A4
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JANuARy 22, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
BEHIND THE NEWS
‘The best experience I have is
around knowing the process’
R
achel Armitage embraces her
role as a placeholder.
Armitage, of Warren, made
it clear during her campaign for the
appointment to fill the state Senate Dis-
trict 16 vacancy left by Betsy Johnson
that she would not run in the Democratic
primary in May.
Instead, she has supported Melissa
Busch, a nurse who lives in Warren.
Some Democrats had wanted the
appointee to also be a candidate — a
potential launching pad that could have
given the party a better chance of hold-
ing the seat in the November general
election. Busch was the top choice when
Democrats met earlier
this month in Seaside to
make recommendations
to county commissioners
to replace Johnson, who
resigned to focus on her
independent campaign
for governor.
DERRICK
“I think, ultimately,
DePLEDGE
that piece of the question
was for the county com-
missioners to decide,” Armitage said of
the commissioners from Clatsop, Colum-
bia, Multnomah, Tillamook, Washington
and Yamhill counties.
Armitage, who was sworn in as the
new senator on Friday, served as a leg-
islative aide in Salem in 2016 and 2017
and is a graduate of the Emerge Oregon
program for future Democratic women
leaders. She is also a leader in the state
Democratic Party’s Womxn’s Caucus.
Armitage works with alumni from
Reed College in Portland on fundrais-
ing. She is pursuing a master’s degree at
Reed in liberal studies.
In an interview via Zoom, she dis-
cussed her experience and her policy
priorities.
Q: What factors drove your interest
in the appointment?
A: I remember working in the Legis-
lature as a staff member and how much I
enjoyed that work. It was deeply fulfill-
ing for me.
So making the decision to go for this
appointment as a placeholder for a year
felt like a really good opportunity to do
it again, and get back to doing some-
thing that really lit me up, that I really
enjoyed.
Q: Some Democrats had wanted
the appointee to also be a candidate
in the May primary, but you’re not
running. Does this leave the party at
a competitive disadvantage against
state Rep. Suzanne Weber, the likely
Republican nominee?
A: No, I don’t think so.
I think, personally, with my cam-
paign background, I think it’s better for
the party to have one person that they get
behind. I think primaries are great. So, of
course, if somebody wanted to hop in the
race I certainly wouldn’t oppose that.
When it comes to having a strong
Republican and strong Democrat, I think
it’s usually helpful for both sides if we
can get to that conversation as quickly as
possible.
Q: You have not held elected office
before, but you have served as a leg-
islative aide in Salem. How does that
experience prepare you?
A: The best experience I have is
around knowing the process, being able
to advocate for bills and legislation that’s
particularly helpful for this district, or
advocate against things that could be
particularly harmful.
Knowing when to submit an amend-
ment, things like that.
The short legislative session moves
really quickly, and so being able to know
the process and insert myself fast is defi-
nitely my biggest strength.
Q: What are your policy priorities
for the short session of the Legislature
that starts in February?
A: I haven’t been assigned to my
committees yet, so that’ll say a lot about
what my priorities end up being, just
because those are the topic areas that I’ll
be exposed the most to.
Based on what I’ve heard from my
conversations with PCPs (precinct com-
mittee persons) and county commission-
ers, I think housing is a huge issue. And
that will be something, whether I’m on
the housing committee or not, that’ll be
an issue I’m paying really close attention
to. Particularly pieces of legislation that
make it easier to build more workforce
housing in this district.
I also will likely be keeping an eye
on the Private Forest Accord legislation
that’s going through (between forest,
conservation and fishing interests) —
that’s something I definitely am really,
really excited about and will be paying
attention to very closely.
Other topics I’ve heard a lot about
include child care — I’m hoping to get
up to speed this week on some of the pri-
orities around child care that are going
through the Legislature. I think that’s
really important in making sure families
can get back to work.
And then I also know, because I’ve
been talking to various legislators work-
ing on education, that there are going to
be some interesting bills going through
about mental health in our schools,
which I think is really critical at this
time.
There will certainly be more priorities
than that, but those are ones I’m immedi-
ately looking forward to.
Q: How will you measure success?
A: I think in those areas, if there are
bills that come out that work well for this
district, and that local leaders are telling
me will work for this district, that I cer-
tainly will count as a measure of success.
I also will consider every closed con-
stituent case — where folks are calling
our office and needing help — anything
we can resolve or close for the people of
this district, I will absolutely count as a
success.
But, I think to a certain extent, you
Rachel Armitage, of Warren, was
appointed to fill a vacancy in state Senate
District 16.
will have to follow up with me later. I
think there are things that will come out
of the session and will come out of the
interim time that could be really good
and really helpful for this district that we
don’t even know about yet.
Q: What do you want people on the
North Coast to know about you?
A: Even though I personally live in
Warren, I represent this whole district.
I really care about people who live on
the North Coast. I care about the issues
that impact them. And I am just as much
their state senator as I am the state sen-
ator of this side of the district. And that
goes for folks in Tillamook County, as
well.
Please call me. Please email me. Fol-
low me on Facebook. Get in touch.
I would also add that this is a really
exciting time as far as being able to tes-
tify on various issues, because a lot of
those committee meetings will be vir-
tual. So I really look forward to staying
in touch about how people can connect
with the work that’s happening in Salem
in that way, as well.
derrick dePledge is editor of The
Astorian.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Seems to suggest
E
ditorial cartoons often provide laughs
and insight. The editorial cartoon in
the Jan. 18 edition of The Astorian instead
provides shocking snark.
The cartoon seems to suggest Martin
Luther King Jr. and Black Lives Matter
contradict each other. Rather than honor-
ing King’s decades of advocacy for racial
justice, peace and economic opportunity,
the cartoonist uses a popular quote to dis-
tract us from King’s accomplishments and
the truth of American history.
It’s necessary to repeatedly declare that
Black lives matter because many people,
possibly including this editorial cartoonist,
judge people first or solely by their skin color
and ignore the actual humanity of the person.
That is tragic, unjust and immoral.
Black Lives Matter reminds us that people
with dark skin matter just as much as those
of us with white or other colored skin.
This cartoon’s quote is only a tiny sliver
of all that King said and did to challenge
systemic racism. The cartoonist twisted its
meaning to mock King and his purpose.
King was 39 years old when he was
assassinated by a white supremacist fright-
ened by King’s belief that all humans
deserve to be treated with dignity, respect
and justice.
“… King’s political trajectory and the
essentially radical nature of the civil rights
movement confirm that in the United
States, progress is not guaranteed, justice
is not part of its natural life cycle. Both are
only ever the product of enduring social
movements, labor movements and strug-
gle.” — Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
America can and must do better.
LAURIE CAPLAN
Astoria
Keep the focus
I
n regard to former Astoria Mayor Arline
LaMear’s opinion piece in The Asto-
rian, “Heritage Square project is critical”
(Jan. 15), she surveyed ideas about Heri-
tage Square during her term, and networks
were established among the participants.
Present Astoria city councilors need
not tinker with building codes to accom-
modate developers. The consensus among
business owners, taxpayers and elected
officials in our county is for workforce
housing. Keep the focus.
Certainly Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care meets that criteria.
JUANITA PRICE
Astoria
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
Natural process
latsop County certainly experienced
some emergency incidents with the
C
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet-
ters, in person at 949 Exchange St.
in Astoria or mail to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
recent weather conditions. The washout
at milepost 10.7 on Oregon Highway 202
has impacted many county residents, as a
prime example.
Unfortunately the article on Jan. 15 on
the county’s emergency declaration was
accompanied by a photo of the success-
fully restored Walluski wetlands. The par-
tially submerged trees captioned in the
photo have been dead for some time, a
natural process as the wetlands restores
itself. This was a federally funded project
reported on in your paper in 2018.
It would appear your staff lacks under-
standing of local history and natural pro-
cesses as they go about their reporting of
our area.
We have been decadeslong subscribers
to The Astorian. I assume many of your
subscribers are also in this demographic.
Valid photographs accompanying your
articles are appreciated. Cheers to accurate
timely local journalism!
MARK and GERI FICK
Astoria