FRIDAY EXCHANGE
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017
Disturbing terminology
with its southwest coastal citizens,
and again has dissolved the commit-
tee (“County dissolves Arch Cape
design panel,” The Daily Asto-
rian, May 25). So far, the county
has spent many thousands of dollars
defending appeals — which they
lost — from county residents who
simply want to be heard. This is nei-
ther prudent fiscal management, nor
good governance.
The board could easily start
negotiations with southwest coastal
citizens about the role of the com-
mittee, and listen to residents’ con-
cerns about having a means of par-
ticipating in decisions affecting their
region. But the county continues to
refuse all overtures.
Southwest coastal residents want
to know what is happening in their
region, and they want their gov-
ernment in Astoria to hear what
they have to say. Why is the county
ignoring their pleas?
RICHARD and CATHERINE
DONOFRIO
Arch Cape
ound-up” is a term used for
bunnies, cows, animals not
for people. I resent this dehuman-
izing terminology being used about
people, our people.
I also find the term “faithless
elector” to be an absurd construct
to undermine the electors’ integrity.
An elector’s oath is to the Constitu-
tion of the U.S. first and foremost,
to one’s God and personal integ-
rity and then, and only then, to one’s
“party.”
Beware Americans. You have
been duped once again by a Rus-
sian rigged social media discussion
during the election campaigns, and
by at least $143-plus million of pro-
paganda money from the alt-right
political action committee money.
The present self-appointed
spokesperson for the U.S. does not
trust or consult with the U.S. FBI,
CIA, Justice Department, Congress
or the Constitution of the U.S. He
wants a back-door, secret channel
to consult Putin. The content of the
messages, he doesn’t want the U.S.
intelligence or government to know
about. He has multiple personal
monetary ties with Russia. Is he the
spokesman for the U.S. or Russian
interests?
MONICA TAYLOR
Astoria
‘R
Submitted Photo
Miss Oregon, Alexis Mather, left, and the 1957 Miss Oregon, Judith (Hansen) Gabrielson, met at a
special gathering held May 29.
Two Miss Oregons meet
Glancing blow
att Winters’ most recent col-
umn in the Coast River Busi-
ness Journal didn’t quite hit the
nail on the head, but he did deliver
a glancing blow, warning that “too
much housing dedicated only to
seasonal use has a tendency of hol-
lowing out communities.”
I don’t believe that was too harsh
a criticism, but if we scratch a bit
deeper, we can point to the runaway
proliferation of short stay vacation
rentals in every resort town, Astoria
included, as a primary cause for the
loss of affordable housing for the
people who live and work here. And
please, there is no off-season. Every
municipality stages events all year
long to hustle more and more visi-
tors to this area.
Regulating vacation rentals
ought to be seen as a cover for per-
mitting commercial activities in
a residential zone. There goes the
neighborhood. Absentee owners are
prone to see their property’s income
potential, so for a nominal fee and
with cursory inspections, a license
to operate will be granted.
When lodging taxes are lev-
ied and revenues accepted, the
municipality becomes complicit
in this commerce, and its delete-
rious effect. This goose is laying
golden eggs, so when I read of all
the hand-wringing over the “hous-
ing crunch” my eyes roll. There is a
hollowing out. It is the gulf between
the haves and the have-nots, and
why must bad things seem always
to get worse?
GARY DURHEIM
Seaside
am happy to announce that
recently there was a wonderful
meeting between the current Miss
Oregon, Alexis Mather, and the
1957 Miss Oregon, Judith (Han-
sen) Gabrielson, both of whom
graduated from Astoria High
School: Alexis in 2013, and Jo in
1956.
After doing a lot of phone calls
around the North Coast, and with
help from some wonderful indi-
viduals who responded to my let-
ter to the editor in The Daily Asto-
rian, we were able to locate Jo in
Hillsboro. She is 79 years young,
and doing quite well in an assist-
ed-living residence.
This special gathering
occurred on Monday, May 29. Jo
invited Alexis and myself to join
her and a few of her friends and
I
M
Post office woes
t was the day after Memorial Day,
and I had to go to the post office
to buy some stamps. I parked my
car, got out, walked up the stairs and
entered the post office. As I opened
the door, I found that the line of cus-
tomers extended from the counter to
those very doors. When I gazed up
the line, to see what the holdup was,
I discovered that there was only one
employee serving all the customers.
It took about a half hour to reach
the counter, and when I did attain
that hallowed position, I queried the
poor, haggard individual who was
helping postal patrons as to why this
facility was so understaffed on such
a heavy volume day. The counter
person replied that she was not
alone, there were several employees
there; however, there was a lot to do
in the back, so the rest of them were
doing that.
So here is what I don’t under-
stand: Why, when the worst mar-
ket in the country can call another
checker to help reduce the length
of the line during peak periods, can
the post office not tear an employee
or two away from sorting mail long
enough to assist patrons who need
to use their services in a timely
fashion?
Is this just another example of
government agencies run amok?
The post office moans about hav-
ing to raise rates because the private
companies, even though they charge
more, are taking a larger and larger
share of the business. Is it per-
haps because companies like UPS
and Federal Express actually have
some empathy for their custom-
ers, and attempt to make their mail-
ing experience as efficient as pos-
sible, whereas that is not the case
at the post office? Perhaps some-
one should explain to the postmas-
ter that the post office employees
are not doing the customer a favor
by helping them; it is the customer
who is
I
5A
actually protecting the postal
employee’s job, and helping them
by using this service.
I could be wrong.
DAVID GRAVES
Astoria
family for a wonderful lunch and
dessert. Those in attendance were
Linda Walker Trenholm, Bev and
Roger Collin, Chelsea Miller and
me.
Alexis and Jo shared many sto-
ries, and took quite a few photos,
during their time together. Judith
brought out her large scrapbook
from her reign. It was filled with
amazing photos and memora-
bilia. Later during our stay, Alexis
sang the song that she performed
at the Miss America competition
last September, an aria from Puc-
cini’s “Turandot.”
Alexis’ singing had special
meaning for Jo; she also sang
opera for her talent at the 1957
Miss America pageant. Soon after,
Jo brought forth her Miss Amer-
ica semi-finalist trophy. It was
challenges, trials and decisions. We
need to find chains that don’t break,
and anchors that hold, to keep our
human crafts safe and secure when
the storms of life blow.
JIM BERNARD
Warrenton
Hardball
y son is in third grade. He
signed up to play baseball
with Seaside Kids Inc. this year. He
did T-ball with Seaside Kids for two
years. This was supposed to be his
first time playing real baseball.
On April 27 we took him to
what we thought was a baseball
game, but when he went to play
his coaches told him he was not on
the team anymore because he was
not skilled enough, and they only
wanted skilled baseball players on
the team he was assigned to. They
did this in front of his teammates,
and humiliated him in public, and
made him feel like a failure.
My son, who used to love to
play baseball, now does not want to
have anything to do with baseball
ever again. It has broken my heart
to have to tell my child that he is not
a failure as a person, and that what
happened to him was not his fault.
My son did his best at practices,
and never gave up. The coaches
gave up on him because he appar-
ently did not play like a professional
baseball player. I thought sports was
supposed to be a fun experience for
kids to learn how to play a game,
and to learn about teamwork, and
develop a love of the sport. I was
sadly mistaken.
It breaks my heart that my hus-
band and I never got to go see him
play games, and cheer him on. It
hurts that my son feels like he does
not deserve to be on any team at
Seaside Kids Inc. unless he is a
perfect player, who never makes
mistakes.
KINDWYN HOGE
Seaside
M
Storms of life
everal years ago I was on a voy-
age from Portland to Busan,
Korea, on a Liberty Ship. It was
during the Korean War. As we
entered Busan Harbor, a terrific
typhoon was having its final blast.
We were attempting to anchor.
The captain gave the command
to “drop the port anchor.” You could
hear the clanging on the anchor
chain as it rolled down through the
hawse pipe. Then, what a shock —
because of the remaining strong
wind, the anchor chain parted. Fran-
tically, the captain shouted out,
“drop the starboard anchor,” and to
our relief, it held.
Each day, each one of us face
S
‘Rescuing’ cats?
agree that for Kathryn St. Claire
to have served time in jail would
prove ineffective (“Woman who
hoarded cats in car pleads guilty to
neglect,” The Daily Astorian, June
1); however, probation succeeds
only if the offender is responsible
for adhering to the terms and condi-
tions recommended by the court.
I would not be shocked if I were
to read that, yet again, this woman
has accumulated another hundred
or so cats. History has demonstrated
that people on probation often-
times skip town and commit similar
crimes elsewhere.
Perhaps a more appropriate sen-
tence for this offender would be
for her to witness the euthanizing
of so many cats she said she was
“rescuing.”
JAN ROBERTS
Astoria
I
New revenue
here are only five weeks left for
members of the Oregon Leg-
islature to demonstrate their com-
mitment to our public education
system. As a member of the Clat-
sop Community College Board of
Directors, I am counting on them to
resolve Oregon’s $1.4 billion bud-
get deficit by passing new revenue
legislation.
Without such bold leadership
from our elected officials, the defi-
cit could raise college tuition rates
across the state, and push higher
education further out of reach for
our current and prospective stu-
dents. Our legislators must choose
between passing a new revenue
package and holding corporations
accountable, or continuing the sta-
tus quo, which unfairly balances
our state budget on the backs of stu-
dents, families and local businesses.
For me, the choice is an easy
one. Since Oregon has one of
the lowest corporate tax rates in
the nation, our legislators have a
responsibility to make sure large
corporations pay their fair share.
Oregon is booming, and we cannot
afford cuts to education that put our
bright future at risk.
With our current budget, stu-
dents at our community colleges
are genuinely concerned about the
cost of their academic futures, and
whether they will need to put their
T
very impressive!
It was a memorable day for
everyone involved. To get these
two amazing and beautiful ladies
together was very special. I would
like to thank everyone involved
who made this meeting possi-
ble. It was a day to remember.
We are proud of both Alexis and
Jo for being such amazing Miss
Oregons.
There is a distinct possibility
that Jo will be joining the festivi-
ties on July 1 in Seaside, for this
year’s Miss Oregon pageant. It
would be great to see many fam-
ily, friends and supporters at the
event, as Alexis bids farewell to
a wonderful reign as this year’s
Miss Oregon.
DAN FOSS
Instructor, Astoria High School
education on hold. Oregonians
value education and our state’s bud-
get should reflect that. It is now up
to our legislators, like state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, to take decisive
action and adequately invest in our
schools and colleges.
TESSA JAMES SCHELLER
Warrenton
Farm to School
e are writing to express our
strong support for HB 2038,
the Farm to School Bill, which
would maintain funding, in the
form of grants administered by Ore-
gon Department of Education, to
reimburse school districts for their
purchases of Oregon-grown and
Oregon-processed foods and for
food-based, agriculture-based or
garden-based educational activities.
Elimination of this funding
would be unacceptable. This valu-
able program encourages healthy
eating and connects students with
where their food comes from and
how it is grown, not to mention
the support it provides to Oregon’s
farms and food businesses.
During the 2016-17 school year,
Food Roots provided 565 students
across three school districts with
over 310 hours of hands-on nutri-
tion, gardening and agriculture edu-
cation. This was made possible due
to support received by the Depart-
ment of Education’s Farm to School
grant. This is in addition to events
like schoolwide Tasting Tables,
farmer visits to classrooms, field
trips to local farms and after school
and summer programming. Without
support from this grant, these stu-
dents would not have had access to
this programming.
LAUREN SORG
Executive director, Food Roots
Tillamook
W
Ignoring South County
n February 2016, the Clatsop
County Board of Commission-
ers dissolved the southwest coastal
region’s long-standing Citizens
Advisory Committee. This was
done without notice to affected citi-
zens, or an opportunity to be heard.
That decision was appealed to the
Land Use Board of Appeals, which
found errors in the county’s process.
In September 2016, after hun-
dreds of area residents and property
owners voiced their support for con-
tinuing the committee in some form,
the Board of Commissioners again
voted for dissolution. Again the
decision was appealed, and again
errors were found in the county’s
process.
Now for a third time, the board
has refused to meet and negotiate
I
Subsidize
n response to “City water custom-
ers could help pay for parks,” The
Daily Astorian, June 6:
Wow! Only $3 more per month
on our teensie ’lil water bill. Why
doesn’t the city of Astoria just sell
the excess parks? Lots of folks in
the area don’t buy city water, and
will get a free ride on seniors and
those on a fixed income. Maybe the
actual park users should pay for the
use.
Second comment: Garbage
pickup of yard debris, glass, etc.,
should be paid by the actual users.
As seniors, living on a small lot, we
don’t generate more than our single
can’s worth. We’re not too willing
to subsidize the big debris produc-
ers. It was fine before taking excess
over the hill.
DICK DARBY
Astoria
I
OK to be smart
any Americans eagerly hurl
the word “expert” as a nasty
epithet. To disagree is to disrespect.
To correct another is an insult. And
to refuse to acknowledge all views
as worthy of consideration, no mat-
ter how fantastic or inane they are,
is to be closed-minded.
We Americans face a big prob-
lem. Some people think they’re
bright when in fact they’re not very
bright at all. Case in point: Trump’s
ascendancy in 2016 was undeniably
one of the loudest trumpets sound-
ing the impending death of exper-
tise. Rather than being shamed by
his displays of willful, persistence
ignorance, Trump exulted in it.
Unable to string together a
coherent sentence or come up with
a clear thought, Trump connected
with a particular kind of voter who
believes that “knowing” about sub-
jects like global warming is just so
much pointy-headed claptrap. Those
voters not only didn’t care that
Trump was ignorant or wrong. They
likely were unable to recognize his
ignorance or errors.
So, not surprisingly, Trump’s
strongest support in 2016 was con-
centrated among people with low
levels of education. “I love the
poorly educated,” Trump exulted
after winning the Feb. 24 Nevada
caucuses, and that love was clearly
reciprocated.
You’d think that Trump’s attack
on expertise and his obsession with
destroying the meaning of meaning
could not work. After all, we Ameri-
cans are clear-eyed, sensible people,
right? Surely, clear-eyed Americans
see his rhetoric for what it is — a
verbal three-card Monte game.
I’m not so sure about that. But
I do value experts who understand
that average citizens are rarely on an
equal intellectual footing with dip-
lomats and doctors. And I side with
experts who repudiate the ridiculous
notion that all voices, even the most
ludicrous, should be taken with
equal seriousness.
Let’s side with the experts. It’s
OK to be smart. I’m a proud radi-
cal factualist. And the only bumper
sticker I proudly display reads: “In
Reason We Trust.”
ROBERT BRAKE
Ocean Park, Washington
M
Legally armed
fter reading about and watch-
ing continuous TV news cover-
age of the atrocity that occurred last
week at the Portland TriMet stop,
I tried to imagine what could have
been done for things to turn out dif-
ferently. I finally decided that there
probably would have been a com-
pletely different outcome if one of
those good Samaritans had a con-
cealed-carry permit, and was legally
armed.
By the way, the story made Peo-
ple Magazine.
WILLIAM BELL
Astoria
A