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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 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
Local bonds: Yes, yes, yes and no
The project would utilize the exist-
ing youth facility for staff offices, intake
space, food service and 20 inmate beds,
while placing 128 beds in a new adjoin-
ing section with a more efficient, and
safer, layout. Separate space would be
available to hold inmates with behav-
ioral issues and contagious illnesses.
C
latsop County taxpayers have a
lot on their plate to consider in
the Nov. 6 election.
Public officials are asking their con-
stituents to make big investments
in bond proposals for Astoria and
Warrenton schools, a new county jail
and expanded Sunset Empire recreation
facilities.
We believe public safety and good
schools are the most important services
that local governments can deliver. They
are crucial investments in our communi-
ty’s future. The recreation facilities are
more optional.
Sunset Empire bond: No
School bonds: Yes
The bond measures for the Astoria
and Warrenton school districts — $70
million and $38.5 million, respectively
— are both worthy of your “yes” vote.
Both proposals address critical needs
and have been carefully vetted, with
considerable public involvement in their
development.
In Warrenton, for example, instead of
asking for a massive bond to move all
of the district’s schools to higher ground
out of the tsunami inundation zone — as
Seaside did — officials chose a phased
approach. The $38.5 million will pur-
chase a master campus and build a new
middle school to relieve chronic over-
crowding at the grade school. It would
raise property taxes by an estimated
$2.03 per $1,000 of assessed value, or
$507 on a home valued at $250,000.
Future bonds will move the rest
of Warrenton’s schools, as the city’s
fast-growing population and increas-
ing home prices gradually lower the per
capita tax burden on voters over time.
The decision to go after smaller
bonds in a phased approach was based
on public input from residents who said
they support moving the schools but are
on fixed incomes, said Debbie Morrow,
the Warrenton-Hammond School Board
chairwoman.
“We couldn’t morally go out for
a bond that our residents could not
afford,” she said.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Architect Tom Bates queried students at Astoria Middle School about what they like and
don’t like about their learning spaces.
Astoria’s bond would pay for $45
million in modernization and security
improvements at Astoria Middle School,
$20 million at Astoria High School
and $9 million at John Jacob Astor
Elementary School. Lewis and Clark
Elementary School and Capt. Robert
Gray School would receive smaller
improvements.
Astoria voters last approved $21.4
million in bonds in 2000 to build Lewis
and Clark and improve the high school.
The bonds have decreased in cost
through refinancing and increases in
property values, and are now estimated
to cost $1.83 per $1,000 of assessed
value. The new bonds would begin after
the older ones expire in 2020, raising
taxes to $2.83 per $1,000 of assessed
property value, or $707 on a home
worth $250,000.
Consultants identified more than $80
million in needs for Astoria schools, but
a facilities committee — including 30
community and district staff members
— prioritized projects and whittled the
recommended ask down to $70 million.
We have toured both the Warrenton
and Astoria facilities. We believe the
requests are reasonable and sorely
needed, particularly the safety modifi-
cations in light of recent mass school
shootings around the country.
New county jail: Yes
The $20 million bond for a new
county jail, with an estimated tax rate of
21 cents per $1,000 of assessed value —
$53 on a $250,000 home — is a bargain
compared to the school bonds.
While the timing is unfortunate, this
shouldn’t be a “schools versus jail”
decision.
The real decision is public safety. Is it
important to you? Inmates released early
from our chronically overcrowded jail
have killed people. That’s not hyperbole.
It’s fact.
Our jail, with only 60 beds, is hardly
a deterrent for criminals in our county,
who know they won’t have to serve time
behind bars.
We believe the former Oregon Youth
Authority facility in Warrenton presents
an historic opportunity to expand to 148
beds at half the cost of building new. It
would be shortsighted not to take advan-
tage of that opportunity.
It sounds like a great idea — to bring
additional preschool and recreational
facilities to members of the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation District.
The recreation district is present-
ing a 20-year, $20 million bond plan to
add a second-floor walking track, indoor
racket courts and fitness areas, and
reconfigure administrative areas, class-
rooms and storage space, among other
upgrades.
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Seaside taxpayers are still reeling
from the big hit their property taxes
took by the passage of the $99.7 million
school bond in 2016. With a county bond
for a much-needed and long-overdue jail
facility in Warrenton, residents are being
asked to bear too much too soon.
In addition, there remain too many
open-ended questions about the pro-
posed facility to make this a good bet in
any economic environment.
With the neighboring Broadway
Middle School slated for sale by the
Seaside School District, the recreation
district may yet consider some sort of
deal with the school district or potential
buyers to redevelop part of the existing
structure, classroom or recreation space.
Revenue projections for the pro-
posed facility fail to show how the proj-
ect could break even, much less show a
profit, and ongoing expenses for a larger
facility — both in personnel and opera-
tion costs — could deliver hidden costs
to come.
We’d like to see upgrades at the facil-
ity honed and communication with
patrons improved. That won’t come by
throwing money at a big new building
without a much broader base of support.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vote ‘yes’ for
Astoria school bond
ince my first day of school, 13 years ago, I
have looked up to my teachers. Admiring
with eager eyes, and imagining myself one day
being just like them. I still look at my teachers
with awe, but now that I’m older, I realize that
their life isn’t as magical as my 5-year-old self
would like to believe. They don’t, in fact, live
in their classrooms, and are actually facing an
ever-increasing risk of being put in danger.
I never thought of school as being a dan-
gerous place until recently, but I feel as though
I’m constantly hearing about school shootings
or threats that have been put against schools,
including Astoria High School.
Now I go to school with a sense of fear that
I will become part of one of the next tragic
news stories. I fear that one of the lockdown
drills will not be a drill, something I don’t think
children should ever experience in the place
that they go to learn.
The Astoria School Bond is now addressing
the fact that the schools are not as safe as they
should be. I hope the community votes “yes” to
Astoria kids, for the approximately 2,000 kids
who don’t have a voice in this election.
One day I hope that I can pursue my dream
of teaching, and that it is in a safe environment
that holds the same magic I saw 13 years ago.
NIKAYLA LIPPY
Astoria
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Vote Barber
for Seaside mayor
lthough I don’t live inside the city limits,
I am proudly displaying a “Jay Barber for
Mayor” lawn sign on my property. As difficult
as it must have been to be dropped suddenly
into the role of mayor mid-term, and expected
to replace someone as wonderful as my good
Swedish friend, Mayor Don Larson, Jay did
it with class. He has earned the respect of the
people of Seaside, and of his colleagues around
the state. He is a good listener, the result of
being a pastor for many years.
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Jay has been an active mayor from his
first day on the job. He leads in a way that he
believes best for his constituents. He interacts
regularly, and in person, with the state Legisla-
ture and the governor, as well as with our fed-
eral delegation. He is compassionate and kind,
and he takes his many volunteer roles seriously.
In the emergency preparedness sector, Sea-
side leaders started a local program called
“Map Your Neighborhood” before Jay became
mayor. Jay worked with other coastal commu-
nities, and continued those activities, allowing
Seaside to remain in the forefront as a model of
proven practices. That small project was even-
tually included in the Oregon Resilience Plan,
and has become a go-to action that any com-
munity can practice.
If I lived in Seaside, you can be assured that
I would be voting for Jay Barber for mayor.
Please vote by Nov. 6.
DEBORAH BOONE
Cannon Beach
ing clean air and healthy drinking water.
Tiffany wants to end our dependence on
dirty fossil fuels. This means investing in clean
energy infrastructure locally, and also making
sure our coast and river aren’t used to export
fossil fuels.
Tiffany wants to do more to encourage sus-
tainability in forestry, especially when it comes
to protecting watersheds. All North Coast Ore-
gonians deserve pristine drinking water as a
right — not as a luxury.
Lastly, Tiffiny Mitchell is concerned about
climate change. Our communities are espe-
cially vulnerable to erratic weather, flooding
and rising sea levels. Tiffiny will work to be
part of the solution to better prepare us for the
effects of climate change.
Please vote Tiffiny Mitchell for House Dis-
trict 32.
CHERYL JOHNSON
Astoria
Hoof rot not a reason to cull elk
Vote Mitchell for
state representative
here has been conflicting information
regarding hoof disease in elk stated in the
newspaper, and on Facebook recently. Want-
ing to know the truth, I called the Tillamook
office of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Depart-
ment. The gentleman I spoke with was patient
and informative.
T
s our state representative, Tiffiny Mitch-
ell will work hard to keep the North Coast
a great place to live and raise our children and
grandchildren. Tiffiny is committed to protect-
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LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
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Letters written in response to other
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Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
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P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103.
As I understand it, there is a potential pre-
cursor to hoof rot disease that is called slipper
foot disease. This is apparently found in less
than 1 percent of any herd, and has many pos-
sible causes. He stated that this is not worri-
some, and is regarded as fairly normal, i.e. not
something that requires intervention.
Hoof rot disease is a different entity. It is
thought to be caused by a treponeme bacte-
ria. To their knowledge, hoof rot disease is not
found in the Clatsop County herds, obviously
including the elk in Gearhart. Consequently,
this would not constitute a reason to cull or
destroy elk in Clatsop County.
SHARON KLOEPFER
Gearhart
Protect our most precious
and vulnerable citizens
s a mother, I often say a little prayer each
day as my children go off to school, that
they will be safe. It is terrifying, hearing about
the rampant school shootings in our country.
There’s an opportunity to protect our schools
from this threat, and I’m all for it. Please, join
me in voting yes for the Astoria school bond.
As a city councilor, I realize there’s not
much the city of Astoria can do to make
schools more safe. The city has the best police
force on the planet, and they are trained to
respond to mass shootings, but how could we,
as a community, ever let it come to this? We
must do everything in our power to protect
our most precious and vulnerable citizens, our
children.
There is a lot the Astoria School District
could do to make our schools secure by creat-
ing secure entrances. This will take a signifi-
cant investment, and it can only be done with
money from a voter-approved bond.
We don’t have to sit back and be victims as
the national debate continues over gun reform.
We can take action right here, right now, in our
town, to keep our kids safe by voting “yes” on
the Astoria School District bond.
ZETTY NEMLOWILL
Astoria
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