8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018
Bonamici: ‘As the gentleman
pointed out earlier, there are
definitional challenges’
Continued from Page 1A
Ellsworth took issue with
the focus on a gun ban, say-
ing rifles had been brought
to schools before the phe-
nomenon of mass shootings.
He pointed to the presence
of psychotropic drugs as a
commonality among school
shooters.
The causes of gun vio-
lence need to be figured
out, Bonamici said, noting
the federal Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention
was recently given authority
to do research. Asked later
by another person whether
there is momentum to bring
back the assault weapons
ban, Bonamici said there are
conversations about rein-
statement, albeit not in the
same form.
“As the gentleman
pointed out earlier, there
are definitional challenges,”
Bonamici said.
There appears to be prog-
ress toward restricting bump
stocks and high-capac-
ity magazines, while doing
more research on gun vio-
lence. “Universal back-
ground checks would be a
really good start,” she said.
Amy Baker, executive
director of Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, commented
on how mental health is not
funded the same as medical,
and on the need for commu-
nity acceptance of people
suffering with behavioral
issues. Too much control
lies with the federal Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid
Services, which is outdated
and needs to be overhauled,
she said.
Dr. Sangkun “Sonny”
Park, an Astoria doctor, also
commented on how there is
no hospital locally for peo-
ple dealing with mental
health issues.
The move away from
institutionalization to com-
munity-based care has been
mostly good but not prop-
erly funded, Bonamici said,
and communities need more
options, especially in rural
areas. She gave a shoutout
to businesses like the Bea-
verton Bakery, honored by
the White House in 2016
for hiring former drug court
inmates to reduce recidi-
vism, saying the commu-
nity needs to help people in
recovery overcome stigmas
and return to the workforce.
Bonamici was asked
what Congress is doing to
help stem the opioid epi-
demic. There needs to be
more evidence-based pre-
vention programs and con-
tinued improvement in the
battle against overprescrip-
tion of opioid medications,
she said.
“If you took the total
number of opioids that were
prescribed over the last year,
everybody in the state —
men, women and children
— would have received 55
pills,” she said. “It’s on a
downward trend as provid-
ers are educated about new
practices.”
Ken Adams of Asto-
ria commented on Bonami-
ci’s support of citizenship
for immigrants brought to
America illegally as children
but covered by the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arriv-
als program. He called on
Bonamici to support making
the federal E-Verify system
mandatory for all employ-
ers. The congresswoman
said she is concerned about
the use of E-Verify before
comprehensive immigration
reform.
Asked about how she
would work collaboratively
with Republicans, Bonamici
noted she has always been in
the minority in her six years
in the U.S. House.
“I don’t care whose idea
it is, if it’s a good idea,”
she said, adding many of
her colleagues, despite hav-
ing different approaches, all
care about things like the
economy, education and the
environment.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A street sign in Cannon Beach indicates where people should go if a tsunami strikes the coast.
Hospitality: ‘We’re seeing a shift’
Continued from Page 1A
‘Long way to go’
While on a road trip to edu-
cate Oregon Coast commu-
nities about emergency pre-
paredness, Althea Rizzo of the
Oregon Office of Emergency
Management took a hard look
at the hotels she stayed at after
her presentations.
Some hotels had evacuation
information for a tsunami in
the room. Others didn’t. Some
had signs showing an escape
route. Many didn’t. When she
would chat with front desk
clerks about what to do in a
disaster, some thought there
was nothing to do to prepare.
“It’s very hit and miss along
the coast,” Rizzo said. “And
we have a long way to go.”
Rizzo, a state geohazards
program coordinator, urges
hotels to train staff on the
basics of tsunamis and to take
specific steps to prepare, such
as food storage and evacuation
drills. She also suggests hotels
share evacuation information
with guests through emails that
confirm room reservations.
CEDR THANKS
THE GENEROUS SPONSORS OF
THE 2018 CLATSOP COUNTY
JOB & CAREER FAIR!
But engaging with the hos-
pitality industry has not always
been easy. Out of 20 sessions
she conducted, only one mem-
ber of the industry showed.
Some of the reluctance
stems from a lagging fear that
talking about tsunamis could
deter tourism, she said. But
often what keeps hotels from
being prepared is a lack of time
and resources.
“We can tell hotels they
should have resources, but
then those supplies need to be
maintained and purchased —
another cost in an already dif-
ficult industry,” she said.
Tiffany Brown, the emer-
gency coordinator in Clatsop
County, said she thinks atti-
tudes are slowly changing
locally.
“We’re seeing a shift. As
the community gets their head
around this threat, the mindset
is shifting. It’s shifting from,
‘We don’t want to deter them
from coming to the coast,’ to,
‘because awareness is grow-
ing, we have an obligation to
educate them,’” she said. “This
is important because they
come in contact with our most
vulnerable population, which
in this instance means people
not familiar with the area.”
Local efforts
Greg Swedenborg, the gen-
eral manager of The Waves
Ocean Front Lodging in Can-
non Beach, always knew tsu-
nami danger was present on
the coast.
But his journey to start pre-
paring got kicked into high
gear after The New Yorker
published a piece in 2015
about the threat of a Cascadia
Subduction Zone earthquake.
Between community discus-
sion and seeing increased tsu-
nami safety signs around town,
preparedness was brought to
the forefront.
“There was definitely a
spike in community interest
after that article. I think that’s
when (hospitality) started
really getting proactive,” he
said.
Swedenborg reworked the
emergency protocol with his
employees and started putting
evacuation maps and informa-
tion in guest books — a prac-
tice that has become standard
in most hotels in the city.
Some, like Beck-Sweeney,
have gone further by provid-
ing go-bags for her employees,
as well as encouraging home-
owners to purchase go-bags
to put in vacation homes for
guests.
Communication and more
consistent employee train-
ing are areas Beck-Swee-
ney and Swedenborg cited for
improvement.
“We’re so spread out, there
is no way to immediately reach
everyone in an emergency,”
Beck-Sweeney said. “But we
knock on doors. We know how
to track people down.”
Preparing has a cost,
whether it be in the time it takes
to evaluate procedures or in
emergency supplies for guests.
“Being a small business, we
just have to make the time to
get this done. There’s always
a million things to do, and it
has to be a priority,” Sweden-
borg said. “We are doing better
than we were, but we still have
a long way to go.”
LOST CAT
Columbia Memorial Hospital
Fort George Brewery & Public House
Seaside Rotary Club Foundation
Warrenton Business Association
Bayview Transit Mix, Inc
City of Astoria
Greenwood Resources/Lewis & Clark Timberlands
Hyak Maritime
LCHRMA (Lower Columbia Human Resource
Management Association)
Pacifi c Power
Afl ac of Astoria
Fred Meyer
Sunset Parks & Recreation
$500 CASH REWARD
Thanks also for the fi nancial support from the
NWESD and the Astoria, Jewell, Knappa, Seaside &
Warrenton School Districts
• NAME: Remy
• AGE: 4 years
• PRIMARY COLOR: Calico
Participation: 650 high school students! 150 college
students & general job seekers! 83 employers!
• SECONDARY COLOR:
Tortoiseshell marking
• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
She can be very aggressive
with strangers if scared,
and may bite.
• SEX: Female
Many Volunteers!
We could not have done it without your support!
• WEIGHT: 13.12 lbs.
• OTHER CHARACTERISTICS:
Black collar with pink hearts
and crossbones, ID tag and
Tile tracker. Has green eyes.
• LOST: 03/18/2018
• MEDICAL INFORMATION:
Takes 5mg Elavil daily for
separation anxiety.
• LAST SEEN: Seaside,
Oregon, 11th Avenue/N.
Franklin St., Seaside, OR at
approx. 4 a.m. on 3/18/18.
*Please note that number is for Home Again and the representative will not have information about the reward. Reward offered by owner.
If found, please call
1455 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, OR • 503–338–2402
www.clatsoped.com • email: SBDC@clatsopcc.edu
1-888-466-3242 *
MICROCHIP #985112005812922