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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2017)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Managing Editor JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager OUR VIEW E ach week we recognize those people and organizations in the community deserving of public praise for the good things they do to make the North Coast a better place to live, and also those who should be called out for their actions. SHOUTOUTS • Ron Craig, executive director and founder of the Astoria International Film Festival, and volunteers who staged last weekend’s 11th annual event at the Liberty Theatre. Attendees were able to check out foreign films, American classics, doc- umentaries and film shorts created by regional filmmakers, all under the theme of “The Human Spirit.” The festival also fea- tured a documentary tribute to James Beard, which was directed by Beth Federici. Beard was a reknown chef who born in Portland and spent many summers in Gearhart prior to his death in 1985. After the documentary screening, festivalgoers were encouraged to visit Baked Alaska on the Riverwalk to pay trib- ute to Beard and share stories about him. • Candace Pozdolski, a 911 Astoria lead dispatcher with 11 years of experience, who recently earned the state chapter of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials’ Telecommunicator of the Year Award. She also received an Impact Award for her part in implementing a text to 911 system. Pozdolski was recently promoted to the newly formed operations supervisor position, which was created to improve communica- tion and management at the dis- patch center. She will oversee the planning, training and super- vision of the daily operations of the center. • Warrenton resident Martin Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian McMaster, who with the help Candace Pozdolski, lead dis- of Pacific Seafoods, Warrenton patcher at the Astoria 911 Dispatch, closely monitors Fiber Co./Nygaard Logging her computer screens during and Zorich Trucking is keep- a recent shift at the facility. ing a local Halloween tradition Pozdolski was named the alive. For more than 70 years, state’s Telecommunicator of the Willner family has pro- the Year Award. vided pumpkins for Warrenton and Astoria schoolchildren at the Quincy & Bessie Robinson Community Park. This year, McMaster, a family friend, stepped in to organize the effort and the companies made donations for the pumpkin purchases to keep the tradition going in the community. • The all-volunteer members of Seaside Kids, Inc., who recently staged the organization’s annual Pancake and Sausage Feed at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center. The long- standing breakfast-for-dinner fundraiser drew about 400 people who indulged in all-you-can-eat pancakes and sausage, prepared by Oregon Fine Foods and plated by volunteers. Young foot- ball players dressed in their game jerseys filled water cups and cleared plates and tables. The organization’s mission for more than 60 years has been to provide healthy, wholesome athletic activities annually to more than 600 local kids. Families don’t pay for equipment or uniforms, which is made possible through sponsorships, donations from businesses and fraternal organiza- tions and fundraisers like the pancake feed. • Local high school athletes who will be vying in the state playoffs as the post-season starts this weekend for the region’s sports teams. The Astoria football team will play in a Regional Play-in game at Estacada, while the Astoria volleyball squad travels for a first-round state playoff match Saturday at Baker. Astoria soccer teams await opponents in the 4A Regional Play-in round, while the Seaside boys soccer team has clinched a league title and will host a first-round state playoff game on Wednesday. The Seaside and Knappa football teams have also clinched league titles, and will host first-round playoff games, Nov. 3 or 4. CALLOUTS • Scammers who targeted guests at a Cannon Beach hotel and possibly others in the region, using room-service bills in attempts to get guests’ credit card information. Cannon Beach police reported that a fraudster contacted a hotel dining room/restaurant by phone this week, claiming to be from the accounting depart- ment and saying there had been problems posting room-service credit card billings. Using that as his justification, the scammer was able to get information from staff, including names, room numbers and specific room-service meals. The scammer then contacted the front desk asking to be transferred to guest rooms. Using the information he obtained, he was able to convince the guests that there had been a problem processing their credit cards. Police said the guests provided him with their card information, thinking it was a legitimate since he had such specific information. Suggestions? Do you have a Shoutout or Callout you think we should know about? Let us know at news@dailyastorian.com and we’ll make sure to take a look. Hey, men, sex harassment is not just a ‘women’s issue’ By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service W omen have been speak- ing out over the last few weeks about sex- ual harassment and assaults — passion- ately, eloquently and sometimes tear- fully — and we men have been (for once!) rather silent. That’s better than jumping in, drowning out wom- en’s voices, and mansplaining: Actu- ally, I saw a TV show about this once, and the real problem is. … But we men can be more than passive observers, and a start is surely to be better at listening. So I asked some smart, strong women how men can become part of the solution. I started with Gloria Steinem, who emphasized that men can stand up to make clear that inflicting unwanted sexual attention on another person is just plain wrong. “Every time a man interrupts the culture of dominance — and treats both women and men as unique indi- viduals who are valuable for our hearts and minds and actions, not for how we look or where we are in some hierarchy — we are closer to being linked, not ranked,” Steinem told me. “Fathers have a big chance to do this just by listening to their daughters, and showing them that they’re worth listening to. Co-work- ers can do this by not commenting on a woman’s appearance when they wouldn’t say the same of a man. “This is not rocket science,” Stei- nem added. “It’s empathy.” Need accountability Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Face- book, told me that she flinches a bit at references to male “allies,” because that can sound as if men are wading in as a favor to women. In fact, she noted, it’s in everybody’s interest that we erase harassment and discrimination — and a man’s own team will perform better if he includes women who feel safe and respected. Sandberg also emphasized some- thing I strongly believe: We need not just sensitivity training, but also accountability. That means firing not only the men who sexually harass but also the men and women who are complicit. “People need to be afraid not just of doing these things, but also of not doing anything when some- one around them does it,” Sandberg said. “If you know something is hap- pening and you fail to take action, whether you are a man or a woman — especially when you are in power — you are responsible, too.” One dismissal sends a stronger message throughout an organiza- tion than 10,000 hours of sensitivity training. One dismissal sends a stronger message throughout an organization than 10,000 hours of sensitivity training. Men have sometimes been prone to disbelieve victims’ stories, and one of the most distasteful aspects of the Harvey Weinstein scandal was a rush to refocus blame by questioning why female victims didn’t speak up ear- lier or go to police. That tendency to victim-shame is precisely why survi- vors are reluctant to speak up — and let’s remember that culpability lies with perpetrators, not victims. One of the bravest voices has been Ashley Judd, who broke the ice by speaking up about Weinstein. So I asked Judd how men can help. “Men being willing to have dia- logue with their families and friends, and to disrupt sexist remarks, jokes and behavior, is integral to change,” she said. “Learning to let women speak up, and being open and teach- able, is crucial. Imagine if we could simply say, ‘stop’ and ‘no,’ and men stopped? These micro interpersonal interactions hold transformative power.” Greater scrutiny One unfortunate consequence of greater scrutiny of these issues is that male bosses are sometimes reluctant to have dinner or drinks with female employees, making it difficult for women to build social relationships with bosses and be promoted. I asked Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard Business School professor, about this, and she said that the solution is obvious. “More women in all positions of power,” she said. “And not as tokens.” I’m sure that some men reading this are rolling their eyes. On Twitter, one person responded to my denun- ciation of sexual harassment with a snide, “Do you have a penis at all?” Sigh. We men simply have to under- stand that there is nothing manly about sexual assault. Look, human relations are com- plicated, we are sexual creatures and it’s inevitable that there will be fine lines and misunderstandings. But a new ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 54 percent of Amer- ican women report having received unwanted and inappropriate sexual advances — meaning that this is a huge national problem, and a chal- lenge for us all. Civil rights weren’t just a “black problem,” the Holocaust wasn’t just a “Jewish problem” and sexual harassment and discrimina- tion are more than just a “women’s problem.” Men sometimes weigh in: As a father of a young daughter, I deplore. … But that sounds as if one cares about women only if one has made one, or as if one thinks of female col- leagues as little girls. So let’s switch to this paradigm: As a human being, I want fellow humans treated fairly and decently, not poked with less respect than we would treat a pound of beef at the supermarket. I asked my wife, Sheryl WuDunn, what her advice was for men, and she was concise: “Put peer pressure on each other to treat women better.” Hey, men, let’s heed her advice. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Rolling in his grave M y father, Harry Miller, is roll- ing over in his grave re: “Food bank shake-up leads to a temporary closure. (The Daily Astorian, Oct. 23, 2017) The South County Food Bank was his “baby” for many years. To see what’s happening now would absolutely break his heart. It’s a shame the board can’t get their act together. Instead of actu- ally speaking with all the volunteers, as well as Karla Gann, they chose to simply fire everyone. I don’t know why this “shake-up” took place but I’d certainly bet the problem lies more with the board, not the volun- teers. It’s too bad the volunteers and the public were, apparently, left out of this decision. It would have been nice to try to fix it before such a rash decision was made. It was a huge slap in the face to all the hard-working volunteers of the food bank. I have no doubt Ms. Gann is correct when she says 90 percent of the staff will not be back. My heart breaks not only for the peo- ple who need help but all the volun- teers who can no longer help them. Dad used to say, “They (the board) haven’t got the sense God gave a soda cracker.” Yep, Dad was right. Let’s see who’s going to pick up all those cracker crumbs now. SYLVIA HERRLEY Seaside Questionable conduct I have noted several major issues of poor executive decision-mak- ing by senior government employ- ees in Clatsop County, Astoria and Warrenton. The Astoria chief of police decided to retire early when deci- sions he made turned out to be embarrassing. The former city man- ager of Warrenton decided that he had become a distraction in the city because of actions he had engaged in and so he decided to accept a separa- tion economic package and move to a different area. In the last year I have seen the Port of Astoria incur a substantial financial penalty for a violation of environmental laws and be required to pay a large fine. Now I see the Port of Astoria executive director be judged in a court of law of dishon- est testimony in a legal case against the agency he leads that has led to a potential fine for this agency of $4 million. Like all human beings, I have made my share of human misjudg- ments that have cost me in my repu- tation and/or pocketbook. The word “mistake” comes up all of the time in this day and age as an excuse for very bad decision-making. At some point we need to start using the words “incompetent” or “malfeasance” to describe what is happening, especially when it comes to high-level executives that are hired to achieve outstanding results and are well-compensated for their work. I think the current Port of Astoria commissioners need to look at their own judgment in the recent decision to grant a pay raise to the executive director of the Port along with a con- tract extension. In my opinion the Port of Astoria commissioners are perpetuating poor work performance by the executive director and this directly reflects on them in this situation. SCOTT WIDDICOMBE Warrenton
