OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 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
Parks shortfall
shows need for
strategic plan
GUEST COLUMN
A
storia city councilors will face tough choices when they
begin making decisions on the Parks and Recreation
Department’s budget for the next fiscal year.
The department has a looming $100,000 shortfall, which was
outlined at a council work session last week. City Manager Brett
Estes and Parks and Recreation Director Angela Cosby detailed
the problems the department faces, and offered potential courses
of action which include possible cuts, land sales and new taxes.
Many will ask how has it got to this critical point, what can be
done about it and how can it be prevented from happening in the
future.
As Estes and Cosby detailed, the department’s budget and
staffing have shrunk over time, while both the services and pro-
grams the department offers and its ongoing maintenance obliga-
tions have grown. The city used to spend 12 percent of its general
fund on parks and recreation programs and maintenance; now that
number stands at 7 percent.
The real root of the problem is that there’s only so much
“more” that can be done with “less,” which isn’t addressed and
resolved in any of the city’s previous long-term planning. It’s also
likely that there will be other perplexing budgetary issues like the
parks shortfall that will confront the councilors as the budgetary
process moves into full swing.
At the work session, Estes and Cosby told councilors they are
approaching the problem with the goal of getting the most bang
for the buck with an impact to the fewest number of people.
That’s a good starting point to solve the immediate problem,
and we hope the City Council will take a long look at their recom-
mendations, and an even longer look into more thorough strategic
planning.
To overcome the defi-
cit, Estes and Cosby said,
programs will need to be
cut, and park land possibly
sold. New taxes may also
be needed.
Cosby’s list of possible
programs to cut included
the drop-in child care at
the Astoria Recreation
Center, CPR and first aid
classes and health-and-
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
wellness programs such
A boy watches a baseball game from
as the Gobbler Gallop,
a tree near Tapiola Park in Astoria.
Astoria Wellness Challenge
and New Year’s Day
Fun Run. Special events at Port of Play — the Family Pumpkin
Carving, Easter Egg Dyeing, Valentine’s Day Tea and Dr. Seuss
Celebration Night — may also wind up on the chopping block,
along with other free community and family-based events, such as
the Easter Egg Hunt, the Father/Daughter Valentine’s Day Dance
and Summer Movies in the Park. Many of these activities — nice
though they are — would be more appropriately sponsored and
run by local civic groups and nonprofits.
Cosby also brought up the possibility of ending youth and adult
athletics and closing the expensive-to-operate Aquatic Center,
which would likely meet stiff, deafening opposition. We hope it
doesn’t get to the point of cutting those valuable programs.
As far as land sales, the parks department has considered sell-
ing four properties, and the one with the fewest deed restrictions
is Birch Field and Park, a 0.96-acre site at Birch and 50th streets.
The department lists it in poor condition with very low usage.
While land sales won’t provide a sustainable source of reve-
nue, it could help alleviate the immediate problem and lessen the
future maintenance costs the department will face. They should be
considered.
Land sales of high maintenance, low usage properties would
also buy time for the council — together with the Parks and
Recreation Department — to strategically dive first into the task
of prioritizing the programs the city believes it should provide and
then in finding the right sustainable funding mechanisms to pay
for those programs. Like in business, it doesn’t make strategic
sense for a company to try and determine revenue and costs until
it knows what products it is going to produce.
Astoria parks share a key trait with state and national parks —
they are easier to create than they are to sustain. Smart long-term
planning will consider the need for parks and open spaces as our
region’s population density grows, while at the same time factor-
ing in how much recreation land we can afford in terms of staff
time and maintenance.
What the parks problem really illustrates is the city’s need for a
solid, well thought out strategic plan. Councilors should consider
using the immediate problem as a catalyst for long-term, positive
change.
Oregonians unite as raining champs
“beauty,” outdoors,” “mountains,”
and “green,” as the largest words.
Also, for the first time in a
DHM Research survey, we asked
respondents who moved to Oregon
how important the climate was to
them in deciding to move here.
Among respondents who said they
had moved to Oregon as adults (54
percent of the sample), nearly all said
climate was a positive consideration
that influenced their decision to come
here.
Our climate underpins much of
what we value about the state — and
it sure beats what many people
elsewhere deal with (As one survey
respondent noted, “The weather
is great; I can ride my skateboard
year-round.”)
English art critic John Ruskin
could have been writing about
Oregon when he said, “Sunshine is
delicious, rain is refreshing, wind
braces us up, snow is exhilarating;
there is really no such thing as bad
weather, only different kinds of good
weather.”
Adam Davis, who has been con-
ducting opinion research in Oregon
for 40 years, is a founding princi-
pal in DHM Research, a nonpar-
tisan firm specializing in assist-
ing with public policy making and
communications.
and appreciate the contribution that
rain, relatively mild temperatures
and the changing seasons contribute
to these other features of the state.
“I personally value everything, the
weather, how green it is, the fact
that I can go to the mountains, or the
coast and be there within two hours,”
one person remarked. “Fresh air,
the climate, more environmentally
responsible than many other states,
has the ocean and mountains and
forests, has no sales tax, has many
organic farmer’s markets, has wine
growing regions, many outdoor
sports opportunities, has cultural
activities, especially in the cities,”
said another.
Oregonians’ fondness for the
climate cuts across population sub-
groups: young and old, female and
male, urban and rural. More telling, it
is something Republicans, Democrats
and NonAffiliated/Other voters agree
on.
So far, valuing Oregon’s climate
has survived the hard winter and
what looks to be a wet spring. Just a
few weeks ago DHM Research asked
Oregonians what they value about
living in the state, and once again the
climate or weather was a top response
along with natural beauty. A word
cloud illustrating responses features
“natural,” “environment,” “climate,”
By ADAM DAVIS
Special to The Daily Astorian
D
rip, drip, drip. Snow, ice and
rain.
Lots of rain.
It’s been record-breaking since
December. Yet
despite the hard
winter, Oregonians
continue to name
the “climate” or
“weather” as one of
the things they most
value about living in Oregon — and
it remains an important reason why
people move to our state.
Since 1977, DHM Research has
been asking Oregonians, “What do
you personally value about living
in Oregon.” The climate has always
been, and continues to be, one of the
most frequent responses. We keep
hearing “beautiful climate,” “varied
climates,” “climate with no humid-
ity” and “climate, it’s mild.” Other
common responses are: “weather,”
“decent weather,” “acceptable
weather” and “good weather.”
Oregonians value our climate in
part for its direct relationship to the
state’s other top attractions: natural
beauty, clean air and water, outdoor
recreation opportunities and sense of
community. People connect the dots
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Fix the slump
quarter of a mile past Kern Lane, on Oregon High-
way 202, a very popular and well-traveled road, the
southbound lane has a decent sized slump in the middle of
the lane that keeps getting a temporary fix — and always
comes back after facing a cold and wet winter. The slump
is enough to bottom out someone’s suspension, and over
time it just gets worse. This is dangerous on such a windy
and narrow high-speed road.
Instead of temporarily fixing the slump every summer,
so it just drops back down after a harsh, wet and cold win-
ter, we should move the road slightly to the west and pro-
vide a long-term fix in order to avoid cars from hitting this
reappearing slump.
DESIREE ANDRADE
Astoria
A
Keep the woods clean
eeping our woods clean needs to happen. You can’t
drive in the woods for five minutes without seeing
garbage. It’s not a small amount, either. It’s everywhere.
If you go up Pipeline Road, you will see mass amounts
of garbage. The woods can have some beautiful scenery.
Sadly, that is starting to be taken over by garbage. This is
K
something that has to change.
Its starting to become normal for people to just dump
their garbage in the woods. It’s not just little things that
they are dumping. People are dumping washers, dryers
and full bags of household garbage. It’s not just making
the woods look bad, but it puts animals and others at risk.
The woods are too beautiful to be destroyed by a bunch of
garbage.
ETHAN RUBUS
Astoria
Needs a stop sign
he county needs to go put a stop sign at the intersection
of Svensen Market and George Hill roads. This three-
way intersection only has a stop coming from George Hill.
It would work a lot better if they made this dangerous inter-
section a three-way stop where the roads all meet. Coming
up from that road, you cannot see both sides of the inter-
section, where there currently are no signs. There are a lot
of new drivers around, and people who are not familiar
with that intersection. The county should do everything in
their power to make sure all roads are as safe as possible.
ALISHA MURPHY
Astoria
T
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