The daily Astorian., February 27, 2018, Page 6A, Image 6

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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
No excuse for Kitzhaber’s ethical lapses
F
ormer Gov. John Kitzhaber and the
state ethics commission agreed: He
did not intend to break Oregon’s
ethics laws.
But to quote a Latin maxim,
“Ignorance of the law excuses no one.”
And that is where Kitzhaber and the eth-
ics commission disagree.
Kitzhaber may not have intended to
use his official position to financially ben-
efit himself or his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes.
But he did too little to prevent conflicts
of interest — real or perceived. The
Oregon Government Ethics Commission
voted unanimously to accept 10 prelim-
inary findings that he committed ethics
violations.
Three years after Kitzhaber resigned
as governor amid the ethics turmoil,
other federal and state investigations
have ended without charges. Instead, the
controversy has come down to these 10
alleged civil violations. And even a com-
mission investigator squirmed over one
— whether Kitzhaber unwittingly bene-
fited from frequent flier upgrades.
Most of the allegations revolve around
Hayes’ unique position. This likely was
the first time a first lady served as an offi-
cial policy adviser to her partner, the
Oregon governor. At the same time, she
continued her private consulting work,
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Gov. John Kitzhaber, center, is joined by his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, in 2015 as he is sworn
in for an unprecedented fourth term by Senior Judge Paul J. De Muniz in Salem.
often on the same issues as Kitzhaber was
pursuing.
She erred by intertwining her roles. He
erred by allowing that to happen, as he
conceded to the ethics commission.
Kitzhaber’s contrition is belated but
welcome. Still, he doesn’t seem to fully
“get it.” Like many powerful people, he
has fallen into the trough of certitude,
believing his integrity invincible.
“I have withstood the scrutiny of eight
elections and 26 years in public office and
this is the first time that my integrity has
ever been questioned,” he told the ethics
commission. “I have certainly made my
share of mistakes but using my office for
the purpose of obtaining financial gain or
avoiding financial detriment is not one of
them.”
In the previous century, such certitude
undermined another well-known Oregon
politician — former governor and then-
Sen. Mark O. Hatfield. He, too, initially
treated allegations of ethical missteps —
ones involving his wife’s business, his
family finances and his acceptance of
gifts — as unwarranted assaults on his
character. He, too, later recognized his
lapses in judgment and sought to make
amends.
The Kitzhaber and Hatfield cases
are not parallel in facts and magnitudes
but in the mistaken faith in one’s ethical
infallibility.
Kitzhaber’s transgression was not what
he did. It was what he didn’t do: Establish
and protect strong ethical walls separating
his fiancée’s public and private roles.
With total certitude about the correct-
ness of their own positions, Kitzhaber and
Hayes sometimes acted as though they
were co-governors. In our area, this most
vividly played out in Kitzhaber’s auto-
cratic decision to ban gillnet salmon fish-
ing on the Columbia River — a position
urged by one of Hayes’ close connections.
Overthrowing a carefully crafted compro-
mise between competing fishing and con-
servation interests, it was heavy-handed
and undemocratic.
Kitzhaber was something of a politi-
cal rock star during his first two terms —
and too obviously believed his own pub-
licity. The lesson Oregon voters ought to
remember is that two terms are enough
for any governor.
LETTERS WELCOME
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Why is garbage pile
allowed downtown?
T
here are a lot of conversations these days
about the growing homeless populations
that every city has to address. Astoria does
seem to be addressing the issue, as we have a
warming center, a soon-to-be homeless shelter
operated by Helping Hands, and there is also
a city task force looking into solutions.
The only thing that puzzles me is that the
city seems to ignore one of the big elephants
in the room … or should I say, on the street.
The growing pile of trash that is allowed to
block the sidewalk on 11th Street, north of
Commercial Street, which is not a “recycled”
art installation, but a trash heap located in the
middle of the downtown area.
I know this traveling caravan of garbage,
collected by one of our resident street persons,
has been a part of the community for years
and years, but it seems to have found a perma-
nent resting place on a block that leads from
the downtown area to the Riverwalk.
I have only one question: Why is this nui-
sance permitted?
LARRY ALLEN
Astoria
Stop the madness
of mass shootings
nother school massacre with 17 dead,
scores wounded, thousands scarred for
life. According to Gabby Giffords, a for-
mer member of the House of Representatives
from Arizona who survived a mass shooting,
this was the 18th school shooting in the last
44 days. How many more children must die
A
before our federal government moves to ban
assault weapons?
As someone who worked at Hilda Lahti
Elementary School in Knappa for 10 years,
whose wife worked there for over 30 years,
I am aghast that nothing has been done to rid
ourselves of this menacing issue.
Solutions from the gun lobby to arm indi-
viduals in the schools to prevent these shoot-
ings are preposterous. Teachers are there to
nurture learning and should not have to take
on the responsibility of having to kill some-
one. Students are there to learn in a safe envi-
ronment, and should not have to worry about
threats of gun violence.
Most of the American people support
restrictions on automatic and semi-auto-
matic weapons. Yet our representatives, sen-
ators, and president refuse to tackle the issue.
Are we the home of the so called brave and
free, whose government cowers in fear of the
National Rifle Association?
I would guess that over 90 percent of the
country has a family connection to someone
in the schools. It’s time for all of us to stand
up and say no to this madness. Australia, a
gun-loving country like ours, was able to ban
these weapons and the people there are living
in a much safer and saner environment.
NED HEAVENRICH
Astoria
Astoria is not a
gated community
y wife, Cecilia, and I decided, in 1984,
to buy a house and make Astoria our
home. We have seen and been through a lot of
changes living in one place.
M
I have had the honor to serve 25 years in
the military. I have earned early retirement the
hard way. I’m now able to slow down, and
with help, maybe have a life worth living. But
sometimes a fixed income makes maintenance
issues go extra slowly.
Running Fix it Troy Handyman Services
for, well, most of my life, I know the mainte-
nance schedule of this county. A person begins
to prepare the exterior of a home in February
so, weather permitting, one can have the paint-
ing done by July for summer cure time.
On Feb. 12, I received a warning letter
from the city of Astoria giving me until Feb.
26 to “make presentable looking to neigh-
bors” my carport. If I don’t comply, “you will
appear before a judge at your expense.” This is
the first contact. There’s an overpriced house
nearby that is not selling. Must be the view
of my shop/staging/parking/storage/garbage
can spot/back yard, so the realtor has filed a
complaint.
While I agree my back yard may look
somewhat unsightly, this is not how to con-
duct civil business with the people who pay
their salary.
The realtor and the city of Astoria should
know that this is not the way to treat their
neighbors. Astoria is not a gated community,
and I will die making sure that doesn’t happen.
TROY HASKELL
Astoria
Carbon sequestration not a
substitute for cap-and-trade
his letter concerns two articles from The
Daily Astorian, “Hundreds besiege Ore-
gon Capitol for cap on greenhouse gases”
T
(Feb. 13), and “Carbon sequestration pro-
posed as ‘cap-and-trade’ alternative” (Feb.
14), about Senate Bill 1070, the Clean
Energy Jobs Bill.
On Feb. 12, I attended the Clean Energy
Jobs Bill lobbying day in Salem. It was the
largest gathering of citizens, from all over
the state, concerned about passing a bill, they
had seen in years. After the rally, groups vis-
ited their state senator and representatives.
Sen. Betsy Johnson was not available to meet
us.
Carbon sequestration is not a substi-
tute for cap-and-trade. The development of
the science of carbon sequestration is in its
infancy. It will take years to develop it to
where it can be utilized effectively. The Cap-
itol Bureau reporter, Mateusz Perkowski,
should have done research before he wrote
his article.
Cap-and-trade is what we can do now,
with successful tools and training programs
already in place in our state, to deal with cli-
mate change. Oregon lawmakers have been
working on a cap-and-trade policy for more
than a decade. Contact state Rep. Deborah
Boone; she can give you the whole history.
I’ll refer you to a video of a member of
the Canadian Parliament from Ontario, Glen
Murray at bit.ly/2oh2tci. This heavily indus-
trialized province is participating in a system
of cap-and-trade with partners in nine North-
eastern states, California and Quebec.
SB 1070 would only involve polluting
industries already regulated by the Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Small
businesses and agriculture are not affected.
This is an important, well-researched bill.
PAMELA MATTSON McDONALD
Astoria