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