. But much
more importantly, this behavior of
not using a leash is dangerous and
foolhardy.
No matter how “nice” or
well-behaved you think your dog
is, you are putting people (includ-
ing children), other dogs and your
own pet at risk for injury or death.
This also puts you at risk of legal
liabilities if your dog hurts some-
one else.
This rule is not meant to incon-
venience you, but rather to protect
all of us, either human or canine.
RICHARD WOLF
Astoria
R
Warrior pride
joined the Air Force shortly after
graduating from Warrenton High
School in 1988, and have spent
the last 29 years proudly serv-
ing my country in various assign-
ments around the world. I was
lucky enough to rise through the
ranks, and will retire as a chief
master sergeant, or “chief,” as we
are known. I’m proud to have an
Indian chief bust on my desk, and
chiefs around the Air Force have
many symbols of Indian chiefs as
a symbol of pride and heritage of
the rank and their legacy as proud
leaders.
I’m retiring this summer, and
was back in Oregon for a job inter-
view this past January, and staying
with family in Warrenton, and just
so happened to drive by as they
were mounting the Warrenton War-
rior mascot on West Main Avenue,
and pulled over and snapped a cou-
ple of pictures.
I
I had heard rumors that the mas-
cot was being taken down, and was
saddened that someone could con-
sider something created by students
to show their school pride and heri-
tage think that it was somehow rac-
ist. If anything, it shows our pride
in those who came before us, and
honors their leadership and wis-
dom. I am saddened that civic and
school leaders in Warrenton were
forced to bow to political correct-
ness, and had our school mas-
cot removed because of the nar-
row-mindedness of a few people.
I’m glad local business own-
ers took the initiative to retain the
Warrenton Warrior mascot, and
I only hope that it remains there
for generations to come. There
are those of us who take pride in
our past, and understand that it is
not racist to honor the American
Indian. To me it reflects the pride
we have as Americans who came
together from all over the world
to create a free country. I have the
utmost respect for those who were
here before us, and hope that we
can remain united in a common
goal to keep America as a beacon
of hope, freedom and peace.
TOM KEYSER
APO, Armed Forces Europe
Affordable housing?
read with interest the recent arti-
cle about Blue Heron Pointe
(“Affordable housing project
may be tripped up by sidewalks,”
The Daily Astorian, March 3).
Max Ritchie calls his develop-
ment “affordable workforce hous-
ing,” and hopes the city of Seaside
won’t make him put in sidewalks
just now.
And I really wonder — in what
universe are $300,000 homes
“affordable workforce housing”?
Maybe, if you share the house with
five other people. The workforce
housing we need in this area needs
to come with a much smaller price
tag to the consumer. This isn’t it.
TERRIE POWERS
Astoria
I
Going to pot
was told many years ago don’t
believe everything you read in a
book or newspaper, and what you
hear on the news or from another
person — it’s only as good as the
person who wrote or reported it.
On March 2, Page 5A, in The
Daily Astorian, “Pot is produc-
ing jobs, revenue in states where
it’s legal,” is a prime example,
written by the Associated Press
on Gov. Kate Brown defending
pot in Oregon: “There is no bet-
ter type of laboratory than the
initiative process, and voters in
Oregon and Washington and Cal-
ifornia and Alaska and Nevada,
and there’s a few other states, have
voted to legalize marijuana. On the
West coast alone, that’s 49 million
people.”
What? Wait a minute, that’s
the entire population of all the
states mentioned combined. You
mean everyone voted, including
children under 18? So I did the
research, and combined the voting
results for all states mentioned: No,
8,701,210; and yes, 11,258,722.
Puzzles are worthless if you
don’t have all the pieces, so is
reported news or stories told by
people.
BOB BINGHAM
Astoria
I
Conflated
fter reading the letter to the
editor “Sportfishers respond”
(The Daily Astorian, March 3), I
felt compelled to comment.
Columbia River fisheries reform
A
(the Kitzhaber Plan) is a very com-
plex issue and, unless you are
involved with its inner workings
on a regular basis, keeping all the
moving parts and interest groups
involved straight can become
extremely confusing.
The editor of The Daily Asto-
rian does an excellent job of writ-
ing factual editorials on our natural
resource issues, but as the sports-
fisher points out, he did make a
mistake in claiming the Northwest
Sportfishing Industry Association
owes its existence to Texas oilmen.
That distinction would be attrib-
utable to the CCA (Coastal Con-
servation Association) a Houston,
Texas, based recreational fishing
advocacy group that hides behind a
thin conservation flag. Read “Wet-
land Riders” for their true agenda.
It is easy to understand how the
editor got the two groups confused,
because their agendas are the same.
They both worked to get Measure
81 on the Oregon ballot in 2012
that would have eliminated gillnet-
ting on the Columbia River, and
cost our local fishermen and pro-
cessors hundreds of valuable jobs.
Today they both promote pol-
icy that would create a 100 percent
recreational priority for Colum-
bia River nontribal fisheries. That
would eliminate crucial rural jobs
and rob the taxpaying and electri-
cal rate paying consumers of the
ability to purchase Columbia River
salmon they paid to raise. Many
other anti-commercial pursuits
make the two groups exceedingly
similar.
The author’s claim that the
statement Columbia River reforms
“are aimed at coddling politically
correct urban dwellers” is inaccu-
rate rings hollow to us rural peo-
ple, when his West Linn address
puts him in one of the most affluent
urban locations in the state.
In closing, the 600,000-plus
sport fishermen the author claims
to represent seems to be a bit
inflated, as that would be 15 per-
cent of the total population of Ore-
gon. If you tell untruths (or “alter-
native facts”) long enough, some
people start to believe them — but
thankfully, not everybody.
JIM WELLS
Gillnetter
Knappa
Tweak it
epublicans repeatedly
announce they want to “repeal
and replace” the Affordable Care
Act, aka Obamacare.
Were you aware that Sen.
Marco Rubio and other Republi-
cans passed legislation that lim-
ited how so-called “risk corridors”
compensated insurance companies
during the 2015 budget process?
The risk corridors were intended to
help insurance companies if they
ended up with too many sick peo-
ple in their plans.
So here I am, defending my
family and my fellow Oregonians
for the so-called “replacement” we
are about to receive. Also, defend-
ing the conservative Heritage
Foundation Health Plan, which the
ACA is based on.
The Republican Party has sab-
otaged the current ACA, with
no comparable replacement in
sight. Here are a few ideas: a pub-
lic option; Medicare for all; a sin-
gle-payer plan; and restoring the
risk corridors Republicans recently
removed that would lead to lower
premiums, and encourage more
insurance companies in the mar-
ket place.
In short, don’t “repeal it and
replace it,” instead, “keep it and
tweak it.”
JOHN D. SAMP
Astoria
R