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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
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OUR VIEW
Speak up about ocean dangers
A
nother season, another
tragedy on the beach.
Every year as spring
turns to summer, we hope we will
get through the busiest visitor sea-
son without the loss of a person
venturing into the Pacifi c Ocean.
And just about every year, our
hopes are dashed.
Sneaker waves, dangerous cur-
rents, frigid water and heavy
crushing logs are just some of
the dangers lurking in the attrac-
tive-looking surf.
There are warning signs at loca-
tions up and down the Washington
state and Oregon coasts. But are
they enough? They clearly are not
heeded by all.
As the U.S. Coast Guard noted
some while ago, it is out-of-
area visitors who are most at risk
because they are “unaware of the
unpredictable and extreme dan-
gers posed by beach surf along the
Pacifi c Northwest coast.” Are there
better ways to make them aware?
We love our beaches. Their
beauty and appearance of tranquil-
ity are the reason many people live
and work here. With about 43 miles
of ocean seashore, the Long Beach
Peninsula and Oregon’s North
Coast are magnets for hundreds of
thousands of inland visitors each
year. Our economy relies greatly on
our beach and tourists’ fascination
with it.
But the surf is dangerous, and
Mother Nature can be unforgiv-
ing for the unwary. The most recent
tragedy was the loss of a 14-year-
old boy in Long Beach on the
Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Innocent fun on the beach morphed
into a tragic loss, from which his
family will never recover.
Coast Guard personnel and local
searchers from law enforcement
and rescue agencies spent hours on
the beach, in the water and in the
air looking for the boy. His fam-
WHICH IS WORSE? SAYING NOTHING
AND WATCHING THE ANGUISH OF A FAMILY
AS THEIR LOVED ONE DISAPPEARS INTO
THE WAVES? OR SPEAKING UP TO
A STRANGER AND RISKING A REBUKE?
Practicing for a tragedy that is all too familiar, Pacifi c County Fire District No. 1
and the South Pacifi c County Technical Rescue Team ferry a victim from the surf
to a waiting ambulance during an annual drill.
Patrick Webb/For the Chinook Observer
ily has since continued the search,
praying for some degree of closure.
Public comments online reveal
how residents struggle with this
deadly issue, acknowledging that,
“The ocean is huge and extremely
active. There are rip currents,
sneaker waves and crab holes to
fall into.” Some point to a recur-
ring problem with unsupervised
teens being turned loose to play on
beaches clearly marked as hazard-
ous. Some blame victims or their
parents, while many others simply
long for ways to end this needless
sacrifi ce of innocent lives.
Although teenage boys are often
the victims, this is by no means
always the case. The most recent
peninsula drowning before this one
was of a 23-year-old Olympia man
last August. And over the years,
some of the saddest cases have
involved adults trying to extricate
children from danger.
Advice on signs and leafl ets
should be unambiguous, even
though some will go in the water
despite any admonitions. So what
can be said? Children and teens
should never be permitted to go in
deeper than their knees. Younger
kids should stay within reach of
an adult at all times. Parents vis-
iting the beach with small chil-
dren should buy life jackets for
them and insist they are worn. And
everyone must avoid logs — if
you see any in the water, get out
of the surf and move well away
immediately.
We’ve previously suggested it is
incumbent on residents of s outh-
west Washington and the North
Coast to play their part in alerting
visitors to dangers. Speaking up
and intervening when you observe
potentially dangerous behavior
takes moxie. No one likes to be
told what to do. And in these less-
than-tranquil times, where indi-
vidual freedoms and community
obligations sometimes appear as
competing values, there is a dan-
ger of provoking a less-than-posi-
tive reaction.
But which is worse? Saying
nothing and watching the anguish
of a family as their loved one dis-
appears into the waves? Or speak-
ing up to a stranger and risking a
rebuke?
A non confrontational way to
convey this information is via a
low-wattage radio signal — with
the frequency posted at all beach
access points. This should be
implemented to provide safety
guidance in at least English and
Spanish, along with a summary
of beach-driving laws and, when
appropriate, clamming rules.
Other issues are evident. Emer-
gencies rarely occur in random
locations, but are concentrated in a
few predictable places near access
points and restrooms. This Memo-
rial Day tragedy was on one of the
busiest weekends of the year. But
research has shown that most hap-
pen on relatively warm 68-degree
days in July and August, from Fri-
day afternoons through Sunday.
Perhaps beach patrols and outreach
eff orts can be made feasible and
more eff ective by focusing on these
areas and times? There is no excuse
for whining that there is no budget
for this — we must fi nd the money.
We have it within our power to
save human lives. We must do so.
Meanwhile, a family mourns and
awaits the Pacifi c Ocean to return
the body of a teenage boy.
It must be considered a prevent-
able tragedy.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A facade
he newest feasibility study on the
North Coast Business Park is out. It
shows that out of 141.69 acres, only 30.61
acres are developable, due to wetlands.
The study also shows that a cost of
over $6.2 million will be needed to get
the property to sellable standards, show-
ing the proposed economic benefi t in taxes
both with the Clatsop County public works
facility on site ($177,760.52) and without
public works ($415,918.26) a year, given
there are no tax break incentives for going
there.
The Tsunami Evacuation Facilities
Improvement Plan (TEFIP) is also out.
It shows the most vulnerable areas are
between Clatsop Plains and Fort Stevens.
Moving the public works facility to the
sort yard would put them further away
from the citizens who will need help the
most. What does Warrenton want?
This whole plan is a façade that’s been
put together for years behind closed doors.
It is now being taken through the fi nal
steps in a pandemic. There has been little
outreach, and most of the taxpaying public
is still unaware of this plan.
There have been name changes, lack of
answers, information removed from the
website, removal of citizen advisory com-
mittees and the recent resignation of the
two citizens sitting on the Road District
No. 1 Budget Committee.
This is exactly why we’ve had to take
our concerns to court. Something isn’t
right here.
A series of in-person meetings need to
happen before any fi nal decisions to build,
or even move, are made. It is our money,
after all.
SUZETTE BERGESON
Astoria
T
Open the meetings
believe it is time to open up the Clatsop
County Board of Commissioners meet-
ings to the public again. People are safely
I
gathering in offi ces, restaurants, libraries
and other public places.
It’s time our elected offi cials come out
from behind their virtual Zoom shields,
and the comforts of their home offi ces, and
look us in the eyes and tell us why they are
making the decisions they are making that
aff ect us all.
MATHEW PARDES
Astoria
Seize this moment
e are in the midst of a housing crisis,
on both sides of the river. There is
no available housing for either the home-
less, at one end of the economic spectrum,
W
or for professionals, at the other end of that
spectrum or, in fact, anyone in between.
Meanwhile, Clatsop County has vacant
land opposite Costco that it does not know
how to develop. Why is that land not being
off ered to developers to build multiincome
housing?
I look at that land and I see opportuni-
ties for 100 to 1,000 units of modern, effi -
cient housing. There are numerous local
architects and builders who would know
what to do if given the opportunity to
make proposals.
I understand that we are currently in the
midst of a shortage of building materials,
but by the time construction could actually
begin, that shortage is very likely to have
eased, or disappeared altogether.
The Biden administration is planning to
release funds for these kinds of projects.
Incentives for landowners and builders
will be plentiful. Using zoning restrictions
as an obstacle to multiincome housing
development would be nothing more than
a red herring in an emergency such as the
one we are in.
This chance to make real progress in
easing our housing crisis across the eco-
nomic spectrum needs decisive action
by the county and the support of local
municipalities.
If we don’t seize this moment and
address this critical shortage of housing,
we will surely regret it in the future.
BARRY PLOTKIN
Astoria