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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2019)
A4 THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, dEcEmbER 31, 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 Gritty to pretty e often take for granted what we see. But behind every new thing in a city or town lies a story that many of us have forgotten. That is especially so in Astoria, which has enjoyed three decades of upward trajectory. The decade that is ending has been especially transformative. We have attempted to capture several elements of this big change. All cities and towns are in a con- stant cycle of deterioration, death and renewal. Two projects espe- cially marked the beginning of Astoria’s rebirth. One was the cleanup of Astoria Plywood in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The second was the acquisition and res- toration of the Liberty Theatre in the early 2000s. What marks the years from 2010 onward has been an acceleration of Astoria’s renewal. It has been a remarkable 10 years, marked by progress in many facets. We suspect some readers will grumble at the “pretty” part in our “Gritty to pretty” headline, arguing that Astoria has always had working-folks’ blood surging through its veins. We couldn’t agree more. Our enhanced appearance should not imply softness or weakness. “We ain’t quaint” was a reac- tionary bumper sticker from a cou- ple of decades ago when fears of gentrification launched a con- certed pushback from people eager to make sure Astoria didn’t get too soft. Sure, the notorious downtown dives were cleared away to make a safer place for redevelopment. But we believe “grit” still exists in the people and institutions that call this place home. W Bicentennial Astoria celebrated its bicen- tennial in 2011. This event was a major cause for reflection. As we looked back, we took pride in an astonishing melting pot of national- ities, ethnicities and faiths that lit- erally built our town, populated it and created its folklore. Although it was no longer the salmon canning capital of the world, the oldest American set- Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian Astoria has changed over the past decade. tlement west of the Rocky Moun- tains truly had cause to celebrate that terrific milestone. Residents examined the survival of its two traditional industries, logging and fishing — albeit in curtailed form — and the emergence of tourism as the third key piece in the eco- nomic jigsaw. We recognized the stability of the Georgia-Pacific Wauna Mill, the expansion of the U.S. Coast Guard presence through Sector Columbia River and the burgeoning health field. The lat- ter has grown even more signifi- cantly in the last decade as Colum- bia Memorial Hospital in Astoria and Providence Seaside Hospital have added enhanced capabilities to serve North Coast patients. One key factor in this growth has been partnerships with other medical professionals, most notably Colum- bia Memorial’s alliance with Ore- gon Health & Science University. Warrenton saw considerable expansion, doubling in population between 2000 and 2010, and add- ing even more in the past decade. But growth in Astoria is limited by geography. Available housing for newcomers has always been an issue, not just in the modern era. The 2020 census is likely to reflect stability in the total number of its inhabitants, who numbered just short of 10,000 in the official count 10 years ago and the same in a recently released Portland State University study. Some years ago, leaders at Astor Elementary School used to say 1 in 5 of their student population changed each year. If that rough guideline is mirrored citywide, it means there are a host of new peo- ple who call this wonderful place home. We know that’s true because we’ve featured them in our pages: Innovating, investing and cele- brating their arrival with enthusi- asm for living in such a storied and attractive locale. And many stay — if they can earn the means to live here and learn to endure the weather, of course. Some good things come and go. Others endure. We are not alone in believing that the investment in the renovation of the Liberty Theatre and the Elliott Hotel, especially during the early 2000s, sparked the wonderful renaissance of down- town that has continued through this past decade. Nowadays, when familiar store- fronts become empty, they are filled with new ventures that further diversify what’s available. Some- times that process takes a while and some developers are controversial. But an enhanced arts scene and the proliferation of craft breweries has flavored the community. Thank- fully, key obstacles, like the absen- tee ownership of the Flavel fam- ily which stymied progress for too many years, have been removed. When cruise ship visitors throng our streets in shoulder seasons, they have many delights to sample that we residents savor year-round. Another cloud on the horizon 10 years ago, the various proposed liq- uefied natural gas projects, have gone away, for now. We were among many who had hoped that the unity of purpose that brought so many different people together to battle that potential disaster could be harnessed for a common pur- pose — and this time, a positive one. It is fanciful to suggest it did, because much of that remarkable energy dissipated once the last car- petbagger left town. The closest manifestation of this spirit has been the vigor of the debate over the future of our working waterfront amid the desire of residents to pre- serve their views of the Columbia River. Will Astoria ever reach consen- sus on what it wants to be? Per- haps that is an unanswerable ques- tion, because change is the only constant. Whatever the answer, we believe it all adds up to a pretty picture of a community that can shine brightly with innovations while preserving those qualities and attributes that makes it such a great place to live. Housing Readers answering our sur- vey about changes in the past 10 years and challenges loom- ing in the immediate future men- tioned improving parking down- town and revisiting the old concept of a bypass to alleviate traffic congestion. But more than anything they were almost unanimous that afford- able housing was the biggest issue facing Astoria. This should extend the debate over how to humanely tackle homelessness into a broader discussion. The elephant in the room, of course, is that wages for tourism and service jobs, and the health assistant positions being created, are rarely high enough to afford quality housing. Policymak- ers need to create an environment to encourage more private investors to meet this crucial need. It is a challenge we will be mon- itoring, beginning in 2020. GUEST COLUMN What are the top state issues heading into 2020? A s the new year approaches, the No. 1 issue for Oregon voters is … It depends on the voters’ political leanings. And remember, neither Democrats nor Republi- cans represent a majority of Oregonians statewide. DHM Research, a trust- worthy outfit, asked rep- resentative panels of the electorate for their opin- DICK ions. DHM found some HUGHES surprises. Last month, the com- pany asked 582 voters to choose which issues — from a list of 15 — that would be most important for them in voting for state House and Senate candidates in the 2020 elections. Oregon has about 2.8 million regis- tered voters. About 35% are Democrats and 25% are Republicans. The largest and fastest-growing segment is com- posed of voters who belong either to another party or to no party. Together, these other-party and unaffiliated voters could hold tremendous power. The wild card is how they will vote. In the DHM survey, the top issues for the other-party and unaffiliated vot- ers werehealth care, taxes, K-12 edu- cation, government spending and the environment. For Democratic voters who were surveyed, the top issues were climate change, health care, environment, hous- ing and homelessness. Republicans ranked the top issues as government spending, taxes, gun pol- icy, managing the state budget and homelessness. The unaffiliated and other-party vot- ers are not represented in the Legisla- ture, whose 90 members are either Dem- ocrat or Republican. So it’s telling that in the DHM survey, these voters indi- cated they generally had more trust in Democrats than Republicans to handle most issues. It also is interesting that the perennial issue of education was barely mentioned, presumably because the 2019 Legisla- ture passed the Student Success Act. The legislation is projected to raise $1 bil- lion a year for schools for a broad range of programs, including behavioral health services, which are a priority of students and educators alike.Taxes, however, remain a key issue for Republicans and other-party and unaffiliated voters. It is a privilege to do business in Ore- gon, and Democrats taxed that privi- lege to pay for the education improve- ments, which most lawmakers thought overdue despite disagreements about the financing. The new corporate activ- ity tax kicks in on Wednesday. Naturally, questions continue as to whether the tax will actually raise $1 billion annually, whether it is fair and whether it deserves alternations. State Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Tangent, said any tax on gross prof- its is irresponsible and is “very telling as to how the state of Oregon sees job creators.” From the Democratic side, Sen. Arnie Roblan, of Coos Bay, a main author of the Student Success Act, wrote to his constituents this week, “These ground- breaking educational reforms and the corresponding funding package in the bill will significantly transform Oregon’s education system for decades to come.” As the DHM survey shows, home- lessness remains a top 5 legislative issue for Democratic and Republican voters. Many homeless individuals frequently wind up in hospital emergency rooms or city and county jails, where they are ill- served. Many homeless women are sur- vivors of domestic violence. Many folks are employed but not at jobs that pay high enough wages or provide enough work hours for rent. Many are youth or families with children. Many dare not go to shelters for fear of being victimized. Many homeless people have substance or behavioral disorders or both. Gov. Kate Brown, House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and others have been staunch advocates for more housing. But no one has stepped forward to make homelessness the critical issue for the Oregon Legislature — even though the governor, other state officials and the 90 legislators must see the faces of homeless individuals every day as they travel about Oregon’s capital. That might be changing. Senate Pres- ident Peter Courtney, D-Salem, is so vexed by the inability of Oregon’s capi- tal to serve the homeless that he will ask the 2020 Legislature for several million dollars toward warming shelters. dick Hughes has been covering the Oregon political scene since 1976.
