THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
No assault weapons
his letter is in response to the
articles covering the recent
shooting in Las Vegas (“Sniper in
high-rise hotel kills at least 58 in Las
Vegas,” The Daily Astorian, Oct. 2).
The Second Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution states: “A well
regulated militia, being necessary
to the security of a free State, the
right of the people to keep and bear
Arms, shall not be infringed.” Obvi-
ously the need for a state militia has
been replaced by the National Guard
and Coast Guard, whereby trained
military personnel are entrusted
with the defense of this country
against domestic enemies. Their
weapons are tightly controlled and
safeguarded.
The only two reasons for a cit-
izen to own a firearm are for hunt-
ing or defense of the household
from intruders. In either case, own-
ership of a handgun, shotgun or
rifle is more than adequate to sat-
isfy these purposes. There is abso-
lutely no need for any U.S. civilian
to own any weapon more powerful
or sophisticated than these.
Accordingly, all handguns, shot-
guns and rifles must be licensed and
registered to the degree necessary to
match weapon to owner at the click
of a computer key. Furthermore, we
must guarantee that the mentally ill
do not gain access to them under
any circumstances. Finally, if we
had prohibited the purchase of more
sophisticated weapons several inno-
cent victims would not have died or
been harmed at shopping malls, col-
lege campuses, Congressional meet-
ings, churches and now concerts.
We as a country must deal with
this issue immediately lest our soci-
ety fall back to the days when every-
one carried a holster.
JOE BIALEK
Cleveland, Ohio
T
Crossing thanks
would like to thank all the vol-
unteers and organizations for the
Great Columbia Crossing on Sun-
day, Oct. 15. This was my first walk,
and I was so impressed with all the
walkers, the atmosphere and all of
the families. I was fortunate to do
the walk with my two sisters, one of
whom had brain surgery just three
weeks, prior, so this was a huge
accomplishment for her.
We are all blessed to live in the
Pacific Northwest, and when it came
to the weather on Sunday, all we can
say is “amen.” See you next year.
TERRI L. HUNT
Cathlamet, Washington
I
Uphold city principles
or the past 30 years, the slow
pace, friendly neighbors, and
quiet neighborhoods of Gearhart
have been my refuge after a hard
day’s work. It’s not a tourist destina-
tion; it’s our hometown.
But its very existence as such is
now threatened by the internet-fu-
eled short-term rental business, and
by Measure 4-188, which would
overturn the city’s comprehensive
plan, zoning ordinance and laws that
protect residential neighborhoods
from the high-impact commercial
activity of vacation rentals.
As a planning commissioner and
city councilor for many years, I’ve
witnessed the growth of the prob-
lem and the city’s solution to it,
worked out over a two-year process
of citizen involvement, testimony
and deliberation. The resulting ordi-
nance 901 was a fair compromise
for all competing interests and is
now affording our citizens protection
from moneyed interests that would
obliterate the character of Gearhart.
It is founded on the principles
of Gearhart’s comprehensive land
use plan as adopted in 1994, which
requires the city to “recognize the
importance of the city’s residential
neighborhoods and the need to pro-
tect them from the negative impacts
of the transient rental of property,
and to discourage increased levels
of traffic and similar disruptions”
(www.cityofgearhart.com).
I implore my fellow Gearhart
voters to vote no on Measure 4-188.
A yes vote would threaten every
Gearhart citizen’s quality of life.
PAULINA COCKRUM
Gearhart
F
Keep quality of life
t’s just over a week before Gear-
hart voters are asked if they
should overturn Ordinance 901,
which regulates transient rentals.
Now, the sponsors of Measure 4-188
are pitching brand new arguments.
They say Measure 4-188 is now
about jobs and Gearhart’s economy.
How nice.
Justin Adams, a Sacramento res-
ident wrote, “The Economic Impact
of Short-Term Vacation Rentals in
Gearhart.” He advertises himself
as “providing insightful economic
research and analysis to help clients
achieve their policy objectives.” If
this measure passes, Adams’ “cli-
I
ents” will profit handsomely. David
Townsend, a key measure supporter,
also resides in Sacramento.
The report states Gearhart’s econ-
omy needs tourist dollars. Gearhart
hardly suffered before internet facil-
itated nightly rentals began. Adams
says nightly lodgers generate needed
tax dollars. Gearhart was doing just
fine long before room tax collections
began this year.
Mr. Adams argues Gearhart real
estate is so expensive that own-
ers must rent their property in order
to afford it. The report peddles this
myth over and over. Rental permit
holders aren’t homeowners strug-
gling to make a mortgage payment.
They are out-of-town rental property
owners and businesses out to make a
profit. Most permit holders live out-
of-town. There are few lodging per-
mits held by Gearhart residents.
Gearhart councilors and plan-
ners were very aware of our history
of short-term rentals during the ordi-
nance development process. Elim-
inating nightly rentals was never
intended. There will always be
potentially at least 200-plus nightly
rentals in Gearhart. Adam’s report
also neglects the influx of new full-
time residents. Full-time residents
help sustain Gearhart’s economy
year-round.
Vacation rental management cor-
porations gain if Measure 4-188
passes. Do these corporations think
Gearhart voters believe that their
motive for supporting this measure
is jobs? Not the dollars they will
make managing even more nightly
rentals?
Measure 4-188 is not about pro-
tecting jobs or Gearhart’s economy.
It’s about people wanting to profit at
the expense of Gearhart residents’
rights and quality of life.
Vote “no” on Measure 4-188.
TERRY AND CATHY GRAFF
Gearhart
In December 2011, FEMA pub-
lished a document, “A Whole Com-
munity Approach to Emergency
Management: Principles, Themes
and Pathways for Action” This
whole community approach dic-
tates that personal responsibility is
vital to being prepared for a disas-
ter. In other words, it is imperative
that each of us takes steps to ensure
we are prepared to survive a cata-
strophic emergency, and be self-suf-
ficient for at least two weeks. This
must be a personal responsibility, not
a governmental responsibility.
Many of the items the editor
mentioned in his column — heli-
copter pads, airstrips, wi-fi hotspots
and generators — are included in
the extensive planning effort that is
currently taking place, and will be a
part of the national response. It must,
however, be an individual respon-
sibility to ensure you have enough
to survive in the immediate after-
math of a disaster. As the editor said
in his headline: It’s up to us to plan
to survive.
SCOTT W. McDOUGALL
Director, Pacific County Emer-
gency Management Agency
News, not gossip
Our neighborhood
huge kudo to George Gideon
of Seaside (“Really disgusted,”
The Daily Astorian, Oct. 13). He
hit the nail on the head, referring to
the horrific, tragic accident that hap-
pened in Seaside. Why are the par-
ents, who are innocent, raked over
the coals like two old biddies gossip-
ing over their backyard fence?
This newspaper has turned into
a miniature National Enquirer. I
thought I was subscribing to news,
not gossip.
JOYCE HOFFMAN
Warrenton
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All must prepare
read with great interest the column
“It’s up to us to plan to survive”
(Chinook Observer, Oct. 10). I com-
pletely agree with most of what the
editor has written, and the opinions
he expressed so eloquently, yet on
one point I must respectfully, albeit
somewhat vehemently, disagree.
On March 30, 2011, during tes-
timony in front of the U.S. House
Transportation and Infrastructure
Subcommittee, the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency direc-
tor (at that time) Craig Fugate said:
“Government can and will continue
to serve disaster survivors. How-
ever, we fully recognize that a gov-
ernment-centric approach to disaster
management will not be enough to
meet the challenges posed by a cat-
astrophic incident. That is why we
must fully engage our entire societal
capacity …”
As a matter of absolute fact,
the U.S., state government, and by
extension local and county govern-
ments, do not have the financial or
logistical resources to preplan and
prestage all of the assets necessary
to sustain our communities in the
immediate aftermath of a disaster. It
is not practical to assume that those
governments could even foresee all
of the potential eventualities that
may occur following an unknown
future disaster.
I
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to
The Daily Astorian.
Letters should be fewer than
350 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
numbers. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship.
All letters are subject to editing
for space, grammar and, on occa-
sion, factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are printed each
month.
Letters written in response to
other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and, rather than
s a Gearhart resident, I ask
myself: What will our commu-
nity look like in five years, should
our well researched and consid-
ered limits on short-term rentals be
removed?
Would we want our neighbors to
be renting to 90 short-term renters in
a given year? One Gearhart resident
claims to be doing this, as stated in
a letter to the editor, “Other side of
rentals” (The Daily Astorian, Sept.
29). He evidently wants all Gearhart
homeowners to do the same.
This is not my vision for my
neighborhood, or my community.
Referring to short-term rentals as
being a part of Gearhart for the past
100 years is no longer relevant.
Short-term rentals have become big
business, with lots of money to be
made.
If Measure 4-188 passes, it will
be at the expense of our quality of
life and the Gearhart comprehen-
sive plan.
Vote no on Measure 4-188. Keep
Gearhart residential.
JUDY REDEKOP
Gearhart
Delightful witches
esterday my grandkids and
I enjoyed one of our favor-
ite autumn activities — Downtown
Witches Tour. We cruise up and
down Astoria main streets and stop
to consider each witch. We notice
what is different about each one and
keep a count of total witches.
It’s kind of like a practice in sci-
entific observation, combined with
an art tour.
We conclude our witch tour
with huge cups of hot chocolate,
mounded with whipped cream at a
local restaurant on Commercial. This
includes a delightful discussion of
our nominees for favorite witches. I
remind them we are lucky to live in
a small town with lots of volunteers
who make these things happen.
This year’s selections of favor-
Y
mentioning the writer by name,
should refer to the headline and
date the letter was published. Dis-
course should be civil and people
should be referred to in a respect-
ful manner.
Submissions may be sent in
any of these ways:
E-mail to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com; online at www.dailyas-
torian.com; delivered to the Asto-
rian offices at 949 Exchange St.
and 1555 N. Roosevelt in Seaside
or by mail to Letters to the Editor,
P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103.
ite witches — witch dressed as a
lifeguard and witch with a rubber
chicken on her broom. We’re not
telling where they are — you have to
find them yourselves!
CHERYL JOHNSON
Brownsmead
Don’t let it happen
ull-page, spendy ads in the Sea-
side Signal and The Daily Asto-
rian speak volumes about the deep
pockets and big money that’s fund-
ing Gearhart’s Measure 4-188, an
initiative that’s working to tear down
the integrity of our coastal commu-
nity. Add to this the paid canvass-
ers, phone surveys, full-color glossy
mailers. And who’s paying for this?
Out-of-state, out-of-area big money
is paying. They’re paying to sway
this election and it’s not in your best
interest, dear Gearhart friends and
neighbors.
Measure 4-188 would allow
unlimited short-term rentals, with no
restrictions. It would undermine the
fabric of the local community — the
permanent and seasonal homeown-
ers and long-term renters. Our com-
prehensive plan defines Gearhart as
a residential community, and aims to
keep it that way; Measure 4-188 pro-
motes the opposite — a destination
resort for transient vacationers. The
result? No more full-time commu-
nity to give Gearhart its small-town
character. No more Gearhart.
That would be the most obvious
effect of 4-188 on the community.
Beyond that, the potential physical
damages to the town’s infrastructure
multiply. Short-term rental owners
who have complied with the city’s
existing rules — the rules 4-188
would do away with, like inspec-
tion of septic systems — are updat-
ing systems that often have needed
repairs for years. That has been good
for the city, and helps prevent the
need for a costly municipal sewer.
Rampant short-term rentals with no
restrictions and almost unlimited
numbers of paying guests per house-
hold would have far-reaching impli-
cations for the town as a whole —
for those of us, that is, who decided
to remain in Gearhart, amid a sea of
virtual motels and all the nuisances
that would go with them.
Don’t let that nightmare come
true. Vote “no”on 4-188!
JEANNE MARK
Gearhart
F
Save small-town life
wonderful aspect of small-town
life is the ability to participate
in local government and have input
into the important decisions. It’s the
closest most of us get to true partic-
ipatory democracy. Gearhart set a
great example with a two-year series
of lively town meetings to work
through the issues that were created
when short-term rentals in residen-
tial zones were supercharged by the
internet and by sales pushes from
national vacation rental management
companies such as Vacasa.
Our town hall process led to
the passage of the existing short-
term rental regulations, which were
crafted with input from all view-
points. Our regulations grandfa-
ther existing short-term rentals and
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impose safety and other require-
ments on them, yet stay true to Gear-
hart’s 1994 Comprehensive Land
Use Plan, which requires the city to
protect residential neighborhoods.
However, ballot Measure 4-188
would require Gearhart to “remove
current limitation on the number of
vacation rentals.” Worse yet, its final
provision would “require public vote
for amendment of the vacation rental
ordinance or any subsequent ordi-
nance relating to vacation rentals.”
That final provision means that the
only way to modify the rules in any
way would be by ballot initiative.
As we are seeing, a ballot initiative
is a big deal, costing Gearhart over
$10,000 and a huge amount of time
and attention.
In a practical sense, it would
become extremely difficult to make
any changes to the rules. The mayor,
town council, and town hall pro-
cess would be hamstrung. And we
can be certain that if we remove any
limit on the number of vacation rent-
als, there will be problems and there
will be needed changes! Please vote
“no”on 4-188.
JANET ELLIOTT
Gearhart
Reasonable regs
e have lived in Gearhart for
almost 24 years and feel so
lucky to call this little town our
home. However, over the years
vacation rentals have changed from
a low-impact, minimally invasive
activity to a major business fueled
by internet rental offerings and
aggressive marketing of properties.
The regulations enacted by the
city in response to concerned cit-
izens have helped noticeably to
reduce the impact of vacation rent-
als on our predominantly residen-
tial community. They serve to keep
density at vacation rentals realis-
tic for the size of the home and the
surrounding property. The regula-
tions affecting safety, septic capac-
ity and street overflow are reason-
able for the rental properties and the
neighborhood.
Friends, please join me in voting
“no” on Measure 4-188. Let’s main-
tain the current city legislation that
has already reduced the impact of
unregulated vacation rentals. Let’s
not give away the town that we love.
NANCY TAGGARD
Gearhart
W
‘Yes’ for the library
arrenton Community Library
made a long awaited and his-
torical move this summer to a larger
and more centrally located building.
The newly rented space comes with
a much-needed parking lot and an
outside covered space for summer
activities.
While many lament the loss of
the previous setting, the new loca-
tion is meeting community needs in
a variety of ways. Saturday morn-
ing story time for children, expanded
Saturday hours and a later closing
time on Wednesday are examples
of ways library staff are working
toward accommodating the patrons
of the library.
The library cannot sustain the
current level of service without addi-
tional funding. The library budget
has remained static for several years
and now you have the opportunity
to show your support for this valu-
able resource. Vote “yes” for Mea-
sure 4-189 and the Warrenton Com-
munity Library.
ROCHELLE COULOMBE
Warrenton
W
Library a foundation
wanted to thank The Daily Asto-
rian for the recent editorial about
the Warrenton library. One import-
ant point that I think was missed is
that at the present “starvation diet”
that the current library operates on,
I believe cost is about 22 cents per
thousand, with the difference from
the current 9 cents funding made up
by the city
The city has many facets that
enhance the livability and quality of
life here in Warrenton, for example,
our dog park, the trail system, our
marinas, our fire department activ-
ities, our Fourth of July parade and
our library.
With the reduction of the grade
school library, I found it very inter-
esting when I met with the sec-
ond-grade classes that one of the
things they asked for is “more
books at the library.” Our user num-
bers have also greatly expanded in
response to the recent relocation
of our library. Other cities consider
their libraries to be one of the foun-
dations of their community.
The Warrenton library needs
readers “yes” votes to move forward
into the future and meet expanded
user requests, needs and possibilities,
helping to make Warrenton a great
city to grow up in for our children.
COMMISSIONER
RICK NEWTON
Warrenton
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