9A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017
WORLD IN BRIEF
Associated Press
May’s UK election gamble
backfires as Tories lose majority
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The Sunset Empire Transit Center has become one of the preferred places to hang out for the local homeless population.
Homelessness: The transit center’s
ordinance will take effect June 24
Continued from Page 1A
‘Nice place’
Astoria’s personality, tem-
perate weather and small pop-
ulation tend to draw temporary
crowds of homeless people
from out of town, especially
during the summer months.
“It’s got its own groove,”
said Elaine Bruce, the execu-
tive director of Clatsop Com-
munity Action. “It’s a nice
place to be homeless.”
When people come to town
without their own transpor-
tation, their first stop is often
the transit center. As is the
case in many communities,
the transit center — remodeled
and reopened in 2004 — can
become a hub for people with-
out local shelter once they step
off the bus.
“We’re one of the favor-
ite hangout spots,” Jeff Hazen,
the transit district’s executive
director, said. “It was designed
as a clean, safe place for fam-
ilies to use. Over time, that
increasing transient population
has been taking over.”
Hazen has worked for the
transit district for about 2 1/2
years after a career in retail.
When he first began his new
career, he said he developed
relationships with homeless
people near the center. These
people would report to him
whenever they witnessed any
criminal or unruly behavior.
But those people have since
moved on, he said.
Now his “gut feeling” is
that he will not be able to
establish the same rapport with
the current crop of homeless.
Recent problems at the tran-
sit center involve people using
bathroom sinks as showers,
adults gathering in children’s
play areas, lice infestation and
loud music. Criminal behav-
ior, such as assault, is also
common.
Homeless people with con-
nections to the community
have a natural incentive to be
good citizens since they were
born here, have families and
went to school in the area,
but simply fell on hard times,
Birdeno said. But the changing
demographics have brought a
host of challenges.
“I think it’s an issue. I don’t
know the answer,” Birdeno
said. “You move them from
one area and they go to another
area.”
Hazen began drafting an
ordinance several months ago
ABOVE: Areas near the Astoria Riverwalk and the transit center are popular with the
homeless in summer months. BELOW: Complaints about noise related to the homeless
population in Astoria have also increased in recent months.
designed to regulate a wide
range of behaviors — includ-
ing body odor and use of
shopping carts — at the tran-
sit center and on buses. The
ordinance was passed unani-
mously by the transit district’s
Board of Commissioners last
month.
The transit center’s ordi-
nance will officially take effect
June 24, and Hazen plans to
hire a private security team
to enforce the rules at the
beginning.
While the transit center
has always had a loose set of
guidelines governing conduct,
the ordinance gives police
more teeth to trespass someone
from the property, Hazen said.
He compares it to the Astoria
Police Department’s Property
Watch program downtown. A
response to aggressive pan-
handling, the program encour-
ages businesses to post signs
on the front of properties with
banned activities so that police
can trespass violators after
business hours.
Trespass complaints
Astoria Dispatch received
more than five times more tres-
pass calls and more than twice
the number of abandoned junk
calls in 2016 than in 2012.
While trespass complaints
often center on people camp-
ing outside storefronts, police
responded multiple times in
the past year to people living
in recreational vehicles on city
streets.
“Where you see the higher
numbers of these calls is gen-
erally from the transient popu-
lation,” Halverson said.
Programs and polices such
as Property Watch and the
transit center ordinance may
be steps in addressing the
issue. Bruce said she supports
both but cautions against stig-
matizing homeless people.
Only about 5 percent of the
homeless population are caus-
ing the problems, she said. The
rest are either victims them-
selves or often shoulder the
blame for the minority.
Stereotypes about the
homeless are becoming less
valid as more families and chil-
dren struggle to find housing.
“There are different tiers
of homelessness,” Bruce said.
“Most of them look like you
and me.”
As for the small percent-
age of homeless people that do
commit crimes and act unruly,
Bruce said, “They’re the ones
that make everyone look bad.”
Port: ‘This is an attack on a commissioner’
Continued from Page 1A
“It is disconcerting, at
the least, that Commissioner
Hunsinger has chosen to make
false representations and
accusations regarding mat-
ters that have long ago been
resolved by the commission,”
Knight wrote. “Commissioner
Hunsinger’s wrongful attack
on our employee creates a hos-
tile work environment for all
of our employees. Addition-
ally, Commissioner Hunsinger
continues to significantly inter-
fere with my ability to manage
the Port.”
At a Wednesday Port
Budget Committee meet-
ing, Hunsinger said the Port
should increase its proposed
legal expenses to help cover
Jensen’s legal costs. He again
denied any involvement in the
complaint.
“This is an attack on a com-
missioner,” Hunsinger said of
Knight’s letter, “and this will
be the last attack on me, I guar-
antee you.”
Past accusations
Knight previously accused
Hunsinger of “unprofessional,
threatening and bullying tac-
tics” after a phone call in
March between the two men,
who both live near Knappa. In
a memo to the Port Commis-
sion, Knight said Hunsinger
commented during the phone
call that there were “a lot of
bad guys that are near where
I live and that there is a lot
of illegal activities — like
drug running.” Knight said
Hunsinger told him he needed
to be careful and should “get
a gun and a concealed weap-
ons permit because you never
know, bad things can hap-
pen and you need to protect
yourself.”
Knight said it was the third
time he’s registered complaints
about Hunsinger, although no
complaints have been filed
against Hunsinger with the
Oregon Government Ethics
Commission. Knight has said
he will call 911 if Hunsinger is
seen at his home and will only
meet with Hunsinger publicly
or with witnesses and at a loca-
tion of his choice.
Sheriff Tom Bergin said
the phone conversation was
concerning, but not criminal.
Mushen called the episode a
“tempest in a teapot,” and said
he would take no action.
LONDON — Spectacularly punished by voters who took
away her majority in parliament, a politically wounded The-
resa May sought to soldier today as Britain’s prime minister,
resisting pressure to resign after the failure of her high-stakes
election gamble made the massive challenge of untangling
Britain from the European Union only more complex and
uncertain.
Having called an early election in hopes of getting an
increased majority that could have strengthened her hand in
Britain’s exit talks with the EU, May instead saw her major-
ity evaporate completely — leaving her fortunes hanging by
a thread.
Still, rather than resign, May clung to the hope that her
Conservatives might still be able to govern by making deals
with another party or group of parties. She was planning to
seek Queen Elizabeth II’s approval — a largely symbolic step
— to form a government later today.
The shock result and the prospect that the EU will now
be negotiating with a shaky British government cast dark
clouds over the Brexit negotiations just 10 days before they
are due to start. The pound lost more than 3 cents against the
dollar.
With 649 of 650 seats in the House of Commons declared,
May’s bruised Conservatives had 318 seats — short of the
326 they needed for an outright majority and well down from
the 330 seats they had before May’s roll of the electoral dice.
Labour has 261.
Distrust of Trump marks Comey’s
testimony about his firing
WASHINGTON — Former FBI Director James Comey
laid bare months of White House distrust, accusing the admin-
istration at an extraordinary open hearing of spreading “lies”
and bluntly asserting that President Donald Trump had fired
him to interfere with an investigation of Russia’s ties to the
Trump campaign.
At his first congressional appearance since his abrupt firing
last month, Comey revealed that he’d orchestrated the public
release of information about his private conversations with the
president in an effort to further the investigation.
Comey’s testimony, at a hugely anticipated hearing that
captured the country’s attention, provided a gripping account
of his interactions with Trump and underscored the discord
that had soured their relationship.
He portrayed Trump as a chief executive dismissive of the
FBI’s independence and made clear that he interpreted Trump’s
request to end an investigation into his former national secu-
rity adviser as an order coming from the president.
Though Republicans worked to discredit Comey and to
blunt the impact of his testimony, the ex-director’s statement
deepened questions about the basis for his May 9 dismissal
and about whether Trump’s actions constituted obstruction of
justice. The veteran lawman expressed confidence that could
be a matter ripe for investigation by special counsel Robert
Mueller, though he declined to offer an opinion on whether it
met such a threshold.
Analysis: Trump’s credibility
is Comey’s primary target
WASHINGTON — For three hours, former FBI Director
James Comey leveled an unrelenting attack on the credibility
of the president of the United States.
The White House’s statements were “lies, plain and sim-
ple.” Comey took notes on their conversations because he
worried the president “might lie” later. After a while, he said,
he so distrusted the man running the country that he did not
want to be left alone with him.
It was a riveting, televised portrait of President Don-
ald Trump, one unrivaled in recent memory for its poten-
tial to undermine a presidency. Comey’s message, delivered
in meticulous detail, amounted to a challenge to lawmakers,
the public and the special counsel now investigating possible
links between Trump’s campaign and Russia: Whose account
do you believe — the nation’s former top law enforcement
official testifying under oath or a president with a record of
skirting the truth on issues big and small?
The answer to that question ultimately may not impact the
outcome of the FBI and congressional Russia probes, and it
may not move Republican lawmakers any closer to a dramatic
break from their party leader. But it could leave the president
in a perilously weak political position not yet five months into
his term.
“A president cannot communicate effectively if their trust
tank is full of holes and credibility has leaked out all over
the political landscape,” said Matthew Dowd, who served as
chief strategist for President George W. Bush’s re-election
campaign.
Bill: ‘I think we are just
focusing on the symptoms
and not really the problem’
Continued from Page 1A
The
Senate
major-
ity leader said reasons for
opposing the bill vary from
person to person.
“A lot of it is fully under-
standing what is being talked
about. That is part of chal-
lenge here. There have been
compelling arguments on
behalf of tenants and also
compelling arguments on
other side. It’s our job as
the Legislature is to work
through those.”
All of the Republicans in
the Senate are opposed to the
bill, according to the Senate
Republicans Office.
At least two Senate Dem-
ocrats also have indicated
they plan to vote no. Sen.
Rod Monroe, D-Portland,
still opposes the bill, accord-
ing to his office.
“I think we are just focus-
ing on the symptoms and not
really the problem. I am try-
ing to focus the Legislature
on the real issues, which is
supply and demand issues,”
said Sen. Tim Knopp,
R-Bend.
Knopp said the legislation
already has had a negative
effect on the rental supply.
He said he knows of land-
lords who have advertised
their properties for sale after
hearing about the bill.
“Almost all of the sales
will put rentals in the
owner-occupied market,” he
said.
Some of the sticking
points in the bill are no-cause
eviction and how to address
landlord abuses without
penalizing all landlords.
“We are struggling with
how to prevent the abuses
that have occurred. Really
my goal is to focus on the
abuses and try to deal with
those in a way that is least
disruptive of responsible
landlords,” Burdick said.