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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager OUR VIEW E ach week we recognize those people and organizations in the community deserving of public praise for the good things they do to make the North Coast a better place to live, and also those who should be called out for their actions. SHOUTOUTS GUEST COLUMN • Amanda Gladics, an extension fisheries manager with Oregon State University’s Oregon Sea Grant program, for orga- nizing and hosting the first ever Clatsop Commercial Fisheries Tour last week that showcased successful efforts to build and maintain a strong local fish- ing industry. The event attracted about 100 attendees, including representatives from local gov- ernment, fishing groups and state agencies as well as peo- ple from banks and investment groups. Two Oregon fish and Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Da Yang Seafood Processing wildlife commissioners and Plant Manager Chang Lee. right, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici holds up a fish during a com- mercial fisheries tour last week. also attended. They were intro- duced to fishermen working in Clatsop County’s Dungeness crab and groundfish fisheries and toured seafood plants and boat yards in Astoria. The over- all message was positive and industry members talked about the sustainability of Oregon’s fisheries, the economic bene- fit the industry provides to the community as a whole, and the good-paying jobs that still exist on boats and in fish processing plants. • The Seaside Aquarium, which celebrated its 80th anniver- sary during the Memorial Day weekend. The aquarium is home to a vast variety of Pacific Coast marine life, including 11 play- ful seals, and also serves in a critical role in the health and pro- tection of marine life, including high-profile rescues of whales, rare turtles and seals. • Participants and sponsors of the Tolovana Arts Colony’s quirky annual miniature golf tournament in Cannon Beach that recently raised more than $5,500 for the non-profit organiza- tion. The “Puttz” tournament had a record turnout with 75 par- ticipants and 13 business sponsors, who designed creative golf holes which were inside and outside of their businesses. The arts organization uses the money to provide workshops, art classes and cultural programming. • The Knappa High School baseball team, which staged a thrilling comeback to win the 2A/1A state baseball champion- ship last Friday against Reedsport. The Loggers were behind 9-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning before mount- ing a seven-run rally to take the title with a 10-9 victory. Reuben Acosta-Cruz’s walk-off single with the bases loaded sealed the Logger’s championship at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer. Knappa won the state title in 2015 and lost in the championship game last year. • The Ilwaco High School girls 4x200 meter relay team, which recently won the Washington Class 2B state title. The team of Eliza Bannister, Anessa Woodby, Alayna Marsh and Ebby McMullen won the race by nine 100ths of a second. The girls 4x400 meter relay team took second at the meet. On the boys side, Alex Kaino broke his own school record in the 300- meter hurdles and finished second at state. In Class 1B, Lilli Zimmerman of Naselle won the state championship in the shot put. The meet also marked the last for Naselle’s head coach, Debbie Deny, who is retiring after coaching track for 40 years, the past 16 as Naselle’s head coach. Prevention work gets big boost By SUSAN CODY Special to The Daily Astorian H ow does a community com- bat drug, alcohol and tobacco use by its youth? Empowering youth and adults is the answer, North Coast Prevention Works Coalition believes. “We want to empower people to feel like they have ownership over their community, and be part of the change,” said Carly Castaneda, program director for a Drug-Free Communities grant. The grant is for $125,000 for each of five years and renewable for another five years. Given to North Coast Prevention Works by the Oregon Community Foundation, it is funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This is the seventh year in a row that the coalition has applied for the grant. Now with the grant, the coalition has the staff and support it needs to provide education to youth and adults designed to help them live healthy lifestyles. “It can add $1.2 million to fight substance abuse in Astoria and Warrenton,” said Debbie Morrow, a member of the coalition, Warrenton School Board and the Way to Wellville Strategic Council. “Every kid deserves the oppor- tunity to achieve,” said Morrow. To that end, North Coast Prevention Works presented Youth Recognition Awards to students who have faced some sort of adversity, whether it is a learning disability, physical challenge, separation from parents or other setback, and still managed to thrive. The goal is to provide training so kids have confidence in what they know to stand in front of their peers and show what is acceptable behav- ior, Castaneda said. On May 25, about 50 people gathered at The Loft at the Red Building in Astoria to honor six students for their achievements and three adults as asset builders. Awards are given to residents of the grant focus area in Astoria and Warrenton. Youth Awards went to: • Abi Danen, Astoria High School • Jadelynn Pickering, AHS • Nayeli Lopez, AHS Submitted Photo Nayeli Lopez, left, holds her Youth Recognition Award. She was nom- inated by Maritza Beltran, right. • Landree Miethe, Warrenton High School • Alma Bolanos, WHS • Jeff Lafferty, WHS Asset Builder Award honors: • Mike Davis, Warrenton Grade School • Carrie Kaul, Astoria Middle School • Michael McClure, WGS The grant’s focus The Drug-Free Communities grant focuses on indirect services and capacity building in the community. It addresses the root causes and the environment in which substance abuse is happening, Castaneda said. The grant requires inclusion of 12 sectors, such as health care, law enforcement, youth groups, businesses, civic groups, nonprofits, media and others. One goal is to create listening sessions in Astoria and Warrenton to identify problems within each community and see what the landscape is, Morrow said. “We aim to bolster up people who are already doing the work, create better systems and policies that encourage healthier choices, resiliency and better quality of life for families,” Castaneda said. Morrow said positive change is organically happening with Way to Wellville, CHART, Connect the Dots and schools. “We now have money to help support and strengthen that work.” Substance abuse prevention reduces teen pregnancy, delinquency, mental health issues and the list goes on and on, Castaneda said. The Way to Wellville and its sponsor, Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization, encourages these efforts to create healthy lifestyles. In the fall, Vanessa Garner, the youth program coordinator, will create youth coalitions at Astoria and Warrenton high schools. “We want to put youth at the center,” said Castaneda. Castaneda’s experience at Ilwaco High School with a youth coalition had a positive impact on the commu- nity. Many adults did not know the laws or health impacts of marijuana on the brain. The youth coalition was trained, did research and gave presentations to the middle school and high school staffs along with the City Council. “It is dynamic when you give youth the opportunity to speak,” Castaneda said. Most students are doing good things, but they inter- nalize the negative images society thrusts upon them by focusing on the few who are misbehaving. It is more important to promote the good things that are happening than focus on the bad. “Youth are hungry to make change,” Castaneda said. “They can become the experts and train the adults.” Susan Cody, a former deputy managing editor of The Daily Asto- rian, works with Way to Wellville. LETTER TO THE EDITOR CALLOUTS • Individuals who passed counterfeit “movie” money in the Warrenton area in at least two reported incidents. Last week- end a Hammond resident reported receiving a counterfeit $20 bill during a garage sale, and discovered it when it came time to deposit the money. While the fake bill felt and looked real, it had the words “Motion Picture Use Only” printed on both sides, and it was also missing other security features like the holo- grams and security ribbons. Not long after, a Warrenton store owner reported receiving a counterfeit $50 bill with the same “Motion Picture Use Only” printing on it. Through surveil- lance video, police were able to obtain a snapshot of a man and woman as well as a vehicle they were in. Police located the pair and were told that they had received the bill as change from a different business. They agreed to return to the store and pay for their merchandise with other currency and the business owner also agreed to that resolution. Warrenton Police are urging any- one who may have received any of the counterfeit bills to con- tact them. Suggestions? Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about? Let us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a look. True community ne hundred years ago, Gearhart Park rejected its role as a short- term destination resort and declared itself the city of Gearhart, a true com- munity of permanent and seasonal homeowners and long-term renters. The short-term rental ordinance of 2016, passed by the Common Council of the city of Gearhart, reaf- firmed our collective commitment to maintaining that community: while grandfathering existing vacation rentals (a great compromise on their legal status), it aims at bringing the number of short-term rentals down to an increasingly manageable number, thus lessening over time the negative impacts on Gearhart residents, and taking a big step toward alleviating the housing crisis for long-term rent- ers and homebuyers. Last week, that strategy for reduc- ing short-term rentals and increasing the availability of permanent housing received approval from the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. For the first time in this state, and perhaps in the nation, a city’s stand against destruction of its community through profit-taking exploitation of its sin- O gle-family dwellings was success- fully defended at the state level. While this was a great victory for the city of Gearhart, it wasn’t the final battle. Even though the city’s law, carefully crafted by the Planning Commission and City Council with tons of public input over a three- year period, is already working with resounding success, a new threat looms on the horizon in the form of a petition to repeal and replace that law. Sponsored by California political strategist David Townsend, and cir- culated by Gearhart residents Sarah Nebeker and Joy Sigler, the petition contains window-dressing details (registration fee, telephone contacts, safety inspections, etc.) that make it appear similar to the city ordinance — though, unlike the city ordinance, with no penalties for violations. Permitted occupation is vastly increased, and the septic require- ments of the city ordinance are elim- inated; vacation rentals will be free to pollute the community’s ground- water and make a municipal sewer inevitable. Its core provision, however, undermines the main thing that the city’s ordinance achieves: the repeal and replace petition permits unlim- ited short-term rentals, regardless of sale of property, thus providing boundless opportunities for Vacasa, Airbnb, and other speculators already hungrily circling our community, eager to transform it back into the destination resort it had been before 1918. But the petitioners need a required number of signatures in order to put this initiative on the ballot. If you’ve already signed it by mistake, you’re entitled to ask them to remove your name. If you haven’t signed, they’ll be knocking on your door, and when they do, they won’t show you the details; instead, they’ll ask for your signatures, whether you’re for it or against it, “just to make sure the peo- ple get to vote.” At that point, ask yourselves, “Should the destruction of the Gear- hart community as we know it become a ballot measure, just so the people get to vote on it?” BILL BERG KENT SMITH Gearhart
