THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
Book for city planners
let’s not throw out the proverbial
“baby with the bathwater.” Car-
ing communities like Astoria need
to find a way to help our most vul-
nerable members during our rough
winter months. The current location
of the Warming Center at the Meth-
odist Church is the best overall
answer to this crisis, and it should
remain at this high functioning
church basement.
MARY EKORN JACKSON
Astoria
’ve been reading a new book,
“How to Kill a City” by Peter
Moskowitz. An excellent read, and
it should be required reading by all
city planners.
One item I came away with is
the issues with Airbnbs. These sys-
tems pull rental units from the mar-
ket needed by local workers, as
Airbnbs only cater to the tourist
trade. Plus, taxing issues arise due
to lax control of these.
DICK DARBY
Astoria
I
Not in my back yard
T
Nah. We’re the U.S. of A.
o the German people’s credit,
they didn’t elect Hitler to the
highest office in their land, not tech-
nically. Arguably, it was Hitler’s
historic promises to, and popular-
ity with, the German working class
that compelled the then chancellor
of Germany to appoint Hitler “Pres-
ident,” according to a trusted source
at Seaside’s library.
Still, how could the German
people both submit to an insane
man’s regime, and turn a blind eye
to the “could-never-happens” that
were happening in concert around
them? As a question, it has mysti-
fied me for most of my years. Now,
regrettably, I get it.
Momentously, for the first time
in this country’s history, we Amer-
icans are seeing for ourselves how
easily democracy is dismantled
by an authoritarian on the make
— simply by one denial of access
to power, or one retraction of an
unalienable right at a time. And,
in real time, we’re seeing for our-
selves how a mad man comes to
power.
After what Germany’s mad man
did to both his own country and
much of Europe, one might expect
us to steer clear of crazy in govern-
ment. Nah. We’re the U.S. of A. We
elect crazy. For a mad man espe-
cially, we not only roll out the red
carpet; we salute. Now, strategi-
cally, as an intended result, a mad
man is rendering Americans impo-
tent in fighting off a highly toxic,
highly contagious new normal.
Symptomatically, like our
caught-off-guard counterparts in
T
ot in my back yard”: This
well-known objection is
voiced by those who oppose low-
cost housing anywhere near their
neighborhood. The same is shouted
out by those who simply look away,
close their eyes, and pretend that,
at least in their area, there are no
street people.
In Astoria there are women, men
and children who have no roof over
their head. Some of them are veter-
ans; others have mental or physical
disabilities; still others are unable
to find affordable housing on their
small amount of take-home pay.
Most of us have no experience
living on the street, much less find-
ing a safe place to sleep at night. In
order to somewhat alleviate the sit-
uation, during the long cold, wet
winter seasons in Astoria, a warm-
ing center was established three
years ago. For the last two years,
thanks to the community’s generos-
ity, it has been located in the Meth-
odist Church.
In the beginning, the center was
open during the winter months
only, when the temperature dropped
below 38 degrees. Thanks to the
many donors and the large num-
ber of volunteers in the past winter
season, the center was open every
night.
Shower and laundry facilities
are available. The guests of the
center are treated to a light supper
(and occasionally a full dinner) and
breakfast. They must register each
evening when they enter the center,
and are required to surrender their
weapons, if any. Drinking, smok-
ing and unlawful drug use is not
allowed.
Notwithstanding that the records
of the monitors over the winter
months reflect almost no disruption
or trouble of any kind, the board of
directors for the center are being
required to apply for a conditional
use permit if they wish to continue
this operation.
A public hearing will held
before the Planning Commis-
sion to consider this application at
6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council
chambers of the City Hall. Those
opposing the application will be
all lawyered up in order to shut
down the Warming Center. Hope-
fully, enough of the good people
of Astoria will appear to convince
the commissioners to approve the
application.
May those who will decide this
matter recall the words of the Nobel
Prize recipient, Bob Dylan: “How
does it feel? To be without a home.
Like a complete unknown. Like a
rolling stone.”
GEORGE McCARTIN
Astoria
‘N
Thanks to volunteers
he Cannon Beach Library
Board would like to thank
everyone who helped make our
Fourth of July Book Sale a suc-
cess. We are grateful to everyone
who donated books for the sale,
and we appreciate the hard work of
the 49 volunteers who transported
boxes of books from storage, sorted
and organized books and served
as cashiers and baggers during the
sale.
The Fourth of July sale is an
important fundraiser for the library;
it helps us cover the cost of book
purchases and operating expenses.
We literally couldn’t provide library
services without the hard work and
contributions of our volunteers,
patrons and supporters. We are
immensely grateful.
PHYLLIS BERNT
CARLA O’REILLY
Co-presidents, Cannon Beach
Library Board
5A
1930s Germany, who unwittingly
yielded to Hitler’s new normal,
we simply can’t believe that what
we’re seeing is really what we’re
seeing — and that what we’re really
seeing is really upon us.
Thus, according to the new nor-
mal, it’s fake news that can’t be
true. Moreover, says the new nor-
mal, further decay of our democ-
racy, brought on by its gremlin-like
betrayal, “never-could-happen” is
here. The proof will be in the pud-
ding, of course.
If not, in any event, “Order now
and get a second one free for just
$19.99. But wait. There’s more.
Just pay separate shipping and
handling.”
ANNA RYAN
Seaside
Unfair taxation
see from a July 18 story in The
Daily Astorian, “Hotel tax hike
will help finance Astoria parks,”
that the Astoria City Council voted
through a 2 percent increase in
the local room tax on July 17. The
increase was stated in the article
to be for programs and operations
of the Aquatic Center and athletic
programs.
These are wonderful programs,
but they have little to nothing to do
with our tourism guests who visit
the area. The hotels, motels and bed
and breakfasts have been paying 9
percent tax on all overnight room
revenue, while short-term rentals,
such as Airbnb and Vacasa, have
paid zero. The city council should
have gone after those entities cheat-
ing by not paying, before raising
taxes on those who have been pay-
ing taxes.
Currently, hotels and motels and
bed and breakfasts annually con-
tribute to the general fund over $1.5
million. Why is it that the only enti-
ties contributing to this additional
tax are the hotels and motels and
bed and breakfasts, when so many
businesses gain benefits from the
tourism industry (retail, restau-
rants, brew pubs, etc.). Every room
I
sold here generates three times
that amount in local revenue. It
is also very interesting that as far
as I know, no one ever contacted
the hotels and motels and bed and
breakfasts about last night’s meet-
ing, or sought input from those
bearing the tax. That is taxation
without representation.
DON WEST
Astoria
Heavenly cargo
he other day I was at one of
my favorite viewing spots on
the Columbia River. It’s the one
near the Hammond moorage. As
I watched a huge cargo container
pass by, it took me back to mem-
ories many years ago. At the time,
the union had a special contract that
permitted the ship’s deck crew to
load and unload the cargo in No.
3 hold of the ship. I can clearly
remember loading one two-by-four
at a time with my lumber hook. Oh,
how times have changed.
But you know what hasn’t
changed? In the heavenly realm,
the Master Stevedore still receives
one prayer at a time in his heavenly
barge — destined for all ports of
call —for immediate delivery. So I
don’t miss the boat.
Get your cargo aboard. The
only boarding pass necessary is to
really believe that God does answer
prayers. So Lord, help us to believe,
and heal any unbelief we may have,
and anchors aweigh.
JIM BERNARD
Warrenton
T
Transfer cemetery
nyone who has loved ones in
Ocean View Cemetery can
see it is not maintained. The city of
Astoria — who was paid for per-
petual care of the grave sites by the
families, and is supposed to main-
tain this property in Warrenton —
admits it is challenging to maintain.
They’ve added the maintenance
burden to their Parks Department
crew, who are already overex-
A
tended. Now they want to add more
hotel taxes to pay for the cemetery
upkeep.
The city of Warrenton lead-
ers decry the state of the cemetery.
Astoria leaders point out it is basi-
cally a countywide site. This is true.
The solution is obvious: The
city of Astoria should transfer the
deed of the cemetery site and the
cemetery’s irreducible fund to the
county. In my dealings with Clat-
sop County, they have proven fis-
cally responsible and efficient. I
also haven’t seen elected county
commissioners taking trips to Wall-
dorf, Germany, en masse, courtesy
of taxpayers.
MARY ANN BRANDON
Warrenton
Support warming center
s a concerned member of the
human community, I’m writing
in support of the Astoria Warming
Center and its renewal of the con-
ditional use permit granted by the
city. The current occupancy at the
refurbished First United Methodist
Church basement for the upcoming
winter season is being challenged,
both by the city and by some of its
neighbors.
I have volunteered at this center
for the past three years, since it first
opened at the original Senior Cen-
ter location. That the weather pat-
tern has gotten worse each year is
obvious; the need for a warming
center here in Astoria has become
more apparent with every passing
year.
Yes, there are problems that
have impacted the neighborhood,
and they need to be addressed and
solved by the Warming Center.
These problems can, and will be
remedied by the clients of the cen-
ter. The Astoria Warming Center
Board of Directors will make this
happen, and the surrounding neigh-
borhood will again see the cen-
ter as a responsive, good neigh-
bor, serving a very real need in our
community.
As a responsible community,
A
What to do for little 11-month-old Charlie Gard
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
W
ASHINGTON — One
cannot imagine a
more wrenching moral
dilemma than
the case of little
Charlie Gard.
He is a beautiful
11-month-old boy
with an incurable
genetic disease.
It depletes his
cells’ energy-producing structures
(the mitochondria), thereby pro-
gressively ravaging his organs.
He cannot hear, he cannot see,
he can barely open his eyes. He
cannot swallow, he cannot move,
he cannot breathe on his own. He
suffers from severe epilepsy and his
brain is seriously damaged. Doctors
aren’t even sure whether he can feel
pain.
For months he’s been at the
Great Ormond Street Hospital in
London. His doctors have recom-
mended removing him from life
support.
His parents are deeply opposed.
They have repeatedly petitioned the
courts to allow them to take Charlie
for experimental treatment in the
United States.
The courts have denied the
parents’ petition. They concluded
that the proposed treatment has
no chance of saving the child and
would do nothing but inflict upon
AP Photo/Matt Dunham
An exterior view shows the main entrance to Great Ormond Street Hos-
pital in London. American Dr. Michio Hirano of Columbia University,
who specializes in treating rare genetic conditions, met this week with
other specialists at the hospital treating Charlie Gard, assessing the
critically ill 11-month-old for the first time. The parents have fought in
court for permission to take the child to the United States for treatment.
him further suffering. They did,
however, allow the American
specialist to come to London to
examine Charlie. He is giving his
findings to the court. A final ruling
is expected on Tuesday.
The Telegraph of London
reports that Charlie’s doctors
remain unconvinced by the
American researcher. Indeed, the
weight of the evidence appears to
support the doctors and the courts.
Charlie’s genetic variant is different
and far more devastating than the
ones in which nucleoside bypass
therapy has shown some improve-
ment. There aren’t even animal
models for treating Charlie’s con-
dition. It’s extremely unlikely that
treatment can even reach Charlie’s
brain cells, let alone reverse the
existing damage.
What to do? There is only one
real question. What’s best for
Charlie? But because he can’t speak
for himself, we resort to a second
question: Who is to speak for him?
The most heartrending situation
occurs when these two questions
yield opposing answers. Charlie’s is
such a case.
Let me explain.
In my view, two truths must
guide any decision: (1) The parents
must be sovereign, but (2) the par-
ents are sometimes wrong.
I believe that in this case the par-
ents are wrong, and the doctors and
judges are right. Charlie’s suffering
is literally unimaginable and we are
simply prolonging it. This is a life
of no light, no sound, no motion,
only moments of physical suffering
(seizures? intubation?) to punctuate
the darkness. His doctors under-
standably believe that allowing a
natural death is the most merciful
thing they can do for Charlie.
As for miracle cures, I share the
court’s skepticism. They always
arise in such cases, and invariably
prove to be cruel deceptions.
And yet. Despite all these con-
siderations, I would nevertheless
let the parents take their boy where
they wish.
The sovereignty of loved ones
must be the overriding principle
that guides all such decisions. We
have no other way. The irreducible
truth is that these conundrums have
no definitive answer. We thus nec-
essarily fall back on family, or to
put it more sentimentally, on love.
What is best for the child? The
best guide is a loving parent. A
parent’s motive is the most pure.
This rule is not invariable, of
course. Which is why the state
seizes control when parents are
demonstrably injurious, even if
unintentionally so, as in the case
of those who, for some religious
imperative, would deny their child
treatment for a curable disease.
But there’s a reason why, despite
these exceptions, all societies grant
parents sovereignty over their
children until they reach maturity.
Parents are simply more likely than
anyone else to act in the best inter-
est of the child.
Not always, of course. Loved
ones don’t always act for the purest
of motives. Heirs, for example, may
not the best guide as to when to pull
the plug on an elderly relative with
a modest fortune.
But then again, states can have
ulterior motives, too. In countries
where taxpayers bear the burden
of expensive treatments, the state
has an inherent incentive (of which
Britain’s National Health Service
has produced notorious cases) to
deny treatment for reasons of econ-
omy rather than mercy.
Nonetheless, as a general rule,
we trust in the impartiality of the
courts — and the loving imperative
of the parent.
And if they clash? What then? If
it were me, I would detach the tubes
and cradle the child until death.
But it’s not me. It’s not the NHS.
And it’s not the European Court of
Human Rights.
It’s a father and a mother and
their desperate love for a child.
They must prevail. Let them go.