OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Two lawmakers
enter, one tax
plan leaves
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Pragmatic, collaborative efforts needed
T
his how to put Oregon schools and state government on a
path to stable, sustainable funding: Stick Ontario Republican
Cliff Bentz and Beaverton Democrat Mark Hass in a room
and give them the task of developing a fair tax plan for the state.
That is the idea of state House Republican Leader Mike
McLane, who suggested he would accept whatever the two legis-
lators came up with up. He also mentioned a few other Republican
and Democratic lawmakers who could be added to the mix.
The point is that a new tax plan can only be achieved by people
who are pragmatic and collaborative, who entertain new ideas and
who put the good of the state above self-interests.
That didn’t happen in the Legislature this year, despite the best
attempts of Sen. Hass, Rep. Bentz and others. Labor was sting-
ing from the defeat of the massive corporate tax hike contained
in Measure 97 last fall, and constantly refought the battle in the
Legislature. Business was divided on what to do next, instead of
being conciliatory and collaborative after victory over Measure 97.
If there is good news from the legislative session that ended July
7, it is that lawmakers finally were talking about realistic revenue
reform. It also is that lawmakers, especially in the state Senate, set
a good example through bipartisan compromise on several conten-
tious issues, including fair pay and predictable work schedules in
the workplace.
Yet on revenue reform, the interest groups of business and labor
could not achieve that same pragmatism. They stuck with their “all-
or-nothing” approaches.
Most people agree that Oregon has an unstable tax system, espe-
cially for funding schools. Some consider a sales tax as the answer,
but political history shows little chance of one being enacted in our
lifetimes.
Hass and others, especially Democrats, advocate a type of sales
tax to be paid by businesses — a commercial activity tax modeled
after one in Ohio. Senate Republicans stood firm against that tax
this year, especially after modeling showed threefold tax increases
for some businesses.
And pension reform, which Republicans and the business com-
munity rightfully demanded in return for corporate tax increases,
fell by the wayside.
Gov. Kate Brown is among those who say revenue reform will
not happen until the 2019 Legislature. That would be unfortunate,
leaving the tax debate to another set of divisive ballot measures
next fall.
Rep. McLane might have the solution. Give the task to Bentz,
Hass and a few other like-minded political pragmatists, since inter-
est groups on either side have shown little ability to negotiate for
the good of the state. We would suggest adding Rep. Brad Witt,
D-Clatskanie, and Sens. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, Bill Hansell,
R-Athena, and Jackie Winters, R-Salem. All have shown the ability
to work across party lines to solve complex issues.
Genuine tax reform should include these principles:
• A plan for ground-level examination of agency-by-agency
spending, instead of building each budget based on what agencies
and schools spent during the previous cycle. The concept of “roll
forward” budgets should be eliminated in favor of “zero-based”
budgeting that starts with where the dollars will do the most good.
• A holistic look at corporate, individual and other taxes and fees.
Lawmakers and the public need an unbiased understanding of how
much each sector pays for government, instead of relying on parti-
san-based studies.
• Appropriately matching expenses with revenue, while provid-
ing stability in both areas.
• Reform of the Public Employees Retirement System and of
public employee health care premiums — two of the highest costs
for governments and schools. All options must be on the table,
especially for PERS, so they can be finally settled in court instead
of being an ongoing battle in each legislative session.
Such an approach would benefit public employees, public agen-
cies and the public. That work must start now.
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Arts funds, scholarships, pay dividends
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
I
met Sydney Ordway when
she was wearing a tiara on her
head. She is an Astoria Regatta
princess, representing one of the
Northwest’s hallowed events.
Each princess chooses a topic to
research and share with the commu-
nity. Ordway, an incoming senior at
Seaside High School, chose the arts.
“Art influences ideas, instills
values and translates experiences
across space and time,” she told
business and civic leaders gathered
by the Seaside Chamber of Com-
merce. “My story is about art and
culture and how
that impacts our
region. A huge part
of culture is art.”
Ordway chron-
icled the impact of
arts programs in
the region, recalling times past and
present. The cities we know now as
Cannon Beach, Astoria, Seaside and
Gearhart were once inhabited by 14
tribes. “To this day, Indian artifacts
are being discovered,” Ordway said.
Art can include diverse elements,
from architecture to storytelling and
theater.
“The Clatsop Indians worshiped
the salmon,” Ordway said. “They
were told if they did not appreciate
and honor the salmon, the salmon
would not come. The stories were
important to the tribe and taught
right versus wrong.”
Today, Ordway described Can-
non Beach as “the hub of art in Clat-
sop County.”
“On every corner you will find
an art gallery,” she said. “Cannon
Beach holds many opportunities to
express yourself and watch others
express themselves in almost every
way imaginable.”
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Sydney Ordway, Astoria Regatta princess and arts advocate.
Connections
Seaside’s Hayley Rollins pro-
vided the spark for Oregon’s Art
Day, with support from her mother;
her father, a teacher at Seaside High
School; and the rest of the staff and
administration. As an eighth-grader
at Broadway Middle School, Hay-
ley conceived and promoted the
state law marking the day. She was
motivated by a 2013 report by the
Oregon Arts Commission, based on
findings that almost one-quarter of
the state’s schools did not offer any
arts courses.
Art allows students to have fun
and relax and “not have to follow
as many strict rules as math and sci-
ence,” Rollins, an incoming junior
at Seaside High School, said.
After her impassioned plea to
the state Legislature, Art Day is
an annual tradition in Seaside on
April 14. Heading into its third year,
North Coast artists interact with
kids in their chosen visual arts form.
Workshops cover oil painting, car-
toon portraits, printmaking, callig-
raphy, art therapy, pysanky egg art,
culinary décor, wire sculpting, ori-
gami, photography and more.
“It’s like the quote ‘a picture is
worth a thousand words,’” Roll-
ins said. “We all speak different lan-
guages, but art can connect us all
together despite the language bar-
rier. Art connects us in ways words
can’t.”
Art as a career
A new economic study by the
Arts Council of Clatsop County
indicates there are 93 arts jobs in
the county. More than 87,000 local
attendees and an additional 73,000
visitor attendees bring 161,000 peo-
ple to county galleries, theaters and
music venues, driving arts expendi-
tures of $14 million. Every cultural
Submitted Photo
LEFT: Arts association students learn watercolors from Dorota
Haber-Lehigh. RIGHT: The Cannon Beach Arts Association held an
arts camp last week.
visitor to Clatsop County spends an
average of $68 on meals, refresh-
ments, souvenirs, gifts, transporta-
tion and lodging — and that’s not
including the ticket price.
Governments, both local and
state, are also big winners, drawing
in more than $1.2 million in reve-
nue generated from cultural events,
the report found.
Cannon Beach Arts Associa-
tion Program Director Cara Mico,
now in her 30s, went straight to arts
school before college.
Art was “something that kept
me sane,” Mico said. “It kept me
grounded, and I think that’s true for
a lot of kids. When they don’t have
a creative outlet they tend to find
another outlet. It really touches on
all parts of childhood.”
Art “made me a more profes-
sional person,” Mico said, helping
her to build confidence and develop
presentation skills. “With this age
of technology and the internet, you
can start a business and be a bil-
lionaire before you’re 25. Ninety
percent of the internet is graphic.”
The web provides young adults
the opportunity to go pursue an arts
career in a realistic way, she said.
Mico said she would like to
see more of a focus allowing stu-
dents to explore their own interests,
including arts career readiness and
business skills.
Spreading wings
At Cannon Beach’s Stormy
Weather Arts festival, silent auc-
tion proceeds brought scholarships
for children attending the Coaster
Theatre Kids Camp, the Sea Ranch
Children’s Summer Music Camp
or the Cannon Beach Arts Associa-
tion’s Arts Camp.
Are the arts education programs
connecting with students?
“It’s something we take really
seriously at Seaside,” Ordway said.
“The arts are very important and a
lot of kids in our community have
made it a passion of their own.”
The annual Tillamook Head
Gathering, put on by a committee
of current and former Seaside arts
students and held at Seaside’s Civic
and Convention Center, supports
arts enrichment for Seaside High
School students. Last year’s gath-
ering helped fund an arts day at the
high school, in which local artists
gave workshops for the entire stu-
dent body.
Rollins remains involved in Art
Day. “When I graduate I’m hop-
ing to be able to pass it on to a
new student, but I’ll still come and
help out,” she said. “Our goal is
to continue spreading this event to
schools across the state. We talked
about going to other schools to
show a presentation of our event in
Seaside to inspire them.”
Ordway intends to keep art in
her life for years to come.
“In Clatsop County, we used art
for trade and stories of our people,”
Ordway said. “Nowadays, we use
art to express ourselves, and view
the world around us. In the future, I
don’t know what it will hold, but I
know it will be a work of art.”
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori-
an’s South County reporter and edi-
tor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon
Beach Gazette.