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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MAy 31, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
Founded in 1873
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
GUEST COLUMN
Lessons from the May election
T
ina Kotek, Betsy Johnson and
Christine Drazan will have
one thing in common as they
approach the gubernatorial election in
November.
Each will be labeled as “too extreme
for Oregon,” regardless of where they
sit on the political spectrum. I’ve never
figured out why “too extreme” is a pre-
ferred pejorative in neg-
ative campaigning, as if
some unspecified level
of extremism is deemed
acceptable.
2022 undoubtedly
will be the most expen-
sive governor’s race
DICK
in Oregon history and
HUGHES
likely among the nas-
tiest. Labor unions and
other Democrat-leaning groups already
are savaging Democrat-turned-indepen-
dent Johnson as extreme. They must be
saving “too extreme” for later. Repub-
licans are warning that liberal – or pro-
gressive, if you prefer that label – Dem-
ocrat Kotek is more Kate Brown than
unpopular Gov. Brown herself. And
Democrats and centrists are painting
Republican Drazan as a danger to Ore-
gon as we know it, including to abor-
tion rights.
Author Robert Fulghum is credited
with, “Don’t believe everything you
think.” An essential corollary for cam-
paign season is, “Don’t believe every-
thing you see, hear or read about how
awful a candidate is.” The just-con-
cluded primary election season was rife
with mischaracterizations, as multiple
news stories have documented fairly.
The fall season will be worse.
Campaigns go negative because it
works, or so they believe. For most can-
didates in the primary, it didn’t succeed.
They lost anyway.
Carrick Flynn’s supporters, including
a cryptocurrency billionaire and a Dem-
ocratic establishment PAC, discovered
that Oregonians still prefer a candidate
with whom they can connect in person.
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian
Clackamas County elections workers are processing ballots by hand after barcode
problems were discovered before the May election.
Despite the unprecedented millions of
supposedly independent dollars squan-
dered on Flynn’s behalf, he barely got
half as many votes as Andrea Salinas,
the former state lawmaker who won the
Democratic primary for Oregon’s new
6th Congressional District.
Meanwhile, the Taxpayers Associa-
tion of Oregon is chortling about Matt
West, who campaigned on, “Tax the rich
and save the planet,” finishing in lowly
fifth place.
Of course, those results are suppo-
sitions until the Clackamas County
Clerk’s Office does its, uh, duty. More
about that in a moment.
As for campaigning, a good ground
game still matters. Republican U.S.
Sen. Mark O. Hatfield consistently won
reelection in part because of his well-or-
ganized volunteer organizations in every
county. Countless Oregonians knew
“Mark” on a first-name basis. I believe
a weak ground campaign contributed to
Republican U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith’s
narrow loss to Democrat Jeff Merkley
in 2008.
Fifth District Congressman Kurt
Schrader may have suffered that same
affliction this year. He came across as
detached from the district, whereas such
members of Oregon’s congressional del-
egation as 4th Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio routinely are
back home in Oregon when not on Cap-
itol Hill.
Wikipedia already says Schrader
lost the Democratic primary to Jamie
McLeod-Skinner, which seems likely
but depends on the final vote totals
from, uh, Clackamas County.
Liberal/progressive Democratic
women fared well in Oregon’s primary,
such as Kotek’s trouncing State Trea-
surer Tobias Read, 56% to 32%, in their
gubernatorial contest.
Central Oregon’s McLeod-Skinner
was no exception. Perhaps the moder-
ate Schrader underestimated the politi-
cal challenges created by the redrawing
of the 5th District boundaries and by his
taking centrist positions against some
liberal Democratic diehard policies. In
any case, this became another instance
where having the most money for adver-
tising didn’t bring victory.
McLeod-Skinner will face Republi-
can Lori Chavez-DeRemer in a matchup
that fascinates me in part because each
lives slightly outside the congressional
district. In addition, Chavez-DeRemer
in the 5th District and Salinas in the 6th
District could become the first Latinas
to represent Oregon in Congress.
However, the greatest lesson from
Oregon’s 2022 primary election is the
importance of seemingly obscure local
offices, such as Clackamas County
clerk.
Any individual or organization can
mess up big-time. But County Clerk
Sherry Hall’s response to the bal-
lot-counting snafu has been stunning for
its lack of urgency and depth, its contra-
dictions and its rejection of outside help.
Elected officials set their own work
hours and performance criteria. Some
throw themselves fully into their work,
growing with the job. Others do not.
Regardless, the public has the responsi-
bility to hold them accountable.
Too often, voters embrace local can-
didates based on superficial factors such
as friendships, popularity or ideology.
As someone who vetted thousands of
candidates during editorial board inter-
views, I would argue that the more
important criteria are unimpeachable
integrity and demonstrated competence,
including a strong work ethic, ability
to hire excellent staff and manage them
effectively, embracing best practices and
staying up to date, crisis management
skills and learning from one’s missteps.
These essential criteria hold true for
Oregon’s next governor as well. And
every other elected official.
dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dissatisfaction
I
’m expressing my dissatisfaction with
the recent hiring decision of the Sea-
side planning director. The announce-
ment to hire the interim planning director,
Jeff Flory, to permanent planning director,
revealed a lack of transparency in the hir-
ing process, and without regard for mini-
mum professional requirements for plan-
ning directors.
Comparing Flory’s professional back-
ground (code enforcement, law enforce-
ment) with the American Planning Asso-
ciation’s minimum requirements for
planning directors, you will see these stark
discrepancies.
I acknowledge Flory’s work as code
enforcement officer, and his commendable
job of improving the city’s code enforce-
ment system. I appreciate his stepping in
to serve as interim planning director. But
these credentials do not qualify him for
planning director.
It is my understanding that in Seaside,
among other city positions, the city man-
ager and assistant city manager are the hir-
ing authority for planning directors and
convention center directors. City coun-
cilors are the hiring authority for city
managers.
My concern is, knowing the formida-
ble responsibilities of the position, and the
skills necessary for the position, why was
an underqualified person hired? Was this
an oversight, or an intentional, but inap-
propriate, “promotion”?
Those who conducted this hiring should
have taken the time to recruit a sufficient
pool of qualified candidates in this field.
Oregon has a tradition of producing good
planners, and good candidates are out
there.
We should be concerned that a more
thorough effort was not made to fill this
position, and require more transparency in
the future, so it doesn’t happen again.
REBECCA READ
Seaside
A mess
A
ll the roads and streets here in Astoria
are a mess, with potholes and sliding
or sinking. All they seem to want to do is
patch work, or just let them be.
Does the state or city realize that the
roads tear up the undercarriage of every-
one’s vehicles, making the shocks, struts,
tires and other parts go out, and needing to
be fixed?
If everyone who owns a vehicle should
take matters into their own hands, and got
their vehicles fixed, and sent their bills to
the city, they just might want to get the
road fixed the right way.
KAREN WOMACK
Astoria
Cluttered
I
am writing a letter today to target a
problem I have noticed for quite some
time at this point. I would like to talk about
the fact our streets, walkways, bushes, etc.,
are just cluttered with garbage.
One thing I do want to point out is that
yes, the homeless population is a big rea-
son, although they are not the only rea-
son. Many people in our community have
very little respect for the fact that we are a
community, and it matters what we live in,
and what our environment looks like. It’s
both physically empowering, but mentally
empowering, to have an environment that’s
beautiful to live in.
I say no matter if its your garbage,
or someone else’s, let’s keep our streets
clean. Go out for a walk with a friend, your
dog, your significant other, but on that
walk, make our environment that little bit
cleaner, because every little bit counts, and
every little bit puts us closer to having an
environment we are all proud to live in,
and have something to be proud to show
for.
ZOE LEEDY
Astoria
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
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than 250 words and must include the
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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
Inspired
here’s much to be outraged about: the
partisan politicizing of nearly every-
thing, even baby formula; Vladimir Putin’s
war to dissolve Ukraine; daily gun murders
and suicides across the U.S.; more people
believing in white supremacy and conspir-
acy theories; the Supreme Court preparing
to take away rights of half of Americans,
the first time it has removed rights, and
not expanded them. And much more. You
probably have your own list.
Plus, we endure blood pressure rising,
heart pounding, panic and fear. Not a good
way to live.
How can we get through the day and
not retreat into isolation and rabbit holes?
What works for me is finding inspira-
tion, and it’s everywhere. Look around,
and you’ll find friends and neighbors help-
ing each other, and working to strengthen
democracy.
They’re active in politics, helping to
shape our communities by campaigning
for local candidates and issues. They vol-
T
unteer for government committees and
other good causes. They find ways to make
the world better.
I’m inspired by knowing that each of
us has a role in defending democracy and
opposing authoritarianism, bigotry and
corruption. Saint Augustine reminds us,
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their
names are Anger and Courage. Anger at
the way things are, and Courage to see that
they do not remain as they are.”
I push myself to use my outrage for
inspiration and activism. I hope more of us
will. Together we can repair the world.
LAURIE CAPLAN
Astoria
Benefit
he Astorian published four articles on
forestry in the past week or so. Unlike
the rest of the U.S., private ownership of
forests in the Pacific region is dominated
by corporations.
T
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.
While pine has shorter harvest cycles
than fir, individual owners harvest fir
sooner than corporations. County Commis-
sioner Courtney Bangs claims 5 harvested
acres pays for a teacher every year, but
what does that assume? Is the goal cash,
sustainability or growing the highest qual-
ity wood?
Managing private timberland is tough.
You buy or inherit land, harvest, replant,
then wait 30 to 75 years before doing it
again. Or harvest and sell it cheap. Senate
Bill 1501 (Private Forest Accord) aims for
a longer-term model. The alternative may
look like flipping for forests. House flip-
ping is fine, but not without costs.
Nearly half of industry employees are
now government employees responsible
for identifying and addressing these issues.
Kids who want careers in forestry will ben-
efit more from an Oregon State University
degree than from trying to buy timberland
or learning to operate heavy machinery.
ED VERDURMEN
Astoria