OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 2, 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
Rohne is our choice
for Port Position 2
B
rownsmead dairy farmer Dirk Rohne and commercial
fisherman Dick Hellberg are vying for the Port of Astoria
Position 2 seat. Each has a history of serving in elected
positions, and while both share some similar outlooks on the Port,
they have contrasting views on some of the
critical challenges it faces.
Rohne most recently served eight years on
the Clatsop County Commission and six years
on the Clatsop Community College Board.
Hellberg’s experience includes 12 years as a
Warrenton city commissioner and eight years
on the Warrenton-Hammond School District’s
board of directors.
Both Rohne and Hellberg have worked with
Dirk Rohne
professional staffs, and both say the ongoing
animosity between Port commissioners needs to stop. Both want
to bring stability to the commission, and both say Tongue Point
is an asset that could be developed with further
marine repair businesses. Both also say repair-
ing infrastructure is critical.
What separates them, though, are their
views on economic development. We believe
Rohne’s long-term vision better serves the
public and he gets our endorsement.
Rohne supports the Port’s airport bond pro-
posal, which would improve infrastructure and prepare it for
potential expansion. As part of the measure the Life Flight
Network’s facilities would be relocated and upgraded within
the airport property. Although Hellberg supports Life Flight, he
opposes the bond issue and says the Port’s tax dollars should be
directed to infrastructure repairs at its piers rather than at the air-
port. He sees the airport more as an industrial park that competes
with others in the region without a great chance of success.
Rohne, however, says expanding airport infrastructure can lay
a foundation to help attract aviation-related training businesses,
among others. He believes in economic development with finan-
cial diligence on projects that have reasonable chances of success.
To move forward, he says, the Port must create the environment in
which businesses will want to locate on Port property, whether it
be Tongue Point, the airport or other Port facilities along the river.
He advocates that the Port should actively seek those businesses
rather than wait for them to come to it.
We believe he’s right. Voters should elect Rohne to Position 2.
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Authors chronicle
Hood to Coast history
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Spence gets our nod
for Port’s Position 5
ot memories of Hood to Coast?
The iconic 197-mile
relay from Mount Hood to
Seaside has brought hundreds of
thousands of runners and their fam-
ilies to our city.
Authors Marc Spiegel and Art
Garner place the race in the league
of great Amer-
ican sporting
events. Its history
offers a colorful
path of personal-
ities, endurance
and community
involvement. Those who compete
often call it the “most magical”
experience of their lives. The sense
of team building and accomplish-
ment is akin to scaling a moun-
tain. “Art Garner and I are putting
together an upcoming book, ten-
tatively titled ‘Hood to Coast, An
Oral History of the Mother of All
Relays,’ ” Spiegel wrote in Feb-
ruary. “It will tell the story of the
relay through the words of partici-
pants, organizers, volunteers, spec-
tators, media and others involved
in the event that just completed its
35th year. We’re working together
with the Hood To Coast orga-
nization, and we’re compiling
short personal stories and remem-
brances of the event. Obviously, we
would love to hear from individu-
als from Seaside and the surround-
ing areas that may have stories to
share about their Hood to Coast
experiences.”
he contest for the Port of Astoria Commission Position 5
seat pits retiree Frank Spence against auto and marine repair
shop owner Pat O’Grady. Both seek office for the first time.
Spence, however, gets our endorsement for his vision and
wealth of public service as a former city man-
ager and county administrator over a 45-year
span in other areas of the country. Locally, he
serves as an Astoria planning commissioner
and has been on the Port’s Budget Committee
for three years.
Spence’s long experience of working with
elected boards and his skills of constructive
teamwork would be a valuable asset on a com-
Frank Spence
mission that has been in the headlines too
many times for the wrong reasons.
During his career he has worked overseas, giving him a bet-
ter perspective of how the Port can figure into the global economy.
He says Port commissioners have focused on the little things and
not on the bigger picture, and he says economic development and
improving aged infrastructure should be top priorities.
Having been on the “other side of the table” as a professional
reporting to elected boards, Spence says Port commissioners
shouldn’t bypass the chain of command by reaching out directly to
staff rather than working through the Port’s executive director.
Spence also favors the Port’s airport bond proposal to expand
infrastructure, to better prepare it for economic development,
and to move the Life Flight Network operation to new facili-
ties. He believes Tongue Point can be a “diamond in the rough,”
and says commissioners need to spend more time determining its
possibilities.
Spence’s opponent, O’Grady, wants to be a stabilizing force, but
has a philosophy of “taking care of what we have before expand-
ing.” Although he firmly supports Life Flight, he is against the
bond issue because he doesn’t see a return on the investment. The
money, he says, should be used on other projects. O’Grady has
served on a variety of local advisory committees and also on the
county planning commission.
O’Grady’s outlook, however, focuses more on the status quo
than the future, and we believe Spence has a better vision of what
can lie ahead. Voters should elect Spence.
Anyone who’s spent late August
in Seaside knows that not everyone
is a fan of Hood to Coast.
“It’s not been two years, not
three years, but 15 years of contin-
uous debate,” Seaside’s John Chap-
man said at a 2015 Hood to Coast
workshop presented by the city. “I
encourage you to listen to our busi-
ness people.”
In 2015, the city came close to
giving the storied race the boot,
after merchants complained about
rude, unruly crowds, litter and a
lack of communication between
the city and organizers. The run
was marred by heavy winds that
diverted the finish line from the
beach to the Prom — herding run-
ners and visitors downtown.
The conversation became so
stormy that the city had to think
twice before renewing the contract
with race organizers.
“Although the Seaside Cham-
ber of Commerce and many of the
area’s lodging facilities benefit
financially, many of us year-round
business owners feel that the over-
all impact of hosting this massive
event during the busy summer tour-
ist season is negative,” wrote 74
business owners in a letter deliv-
ered to the City Council.
As trouble-ridden as 2015 was,
2016 went off without a hitch.
Weather held and celebrities joined
newly minted Prefontaines on the
197-mile track. Comedian and
actor Kevin Hart ran on the Nike
team and Olympians Ashton Eaton,
Brianne Theisen-Eaton, Josh Cox
and Lopez Lomong kicked up the
sand for Team World Vision.
They were four of 17,000 par-
ticipants in the race, quite a number
considering Seaside’s regular pop-
ulation is less than a third that.
T
G
Submitted Photo
Author Marc Spiegel’s 2016 Image team at the Ashore Hotel.
At times, a rocky path
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Massage therapists helped runners fight cramps and fatigue in the
early Hood to Coast races in Seaside.
Inspirational documentary
A recreational runner, Spiegel
first heard about Hood to Coast at
the South by Southwest film fest
in Austin, Texas, when the docu-
mentary “Hood to Coast” made its
debut in 2010.
“My wife said, ‘We have to do
this event,’” Spiegel said from his
home in North Carolina. “I said,
‘Sure.’ We applied and didn’t get
in. On the third time, in 2014, we
got into the race, and we decided
to do it.”
Spiegel has run each race since.
“I think every year it gets better,”
he said.
He and co-author Garner liked
the format of their previous book,
“Indy 500 Memories: An Oral His-
tory of the Greatest Spectacle in
Racing,” and were ready for a new
project.
When Hood to Coast organiz-
ers gave the project their stamp
of approval, the authors began the
process of collecting memories:
from volunteers and spectators to
journalists and celebrities.
Their first stop in the project
began with an interview with race
founder Bob Foote, a 35-time mar-
athoner and 13-time ultra-mara-
thon runner. Foote’s concept was a
run from Mount Hood to the beach.
A group of Foote’s running friends
and competitors would form relay
teams, handing off every 5 miles,
starting at Timberline Lodge on
Mount Hood and finishing in
Pacific City.
Over the years, countless love
matches have been made, Spie-
gel said, including a proposal at
the finish line. A local restaura-
teur recalled preparing 100 pizzas
in an hour. A mother and daughter
shared their experiences of running
together.
Hood to Coast stirred excite-
ment “from the first whisper of the
event coming to Seaside,” the Sea-
side Signal wrote in 1989, with
predictions of “enough visitors to
populate a moderately sized city.”
Between 12,000 and 15,000 vis-
itors came to Seaside that year,
after race organizers met with city
officials in February for prepa-
rations. Among the novel fea-
tures was the participation of more
than 20 licensed massage techni-
cians brought to the event by van,
some of them from as far away as
Roseburg.
If you were there back then,
you probably remember the
dominance of a running team
known as the Killer B’s. They won
the race five of the first six years
in Seaside. I hope one of their
members steps forward with some
stories.
*Share your 500- to 1,000-
word reminiscences and photos at
hoodtocoastmemories.com or on
Facebook, at www.facebook.com/
hoodtocoastmemories.
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori-
an’s South County reporter and edi-
tor of the Seaside Signal and Can-
non Beach Gazette.