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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2018)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 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 Looking ahead to the general election N ow that the dust has settled on the 2018 primary, it is time to look ahead to the general election. The number of young people eager to register to vote is encouraging, according to national reports. The law allows teens who are 17 to register in advance if they will be 18 on Nov. 6. The last day to register is Oct. 16. The number of registered voters in Clatsop County is 27,251. Our primary saw a 36-percent voter turnout. We are not alone in feeling that is far, far too low and we welcome all efforts to increase it significantly in November. We cannot stress this enough — many Americans have fought and died for your right to vote. Exercise it. Elections have consequences. State and national choices Nationally, the 2018 midterms fig- ure to be a referendum on the Donald Trump presidency. Every one of the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives is up for grabs. So are 34 seats in the U.S. Senate. So, too, are more than three dozen governors’ seats, important because they provide a platform for states’ support of federal efforts. Neither of Oregon’s U.S. senators is on the ballot this year. U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat, seeks to retain her seat representing the North Coast in the House of Representatives, opposed by Republican John Verbeek, who won a three-way primary; Libertarian Drew Layda will also be on the ballot. Statewide, a heated race involves lib- eral Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, a controversial figure who was appointed to replace the disgraced John Kitzhaber in 2015, then won the 2016 special election. She is seeking to retain her job, facing strong opposition from mod- erate GOP candidate Knute Buehler, a state representative from Bend. The two faced off in 2012 when Brown was elected secretary of state, an election characterized by bickering that left an unpleasant taste. Betsy Johnson, our long-serv- ing Democratic state senator from Scappoose, is running unopposed for re-election to another four-year term. With District 32 House mem- ber Deb Boone retiring at the end of this year, surprise Democratic Party primary winner Tiffiny Mitchell will face Republican Vineeta Lower in November. County leadership changing Our Clatsop County Board of Commissioners’ election May 15 set- tled races for two of the three seats. Experienced community leader Mark Kujala was elected and we look forward to his commonsense, positive addi- tion to the board; Lianne Thompson, that love-her-or-dislike-her spark plug from South County, was given another four-year mandate. The third race was so close that Pamela Wev and Peter Roscoe must contest a November runoff. Because of the way county rules are written, the two commissioners who chose not to run again, Scott Lee and Lisa Clement, are lame ducks through this calendar year. The current board is worth watching as the leadership dynamic will change significantly in January, whatever the result of the Wev- Roscoe race. County voters will be asked to approve a 3 percent tax on the sale of marijuana items like concentrates, extracts and edibles in unincorporated areas. The tax is predicted to bring in $50,000, money not earmarked for any- thing specific. Big-ticket bond measures are expected to be on the ballot. The county plans to ask for $23.8 million to relo- cate the jail to Warrenton. The Astoria and Warrenton-Hammond school dis- tricts may ask for $70 million and $32 million, respectively, for building proj- ects. And the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District is looking for $15- 18 million to expand the aquatic facility in Seaside. Lots of city seats May 30 was the first day for city can- didates to file a declaration of candi- dacy. They have until Aug. 28. Mayoral seats and a host of city council offices will be up for grabs. • In Astoria, Mayor Arline LaMear is stepping down after one term and City Council seats held by Zetty Nemlowill and Cindy Price will be contested. • In Seaside, seats held by Mayor Jay Barber and City Council members Steve Wright, Tita Montero and Dana Phillips are on the ballot. • In Warrenton, Mayor Henry Balensifer is up for re-election, as is city commissioner Rick Newton. • In Cannon Beach, the mayor’s job, held by Sam Steidel, and City Council seats held by George Vetter and Mike Benefield are on the ballot; • In Gearhart, City Council seats held by Kerry Smith and Paulina Cockrum will be contested. A call for civility As 2018 dawned, we printed a clar- ion call on this page for civility. We’ll repeat that message now. We lamented the turmoil our nation has endured since the divisive 2016 presidential election. Six months later, nothing has really changed. The divi- sive tone is surely not one any of us would choose. The longer it lasts, the worse it seems to get. Like many of our readers, we yearn for leaders who will put country before party, behave ethically, and unite us in a common cause. The rest of the world used to look for us for leadership. Our American “can-do” attitude was the envy of the rest of the planet. That respect has evaporated. No one single person reading this can fix that. But as individuals we can play our part in soothing the tone, espe- cially by making sure our local elec- tions do not reflect the negativity of the national and state contests. We have a lot in common with our neighbors despite the shrill voices of political dis- content coming from both sides of the aisle. Embracing civility is one key step to the healing that this country so obvi- ously needs. It is the city itself, it seems, that is creat- ing the real problem, by seeking to isolate and demean human beings who are, for whatever reason (at a moment in time) in a position of being in need of warming. There is no reason whatsoever that the planners cannot refer to the clients of the shelter merely as those in need, rather than engaging in all manner of insults and assump- tions about who they are, and how they have to live, exercising their stereotype upon the clients. Many of the so-called homeless are not homeless at all. They are simply victims of housing inequality, perpetuated by society and the city’s abuse and arrogance. LOIS J. DuPEY Astoria Bill Clinton or John F. Kennedy is absurd; does the writer not understand the difference between sexual assault and infidelity? I don’t agree with the latter but good god almighty, there’s a huge difference between consenting adults and unwanted assaults. As far as Harvey Weinstein is concerned, to compare him to the person occupying the most influential office in the free world (for now anyway) is ludicrous. The occupant of the White House is meant to be someone we look up to, not someone we’d hate to meet in a dark alley. Yes, we do agree that Donald Trump has not only upset the apple cart, he has smashed the apples, shot the horse and burned the cart. If Robert Mueller can’t get rid of this empty shell of an excuse for a human being, 2020 can’t come soon enough. JOYCE CARRELL Warrenton views of Commissioners Lianne Thompson and Kathleen Sullivan who … want the board to exert more oversight.” I was disappointed to read this. Clatsop County has had a higher than average turnover in county managers, so I thought I would go to the county website and see what our charter states about the role of a county commissioner. It states: “The (home rule) charter put oversight of the daily operations into the hands of a professional county manager hired by the Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners was expanded to five unpaid commissioners living in different geographic areas of the county, and its role was changed to strictly policy-making.” (bit. ly/2xnAnmJ) It appears to me that some of our county commissioners have not done their home- work. It seems pretty straightforward to me. Commissioners = policymakers. I like that Ms. Wev has a background in land-use planning, and I like some of the things she has to say, but it looks as though she would not be helpful in regard to the infighting with our Board of Commissioners. This animosity, micromanaging and bully- ing needs to stop, and Cameron Moore needs to be allowed to do his job. I guess Mr. Ros- coe gets my vote. MARCIA FENSKE Astoria LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Please don’t smoke on the Seaside Promenade am writing about smokers on the Seaside Promenade. I run along the promenade three days a week. The smokers walk, stand and sit right on the promenade. They throw their cigarette butts on the ground, as well. I don’t see any signs posted indicating they should not be smoking within 20 feet of oth- ers on the promenade. I have to inhale smoke during my run. Families with children and other nonsmokers have to inhale smoke as well. I just wanted to let someone know, so maybe signs could be put up for smokers to go away from the prom- enade to smoke. SANDRA GARVIN Seaside I Discontent should motivate your dreams guess that we all get the feeling from time to time, as the lyrics of the song go, “Is that all there is?” A feeling that we’re not enough, or that we’re not experiencing or realizing all that we were intended to experience, that there must be more to life than what we’re experiencing. Could it be that this feeling of discontent is our creator’s “divinely designed” plan to encourage us to experience, and become, all that we were created to be? Let that feeling of discontent motivate and encourage you, and drive you in the direction of your dreams. JIM BERNARD Warrenton I Astoria Planning Commission isolates and demeans homeless n its zeal to create a fabric of regulation around a seldom-functioning emergency shelter in Astoria, the Planning Commission has exceeded its mandate. Without reason, the ordinance presented at a commission hearing seeks to character- ize those served by the shelter as subhumans. In its two-paragraph outlandish definitions section, those seeking or needing shelter are described as living in a manner and sleeping in accommodations, not consistent with being humans. Homeless (without a definite or indefinite article), having been so defined, are then cat- egorized in various ways and subject to vari- ous deprivations of rights, throughout the rest of the ordinance. Homeless are caricatured as a despicable group of street vermin, being allowed in for the night by a superior (uber- mensch), by virtue of a mythical (inoperative) shelter. I Trump has upset the apple cart and burned it n response to “Trump’s policies are actu- ally working” (The Daily Astorian, May 29): Oh dear, where to start. I’m sure many people in the county are asking the same question. The letter writer actually forgot to tell us where Trump’s policies are working, maybe telling us what his policies actually are might be a start — it seems to change on a daily basis. To compare President Donald Trump to I County commissioners are simply policymakers he headline in the May 23 edition of The Daily Astorian reads, “Voters could settle Clatsop County’s ideological split in Novem- ber runoff,” and compares the positions of Pamela Wev and Peter Roscoe. Of special interest to me was the para- graph pointing out that Ms. Wev “mirrors the T
