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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
Rally: Activists came from all parts of Oregon
Continued from Page A1
to the Capitol to support Sen-
ate Bill 1530, which aims to
cap and shrink the state’s
carbon emissions and gener-
ate revenue for environmen-
tal projects.
One of those local teens
was Angelique Prater, 17,
of Salem, who spoke to the
crowd about her activism.
In an interview, she said
that her parents, immigrants
from Mexico who work in
agriculture, were already
feeling the effects of climate
change — extreme tempera-
tures in winter and summer.
She said she fi rst heard
about the proposal from
friends in school and then
got involved in activism.
“I’m here today to fi ght
for the climate crisis and to,
you know, push our legisla-
tors to fi ght for strong climate
legislation,” Prater said, add-
ing that legislation was the
most important part of “solv-
ing the climate crisis.”
The cap-and-trade pol-
icy would carve up the emis-
sions limit into allowances
that emitters can buy and
sell on a market. The idea
is that as emissions targets
get lower, fewer allowances
are available, and indus-
try would improve pollution
controls.
Opponents have criti-
cized the plan for its poten-
tial impact on consumers
and small businesses, par-
ticularly through higher fuel
costs. Recent revisions to
the legislation spare counties
east of the Cascades from
regulations on fuel importers
and provide a way for natu-
ral gas companies to guard
their low-income customers
against higher costs.
The climate event began
at noon with speeches on
the Capitol steps from activ-
ists and political offi cials,
including remarks from
Multnomah County Com-
missioner Jessica Vega Ped-
erson, Milwaukie Mayor
Mark Gamba, who is running
for Congress, and Eric Rich-
ardson, the Eugene-Spring-
fi eld NAACP president.
Following speeches, the
demonstrators
marched
around the Capitol chanting
and waving signs with mes-
sages supporting the climate
Neighborhood: Commission
approved a host of new
development codes to help
Continued from Page A1
Sam Stites/Oregon Capital Bureau
Activists pack the steps of the Oregon State Capitol on Tuesday to show support for a cap-and-
trade bill being considered by lawmakers.
legislation.
The event, organized by
the environmental group
Renew Oregon, was a coun-
terpoint to a protest in Salem
last week organized by
#TimberUnity.
Activists made the trek to
Salem from all parts of the
state , including Dean Myer-
son, who was part of a car-
load of demonstrators who
drove three hours from The
Dalles.
Myerson said he believes
Oregon needs to lead the
way on climate action.
“We can’t just wait for
everybody else to do some-
thing fi rst, which seems to
be one of the arguments.
‘W e can’t do this alone,’
which is true, but some-
body has to start,” Myer-
son said. “In Wasco County,
we had a series of really bad
fi res a couple years ago. A
lot of historic homes were
destroyed, a farmer died …
There’s always been fi res,
but climate change is mak-
ing them worse.”
Maia Stout, a 15-year-
old from Yachats, explained
to the crowd what climate
action means to her. For the
past several months, Stout
— like 17-year-old Swedish
activist Greta Thunberg —
has participated in the global
youth climate strike, stand-
ing outside her high school
in Newport every Friday to
bring attention to the issue.
“I advocate for climate
action because I understand
that the mistakes we’ve
made don’t fi x themselves,”
Stout said. “I raised my voice
because I can’t vote for three
more years and time is run-
ning out.”
Coral Avery, 22, a stu-
dent at Oregon State Uni-
versity, is an enrolled mem-
ber of the Shawnee T ribe of
Oklahoma.
“Climate and natural
resource use really goes back
to indigenous people,” Avery
said. “That’s the main rea-
son why I’m here today, is to
represent, the best I can, rep-
resent my community and
other indigenous communi-
ties who have overall been
left out of the conversation
or at least haven’t been cen-
tered in it before.”
Avery, who is involved in
student government at Ore-
gon State , said that she has
lobbied for climate legis-
lation for four years, since
moving to Oregon. She said
she was “most hopeful” for
the bill that was proposed
last year, but that it didn’t
protect rural communities.
“And I’ve heard that,
through reading it, that it’s
been revised in some ways to
better support them and look
out for when things change
when polluters are held
accountable for their emis-
sions,” Avery said.
The rally drew people like
Andy Saultz, who is running
for the Portland state House
seat being vacated by Mitch
Greenlick, a retiring Dem-
ocrat. Saultz said he was
running for offi ce “because
we have not seen climate
action.”
“We have not seen a Leg-
islature really prioritize the
next generation,” Saultz
said, “ … As a father of two
toddlers, I just really worry
about the long-term health of
our community.”
Saultz, a Democrat,
addressed why he would
enter politics at a moment
where tensions in the Capi-
tol have started running high,
and as Republicans seem
prepared to leave the build-
ing to avoid taking a vote on
the reworked cap-and-trade
policy.
“I want to help, I want
to get active,” Saultz said.
“These are problems that are
real and, again, my kids can’t
be here to advocate for them-
selves. And so I think we
have a moral obligation to
advocate for them.”
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group,
Pamplin Media Group and
Salem Reporter.
suggested the name Chel-
sea Gardens based on his-
torical city maps of the area.
Emmons is working with
Walsh Construction Co.
out of Portland to build an
affordable housing com-
plex of nearly 50 units in
the region. He has hailed the
master plan as providing a
more livable neighborhood
for development proposals
like his.
“I want to be near transit,
being near workplaces, near
shopping, obviously mar-
kets,” he said. “Ideally, peo-
ple can walk to a market and
use transit, not absolutely
have to have a car.”
Along with Chelsea Gar-
dens, the City Commission
on Tuesday approved a host
of new development codes
meant to increase the density
of housing. Cronin’s recom-
mendations included lower
lot size requirements and
more diverse housing types,
such as mixed-use commer-
cial-residential buildings,
multiplexes, townhomes,
cottage clusters and acces-
sory dwelling units.
The Planning Commis-
sion had struck Cronin’s
recommendation that subdi-
visions of 20 or more homes
be required to include acces-
sory dwelling units, and
another banning certain sid-
ing materials city staff sees
as unsuitable for the region’s
environment.
The City Commission,
which pushed Cronin to
increase lot size and park-
ing requirements for cottage
clusters, on Tuesday also
struck Cronin’s language
defi ning transitional hous-
ing “provided as a social
service to homeless such as
a shelter, warming center or
dormitory.”
Mayor Henry Balensifer
said he isn’t opposed to tran-
sitional housing, but worried
about setting a precedent
allowing it before the city
has developed standards to
regulate such development .
urban renewal funds.
The city hosted a series of
open houses gathering com-
munity input. Kevin Cronin,
the city’s community devel-
opment director, proposed a
mix of commercial property,
varying densities of hous-
ing, public spaces, trails and
improved streets.
Cronin proposed limiting
the number of new housing
units in the neighborhood
to 350. Commercial space
in the neighborhood will
be limited to 20,000 square
feet per building, with a
50,000-square-foot
cap
overall. The master plan also
prohibits drive-thru restau-
rants to avoid traffi c impacts
like those seen at the nearby
Wendy’s.
The Planning Commis-
sion initially rejected the
plan, calling it too restric-
tive on property owners
while not directly address-
ing the traffi c concerns that
prompted the need for a
master plan. Commissioner
Ken Yuill, who owns much
of the property in the Spur
104 area and recused him-
self during the c ommis-
sion’s hearings, criticized
how prescriptive some of
the standards are but said he
recognizes the city’s goals
of managing traffi c and
willingness to meet in the
middle.
“I think all and all, no,
I’m not happy about it,” he
said . “But the commission
felt this was the best they
could do at the time.”
Vijaya Nakka, who
owns two plots of land in
the neighborhood where he
plans to build two homes for
senior living spaces, said he
is grateful the city wants to
improve the neighborhood
while controlling traffi c.
Several property own-
ers in the neighborhood
have spoken with Stuart
Emmons, an architect and
planner from Astoria who
Mexican
Food
Mitchell: New bill ‘accommodates feedback’
Continued from Page A1
ue
“Q en o
f
“It tends to usually be
some of these bigger issues
that bring people out — cli-
mate change, gun control
— that are usually those big
things the media gloms on
and political parties glom
onto,” she said.
“But in truth … we’re all
people. We all live here, and
I think most of us really just
want what is best for Ore-
gon and the people who live
here. We care about each
other. W e’re neighbors. It’s
just sometimes we have dif-
ferent perspectives about
that. At least most issues
we’re all on the same page.
“It’s those big ones that
I think are going to be the
more problematic ones
where we’re going to have
to have those broader con-
versations,” Mitchell said.
th e
Hear
Valentine’s Dinner
Prime Rib Dinner
with all the trimmings
Friday
February 14 th
5-7 PM
Our
Flowers and a Box of Chocolates
Pre-purchase
tickets at the
Post 12 Lounge
$10.00 per person
INSIDER
Get the inside
scoop on state
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and politics!
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All proceeds to
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BY
OREGON CAPITAL
ts”
“I believe this new ver-
sion accommodates feed-
back from Oregonians who
are concerned about impacts
to local jobs and econo-
mies, while still begin-
ning to take reasonable and
urgent action to address the
climate crisis that is already
negatively impacting our
communities. ”
During the town hall,
Mitchell said most of the
concerns in House District
32 center around the Geor-
gia-Pacifi c Wauna Mill and
the regulation of fuel .
Farming and forestry
interests are exempt from
the bill, she said, and fuel
regulation in counties west
of the Cascades would not
start until 2025. She said
Georgia-Pacifi c could qual-
ify for some relief under the
bill .
“The Wauna Mill has
been very cooperative in
this entire process, very
open about what their spe-
cifi c hurdles and obstacles
are ,” Mitchell said.
Sen. Betsy Johnson,
D-Scappoose, has said she
would oppose the bill unless
managers at the Wauna Mill
tell her they are OK with the
legislation.
Several people associ-
ated with #TimberUnity and
the Clatsop County Repub-
lican Party challenged
Mitchell during the town
hall.
“We’ve called, emailed,
blown horns ... you DO
NOT listen,” Christal Kum-
pula, a leader of the c ounty
GOP , wrote in a live feed
during the town hall on the
representative’s Facebook
page.
“I really do try to listen,”
Mitchell said in response
to the criticism . “I’m not
always going to agree with
everything that is said, but I
will do my due diligence in
making sure not only that I
listen to you, but that I try
to do as much research as I
possibly can to verify infor-
mation and to make sound
decisions based off of that
information — it’s the best
and most that I can do.”
She told constituents that
relations between D emo-
crats and R epublicans in
Salem are not as adversarial
as they appear , and that the
vast majority of bills passed
are by consensus .
ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION
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