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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 31, 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
Who should pay to operate new jail?
T
here is little doubt that Clatsop
County needs a new jail.
Anyone who takes time to
investigate the overcrowded old facility
in downtown Astoria is almost guaran-
teed to come to that conclusion.
The lack of space in the 60-bed jail
and the unacceptable revolving-door
system has criminals laughing and our
hardworking law enforcement offi-
cers increasingly frustrated. “Catch-
and-release” should remain a fun fish-
ing phrase, not a cynical observation
on what happens to lawbreakers in our
community.
Voters are being asked to approve a
$20 million bond that would cost them
21 cents per $1,000 of assessed prop-
erty value.
Sensibly, county commissioners
are looking ahead, planning beyond
November, when voters will decide
whether to move the jail to the for-
mer North Coast Youth Correctional
Facility in Warrenton. That would have
148 beds, plus room for expansion.
Should the jail bond pass, a pressing
issue for county leaders will be finding
the money to operate it.
One option approved last week was
a 1 percent lodging tax tacked onto
each visitor’s hotel bill. This would
generate significant revenue, of which
some could be used for jail operations.
Predictably, the concept drew the ire
of the hospitality industry, whose advo-
cates worry that ramping up lodging
taxes would scare away tourists.
The Astoria-Warrenton Area
Chamber of Commerce and the Oregon
Restaurant & Lodging Association
rightly argue that tourism is a key cor-
nerstone of our North Coast economy.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Riverfront Trolley passes under the Astoria Bridge with a load of passen-
gers. Most of the money from a new county lodging tax would go to tourism promotion.
We live in the most desirable place
on Earth. People want to visit, and we
want to share it with them.
And we have all budgeted for a trip
based on advertised hotel prices, only
to be annoyed at checkout to discover
our daily rate is boosted by additional
room taxes.
In approving the tax, the commis-
sioners weighed a crucial factor raised
by Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin
— the volume of visitors increases
crime. That isn’t being rude to tour-
ists; it is a statistical inevitability. Our
North Coast population swells by thou-
sands each summer. We should wel-
come visitors, but with our eyes open
to the added burden on law enforce-
ment, plus the full realization that they
all use local services and amenities that
residents pay for year-round.
Of course they are an easy target
for added revenue. But if not tourists,
who else should be taxed to help run
the jail? There are few other places for
budget managers to go that would be
acceptable to residents.
Reading the details, the action
should actually benefit the tourism and
lodging industry.
The county already imposes a 9.5
percent lodging tax in unincorporated
areas, in addition to state and city taxes.
The new tax will apply within and out-
side city limits. It will take effect in
January and generate an estimated $1.4
million annually in revenue for the
county and cities.
But it should be noted that by state
law, 70 percent of this revenue must be
spent on tourism promotion. Only the
remaining 30 percent — estimated at
$420,000 annually — can be used for
jail operations.
If the local $1.4 million revenue
estimate is accurate, that would mean
about $980,000 a year for local tourism
promotion. We’d be interested in seeing
a plan for that additional revenue that
includes public education efforts geared
at visitors, much like Bend’s “Visit
Like a Local” program. It encourages
visitors to clean up after themselves,
volunteer for trail maintenance, learn
how to use a traffic circle and not drink
and drive, among other topics.
Three other bonds are on the bal-
lot this fall, for Astoria and Warrenton
schools and the Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District. Voters have
twice rejected jail building propos-
als, most recently in 2012. This latest
jail bond is actually the smallest dol-
lar amount of the four, costing a tax-
payer with a $200,000 home about $42
a year.
The idea supported by the one
dissenting commissioner, Lianne
Thompson, that county leaders should
wait on the lodging tax idea until the
outcome until the November vote, is far
from prudent.
If voters approve the jail Nov. 6 and
some partial operational funding is not
in place, the board would have just 37
workdays to dream up and approve a
different strategy.
That’s unnecessary pressure on a
group of five commissioners finishing
up its 2018 agenda and gearing up for a
significant leadership changeover, with
two new members starting work in the
new year.
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WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
Oregon farmers will feel Trump’s trade war
B
eneath the level of congressional
anguish over tariffs and the prospect of
trade war, American farmers are taking
a hit. Mostly that’s happening in the soybean
fields of the Midwest. But Oregon agriculture
will not be on the sidelines.
Writing in last Thursday’s New York
Times, an Iowa radio station news director
provided an on-the-ground
report from America’s
breadbasket. “Trump has no
idea what his tariffs have
unleashed for farmers,”
wrote Robert Leonard, who
projected the hollowing
out of rural communities as
STEVE
FORRESTER longtime farmers sell their
operations.
People who have never
lived in farm country or known farmers likely
underestimate the complexity of making a
living in agriculture. They also likely do not
understand the efforts that farm groups have
undertaken over decades to grow their mar-
kets abroad.
When my wife and I lived in Washington,
D.C., from 1978 to 1987, I watched many
‘People who have never lived in farm country
or known farmers likely underestimate the
complexity of making a living in agriculture.’
Northwesterners come to town to lobby. On
an annual basis the most sophisticated group I
encountered was the Oregon Wheat Growers
League. From growing up in Pendleton, I
knew some of these men. Their lobbying
involved not only Capitol Hill, but also trips
to the State and Agriculture departments.
In the agricultural lore of Eastern Oregon,
one of the most renowned success stories was
how Pendleton Grain Growers, a farmer coop-
erative, went to Japan in the decade following
World War II. Their objective was to cultivate
that market for the soft white wheat grown on
the Umatilla Plateau. The cooperative’s presi-
dent, James Hill (father of Astoria boat builder
Tim Hill), was a leader of the delegation. To
equip himself following the war, Hill earned
an MBA .
In Pendleton, my childhood memories
include foreign delegations of farmers from
Africa and the Middle East brought to our
region by the State Department. These groups
were often given dinner at the home of my
aunt, Amy Bedford.
The internationalism I witnessed has
become a dirty word in the world of Trump.
The consequences are not pretty. Leonard
notes that many Iowans who helped put
Trump into office now find themselves on the
cold end of the president’s eagerness for trade
war.
And now comes this warning in the current
issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. “China’s
recent decision to impose a 25 percent tariff
on U.S. soybean exports could reduce ship-
ments by as much as $7.7 billion, according
to a University of Tennessee study. America’s
loss will be Brazil’s gain. The South American
nation overtook the U.S. as the top soybean
exporter in 2013, and its lead has widened
since — though to the detriment of efforts to
curb deforestation (of the Amazon).”
So far, Northwest agriculture is not
feeling the brunt of the brewing trade war.
But America’s not being in the Trans Pacific
Partnership penalizes Oregon wheat growers
who will likely lose ground to Canada and
Australia in the Japanese and Korean markets.
The larger Northwest impacts of the
Chinese tariffs will be felt by growers of
hazelnuts, apples, cherries, berries and
alfalfa. The beef and dairy industries will be
impacted. Tariffs on wine will increase.
The Trump presidency lives on easy
slogans and easy solutions. For the president’s
fervent supporters, sticking it to our valued
trading partners such as Canada and China is
red meat. The problem is that trade policy, as
it affects America’s breadbasket, does not lend
itself to pat solutions, because it is a complex
web of relationships that move in both
directions. In matters of trade, there is no such
thing as a unilateral action without retaliation
and far-reaching consequences.
Steve Forrester, the former editor and pub-
lisher of The Daily Astorian, is the president
and CEO of EO Media Group.