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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 22, 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
20 years after an Oregon tragedy
B
efore Columbine, there was Thurston.
It seems like only yesterday that 15-year-old Kip Kinkel shocked the
conscience of Oregon — indeed, the world — by gunning down class-
mates at Thurston High School in Springfield after ambushing his parents at
home.
But it’s been 20 years. Kinkel is 35
duct drills. Protocols have been rewrit-
and imprisoned. The Oregon Supreme
ten so first responders – thank God
Court recently upheld his prison sen-
for their courage and training — con-
tence of nearly 112 years with no pos-
front the shooter as quickly as possible
sibility of parole.
instead of awaiting SWAT’s arrival.
Experts at his sentencing had tes-
Threats and indicators of potential
tified that his extreme psychosis was
violence are taken seriously … much
treatable but incurable.
of the time. SafeOregon.com has been
It was May 21, 1998, when Kipland
created specifically for schoolchildren
Philip Kinkel fatally shot two stu-
to report threats, replacing the Oregon
dents, wounded 25 others and later
State Police tip line launched after
tried to stab a police officer. The pre-
Thurston and then dropped for lack of
vious day at Thurston High, he had
funding.
bought a stolen pistol from a friend,
Laws — including Oregon’s new
been arrested and — supposedly wor-
extreme-risk protection order — have
ried about what his parents would
been passed allowing courts and law
think about his arrest — shot and
enforcement to intervene if someone
killed them.
is deemed psychologically at risk of
Twenty years. Columbine and
harming self or others.
Virginia Tech. Sandy Hook and
Yet in many ways, we seemingly
Fort Hood. Clackamas Town Center
have made little progress.
and Umpqua Community College.
Access to mental health care is the
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High
No. 1 concern of Oregon high school
School in Florida and the Route 91
students in a recent survey.
Harvest country music festival in Las
Deadly violence, whether by fire-
Vegas.
arms or other means, still plagues
American society at levels far above
As a state and as a nation, we have
those of most industrialized coun-
suffered much and learned some.
tries. We still don’t know what drives
“Active shooter” is now ingrained
in our vocabulary. Schools, law
one irrational person to kill, but many
enforcement and medical units con-
more not to.
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Kip Kinkel, middle, is led into the Marion County Courthouse in Salem in 2007.
We have squandered an incalcula-
ble number of dollars, days and brain
cells arguing over whom to blame —
mental illness, firearms, our culture —
instead of finding common ground and
community solutions. The resulting
“opportunity cost” — what we could
have achieved if we had pursued a dif-
ferent course — is profound.
Kip Kinkel came from a good
home. His parents did their best, seek-
ing both accountability and treatment
for Kip.
We owe it to them, to the Thurston
students — and to all the other fam-
ilies — to find that common ground
and those collaborative solutions.
AP Photo/Don Ryan
Thurston High School student Kip Kinkel,
15, is led to his arraignment in Eugene in
1998.
WHERE TO WRITE
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D):
439 Cannon House Office Building, Wash-
ington, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225-
0855. Fax 202-225-9497. District office:
12725 SW Millikan Way, Suite 220, Bea-
verton, 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 Dirk-
sen Senate Office Building, Washington,
D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web:
www.wyden.senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Cap-
itol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web:
www.leg.state.or.us/witt/ Email: rep.brad-
witt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D): 900
Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem, OR 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1432. Email: rep.deb-
orah 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. Telephone: 503-986-
1716. Email: sen.betsy johnson@state.
or.us Web: www.betsyjohnson.com Dis-
trict 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@por-
tofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of Com-
missioners: c/o County Manager, 800
Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.
LETTERS
County commissioners
should comply with rules
A
serious problem is revealed in The Daily
Astorian’s coverage of the current kerfuf-
fle going on between Clatsop County Man-
ager Cameron Moore and the Board of Com-
missioners. The stories mention that Clatsop
County has seen nine different managers over
the past 16 years (“Clatsop County manager
defends himself in return to commission meet-
ing,” May 10).
The average tenure for county managers,
according to the International City/County
Management Association, ranges from five to
eight years. Micromanagement of county staff
by commissioners is apparently a huge issue.
Moore’s comment that “I have been asking,
begging, pleading and demanding that these
commissioners acquaint themselves with the
rules that govern them and consistently com-
ply with them” also speaks volumes (“Clatsop
County manager apologizes for skipping meet-
ings,” The Daily Astorian, May 1).
I honestly don’t know whether Moore is a
good manager or not. But clearly, the county
Board of Commissioners has a problem. Nine
managers in 16 years. Think about it.
As a taxpayer, I demand that any candidates
for commissioners’ seats, as well as the sit-
ting commissioners who are not up for re-elec-
tion, “acquaint themselves with the rules that
govern them” and then demonstrate that they
understand, and will “consistently comply with
them.”
If they don’t like the manager, for whatever
reason, they have recourse to deal with that
within those rules, and without engaging in a
ridiculous dog and pony show like the one we
have now.
Otherwise, we, the taxpayers of Clatsop
County, are headed for a very expensive legal
disaster, and, unfortunately, the negative impact
of constant turnover in the county manager’s
office.
BILL GRAFFIUS
Gearhart
The ever-changing
version of truth
T
ruth has recently been buffeted by severe
crosswinds. It has been assailed most
severely by persons in the highest ranks of our
government, and their revolving coterie of law-
yers. Our president has shuffled his legal team
so deftly that even the most astute observ-
ers have difficulty staying abreast of what that
might portent.
The most recent addition to the president’s
legal team has, even for the president’s most
ardent supporters, created a certain crisis of
certainty.
While he identifies members of the FBI as
“storm troopers,” he also makes a liar out of
his president by telling his interviewer that the
president, who has repeatedly denied having a
stormy affair with a certain porn star, paid off
the lawyer who provided the woman $130,000
in hush money. Both can’t be telling the truth,
as their assertions clash head-on.
The chief prevaricator continues to feed the
media more than just “fake” news. But what
can we expect from someone who claimed for
years that Obama was not a born U.S. citizen,
even though the U.S. Supreme Court said he
was?
The most incredible fact remains that many
Americans continue to support President Don-
ald Trump and his ever-changing version of
truth.
ELFI GROSS
Astoria
Kujala will keep us
informed as commissioner
ongratulations newly elected Commis-
sioner Mark Kujala. It was a joy for me to
see how you so handily won your race for the
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners (Dis-
trict 1). As a former Warrenton mayor, one
thing for sure I know is that you will keep us
informed.
We here in Warrenton (especially us seniors)
are delighted that you will be an advocate for us
and our growing city. I believe Warrenton is the
fastest-growing city in our county, and a lot of
credit for that goes to Mark.
One thing I especially remember when you
were mayor, Mark, is how you kept us informed
through your mayor column in The Colum-
bia Press. We always knew what was going on.
Your descriptive abilities go unmatched.
Thanks for all the hard work you went to as
you fought for the not-easy task of representing
us. Hope it turns out to be a privilege. Congratu-
lations, Mark.
EMMA EDWARDS
Warrenton
C
Trump presidency
bad news for democracy
am not qualified to comment on what may
be happening with our federal justice sys-
tem, but when Kentucky Sen. Mitch McCon-
nell stonewalled Barack Obama’s nominee to
the U.S. Supreme Court, I formed a few partisan
opinions of my own.
The letter “What’s happening with federal
justice system?” (The Daily Astorian), published
May 16, left me convinced there was nothing
the writer and I could agree on, until I read his
parting comment: “But what’s happening today
to the presidency is bad news for American
I
democracy.”
I could not agree more, nor could I have said
it better. Thanks.
GARY DURHEIM
Seaside
We have devalued
process of voting
aving been a candidate for local office in
Columbia County through four election
cycles, I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, put
signs up, torn signs down, accepted contribu-
tions, and worked hard to comply with election
laws while running a business.
I learned what it was to “value the voter.”
Twice I lost by less than 1 percent. One forced
a recount.
In 1998, Oregon became the first state in the
union to offer vote by mail. Then in 2016, Ore-
gon passed the motor-voter law, coupling driv-
ers’ licenses to voter registration, with the appar-
ent result of almost 500,000 new voters since
2014. So explaining Oregon’s abysmal 33.6
percent turnout in the May 15 primary is a
head-scratcher.
What’s stranger, politically active Portland
— that’s Multnomah, Washington and Clacka-
mas counties — saw turnouts of 32.9 percent,
30.8 percent, and 28.1 percent, respectively.
I’d suggest by reducing the steps, effort, and
identification required of one to become a voter,
we created the unintended, but very real conse-
quence of devaluing the process of voting.
When one takes the time to fill out and mail
in the paperwork, read up on the issues and can-
didates, then drive to the polls, making it there
by 8 p.m., he hasn’t just voted. He’s invested in
America.
WAYNE MAYO
Scappoose
H