A4
THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MAy 26, 2020
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
GUEST COLUMN
Remembering a North Coast character
R
oughly 30 years ago, I was in
my shop attempting to bore a
hole through a piece of steel
plate when my next-door neighbor, Doug
Bracher, wandered in. “You need to put a
little oil on that,” he said.
“Oil?” I was new to the neighborhood
and thought perhaps he was toying with
me.
“Of course,” he said, with a per-
fectly straight face. So I
did. Eventually, I came
to realize the science
behind his little tip: the
oil makes drilling easier
because it reduces fric-
tion. That means the bit
will cut better and last
MARK
longer.
MIZELL
Quite a number of
construction-related tips
would follow in the years that Doug and
I were neighbors, but I wouldn’t come
to fully appreciate his significant contri-
bution to building projects on the North
Coast until after he died.
Bracher was the building superinten-
dent for Mittet Construction Co., out of
Astoria, for many years.
Robert E. Lee recalls going to work
for Bracher: “After graduating from Sea-
side High School, I headed for Hawaii.
Eventually I came back home and started
looking for construction work. I asked a
friend what he thought of Mittet’s lead
man. My friend said, ‘Well, the guy’s
kind of an ---hole, but he’s a good guy to
work for.’
“So I applied and got hired,” Lee said.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to think of
Doug and he probably didn’t know what
to think of me. I was young and dumb. I
was tan and had hair down to my shoul-
ders. Doug had a crewcut and would
start each day with a big cigar hanging
out of his mouth.
“I can remember several times when
Doug would pull up to the job site and
immediately he’d start yelling, ‘Where’s
that g-d hippie?’ referring to me, of
course. Eventually, though, the guy
began to grow on me.”
Bracher supervised the building
of one of Astoria’s most iconic struc-
tures — the Columbia River Maritime
Museum.
Columbia River Maritime Museum
Doug Bracher helped build the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria.
Lee remembers working for Bracher
on that project. “Al Mittet didn’t believe
in spending money renting equipment, so
we had to make do,” he explains. “Doug
devised a pulley system using a bicycle
wheel. That’s what we used to hoist lum-
ber off the ground. Seventeen hundred
sheets of plywood. Even the glue lams
(laminated beams) were hauled up using
Doug’s bicycle wheel. A crane was used
to set the beams in place, but that was it.
“It got pretty windy up there some-
times,” Lee said. “I had worked high-
rises in Hawaii, but working in the wind
on top of that Maritime Museum was
really something.
“Doug worked hard and he expected
the same from his crew, but he had a
good sense of humor. I remember one
time a couple steelworkers were eye-
ing the pile of cedar shingle scraps that
was beginning to accumulate next to the
museum project. Anytime they asked
about them, Doug pretended that he was
planning on taking the shingles home to
his place. Eventually he allowed himself
to be talked into parting with the shin-
gles and the two guys hauled them away.
What Doug didn’t mention was that the
shingles had been treated with flame
retardant,” Lee said with a grin.
“Once they figured that out, they
decided to play a little trick on Doug.
They took out an ad in The Daily Asto-
rian advertising free firewood at the
Maritime Museum building site. Any-
one interested in the free wood needed to
talk to Doug Bracher. We got quite a few
interruptions thanks to that ad.”
Retired laborer, Rick Hessel, also
remembers Bracher’s sense of humor.
“Sometimes things would slow down
between big jobs, but Doug would
always do his best to keep us work-
ing. Al Mittet had a special relationship
with AT&T, so sometimes Doug would
send us out to build ‘AT&T high-rises,’
as Doug put it. In reality we were pour-
ing slabs of concrete for phone booths,”
Hessel said, smiling.
“Doug was smart as hell,” said
Bracher’s stepson, Jay Bandonis, who
now lives in the house where Doug once
lived. “He was a real innovator,” he con-
tinues. “He just didn’t have the edu-
cation. But his genes went on down
through his kids and grandkids. His
son became a business executive, his
daughter a teacher, and her son earned a
doctorate.”
In addition to overseeing the con-
struction of the Maritime Museum,
Bracher was also the superintendent on
a number of other building projects on
the North Coast, including the Astoria
Library, the U.S. Bank building in Asto-
ria and the Illahee Apartments.
“Doug worked hard and he played
hard,” Lee said. Bandonis remembers the
drinking. He says it eventually led his
mom to give Doug the ultimatum. “To
his credit, though, Doug quit right then
and there,” Bandonis said. “He quit cold
turkey, the same way he quit smoking.”
“Doug was a good dad. I was closer
to Doug than I was to my own father. He
would come to all my games. He even
came to my games in college when I
played baseball for Linfield,” he said.
“After Doug retired, he and my
mom got very involved in the Hayshak-
ers Square Dance Club in Warren-
ton. In fact, the two became square
dance club officers at the state level,”
Bandonis explains. “They did a lot of
square dance-related travel together,”
he said, “including trips to Hawaii and
Australia.”
Bracher was a member of the Greatest
Generation. “He was stationed at Battery
Russell when it was shelled by a Jap-
anese submarine,” Bandonis said. “He
was interviewed quite a few times about
that experience. Eventually, he became
a warrant officer, serving in the Euro-
pean Theater. He was right in the thick
of things.”
When my family and I moved in next
door to Doug and his wife, June, 30
years ago, he had just planted the front
acre of their place with fir seedlings.
They’ve since turned into a healthy little
forest. Thanks to Bandonis and his wife,
Diane, the 4-acre property continues to
look like a park. Doug would be pleased.
Doug Bracher was a 50-year mem-
ber of the carpenters union, a decorated
World War II veteran and lifetime mem-
ber of the Seaside American Legion. He
died in 2005, at the age of 86.
In his obituary, people were invited to
plant a tree in his memory. I’m sure the
offer is still good.
Mark Mizell is a retired English
teacher who taught at Seaside High
School.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Unnecessary danger
L
ocal authorities are failing to ensure
that vacation rentals are in compliance
with the basic health standards required of
all public lodging. These standards exist
to protect visitors, our workers and our
communities. This lack of enforcement
represents an unnecessary danger to pub-
lic health and safety.
Oregon Health Authority is the exclu-
sive state regulatory body that sets pub-
lic health standards and regulates travel
accommodations. It is the only agency
mandated and authorized to license,
administer and enforce existing health
regulations and statutes for all lodging.
As required by law, every hotel,
motel and bed-and-breakfast is currently
licensed and inspected annually, via local
public health, to ensure they meet these
existing public health and safety laws.
In contrast, and unlike most lodging
that operate in commercial zones, vaca-
tion rentals are located primarily in our
residential neighborhoods, and are not
being licensed or regulated by our public
health authorities, as required by law. This
is illegitimate selective enforcement of the
law. It also creates a significant shortfall
in public health protections at a time when
these protections are needed most.
Until there is uniform public health
licensing and oversight across all lodging
providers, a gaping hole exits in our pub-
lic health safety net. Contact your local
official and demand that existing health
and safety protection laws be enforced
equally across all lodging providers.
STEPHEN MALKOWSKI
Seaside
So useless
I
have received the recent letter from
President Donald Trump. The letter is
about our stimulus payment. The Depart-
ment of Treasury, Internal Revenue Ser-
vice, was the address sending the letter.
The letter inside has “The White
House,” and it’s from the president. No
way did he compose this letter — but of
course, it is all about what he has done for
us.
He states, “We hope this payment pro-
vides meaningful support during this
period.” I think of all the people who can’t
pay rent or feed their children. This check
does not go that far. Then I had to be sub-
ject again to his awful signature.
How much did this letter cost America?
So useless.
A. DIANE FINUCANE
Warrenton
Enough already
L
et’s be clear, the Breakers Point and
Chapman Point homeowners asso-
ciations are appealing Cannon Beach’s
foredune management plan so they can
level our state-owned dunes for their bet-
ter views. Attempts to convince us this is
about dune stewardship are laughable.
Now Cannon Beach must not only pay
for legal defense against their two law-
suits, but during a pandemic — unbeliev-
able, even for these two groups.
Caleb Whitmore says “… it’s not
destroying the dunes, it’s trying to man-
age a man-made problem” (“Homeowners
appeal new Cannon Beach dune policies,”
The Astorian, April 30).
Breakers Point was built on an active
foredune, along the mouth of an estu-
ary. The man-made problem is that own-
ers expect their views to remain con-
stant in an ever-changing environment.
Rather than trying to manage nature, own-
ers should manage their wildly unrealistic
expectations.
The Chapman Point HOA’s appeal
is especially high-handed. They twice
agreed to a prohibition against dune grad-
ing for views: upon approval of the subdi-
vision, and in each lot’s deed restrictions.
Raging against European beach grass
is a red herring. During the City Council’s
science presentation, Sally Hacker stated
dune grass accounts for only 10% of dune
height (bit.ly/2A00Oka), while Jonathan
Allan’s report emphasized sand patterns
change (bit.ly/2AWdR6K).
For instance, during the 1990s, Break-
ers Point’s area had a sand deficit. Cer-
tainly 20 years of bulldozing dunes and
pushing sand seaward also contributed to
larger dunes to the north.
Enough already. Our dunes, anchored
by nonnative beach grass, protect our
town. Accept the changing dunes and
views and rescind your legal actions.
DIANNA TURNER
Cannon Beach
Hurry, hurry
P
resident Donald Trump, aka The
Donald, keeps it up. Now he states
that leading the world in virus cases
and deaths is a badge of honor. (What?
Really?)
And what a great idea to get a bleach
injection. Actually, a great thrifty idea,
gets rid of the virus, clears up cholesterol
and cleanses the needle upon withdrawal.
In a recent claim, he said he was once
named Michigan “Man of the Year” —
totally false. How could we expect much
more from a person who probably thinks
that Roe vs. Wade was a choice for Gen.
George Washington crossing the Dela-
ware. Hurry, hurry November.
HOWARD GILBERT
Astoria