Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2017)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017 FRIDAY EXCHANGE 5A Quick police response I just wanted to publicly thank the Astoria Police Department for responding so quickly and effi- ciently to my call last night about a loud, disturbing man outside our apartment building in the middle of the night. I am so grateful that we have access to the police, who are there to help with a disturbing situ- ation at just the punch of a few but- tons. You make me feel safe and set my mind at ease. Thank you for all you do, APD. I appreciate you and know that without you, my life, and many others’, would not be quite as comfortable or safe. ERIN MOORE Astoria Homes, not motels W ith permanent housing in short supply countywide, the Gearhart City Council did well to pass the 2016 ordinance regulating and gradually phasing down short- term rentals. The beneficial result can already be seen: an increase in permanent residency, including long-term rentals. According to state law, a short- term rental is for 30 days or less; locally, most short-term rentals are for the equivalent of a weekend, and can occur one after the other in the same house, in a series of dis- ruptions to the surrounding neigh- borhood that include noise (loud parties, barking dogs, gunning engines, etc.), invasion of neigh- bors’ privacy, crowded on-street parking and traffic hazards, not to mention the silent hazards of lit- tered garbage, overloaded septic systems and accelerated pollution of groundwater throughout the city. Short-term rentals contribute noth- ing to the “diversity” of the com- munity; on the contrary, they shat- ter the very idea of community in a neighborhood. By contrast, long-term rent- als provide permanent housing for those who wish to settle in Gearhart for a month or more, to live and perhaps to earn a living wage within the Clatsop County economy, and to become good neighbors to nearby permanent residents. Renting out the family cot- tage for a month or more is a tradi- tional and viable means of covering the costs of ownership for sea- sonal Gearhart homeowners. Unlike the problematic case of short-term rentals, no special regulations are required by the city, since those long-term rentals are considered a residential, noncommercial use. The “repeal and replace” peti- tion now being promoted in Gearhart — the so-called “Gearhart Vacation Rental Ordinance Initia- tive” — if successful, would repeal the 2016 law that the City Council had worked on for so many years with so much public input. The petition is a direct assault on city government, second-guessing the dedicated work of elected rep- resentatives: it would allow every single-family dwelling in Gearhart to be commercialized as a short- term rental, with little or no regula- tion as compared with the existing 2016 ordinance. The quiet small- town atmosphere of Gearhart would quickly disappear as the town trans- formed itself into a destination resort. Citizens of Gearhart, please don’t let that happen. The “repeal and replace” initiative can only ben- efit absentee landlords who will profit from turning homes into motels. NANCY DERRAH Gearhart Marching for equality ecently I flew to Washington, D.C., to join friends and peo- ple from around the globe for the National Equality March, which was combined with the DC Pride weekend. The march highlighted peacefully the resistance to Presi- dent Donald Trump’s rollback on important policies on immigrants, gay rights and people of color. It was an awesome sight to see, thou- sands upon thousands of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and friends marching for change. I enjoyed the opportunity to hold my sign, “Bigotry is not an Amer- ican value,” in front of the White House. I have Muslim, Jewish and people of color friends, who fear the negativity directed toward them in this current state of affairs. For them, I marched and endured 100 degree heat, gladly. It was a big surprise when I ran into former Astorian Chris Lang, a filmmaker who lives out- side of Washington, while at the National Museum of Art. Chris worked at the T. Paul’s Urban Cafe in high school and college sum- mers. It was a great cap to a great weekend. PAUL FLUES Astoria R Roadkill vs. slaughter O regon recently passed a law allowing people to eat road- kill (“Oregon joins states where roadkill can be harvested for food,” The Daily Astorian, June 22.). The thought understandably makes some people squeamish, but if one wishes to eat animal flesh, then it’s far more ethical to eat animals who were accidentally killed on high- ways than those who are killed in slaughterhouses. Unlike cows, chickens and pigs, most animals who are killed on roads have lived a free life and died a fast, unexpected death. Animals raised for food, on the other hand, are confined to filthy, crowded cages, crates and sheds. They never breathe fresh air or feel the warmth of the sun on their backs. They’re torn away from their loved ones, and many are castrated, branded, debeaked or subjected to other painful procedures. At the slaugh- terhouse, they’re often scalded or dismembered while they’re still conscious. If the thought of supporting such cruelty makes you sick to your stomach, then opt for roadkill, or, better yet, tasty vegan foods. See www.PETA.org for free vegan reci- pes and product suggestions. HEATHER MOORE PETA Foundation Norfolk, Virginia Fee is wrong I do not support attaching any fee not related to sewer and water to the sewer and water bill without the consent of the customers. You might think that balancing the parks’ bud- get is more important than democ- racy, but I do not. If people short-pay their water bills and then file as a class action, that will not save the city any money. Adverse impacts on our credit ratings is actual damage, with persistent financial impact on access to credit, insurance and employment. This also presents a risk for homeowners and businesses that future city councils will follow this precedent, and attach more unre- lated fees to our essential services. The 2016-2017 Quarter 3 Bud- get Status report shows Astoria Parks and Recreation to be exactly on budget (http://bit.ly/2rU12jI). What happened between March 31, 2017 and today? Coincidently, the increase in the parks budget for the year starting July 1 is $100,000. Where did the current shortfall come from? This is the budgeted increase (see Page 50 at http://bit.ly/2rTFsMf). This solu- tion might be efficient, and you might be able to force it upon ratepayers, but it is wrong. Where did the current shortfall come from? ROGER LINDSLEY Astoria Campus policy support O n behalf of North Coast Pre- vention Works, we are writing in support of the Clatsop Commu- nity College (CCC) Board’s deci- sion to revise and improve their proposed tobacco-free campus pol- icy. We appreciate the foresight of the CCC Board to not pass a pol- icy with existing loopholes. As with all work involving our community’s health, we want it to be done right. We know that tobacco-free cam- pus policies have proven to work. Not only do they protect people from secondhand smoke and pro- mote a clean environment, but they also have a big impact on tobacco use behavior. After decades of research, we understand the devas- tating effect tobacco use has on our health. We also know that due to brain development, the younger a person is when they start using tobacco, the more likely they are to struggle with a life-long addiction. According to the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report, nearly nine out of 10 adult smokers started before age 18, and nearly all started by age 26. We encourage the CCC Board to not allow smoking in cars or Good Neighbor Zones in their policy. Both of these exceptions undermine the policy’s intention and effec- tiveness. They also undermine the school’s message, which should be an expressed interest in the health of all students and faculty, not just the visible ones. Schools and public institutions have an obligation to protect those in their care, and a tobac- co-free policy is a valuable tool in this. We applaud CCC in its contin- ued work on this policy and look forward to the positive impact it will have. CHIEF MATHEW WORKMAN, chairman LAURA PARKER, vice chairwoman MARY JACKSON, historian JILL QUACKENBUSH North Coast Prevention Works Executive Committee Why do they even play the game? By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group W ASHINGTON — In mathematics, when you’re convinced of some eternal truth but can’t quite prove it, you offer it as a hypothesis (with a portentous capital H) and invite the world, future gen- erations if need be, to prove you right or wrong. Often, a cash prize is attached. In that spirit, but without the cash, I offer the Krauthammer Conjecture: In sports, the pleasure of winning is less than the pain of losing. By any Benthamite pleasure/ pain calculation, the sum is less than zero. A net negative of suffering. Which makes you wonder why anybody plays at all. Winning is great. You get to hoot and holler, hoist the trophy, shower in champagne, ride the open parade car and boycott the White House victory ceremony (choose your cause). But, as most who have engaged in competitive sports know, there’s nothing to match the amplitude of emotion brought by losing. When the Cleveland Cavaliers lost the 2015 NBA Finals to Golden State, LeBron James sat motionless in the locker room, staring straight ahead, still wearing his game jersey, for 45 minutes after the final buzzer. Here was a guy immensely wealthy, widely admired, at the peak of his powers — yet stricken, incon- solable. So it was for Ralph Branca, who gave up Bobby Thomson’s shot heard ‘round the world in 1951. So too for Royals shortstop Freddie Patek, a (literal) picture of dejection sitting alone in the dugout with his head down after his team lost the 1977 pennant to the New York Yankees. In 1986, the “Today Show” commemorated the 30th anniver- sary of Don Larsen pitching the only perfect game in World Series history. They invited Larsen and his battery mate, Yogi Berra. And Dale Mitchell, the man who made the last out. Mitchell was not amused. “I ain’t flying 2,000 miles to talk about striking out,” he fumed. And anyway, the called third strike was high and outside. It had been 30 years and Mitchell was still mad. (Justly so. Even the Yankee fielders acknowledged that the final pitch was outside the strike zone.) For every moment of triumph, there is an unequal and opposite feeling of despair. Take that iconic photograph of Muhammad Ali standing triumphantly over the prostrate, semiconscious wreckage of Sonny Liston. Great photo. Now think of Liston. Do the pleasure/pain calculus. And we are talking here about professional athletes — not even the legions of Little Leaguers, freshly eliminated from the playoffs, sobbing and sniffling their way home, assuaged only by gallons of Baskin-Robbins. Any parent can attest to the Krauthammer Conjecture. What surprises is how often it applies to battle-hardened professionals mak- ing millions. I don’t feel sorry for them. They can drown their sorrows in the Olympic-sized infinity pool that graces their Florida estate. (No state income tax.) I am merely fascinated that, despite their other substantial compensations, some of them really do care. Most interestingly, often the very best. Max Scherzer, ace pitcher for the Washington Nationals, makes $30 million a year. On the mound, forget the money. His will to win is scary. Every time he registers a strikeout, he stalks off the mound, circling, head down, as if he’s just brought down a mastodon. On June 6, tiring as he approached victory, he began growl- ing — yes, like a hungry tiger — at Chase Utley as he came to the plate. “It was beautiful,” was the headline of the blog entry by The Washington Post’s Scott Allen. When Scherzer gets like that, managers are actually afraid to go out and tell him he’s done. He goes Mad Max. In one such instance last year, as Scherzer labored, manager Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer delivers a pitch during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The Nationals won 6-1. AP Photo Nick Wass Dusty Baker came out to the mound. Scherzer glared. “He asked me how I was feel- ing,” Scherzer recounted, “and I said I still feel strong … I still got one more hitter in me.” Asked Baker, demanding visual confirmation: “Which eye should I look at?” Scherzer, who famously has one blue and one brown eye, shot back: “Look in the (expletive) brown eye!” “That’s the pitching one,” he jok- ingly told reporters after the game. Baker left him in. After losing her first ever UFC match, mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey confessed that she was in the corner of the medical room, “literally sitting there thinking about killing myself. In that exact second, I’m like, ‘I’m nothing.’” It doesn’t get lower than that. Said Vince Lombardi, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” To which I add — conjecture — yes, but losing is worse.
