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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, AuguST 27, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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OUR VIEW
Historic ferry deserved a better ending
T
he Tourist No. 2 was worth trying to
save.
Built nearly a century ago, the his-
toric, wooden-hulled ferry took passengers and
vehicles across the Columbia River between
Astoria and Washington state before the Astoria
Bridge opened in 1966.
The ferry, which had a cameo as a mine-
layer at the mouth of the river during World
War II, had a second life as the Islander of
Pierce County on Puget Sound and a third life
as the M/V Kirkland hosting cruises on Lake
Washington.
After a fire in 2010, Argosy Cruises chose not
to rebuild and sold the ferry to a colorful captain
fond of maritime relics.
One of the gifts of Astoria’s revival over
the past few decades is the emphasis on his-
toric preservation. Our city has tried to pre-
serve authenticity and resisted the temptation to
scrub away imperfections. Some of our favorite
things — the old White Star Cannery boiler near
Uniontown; Big Red, the net shed in Uppertown
— are wreckage.
So we shared in the spirit behind the local
campaign to purchase the Tourist No. 2 and
bring it back to Astoria for events and riverfront
cruises, even though the ferry was damaged and
long past its heyday.
Experts waved bright red flags about the
expense of improving the vessel for U.S. Coast
Guard certification and the lack of maritime
experience among the people involved in the
campaign. But there was a sense of possibil-
ity when the old ferry pulled into the 17th Street
Dock in 2016, the 50th anniversary of the Asto-
ria Bridge.
That possibility slowly drained over the next
few years as the nonprofit Astoria Ferry Group
was unable to raise enough money to pay for
Lissa Brewer/The Astorian
The Tourist No. 2 capsized in late July at a dock near the
Sixth Street viewing platform.
the restoration project. Estimates for the work
ranged from $500,000 to as high as $2 million to
$3 million.
By 2019, the nonprofit declared that the proj-
ect was in a “hold-steady pattern” and that the
owner would mostly be taking charge.
From that point, the headlines only got worse.
In 2020, the ferry abruptly left Pier 39 — towing
a dock used for boarding — and relocated near
the Sixth Street viewing platform. In late July,
the Tourist No. 2 took on water and partially
sank, spilling fuel into the river.
With the state looking to recoup some of the
costs of a recovery estimated at over $1 mil-
lion, we understand this might not be the most
convenient time for the prominent local people
involved in the Astoria Ferry Group to raise their
hands and remind everyone of their roles. But a
bit more contrition is in order.
Abandoned and derelict vessels pose signifi-
cant financial and environmental problems.
The R/V Hero, an old wooden research vessel
that sank at Bay Center, Washington, in 2017, is
costing taxpayers an estimated $2.5 million to
recover.
Willamette Week reported this month on Ross
Island on the Willamette River — describing it
as the Portland metro area’s epicenter of junk
boats.
In Oregon, the Department of State Lands will
ask for $40 million in the next state budget pro-
cess to remove hazardous vessels from water-
ways. Without dedicated funding, the depart-
ment said money for cleanup comes out the
Common School Fund.
“Oregon’s schoolkids foot the bill for clean-
ing up abandoned and derelict vessels,” Vicki
Walker, the director of the Department of State
Lands, said in a statement. “Every dollar spent
cleaning up these messes is a dollar out of the
classroom.”
In our view, the lesson from the Tourist No. 2
is not that people shouldn’t dream big and take
risks to preserve our history. It’s that people
should take responsibility when it becomes obvi-
ous the dream is over.
Instead of spin like the “hold-steady pattern”
and finger-pointing about ownership, we wished
the people involved had made a collective
appeal to the community over the past few years
to take the ferry out of the water.
The idea to make the Tourist No. 2 an attrac-
tion on land — like the pilot boat Peacock out-
side the Columbia River Maritime Museum —
had been part of the conversation since the day
the ferry returned home six years ago.
One suggestion was even to place the ferry in
the empty pit at Heritage Square. That seemed
like dark humor at the time, since the City Coun-
cil had just rejected a new library with the poten-
tial for housing at Heritage Square.
Today, with the Tourist No. 2 dead in the
river, and the empty pit still at Heritage Square,
it’s not so funny.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Preventing the worst
igher sea levels causing shoreline
erosion and property loss, degrada-
tion of ocean water quality resulting in
higher pH levels detrimental to fisheries,
changes to forest ecology, species extinc-
tion, possible drought, reduction of air
quality from wildfire smoke and poten-
tial flooding from torrential rain storms;
the North Coast is already experiencing
the impact of climate change, and it’s only
going to get worse!
These concerns motivated the Clatsop
County commission of 2020 to pass a res-
olution to develop a collaborative climate
change partnership “among cities, spe-
cial districts, businesses, nonprofit ser-
vice providers and members of our com-
munity.” It calls for both preparation for,
and prevention of, the impacts from cli-
mate change.
The current commission recently hired
an emergency management director, who
will presumably deal with the prepara-
tion piece of the equation. It’s high time
for them to acknowledge that the climate
crisis is real, and initiated a dialogue with
the city and local citizens about slow-
ing its impact. Converting to alterna-
tive energy sources and reforestation are
imperative if the Earth is to remain habit-
able for humans.
Our county leaders can set an example
by rejecting the notion that there is noth-
ing we can do locally to help prevent it.
They could serve us well by affirming that
if we all work together, there is still time
to prevent the worst, rather than just pre-
paring for it.
ROGER DORBAND
Astoria
H
Dedicated
y wife and I are writing in support
of Melissa Busch’s candidacy for
state senator in our district. We are grate-
ful to have such a dedicated person to run
for office, especially since she’s a working
mother who cares enough about the issues
to sacrifice time that could be spent with
her family.
As a professional in the health care
field, Melissa has been affected by the
pandemic in ways that many of us have
not. As a nurse, she had to deal with
unimaginable situations complicated by
COVID-19. She has seen the weaknesses
in our health care system, and is ready to
address them as our senator.
Her experience in this field has given
her insight far above what her Republi-
can opponent might have. She will also be
an advocate for abortion rights, which her
M
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
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opponent opposes.
As a working mother, Melissa knows
about the child care desert that we live
in. Working families are struggling with
affordable and safe options for their chil-
dren. An elected senator, Busch will give
her full attention to this, and other issues,
that families are dealing with including
elder care problems that she sees in her
job as a home health nurse.
As former educators with grandchil-
dren in public schools in Astoria, my wife
and I are very concerned about getting
schools back on track in the wake of the
pandemic. Melissa will be a strong sup-
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.
porter of teachers, schools and students
readjusting to being in school daily.
NED and LULU HEAVENRICH
Brownsmead
Dismayed
y brother and I were dismayed at the
tone of the article about the chal-
lenges at Avamere at Seaside in the Aug.
16 edition. Our mother, who has demen-
tia, has been a resident there for the last six
years, and has never had better care.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a
M
hardship for everyone. There have been
many times when we could not visit with
her in person, but the Avamere staff has
gone to extremes to find ways for us to
keep in contact, and to see her. At no time
have we felt that our mother was not receiv-
ing the best possible care and attention.
We have been well aware that Avamere
has been facing staffing and leadership
challenges, especially with administration
turnovers and staff shortages. The current
senior administration has been personally
involved with our mother’s care, and has
kept us informed at all times.
Much of the article seemed to focus on
Avamere’s shortcomings in keeping up
with bureaucratic reports and documen-
tation. While this may be important for
record keeping and administration, it does
not reflect on the values and strengths that
we have seen with our mother’s care at
Avamere.
They have kept our mother safe, com-
fortable and as happy as she could be, given
her condition. We are forever grateful to
them for this, and are confident that they
can, and will continue to provide their resi-
dents with capable, loving care while satis-
fying the state administrative guidelines.
DARLENE BOARD YOUNG
Long Beach, Washington