A7
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 2021
Bus routes: ‘Hopefully, this is
temporary and not long term’
Continued from Page A1
route 13 through Astoria and
route 21 from Cannon Beach
to Seaside. The Seaside
Streetcar will be suspended
on weekends.
When the transit dis-
trict initially announced
the potential cuts, route 16
through Warrenton, another
weekend route, was on the
list. B ut Hazen said that was
an error and the route will be
reduced to mornings from
7:42 to 10:52 a.m. and eve-
nings from 2:22 to 5:35 p.m.
Route 17 through Can-
non Beach that operates
on weekdays will also be
cut. Additionally, route 15
through Warrenton, another
weekday service, will only
operate in the mornings
from 6:40 to 10:43 a.m. and
in the evenings from 3:50
to 7:03 p.m, a slight change
from the original proposal.
Route 101, which runs
from Astoria to Cannon
Beach, will be cut from four
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Camp Rilea will host testing for the coronavirus.
A driver shortage has led to cuts to bus routes.
buses a day to two.
All remaining routes will
be shut down for an hour
each shift so drivers can take
lunch breaks.
Hazen and several board
members expressed sad-
ness over the decision to cut
routes, but recognized it was
the only option.
“Hopefully, this is tempo-
rary and not long term,” said
Debbie Boothe-Schmidt, the
board chairwoman. “But if
we don’t have drivers, I’m
not sure exactly where we
go.”
The cuts will go into
eff ect on Sept. 6 .
“This reduction will get
us to the point that we hope-
fully can continue the ser-
vice we provide,” Hazen
said.
Testing: A centrally-located place
Continued from Page A1
The Oregon Health
Authority reported 29 new
virus cases in the county on
Friday and 19 new cases on
Thursday. Since the pan-
demic began, t he county had
recorded 1,796 virus cases
and 13 deaths as of Friday .
The county reported that
15 people had been hospi-
talized for the virus in the
county over the past week
— 13 who were unvacci-
nated and two who were
vaccinated.
As of Friday, the county
said 23,502 people —
59.6% — were fully vacci-
nated. The county has set a
goal of having 27,533 peo-
ple — 70% — vaccinated to
try to achieve herd immu-
nity against the virus.
Erick Bengel contributed
to this report.
Commissioner: ‘I really feel like this conversation should not be a political conversation’
Continued from Page A1
of overarching mandates
that will eventually do more
harm than good.”
In an interview with The
Astorian, Bangs said she has
fi elded a lot of phone calls
and emails from constituents
— some who work in health
care, some in education —
who are concerned about
the vaccine mandates. Some
people are “really wonder-
ing, what can they do —
highly concerned individu-
als that are, sadly, thinking
about quitting their jobs,”
she said. “And when I look
at our current job situation
here in our county, we really
can’t aff ord to lose good
employees in any sector.”
Her letter follows a sim-
ilar appeal last week from
the school board in Knappa
to the governor, the Oregon
Health Authority and the
state Department of Educa-
tion asking for local deci-
sion-making over virus
safety protocols at schools.
“The governor is respond-
ing to a public health crisis,”
Charles Boyle, a spokesman
for Brown, told The Asto-
rian in response to Bangs’
letter. “Her goal is to save
lives and keep our schools,
businesses and communi-
ties open. We have two safe
and eff ective tools to pro-
tect Oregonians: masks and
vaccines.
“It’s unfortunate that
some local elected offi cials
are playing politics while
the people they are sup-
posed to represent are fi lling
our hospital ICUs (intensive
care units). Our hospitals are
full, and our doctors, nurses
and health care workers are
being stretched beyond their
limits.
“As of this morning, there
are 12 staff ed ICU beds left
in the hospital region that
serves Clatsop County,
along with everyone living
in Multnomah, Clackamas,
Washington, Columbia and
Tillamook counties — 96%
of the staff ed ICU beds for
the region are full.
“Hospitalizations have
increased nearly 1,000%
since July 9. The vast major-
ity of Oregonians hospi-
talized for COVID-19 are
unvaccinated. People are
dying right now when we
have safe, eff ective and free
vaccines readily available.
“Commissioners should
be calling on their constitu-
ents to wear masks and get
vaccinated.”
‘Agree to disagree’
The letters from Bangs
and the school board were
issued as Clatsop County
experienced a record num-
ber of virus cases in August.
For the fi rst time during
the pandemic, local health
care leaders warned about
their ability to care for virus
patients and people who
need other medical treat-
ment. Columbia Memorial
Hospital in Astoria has can-
celed elective surgeries and
said some patients who did
not have the virus have died
because they were unable to
be transferred to other hospi-
tals for specialized care.
Mark Kujala, the chair-
man of the county Board of
Commissioners, who also
serves as the director of the
Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital Foundation, said in a
text message that he spoke
with Bangs about her letter.
“We have an understanding
and agree to disagree on this
one, ” he said.
Kujala, via text, wrote
that the letter “ refl ects her
opinions and does not speak
for the entire commission.
“Having been a member
of the c ounty EOC (Emer-
gency Operations Center)
and the v accine t ask f orce
and witnessing the impact of
COVID-19 over the last 18
months at Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital — I have a
unique perspective.
“It breaks my heart to
know unvaccinated individ-
uals are now extremely sick
or dying from this virus.
And to see the spread in
assisted living facilities and
the workplace. I understand
the actions some organiza-
tions are taking because the
vaccine has made much of
this preventable.
“Others may feel dif-
ferently, but in my opinion
the benefi ts of getting vac-
cinated far outweigh any
costs.”
In a letter to The Asto-
rian, county c ommission-
ers and the Public Health
Department said t he surge
of new virus cases driven
by the delta variant presents
“unprecedented challenges.”
“The offi cial tally of new
confi rmed and presumptive
local cases is now averag-
ing more than two dozen per
day, and this number likely
represents only part of the
virus’ true spread through
our communities,” the
county leaders wrote. “Local
hospitals are seeing more
COVID-19 patients than at
any other time.”
Local decision-making
Brown lifted most gov-
ernment restrictions to con-
tain the virus at the end of
June and turned over deci-
sion-making to counties.
School boards were also
preparing to make local
decisions about masks and
other safety protocols for the
upcoming school year.
But Brown changed
course after the rapid spread
of the delta variant in July
and August, restoring mask
mandates and requiring vac-
cines for school staff and
health care workers. The
governor said she took state-
wide action because counties
and local leaders failed to
take steps to respond to new
virus cases that are over-
whelming some hospitals.
Over the past several
days, the Astoria City Coun-
cil and the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation Dis-
trict Board in Seaside have
embraced
vaccination
requirements for city and
park district employees,
with exceptions for religious
or medical reasons.
Bangs emphasized that
her stance is neither anti-vac-
cine nor anti-mask. “I really
believe that if choices are
going to be made, that they
need to be made at a local
level, ” she said.
In Astoria, she said, “they
had the conversation, people
had the opportunity to weigh
in. And I think my big issue
with the state-level, top-
down mandate is that we
weren’t part of the conver-
sation at any point, and that
in itself is hard. You know,
you’re looking to a commu-
nity that wants to be heard
— you’re looking at people
who deserve to be heard.”
Asked if, hypothetically,
Brown were to lift vaccine
mandates and the question
were to come before the
county commission, Bangs
said she would default to
“the freedom of choice
when it comes to medical
decisions.
“For me, I want to be
able to support all individu-
als in their choices that they
make, even though I may
or may not disagree with
that choice,” said Bangs,
who has been public about
the fact that she has gotten
vaccinated .
Her message to constit-
uents: “Speak to your pri-
mary care doctor.”
“That is my largest mes-
sage to folks who are fi nd-
ing themselves in a posi-
tion of vaccine hesitancy or
looking to quit their jobs,”
Bangs said. “Speak to your
primary care physician, dis-
cuss your concerns, fi nd out
if it’s a good choice for you
or not. And then make that
choice.
“I really feel like this
conversation should not be
a political conversation,”
she added, “and I’m so sad
that it is. This conversation
should be occurring in your
doctor’s offi ce.”
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