A4
THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, OcTObER 8, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Child care is a deal breaker
F
or two-earner couples and
single parents, child care is
life and death. In rural Ore-
gon, creating child care capacity
that is dependable is a challenge. It
is also a largely unseen, but critical,
element in a local economy.
Without dependable child care,
some men and women simply can-
not work.
If that sounds familiar to regular
readers, it should. We wrote those
exact words back in 2010.
While the child care providers
on the North Coast have changed
in nine years, their importance has
not.
The availability of safe, reliable
and affordable child care is still a
deal breaker for young working
couples or single parents.
And there is still a dire need.
Clatsop County is considered
a “child care desert,” a bluntly
worded state designation given
when fewer than 33% of children
have access to child care.
That’s why efforts to keep
Shooting Stars Child Development
Center in Astoria should be sup-
ported and commended.
During the past few decades, we
have regularly reported how child
care providers have a hard time
finding, keeping and paying high-
ly-trained staff a living wage and
benefits while keeping care afford-
able for parents. Many report hav-
ing difficulties staying afloat — not
being able to meet their monthly
expenses, in part because some par-
ents cannot pay on time.
It has been five years since the
substantial operation at Coryell’s
Crossing closed. Since then, other
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Clatsop County is considered a ‘child care desert.’
small, private facilities that tried to
fill that gap have come and gone.
Soar With Us in Gearhart closed
earlier this year. And while state
overseers have identified some
issues with Shooting Stars not com-
plying with state regulations, we
are hopeful those can be resolved in
a manner that assures parents that
it is a safe haven for their children.
Frankly, its 50 slots are crucial in
Clatsop County’s mix of offerings.
Over the years, studies have cor-
related children’s development suc-
cess with quality child care. The
best ones provide a safe learn-
ing environment led by enthusi-
astic, stable, well-trained staff.
Staff-to-child ratios are of special
importance.
Parents have become especially
desperate to find child care outside
of the traditional workday, which
affects people working swing, night
or weekend shifts.
So what is to be done?
Task forces have been formed
in Clatsop, Columbia and Tilla-
mook counties to figure out how to
address and finance more child care
and preschool options in the region.
The Northwest Early Learn-
ing Hub received a grant from
the Meyer Memorial Trust for
$100,000 to support them. A sepa-
rate parent advisory board will help
inform the task forces.
The initiative follows a feasibil-
ity study conducted in 2017 — led
by retired Seaside principal Dan
Gaffney — that looked at providing
subsidized, high-quality preschool
in Clatsop and Tillamook counties.
It followed the Pay for Success
model, where private investors pay
for social programs and get repaid
with interest if those programs save
the public money.
The one success story is Lil’
Sprouts.
Essentially, it is the only social
services offered by the city of Asto-
ria. It came about following col-
laborative efforts involving the city
and some key large employers like
the U.S. Coast Guard and Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital. Clatsop
Community College, some banks
and some retailers were also key
early supporters. One or more prior
incarnations at the school district
did encounter some difficulties, but
the current formula appears solid.
It is no surprise that it is a govern-
ment-led activity, where the profit
motive of the private sector is less
relevant than the community ser-
vice it provides.
There is no single answer. Pri-
vate-sector child care must be
encouraged. But it also must be
appropriately regulated, inspected
and all its staff vetted and trained.
Ten years ago, we wrote that
“child care is a largely hidden
ingredient that makes success or
failure in the 21st century econ-
omy.” It needs to stay on the front
burner as a public policy priority.
TEN yEARS AGO, WE WROTE THAT ‘cHILd cARE IS A LARGELy HIddEN INGREdIENT
THAT MAKES SuccESS OR FAILuRE IN THE 21ST cENTuRy EcONOMy.’ IT NEEdS
TO STAy ON THE FRONT buRNER AS A PubLIc POLIcy PRIORITy.
GUEST COLUMN
Boone’s case should spur campaign finance reform
T
oday’s wheels of civic progress
turn so slowly at all levels of gov-
ernment. Often it feels like we’re
stuck, or moving backwards. As Orego-
nians scrutinize problems in our nation’s
capital, we should work harder to improve
things at home.
Money lies at the root of our political
quagmire. With no cap on campaign dona-
tions, Oregon is one of the most regres-
sive places in America to engage in the
democratic process. To worsen matters,
state election laws now on the books are
ignored or unenforced. Improvements
move at a glacial pace, regardless of
whether Democrats or Republicans are in
charge.
We were reminded of
this status quo in a case
involving our former state
Rep. Deborah Boone, D–
Cannon Beach. After leav-
ing her seat in the Oregon
House, the seven-term leg-
islator was quoted on the
WATT
record regarding behavior
CHILDRESS
that, if accurately reported,
looks like a crime.
An article about Boone in The Orego-
nian presents details about pass-through
political donations — channeling money
to campaigns on behalf of other donors,
shielding their names from financial dis-
closure forms. Such donations are a felony
in Oregon punishable by up to five years
in prison and a $125,000 fine.
Quotes attributed to Boone displayed
candor on this matter. If the article is
accurate, she clearly believed she did not
do anything out of the ordinary. In fact,
her words suggest such financial dealings
are common practice, thus offering the
public an unfiltered look at Oregon’s polit-
ical norm.
“It’s so prevalent,” she is quoted as
saying. “I would think if it was illegal,
they’d cite you on it.”
These words are certainly in keep-
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
ing with the state’s handling of Boone’s
case. After months of doing nothing, offi-
cials finally responded when area citizens
wrote a formal letter to Oregon Secretary
of State Beverly Clarno.
Of particular concern was a dona-
tion to Boone from John Helm, husband
to Sen. Betsy Johnson, D–Scappoose,
who co-chairs the powerful Joint Com-
mittee on Ways and Means. The Orego-
nian quotes Boone as saying that Helm
gave her the money with instructions to
pass it along to Tim Josi, a long-serv-
ing Tillamook County commissioner who
was campaigning to fill her seat in the
Legislature.
Secretary Clarno’s staff sent letters of
inquiry to Boone, Helm and Josi. Boone’s
response appears to reverse earlier state-
ments printed in The Oregonian. Rather
than seek to explain the contradiction,
officials simply stopped the investigation
in August.
After The Oregonian published
another article about the case in Septem-
ber, Clarno announced her intention to
improve law enforcement. But not for
Boone, Helm and Josi. Why should parties
in a case that prompted more public scru-
tiny be exempted from state law?
Clarno’s move signals little more than
window dressing, at best, if she refuses
to complete her investigation. At worst it
leaves us with the appearance of duplicity,
or the sense that state officials may have
carefully worded an inquiry so as to allow
flexible interpretation, then dropped the
case without addressing the obvious need
for clarification. In other words, it smacks
of special treatment for political insiders.
This dramatic shortfall of duty also
undermines trust in reporting about elec-
tions. In a recent editorial published by
The Oregonian, their editorial board
mentions an assertion by Boone that the
state’s newspaper of record got the story
wrong. Yet to date no one has requested a
correction.
A responsible course of action need
not be punitive in this case, even if pass-
through donations occurred. I see no rea-
son for Boone or anyone involved to be
punished if what they did was engage in
a crime that has been ignored up to this
point.
We don’t need to make an exam-
ple of someone. We need civic lead-
ers to be examples by demonstrating a
renewed commitment to truth-telling and
transparency.
I’d like to view Boone’s reported can-
dor as a frank acknowledgement of sys-
temic failures that require our timely
attention. Give her the chance to clear
up any confusion over conflicting public
statements. Expound on the pervasiveness
of the problem, if appropriate.
Use this as an opportunity to expedite
campaign finance reform and help remove
a moneyed stain from politics as a whole.
Oregon can model leadership for
America by moving from behind up to
the front of the class. We’ll do this if, and
only if, we strengthen public confidence in
fair elections.
Watt childress is a freelance writer who
owns Jupiter’s books in cannon beach. He
lives on a small farm in the Nehalem Val-
ley and publishes the online journal upper-
leftedge.com.