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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2017)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MAY 1, 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 EDITOR’S NOTE This week, The Daily Astorian is publishing endorsements in the countywide Port of Astoria election. Three of the Port’s five commission seats are being contested, and voters are being asked whether to approve a $1.96 million bond measure for improvements at the Astoria Regional Airport. Today we begin our endorsements with our opinion on the bond proposal, while Tuesday we offer our views on Position 2, which pits Dirk Rohne against Dick Hellberg, and Position 5, which features Frank Spence and Pat O’Grady vying against each other. On Thursday we will en- dorse in the Position 1 race which has the political rarity of two incumbents, Commissioners James Campbell and Stephen Fulton, battling for the same seat. Ballots were mailed to all registered Clatsop County residents last week, and we hope that whether you agree with our views or not, that you take part in the democratic process by exercising your right to vote. OUR VIEW Populism on pause By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group W Voters should say ‘Yes’ on Port bond measure V oters are being asked whether to approve a $1.96 mil- lion bond measure for the Port of Astoria that would be used for improving the airport’s infrastructure. We think they should say “Yes.” If approved, the money will be used to begin development of 10 acres at the southernmost point of the airport, just west of a runway and taxiway, close to Airport Road. If approved, the annual average tax rate during the four-year life of the bonds is estimated at $0.1235 per $1,000 of assessed value or about $12.35 per year for property assessed at $100,000. The bond measure has two essential purposes, and provides voters with two substantial reasons to support it. First, it would provide money for infrastructure to relo- cate the nonprofit Life Flight Network, an air medical trans- port service. Life Flight would move from its current tem- porary operations trailer near the airport terminal — located about 500 yards from its temporary hangar, which slows emergency response times — to a larger, combined han- gar-and-operations facility on a small portion of the 10-acre tract. Life Flight’s current hangar only accommodates one helicopter, while the new hangar would fit a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft as well as a crew rest area. The service uses both types of aircraft but can currently only accommo- date one aircraft here. Additionally, as part of the plan, a road will be extended from the Life Flight facility and landing area to Airport Road for easier and safer ambulance entrance and exit. In December, Clatsop County and cities and hospitals on both sides of the Columbia River If the wrote letters of support for Life airport is Flight to the Port, urging it to do whatever it could to ensure ever going an upgraded facility is devel- to be more oped and operational as soon than it is — as possible. We agree heartily that Life Flight is an invaluable and be more and vital asset to the region and of a revenue needs that facility. Importantly, the second pur- generator pose of the bond measure is for the that by adding improvements Port — it to the south end of airport, the money will provide additional needs that economic expansion opportu- forward- nities by laying the foundation for water and sewer service in thinking, an area of the airport where it’s long-term currently unavailable. If the airport is ever going investment. to be more than it is — and be more of a revenue generator for the Port — it needs that forward-thinking, long-term invest- ment. With infrastructure in place we believe it gives the Port a far better chance of landing aviation-related training or repair businesses, which could be a catalyst for other eco- nomic expansion. It’s a much better strategy than standing pat and waiting for those types of businesses to come here and then wondering why they didn’t. And while it’s admirable several Port commission- ers searched and advocated for lower-cost alternatives, the choices they came up with simply aren’t feasible, aren’t as safe and are potentially even more costly than the proposal backed by the Airport Advisory Committee. For all of those reasons, voters should mark “Yes” on their ballots on the Port’s bond measure. ASHINGTON — Yesterday’s conventional wisdom: A wave of insurgent populism is sweeping the West, threatening its foundational institutions — the European Union, the Western alli- ance, even liberal democracy itself. Today’s conventional wisdom (post-first-round French presiden- tial election): The populist wave has crested, soon to abate. Chances are that both verdicts are wrong. The anti-establishment sentiment that gave us Brexit, then Donald Trump, then seemed poised to give us Marine Le Pen, has indeed plateaued. But although she will likely be defeated in the sec- ond round, victory by the leading centrist, Emmanuel Macron, would hardly constitute an establishment triumph. Macron barely edged out a Cro-Magnon communist (Jean- Luc Melenchon), a blood-and- soil nationalist (Le Pen) and a cen- ter-right candidate brought low by charges of nepotism and corruption (Francois Fillon). And the ruling Socialist candidate came in fifth, garnering a pathetic 6 percent of the vote. On the other hand, the populists can hardly be encouraged by what has followed Brexit and Trump: Dutch elections, where the nation- alist Geert Wilders faded toward the end and came nowhere near power; Austrian elections, where another nationalist challenge was turned back; and upcoming German elec- tions, where polls indicate that the far-right nationalists are at barely 10 percent and slipping. And, of course, France. In retrospect, the populist panic may have been overblown. Regard- ing Brexit, for example, the shock exaggerated its meaning. Because it was so unexpected, it became a sen- sation. But in the longer view, Brit- ain has always been deeply ambiv- alent about Europe, going back at least to Henry VIII and his break with Rome. In the intervening 500 years, Britain has generally seen itself as less a part of Europe than an offshore island. The true historical anomaly was Britain’s EU membership with all the attendant transfer of sovereignty from Westminster to Brussels. Brexit was a rather brutal return to the extra-European norm, but the norm it is. The other notable populist vic- tory, the triumph of Trump, has also turned out to be less than meets the eye. He certainly ran as a populist AP Photo/Michel Euler French riot police advance as garbage containers overturned by pro- testers lie on a street during a demonstration by high school stu- dents against both presidential candidates, far-right Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Friday. and won as a populist but, a mere 100 days in, he is governing as a traditionalist. The Obamacare replacement proposals are traditional small-gov- ernment fixes. His tax reform is a follow-on to Reagan’s from 1986. His Supreme Court pick is a straight-laced, constitutional con- servative out of central casting. And his more notable executive orders read as a wish list of tradi- tional business-oriented conserva- tism from regulatory reform to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. The normalization of Trump is one indicator that there may be less to the populist insurrection than imagined. I happen to support all of these moves, but they don’t qualify as insurrectionist populism. The one exception may be trade policy. As of now, however, it remains ad hoc and idiosyncratic. Trump has made gestures and threats to those cun- ning Mexicans, Chinese and now Canadians. But it’s not yet clear if he is serious about, say, withdraw- ing from NAFTA or just engaging in a series of opening negotiating gambits. The softwood timber dispute with Canada is hardly new. It dates back 35 years. Every intervening administration has contested the terms of trade in various forums. A full-scale trade war with our lead- ing trading partner would indeed break new ground. Anything short of that, however, is the art of the deal. The normalization of Trump is one indicator that there may be less to the populist insurrection than imagined. The key, however, is Europe, where the stakes are infinitely higher. There the issue is the future of the nation state itself, as centuries of sovereignty dissolve within an expanding superstate. It influences every aspect of daily life — from the ethnic makeup of neighborhoods to the currency that changes hands at the grocery. The news from France, where Macron is openly, indeed osten- tatiously, pro-European (his cam- paign headquarters flies the EU flag) is that France is not quite pre- pared to give up on the great exper- iment. But the Europeanist elites had better not imagine this to be an enduring verdict. The populist revolt was a reaction to their reck- less and anti-democratic push for even greater integration. The task today is to address the sources of Europe’s economic stagnation and social alienation rather than blindly pursue the very drive that led to this precarious moment. If the populist threat turns out to have frightened the existing powers out of their arrogant complacency, it should be deemed a success. But make no mistake: The French elec- tion wasn’t a victory for the status quo. It was a reprieve. For now, the populist wave is not in retreat. It’s on pause. WHERE TO WRITE • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing- ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225- 0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District office: 12725 SW Millikan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax 503-326- 5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Wash- ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224- 3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@ state.or.us • State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@state. or.us District office: P.O. Box 928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/ boone/ • State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D): State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E., S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john- son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy- johnson.com District Office: P.O. Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone: 503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296. Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280. • Port of Astoria: Executive Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto- ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300. Email: admin@portofastoria.com • Clatsop County Board of Com- missioners: c/o County Manager, 800 Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.
