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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
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Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Fairgrounds should be a treasure
D
rive through the Western states
and as you reach the outskirts of
many small towns you’ll pass
the county fairgrounds.
Many show signs of wear and age;
but some are so neatly groomed, crisply
painted and clearly signed that they sig-
nal a community that exudes pride.
In Clatsop County, our fairgrounds
are somewhat hidden from view south
of Astoria off the winding Oregon
Highway 202. You have to know where
you are going to get there and the full
scope of the operation isn’t immediately
visible from the road.
Out of sight, out of mind?
Well, perhaps, but it costs $1.4 mil-
lion a year to operate the fairgrounds.
Because a chunk of that is taxpayers’
money, it is essential to run it in an effi-
cient manner.
The site is home to the weeklong
Clatsop County Fair, and for years
has hosted the Astoria Warrenton
Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival and
the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer
Festival.
The operation is far too expensive to
maintain with revenue from only three
events, so a succession of managers and
boards have sought to use the facility to
its utmost, with concerts, monster truck
rallies and circuses.
Behind-the-scenes difficulties in the
fair’s operations and recent loose spend-
ing practices emerged in public view
during a recent report to the Clatsop
County Board of Commissioners.
The budget includes significant dol-
lars earmarked for materials and ser-
vices, and it was revealed that fair man-
agers have burned through the total,
about $438,000, in just six months.
After much back-and-forth grum-
bling in a public session, it was sug-
gested that the three road miles between
the fairgrounds and the county offices in
downtown Astoria are a barrier to effec-
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Thousands of people attended the 2017 Clatsop County Fair in Astoria.
tive communication — and may have
led to that “out of sight” mindset.
With respect, in this day and age,
that’s baloney. Governments elsewhere
and private-sector operations use tech-
nology to bridge geographical gaps far
greater than three miles — and continue
to do so every workday. There is no
excuse for leaders at different offices of
any organization to be permanently out
of touch, save perhaps briefly during a
rare blizzard.
The fair is a strange creature, of
course. It’s not a Clatsop County
department. It’s a separate entity and
thus not supervised by the county man-
ager. Its board consists of five volun-
teers appointed by the county commis-
sion. The level of supervision of paid
fair staff depends on the diligence of
this volunteer board. And the coun-
ty’s awareness of any potential difficul-
ties depends largely on its liaison, an
elected commissioner, currently Lisa
Clement.
Rather than point fingers, we choose
to take an optimistic tone.
Fair funding is a complicated mat-
ter. Income is subject to change. And,
of course, North Coast weather causes
significant maintenance issues. Rental
fees, hotel taxes and revenue from a
voter-supported levy figure into the
mix. Since serious financial problems
were addressed back in 2006, voters
have consistently said they are happy to
support it.
Now aspects of the fair’s spending
patterns are on the front burner. With
the expert assistance of Monica Steele,
the county’s budget and finance direc-
tor, they should be better addressed.
The Clatsop County Fairgrounds can
be a jewel in our community if effi-
ciently run by creative thinkers who
plan well ahead, make it a priority to
effectively maintain the facility and
grounds, and listen to staff and patrons
when ideas for improvements are
suggested.
Fair Board leader Mike Autio told
commissioners that he welcomed closer
links between the agencies and we’re
delighted to encourage that. The fair
needs to make headlines for the quality
and variety of its activities, not for fail-
ings in its management.
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Common ground is the most uncommon
P
olitics descended on Seaside as
Republican gubernatorial primary
hopeful Jeff Smith swung through
to meet local party leaders. Smith, who
grew up in a cattle ranch in Elgin — “a
couple miles outside of La Grande”
in Eastern Oregon — is one of nine
Republicans seeking to unseat Gov. Kate
Brown. He’s making his first bid for
public office.
“Barack Obama demolished Sen.
McCain in Oregon,” Smith said in a
visit to the Seaside Signal office. “After
that I started analyzing Oregon politics.
It’s something I’ve
been thinking about
for about 10 years. I
think I’ve got a thinking
man’s strategy to how
to approach politics in
Oregon.”
The answer: You
R.J. MARX have to be competitive
in Multnomah County,
home to 1 out of every 5 registered vot-
ers in the state.
“You have to be willing to listen
to people who have a different way
of doing things than the people in the
eastern part of the state, or many people
out here, too,” Smith said. “You have to
look for things people really are willing
to build common ground on.”
Fighting special interests, ending
homelessness, battling the drug epi-
demic, reducing government waste and
skyrocketing health care costs are among
those issues. “Everybody’s suffering
from the high costs of medical care,”
Smith said.
Unfortunately, he acknowledged,
some issues have no common ground.
On gun control: “I don’t think that’s a
winning issue for me,” he said.
Marijuana: “I don’t think there’s any
common ground to be had with the way
marijuana laws are now.”
AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
A woman cries as she bows her head in prayer during a vigil for the victims of
the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Endangered species: “You can’t find
anybody in Eastern Oregon who doesn’t
have a strong viewpoint about wolves.
And the people in Multnomah County
have the completely opposite view.
There’s no middle ground on that.”
Smith recognizes that a Republican
has not held the governor’s office in
Oregon in three decades.
“I’m going to try to persuade people
to jump on my strategy: you have to
listen to people in Multnomah County,”
he said. “To win, you have to suck some
of those people onto your platform. You
have to find things people are concerned
about and that we have common ground
about. Guns are not one of them. Wolves
are not one of them.”
Divided America
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s term does not
come due for two more years. But during
Senate recess, the Democrat came to
Seaside in February for a town hall at the
Bob Chisholm Community Center.
Like GOP gubernatorial hopeful Smith,
the cost of health care is at the top of
Merkley’s to-do list.
But so are no-go discussion topics like
rights for immigrants raised in this country
known as “Dreamers,” environmental pro-
tections and gun control. And while both
sides may agree on cutting health care
costs, it’s unlikely conversation would
lead to similar paths to accomplish that.
As Merkley spoke, members of the
crowd held up signs that read “AGREE”
or “DISAGREE.”
In the wake of the Parkland, Florida,
shooting of 17 children at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School, frustra-
tion boiled over.
When a proposal to ban assault
weapons came up, the audience showed
near-unanimous agreement. “Please do
more,” begged one audience member.
Opposition to EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s
environmental deregulation policy and a
plea for immigrants also united the senator
and constituents.
Despite the consensus within the com-
munity center, the elephant in the room
was definitely outside the room.
“I do hear tremendous organizing
energy around the country from people
who say we’re way off track right now,”
Merkley said. “I really want to see a
majority of the House and Senate to stop
bad policy and to start the path moving
forward.”
There is a yin and yang in American
politics, Merkley said. “If Trump is the
yin, I’m hoping there’s a whole lot of
‘yang’ coming.”
The path ahead
Parade? No parade? Wall? No wall?
Kneel? Not to kneel?
We’re going to have to confront some
of those “unbridgeable” topics before we
find resolution.
Sometimes it feels like a Civil War has
already begun. Not just Democrat versus
GOP or Eastern Oregon pitted against
Multnomah County, but right here, in the
Safeway parking lot where the Prius with
the “Black Lives Matter” bumper sticker
sits parked next to a pickup truck with the
Confederate flag displayed in the back of
the cab.
The question now: Who is going to
blink first?
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South
County reporter and editor of the Seaside
Signal and Cannon Beach Gazette.