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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THuRSDAY, FEbRuARY 7, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
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Editor
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GUEST COLUMN
Change happens when someone fights for it
T
he New York Times recently pub-
lished a special section devoted to
the women of the 116th Congress
— all 131 of the current female U.S.
representatives, senators and delegates.
The article highlights the changes hap-
pening in our country’s political sys-
tem, changes occurring because peo-
ple went from being mere spectators to
active participants.
The multi-page spread carried a
brief statement about each elected offi-
cial. Several of the
women pointed out that
they initially ran for
office because a partic-
ular issue drove them
to act. Rep. Judy Chu
started a grassroots coa-
lition in her hometown
BRYAN
KIDDER
to beat back an anti-im-
migrant proposal before
her city council. Rep.
Lucy McBath ran for Congress after
her son was murdered — she wanted
to know why this could happen. Sen.
Maggie Hassan ran to make sure there
were equal opportunities for those, like
her son, who have severe disabilities.
Each woman saw an issue needing to
be addressed and each decided to be the
one to do something about it.
Their stories are inspiring, not only
for women who are seeking greater
roles of responsibility in government,
but for all of us who see an unmet need
in our community. Fortunately for
those of us in Clatsop County, our next
opportunity to move from spectator to
participant is coming soon; May 21 to
be exact. That is when approximately
120 positions within dozens of special
districts will be up for election.
Special districts are governmen-
tal bodies formed to provide a service
or function not offered by an exist-
ing municipal or county government.
While the political activities in Salem
or Washington, D.C. may seem beyond
your ability to influence, the workings
of local special districts are focused
directly on your community and can
touch your life in very immediate ways.
The special districts electing officers
this May in Clatsop County include all
public school districts; Clatsop Com-
munity College; Port of Astoria; both
the Clatsop Care and Union health dis-
tricts; every rural fire and rescue dis-
trict, and water and sanitary district;
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Women members of Congress cheered after President Donald Trump acknowledged more women in Congress during his State of the
Union address.
Clatsop Rural Law Enforcement Dis-
trict; Sunset Empire Parks and Rec-
reation District; and Sunset Empire
Transportation District.
To get on the ballot for any of these
special district positions, candidates
must file with the county’s Elections
Office by March 21. You can file begin-
ning Feb. 9. The Election Office web-
site has all the information you need to
learn more.
Running for a special district office
would help highlight the issues you find
important. For example, do you have
a desire to see changes to the curricu-
lum or facilities at your child’s school?
Now is the chance to do more than
just talk about it — run for the school
board and push for the classes and ser-
vices needed to ready our kids for the
future. Worried that when the big one
hits you won’t have adequate emer-
gency response capabilities in your
area? Then seek out a position on your
fire protection district and propose how
to best cover your locale. Think there
is a need for better care options for our
aging and health-challenged popula-
tion? There are health districts needing
your ideas and energy. The best way to
address the issues central to special dis-
tricts is to run for office and work for
change.
Pushing for change requires effort.
One of the quotes in the Times article
that brings home the importance of run-
ning for office was from Rep. Norma
Torres. She said, “Change doesn’t hap-
pen because it is needed — it happens
when someone fights for it.”
Part of that fight is the act of run-
ning for office. As I encourage peo-
ple to run, the most common objec-
tions I hear are their lack of free time
to devote to the position, unfamiliarity
with how the district works, no money
to run a campaign or the fear of public
speaking.
All of those points can be obstacles,
but without someone willing to step
up and run, we will be left largely with
the wealthy, the retired or the atten-
tion seekers running for office. Noth-
ing against those folks, but if that win-
nowing process is unacceptable to you,
become a candidate driven by a fire in
the belly for a cause and a willingness
to sacrifice for your community.
Take heart. There are those willing
to help. To make it less daunting, there
will be a free Elections 101 seminar on
Saturday, March 9 from 10:30 a.m. to
noon in the Flag Room of the Astoria
Library. The seminar will go over the
mechanics of running for office — how
to file, form a team, raise money and
follow the reporting guidelines. This is
valuable information for the candidate
or the campaign volunteer. The Clat-
sop County Democratic Party will con-
duct the seminar, but it is open to those
of all political persuasions. The races
in May are nonpartisan and the semi-
nar is too.
Running for office is at the heart of
our democracy, a system our forefa-
thers and mothers designed to give you
a say in the affairs of your community.
Now is the time for you to step up, get
involved and join the fight.
bryan Kidder is chair of the Clatsop
County Democratic Party and a com-
missioner of the Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District.
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printed.
Cleaning the swamp?
That incompetent man in the White
House seems to have some difficulty
in cleaning the swamp. Apparently, he
flooded it with his own staff. I thought
we needed to get some alligators in that
swamp.
We now see that Robert Mueller has
seen fit to give him a hand to actually
clean the swamp for him.
DIANE FINUCANE
Warrenton
Not progress
My heart sank when I saw several of
the New York legislators, including Gov.
Andrew Cuomo, gleefully signing a bill
that allows babies to be aborted in the
third trimester, even up to the day before
the baby’s natural birth. What are we
becoming as a nation?
Whatever it is, I wouldn’t call it prog-
ress, because it appears more medie-
val than anything else. I cannot think of
a more barbarous act than these types
of procedures, which is essentially the
butchering of a child while it is still in
the mother’s womb.
In order to kill this child legally,
it must be killed inside its host. How
odd to think that merely changing the
locale of the baby justifies murdering it.
Because it is not fully developed, that
makes it OK for the baby to meet such a
gruesome end?
Grade school kids are less developed
than adults, should that allow their demise
at the hands of medical practitioners? Oh,
it might be the size of the infant that some
believe justifies these procedures.
Are you kidding me? Is this morally
the right thing?
CARL YATES
Seaside
ally need to expand the treaty, instead.
When somebody breaks a law you make
every effort to enforce the law, not aban-
don it. There were roughly 70,000 war-
heads in the mid-1980s. There are now
about 6,850. This treaty was working.
We need to figure out how we can get
Russia to comply and get China in on
the treaty.
Are we going to put all this money
into defense — instead of badly needed
social programs and infrastructure — to
simply satisfy the ego of our insecure
leader? I hope not.
JEAN HOOGE
Astoria
This treaty was working
Need more
charging stations
I am very concerned about the
U.S. abandoning the 1987 Intermedi-
ate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. We
certainly need to challenge Russia if we
have evidence that they are not com-
plying, but to get into a dangerous and
expensive nuclear arms race at this time
is putting the whole planet at risk.
There is too much at stake. We actu-
With one million electric vehicles
(EV) in the U.S. now, and a dozen new
affordable ones coming on the market
in 2019, it’s important this community
respond to support this positive change
for our future survival.
We need more EV charging sta-
tions. Not only is it attractive to the cli-
mate-conscious tourist, but it would
serve those folks who don’t own their
homes, and need to charge their cars.
It’s also a perk for landlords to have
chargers who want to attract renters with
these vehicles.
The city could reap revenue from
parking spots with charging equipment.
As climate activist Greta Thunberg
says, “The climate crisis has already
been solved. We already have all the
facts and solutions. All we have to do is
wake up and change.”
PAMELA MATTSON McDONALD
Astoria
And the winner is?
The KKK has, from its inception,
believed in, and used, violence or threat
of violence, as a means to shape the
world to its racist views.
Now, more and more, we are see-
ing those who are offended by that view
using violence to counter it.
Violence against violence. Hate
against hate. Who’s the winner?
And what will they have won?
JULIE SNYDER
Astoria