OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 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
Sexual harassment
at the Capitol is
always inexcusable
S
exual harassment occurs in too many workplaces, and cap-
itols seem a prime breeding ground because of the inherent
power imbalance. Victims of sexual harassment — whether
lawmakers, lobbyists or legislative employees — often are
reluctant to speak out for fear of losing their political influence
or their jobs.
It took courage for two state senators — Sara Gelser,
D-Corvallis, and another unnamed woman — to report what
they considered sexual harassment by a colleague, Sen. Jeff
Kruse, R-Roseburg.
Kruse has denied the allegations, which are under investiga-
tion by legislative officials. What we do know, from a letter by
Senate President Peter Courtney stripping Kruse of his commit-
tee assignments, is that legislative officials in 2016 instructed
Kruse “not to touch women at work. Period.”
One hundred and thirty women have signed a letter casting
light on the issue of harassment and sexism, urging lawmakers
and others at the Capitol to “create a culture where it is expected
that people (both men and women) will speak up when it is hap-
pening in front of them, and ensure that it is safe to report it
when it happens in private.”
Women who signed the letter include existing and former
Democratic and Republican lawmakers, legislative staffers and
lobbyists.
Some Oregonians may argue that changing generational stan-
dards make it difficult for people, men especially, to know how
to act. Not so. Harassment or intimidation in the workplace is
never OK.
For anyone who is uncertain about what to do, here are tips: If
you’re unsure whether a remark will be heard as sexist, demean-
ing or harassing, don’t speak it. If you wonder whether a hug is
appropriate, ask the person. If you want to compliment some-
one’s shirt, do so nicely — without praising the person’s body or
letting your eyes linger. Better yet, find praiseworthy aspects of a
person that do not involve appearance.
Sexual harassment is never acceptable, never understandable,
never tolerable, and certainly not at the Capitol. Of all people,
lawmakers have a responsibility to know and heed the rules and
laws they create.
The Legislature’s
Sexual harassment
personnel rules
clearly state that sex-
is never
ual harassment can
acceptable, never
constitute “unwel-
come conduct in
understandable,
the form of a sexual
never tolerable,
advance, sexual com-
and certainly not
ment, request for sex-
ual favors, unwanted
at the Capitol.
or offensive touch-
ing or physical con-
tact of a sexual nature, unwanted closeness, impeding or block-
ing movement, sexual gesture, sexual innuendo, sexual joke,
sexually charged language, intimate inquiry, persistent unwanted
courting, sexist insult, gender stereotype, or other verbal or phys-
ical conduct of a sexual nature … .”
Before each legislative session, every legislator and every leg-
islative employee — hundreds of people — must attend manda-
tory training on maintaining a harassment-free workplace and
other policies. No one is exempt from that training.
Yet sexual harassment still occurs. And it’s still inexcusable.
WHERE TO WRITE
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 439 Cannon House Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20515.
Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225-
9497. District office: 12725 SW Mil-
likan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton,
OR 97005. Phone: 503-469-6010.
Fax 503-326-5066. Web: bonamici.
house. gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D):
313 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20510. Phone:
202-224-3753. Web: www.merkley.
senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone:
202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden.
senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E.,
H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone:
503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@
state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone
(D): 900 Court St. N.E., H-481,
Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1432. Email: rep.deborah boone@
state.or.us District office: P.O. Box
928, Cannon Beach, OR 97110.
Phone: 503-986-1432. Web: www.
leg.state.or.us/ boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Tele-
phone: 503-986-1716. Email: sen.
betsy johnson@state.or.us Web:
www.betsyjohnson.com
District
Office: P.O. Box R, Scappoose, OR
97056. Phone: 503-543-4046. Fax:
503-543-5296. Astoria office phone:
503-338-1280.
• Port of Astoria: Executive
Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Astoria,
OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300.
Email: admin@portofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners: c/o County Man-
ager, 800 Exchange St., Suite
410, Astoria, OR 97103. Phone:
503-325-1000.
GUEST COLUMN
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Former community development director believes Astoria should focus on entrepreneurism, empower-
ment and education.
My vision for Astoria
By KEVIN CRONIN
Special to The Daily Astorian
I
was often asked one question
when I served as the commu-
nity development director at
the city of Astoria.
“What’s your
vision for the
city?” This ques-
tion has always
perplexed me. In
reality, it’s never
up to one person or
a small group to create one vision
for an entire city.
To deflect the question, I had a
somewhat canned response along
the lines of how the comprehen-
sive plan outlines a 20-year hori-
zon for growth management or a de
facto retort about how the mayor
and City Council set the vision
and goals, and staff just focuses on
implementation. I couldn’t honestly
answer the question because I never
felt I had the authority or the gump-
tion to articulate my vision.
How things have changed! I’m
taking the opportunity now, with-
out a title hanging over my head, or
direct responsibility, other than as
a private citizen who loves Astoria
and is committed to ensure a bright
future and prosperity for the next
generation, including my children.
This is one person’s vision that will
hopefully facilitate a community-
wide conversation.
I call my vision the 3 E’s: entre-
preneurism, empowerment and
education.
This vision is centered around
achieving three objectives:
• helping our youth succeed;
• bridging local government
with community-based solutions;
• and creating more wealth for
individuals and families to succeed
in a global economy.
Entrepreneurism: Implement
Advance Astoria, a five-year action
plan for economic development.
Astoria needs to expand and diver-
sify its economy to complement the
tourism industry and provide better
paying jobs that are less dependent
on the boom and bust real estate
cycle and consumer-based spending
habits. The City Council deserves
credit for establishing the goal for
sustainable economic development
in 2015 and for adoption of the
strategy in July.
However, it’s time to move for-
ward and sustain the momentum
created through Advance Astoria
and prioritize some key actions that
are clearly delineated in the strat-
egy. For example, local entrepre-
neurs have wanted a one-stop, go-to
commercial kitchen to experiment
with new recipes and develop food
and beverage products that have
become a hallmark in Astoria. The
city can work with the Oregon State
University Seafood Lab to upgrade
an existing, underutilized kitchen if
it can find a partner to help sched-
ule and operate the kitchen. This
is also a recruitment tool to attract
new entrepreneurs who want to
relocate and invest in our area.
With a focus on
entrepreneurism,
empowerment
and education,
the city can
forge a new
path while still
respecting its
rich history and
unique culture.
Empowerment: Establish a
John Jacob Astor Volunteer Day for
Astoria. Reading “Astoria” by Peter
Stark should be required reading
for Astoria citizenship. It’s a fas-
cinating read on the life of amaz-
ing German-American pioneer John
Jacob Astor. Astoria should honor
its founder by celebrating his birth-
day (July 17) or the inception of its
founding in 1811. The way to honor
Astor, and, more importantly, our
citizenship, is to have a citywide
volunteer day dedicated each year.
This could coincide with Regatta
week or with predesignated national
days of service. Everyone can pitch
in and focus on specific projects
that benefit all Astorians, such as
improving our wonderful parks,
eradicating invasive plants in our
forgotten city-owned open spaces,
creating temporary art installations,
or working with local nonprofits on
completing their proverbial to-do
lists. A small army of dedicated vol-
unteers can get a lot done in a day’s
work. It instills a common value of
shared sacrifice and a greater good
of community-based service learn-
ing in our youth, and it’s a chance
to get to know your neighbors. As a
former two-term AmeriCorps vol-
unteer and former board member
of Oregon Volunteers!, I get the
importance of volunteerism and the
value it brings to the table, so let’s
recognize the power it can have in
our community.
Education: Incubate an Early
Learning Initiative to educate all
preschool children entering Kin-
dergarten by 2020. Mounting peer
reviewed evidence has demon-
strated that cities who educate
their children at the preschool age
are proven to be better prepared
to enter school, ready to learn and
have less behavioral issues. This
has a ripple effect on our criminal
justice system and creates a cul-
ture of learning from the begin-
ning. Under this program, pre-
school would be free for all 3 and
4 year olds and would provide
funding for new centers to open
that would complement our exist-
ing child development center net-
work that have long waiting lists.
If a local funding source can be
secured, it would be matched with
existing state and federal dollars.
This program dovetails with the
Way to Wellville initiative and oth-
ers that are dedicated to better pub-
lic health, education and workforce
development outcomes.
After reading my vision you
might have noticed it has nothing to
do with land use planning, density,
or zoning. That’s the point. Tradi-
tional planning approaches for our
city are still an important aspect of
city government, but the time to act
is now by implementing key actions
that will have the biggest impact on
our youth and our city for genera-
tions to come. Community develop-
ment needs to be broadly defined in
order to create new public-private
partnerships that are proactive and
responsive to a global economy.
Cities that continuously innovate
are the ones that will be poised for
economic prosperity and sustain-
able growth.
This vision may not be bold
enough for some but it’s attainable,
financially feasible and bipartisan
in nature, which is a hard thing to
find these days. To be competitive
in a global economy, to empower
local neighborhoods and accom-
plish policy objectives with lim-
ited resources, the city needs a new
model of doing business to be suc-
cessful. With a focus on entrepre-
neurism, empowerment and educa-
tion, the city can forge a new path
while still respecting its rich history
and unique culture.
Kevin Cronin is Astoria’s former
community development director.