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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2018)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2018 Senators spar on access to Kavanaugh’s staff secretary work By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON — More than a decade after he served as what’s been called the president’s “inbox and out- box,” Brett Kavanaugh’s role as White House staff secre- tary to President George W. Bush has become a flash- point as Republicans push his confirmation to the Supreme Court. Democrats want to see records from the time, por- traying the potentially mil- lions of documents as vital to understanding his approach to the law. Republicans dis- agree and have accused Dem- ocrats of using the issue to try to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The debate could inter- fere with Republicans’ goal of swiftly confirming Presi- dent Donald Trump’s pick for the court in time for the start of the new term Oct. 1. With the Senate control slimly held by Republicans 51-49, Dem- ocrats can’t block Kavana- ugh’s nomination outright if Republicans hold together. Instead, Democrats are trying to delay the proceedings in hopes that time spent review- ing the judge’s record could unearth fresh concerns to sway senators’ opinions and upend voting. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee tasked with holding hearings on Kavanaugh’s nomination, said this week that Demo- crats’ “bloated demands are an obvious attempt to obstruct the confirmation process.” But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that Kavanaugh himself has por- trayed his three years as Bush’s staff secretary as “the most interesting and, in many ways, among the most instructive” to his work as a Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Seaside City Councilor Tom Horning points toward evidence of an ancient tsunami embedded in a wetland near Seaside. Bridges: ‘We can’t afford to wait’ Continued from Page 1A Raising the lodging tax to pay for infrastructure improve- ments has been contested by hoteliers and the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Asso- ciation. The lodging associa- tion, for example, sued Bend over the city’s use of tourism tax money for road repairs, and a judge sided with the association. But proposing lodging tax dollars for a project intended to protect both residents and tourists in an emergency could be a first. “If we have challenges from the lodging industry, I would say this is about saving the lives of their clients,” Horn- ing said. “And I’m prepared to hammer on that point.” Building bridges Making Seaside’s aging bridges more earthquake-resis- tant has long been on the city’s agenda. In the past 15 years, bridges at East Broadway, First Avenue and two on 12th Avenue have been replaced to withstand a major earthquake, City Manager Mark Winstan- ley said. The city has applications out for grants and Oregon Department of Transporta- tion funding to rebuild bridges at Avenues S, U and G, all of which were originally built to the standards of the early 1960s. But Seaside often falls through the cracks when apply- ing for grant money, Winstan- ley said. The city is either too small to compete for projects or has too healthy of a bud- get to qualify for need-based grants intended for smaller, rural communities. “Our bridges rate low enough to qualify for appli- cation, but there’s a lot of communities out there with bridges that are a whole lot worse,” Winstanley said. “And when they look at us, and see we’ve been able to build four bridges in 15 years, they think ‘it doesn’t look like you need money.’” That’s part of the appeal for Horning’s call for a lodging tax hike. It would be a way for the city to raise money and com- plete projects more quickly than traditional funding mech- anisms would allow. Winstan- ley says it’s not uncommon for it to take eight or nine years to complete a bridge from begin- ning to end. “We can be put on lists, but we can’t afford to wait,” Horn- ing said. Tourism promotion State law requires 70 per- cent of all lodging tax revenue be used for tourism promotion or property. Horning argues Seaside’s bridges should be considered a tourism facility, which in the statute is defined as “property that has a useful life of 10 or more years” and has a substantial purpose of supporting tourism. Jason Brandt, CEO of the state’s lodging association, said anything beyond an access road — like to a specific camp- ground or a park — would fall short of the state attorney gen- eral’s definition of support- ing a tourism facility, and that repairs for roads, streets and bridges are still expected to be paid for from general fund resources. “I think it’s far-fetched to believe (rebuilding bridges) is a legal use of restricted tour- ism tax dollars,” Brandt said. But Horning disagrees, arguing that in Seaside, the only way to access the beach — the town’s main tourist attraction — almost always includes crossing a bridge. Horning said he wants to hear the thoughts and concerns of local lodging operators. “If you took out our bridges, I think you would hear shrieks from the lodging industry about people not being able to get to their hotels,” Horning said. “If you can’t get to the beach, then you aren’t accom- modating tourist activities.” Oregon’s Largest Hotel: Hearing date not yet set free Enjoy the COMFORT of HOTEL EXTRAVAGANCE Hollander Hospitality A developer is interested in building a new hotel on the Astoria waterfront. grown with weeds. City Manager Brett Estes assured the committees he would talk with Hollander Hospitality about taking care of the weeds. The city later sent Hollander Hospitality a code enforcement letter. Mul- len told Estes Thursday that the work would be done soon. Retailer LARGEST MATTRESS SELECTION • QUALITY COMFORT & SUPPORT • LOW PRICE GUARANTEE Continued from Page 1A In their reports to the city boards, city staff had not rec- ommended either approving or denying the hotel project, but each report came with a list of recommendations, linger- ing questions and issues that needed to be addressed. The developer was also criticized by members of both city boards for the state of the property where The Ship Inn and another former restau- rant, Stephanie’s Cabin, are located. Since Hollander Hos- pitality purchased the lots, the landscaping has become over- 8 federal appeals court judge. Schumer said if Kavana- ugh sees it that way, “why shouldn’t the American peo- ple see what instructed him?” Kavanaugh spent nearly three years, from July 2003 to May 2006, as staff secre- tary, the person who controls the flow of documents to and from the president, including ensuring relevant people have weighed in and channeling the president’s questions and comments on that material to the right people. As staff sec- retary, Kavanaugh was also a key part of the president’s speechwriting process, helped put together legislation and worked on drafting and revis- ing executive orders, he has said. He also traveled with the president, at points sitting in on meetings between the president and foreign leaders. While Kavanaugh was staff secretary, Bush made a range of controversial deci- sions including signing into law a partial-birth abortion ban and backing a constitu- tional amendment banning gay marriage. Democrats say that time is relevant to Kava- naugh’s views and philoso- phy as a judge. But Republicans argue the staff secretary documents aren’t useful because Kava- naugh’s job wasn’t to provide his own advice but to ensure others’ views were presented to the president. They say the papers contain the most sensi- tive White House documents, advice sent directly to the president. Republicans say they support, as Democrats do, making public documents related to Kavanaugh’s time in the White House counsel’s office, which immediately preceded his staff secretary job. And they say the up to 1 million pages of records they expect to release will be the largest number of documents produced in connection with a Supreme Court nomination. % 50 SUMMER JUNE 22 - JULY 30 OFF SALE & CLEARANCE ALL Bellagio dels Mattress Mo “Our very first brand new mattress” JUNE 22 - JULY 30 $500 savings applies only to king size mattress sets with a king size foundation or two twin XL foundations. 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