A4 Wednesday, April 1, 2020
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
hoodrivernews.com
OPINION
Our Readers Write
Thank you
The Legacy of
Ordinance 5
By ARTHUR BABITZ
History has a funny way of offering perspective. A couple of
weeks ago, I was researching Hood River’s 125th anniversary
and came across something which I filed away as a “fun fact” to
pull out some day. Today is that day, though the “fun fact” no
longer seems fun.
Ordinance 5 was the first real law the Hood River City Council
enacted, after they finished all the technical stuff you have to do
to create a new city. It addressed contagious disease. Ordinance
5 created rules for everything from how you report disease to
what color flags you put in your front yard to indicate quaran-
tine, and who burns the clothing of the infected person.
The fact this was our city’s first real action wasn’t a random
choice. Every person alive at that time lived in constant fear a
random contact one day could leave them seriously ill the next.
Contagious disease for which there was no effective treatment
was a basic fact of life.
There was no particular outbreak going on here in 1895. There
was simply the fact that if the purpose of their new government
was to promote the general welfare, the first thing they needed
to address was how the community should deal with contagion.
This fear wasn’t a temporary or novel condition. It was the
human condition, and it had been so for all time.
Until recently, most of us forgot to be afraid of contagious
disease. The fact people were debating vaccination a couple of
weeks ago shows how deeply we had buried that fear. Or per-
haps it’s more accurate to say recent generations have replaced
that fear with new ones: Nuclear winter, terrorism, school
shootings, climate change. We’ve had monsters hiding under
our beds, but contagious disease wasn’t one of them. And now
it is.
Despite living with this constant fear of contagious disease,
the authors of Ordinance 5 proceeded to invent our modern
city. They got to work on sanitation, water and electricity. They
installed sidewalks. They cut down the oaks in the middle of Oak
Street so they could grade and pave the street. And, for some
reason, they regulated jugglers (Ordinance 7).
I am sure you would like to know what history says about how
long this will last. I can’t answer that question, but I can tell you
that as a community, we learn to live with our fears. The authors
of Ordinance 5 figured out how to live their lives day to day, tak-
ing the appropriate precautions to deal with fear and risk, and
they built the remarkable little community which is now ours. It
has withstood disease, ice storms, war and economic collapse,
and it has thrived.
The fear, the economic disruption, the losses and all the
heartbreak that come with this pandemic will become history
as well. What will be its legacy? History suggests trials and times
of darkness trigger creative impulses. You may have heard Isaac
Newton formulated the basic concepts of calculus and William
Shakespeare wrote “King Lear” and “Macbeth” while under
isolation during bubonic plague epidemics.
I already see creativity emerging from our current hardships.
Every day people are sharing new ideas with me. Some have
ideas for a new product, others have a new idea about how
they can help their community or advance a favorite cause. We
process our fear, then we start solving problems. We put in place
our personal “Ordinance 5” then get on to more productive
pursuits.
So while some are predicting we will emerge from our social
distancing cocoons to a baby boom, I predict a surge in entre-
preneurial and philanthropic activity. We’re pretty good think-
ing creatively once we have figured out how to process our fear.
Are there any shortcuts to quiet the mind so you can get back
to creative thought? I suggest you ignore Ordinance 7 and try
juggling.
Behind the
Scenes
Dear Hood River Commu-
nity,
I am writing this letter to
thank you all for your generous
donations to the FISH Food
Bank and Spirit of Grace Gar-
den. The garden is a combined
project between the Oregon
State University Central Gorge
Master Gardeners, Spirit of
Grace Church, and FISH Food
Bank that works to fight food
insecurity in our community
by growing fresh and nutritious
vegetables for distribution to
FISH clients. With your help
the garden received all the
items needed to successfully
get started on spring planting.
Thanks to the generosity of the
community, the garden will be
able to continue growing and
producing nutritious vegeta-
bles for FISH clients well into
the growing season.
Thank you once again for
your donations and gener-
osity.
Tessa Yoo
FISH Garden Coordinator
‘No new
property
taxes’
New property taxes on top
of our recently devastated
economy will add insult to
injury and should not be
approved in May. COVID-19
is not anyone’s fault. Our
community and the coun-
try fell overnight from its
best economy in history, to
a disastrous public health
crisis that has fundamentally
threatened our way of life
and prosperity. It’s unprece-
dented. We’re locked in our
homes; we’re locked out of
our jobs; schools are closed;
people are dying; and we’re
shut off from social interac-
tion. In just a matter of days:
Businesses closed, job layoffs,
stock market crash, retire-
ment savings wiped out and
a government relief pack-
age. Most people (who don’t
have guaranteed state funded
pensions) depend on risky
personal investments and the
stock market for retirement
income.
There are two deep rooted
problems within the coun-
ty’s budget: (1) rising cost
of PERS; (2) property as-
sessment inequities creat-
ed by Measure 50 in 1997.
Until these two issues are
addressed by the county and
resolved with state govern-
ment, the result is over-bur-
dened taxpayers. The easy
way out is to inequitably raise
taxes locally rather than ad-
dress these problems at the
state level.
County commissioners
have decided to keep the
property tax measure on the
May ballot. Part of the justifi-
cation, is if approved, to avoid
the need for difficult cuts in
the budget. As we have seen
in just a few days: Rising un-
employment; bankruptcies;
and business closures across
the country. It’s likely most
of us have heard of friends or
family impacted by job losses.
This is not anyone’s fault, but
it’s real and harsh. Now is not
the time to take money out
of the hands of people. The
global economy has been
shut down and the economic
consequences could be stag-
gering. The U.S., Oregon and
local economies will collapse
and loss of life will continue
unless the COVID-19 crisis
can be stopped. Making dif-
ficult choices, retention of only
essential services, and budget
cuts must be done. This tax
increase measure should be
voted down and the county
should work with the state to
fix underlying revenue issues.
Mark Smith
Hood River
National
Vote-by-Mail
The coronavirus pandemic
threatens to massively disrupt
the 2020 presidential elections,
now just over 5 months away.
There is no way to know what
the state of the pandemic will
be in November, and whether
it will be safe for anyone, voters
and poll workers alike, to be
out waiting in lines and crowd-
ing into polling places.
Past crises have not stopped
elections. Americans voted
even during wars. It can and
most certainly should be done
this time too. The Natural Di-
saster and Emergency Ballot
Act, proposed by Senators
Wyden and Klobuchar, would
allow this to happen safely and
dependably by:
■ Expanding vote-by-mail
(VBM) to all states,
■ Allowing for no-excuse
absentee voting for anyone
requesting an absentee ballot,
and
■ Lengthening early voting
perhaps by 20 days to reduce
crowding.
The bill could be improved
to allow mailed ballots for
all voters, not just those who
ask for them, and to include
funding as part of Congress’s
pandemic response.
It is likely that this obvious
and sensible strategy will meet
with firm opposition from fac-
tions that invite foreign inter-
ference and/or have tradition-
ally relied on voter suppression
to win elections. It’s up to all of
us to urge our federal represen-
tatives to support the Natural
Disaster and Emergency Ballot
Act, with the improvements
noted above.
(Sen. Ron Wyden, 202-224-
5244; Sen. Jeff Merkley, 202-
224-3753; Rep. Greg Walden,
202-225-6730.)
Daniel Fritz
Mosier
Bailout
Boeing is going to receive bil-
lions from the package passed
by Congress. Boeing isn’t just
Boeing Commercial Airplane,
it’s actually five divisions; BCA
builds multiple planes, from
the 737 including the failed
Max, up to and including busi-
ness jets, the 767, 777, 787 and
others. This doesn’t include
the other divisions, such as
Boeing Defense, Boeing Phan-
tom Works, Boeing capital, and
Shared Services.
Ask yourself why does a
company like Boeing needs
a bailout. The Max is just one
of its 737 line. This is what’s
known as socialism for the
wealthy. While this is going on,
our country has shown what
its fractured health system is
capable of, which is very little.
We can’t even get tested for
the virus, there are no test kits
available unless you’re willing
to buy your own from a private
company. They run as high as
$190 per kit, and with a fam-
ily of four, that’s nearly $800
for a kit that’s difficult to use
and quite painful when used
correctly.
A few years ago, a colleague I
Eighty years ago, the great-
worked with in Sherman Coun- est generation, leaving behind
ty died. News of her death and the Great Depression, went
memorial service was posted to work and built hospitals
at markets in the small towns — the Kaiser system was one
of Moro and Wasco. Shortly — built shipyards for Kaiser,
thereafter, a large portion of which produced Liberty ships
the community gathered at the some of which were built in
small school in Grass Valley days. Now we’re told we can’t
Community
support
I am devastated. But I’m grateful we have the opportunity to
put out this edition. I’m glad we get to say good-bye.
I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to cover in this last
column. I have a notebook filled with story ideas ranging from
topics for Behind the Scenes (the history of the portraits that
hang in the front office, for example) to possible Kaleidoscopes
(there’s a coffee group that has been meeting in Parkdale for 50
years) to articles (the radon pockets in the valley, the career cen-
ter at the high school). None of those ideas are helping me here.
I think what I want to say is this:
I have learned so much about journalism and reporting from
editor Kirby Neumann-Rea, and I’m thankful he took me on in
2000 as the Odell Community Columnist, because that gig is
what later opened the door for my front office position when I
applied in 2011. He has helped me gain confidence not only as
a writer, but as a member of the newsroom. And I will forever be
By TRISHA WALKER
impressed with his ability to Crank Stories Out.
News staff writer
I am going to miss reporter Emily Fitzgerald so much — she’s
amazing. She has tackled such tough topics for the News and she
I cleaned out my desk on Friday.
I’d learned, not 24 hours before, that the Eagle Newspaper never complains. I count on her eyes and her opinion for my own
articles, and I just enjoy working with her in general. I have told
board had decided to disband the company.
No more Hood River News. No more The Dalles Chronicle or her this numerous times, but I’m going to say it again: We lucked
out when they moved her from the Chronicle to the News.
White Salmon Enterprise. No more Gorge Magazine.
Seriously: Thank you
to celebrate her life as well as
to mourn her death. It was a
touching moment, especially
considering the very small-
town way that notice of her
death and the service was dis-
seminated.
We’re substantially more
populated here in Hood River
and The Dalles. Here we rely
heavily on our small-town
newspapers, the Hood River
News and The Dalles Chroni-
cle. They serve as singular cir-
culation hubs for information,
unlike web-based news sourc-
es. In our small-town papers
we learn about deaths, births,
engagements, social gather-
ings and sports events. We also
learn about, discuss and argue
local political and social issues.
As a friend expressed, the
paper helps “define our sense
of community.”
The consolidation of the
News and the Chronicle makes
financial sense. I’m glad that
they’ve united to survive. It’s
clear that their long-term sur-
vival depends on community
support. Please consider sub-
scribing to our local paper if
you don’t already do it. Our
community will be the better
for it.
Paul Crowley
Hood River
build ventilators in less than
months? We can’t produce
masks and PPEs for our front
line healthcare workers who
are swamped and being infect-
ed with the virus? I remember
watching those ships go down
the ways in Vancouver, watch-
ing my father at the rail as that
ship slid into the Columbia. I
refuse to believe we can’t do
that and more today.
Rob Brostoff
Cascade Locks
Withdraw
the recall
As a resident of the Hood
River Valley for over 27 years,
I’ve seen our community re-
spond to a variety of challenges
over the years and seen how
these challenges can bring
our community together. The
current Coronavirus crisis is
no exception. Its heart-warm-
ing for me to see our county
coming together to support
one another through this tough
time. However, I am concerned
about what I see as a major
threat to our unity.
The campaign to recall
Chuck Thomsen from the State
Senate began when Hood River
Democrat Lara Dunn filed a
recall petition. She said she
disagreed with how Chuck
took a stand to demand that
Oregonians should be able to
vote on the controversial Cap
and Trade bill. Her personal
objections to Chuck have now
been taken over by the big
money political operatives in
Portland. Up to now, they have
spent nearly $100,000 to hire
door-to-door canvassers to
invade our county during the
current pandemic in pursuit
of the signatures they need to
put the recall on the ballet. This
money is nothing compared
to what they would be willing
to spend in an actual recall
election. Our mailboxes and
airwaves will be filled with all
kinds of divisive mudslinging,
all intended to increase the
Democrat super majorities
that already exist in Salem. In
the process of doing this, the
community spirit that we are
currently enjoying as we come
together to survive this public
health crisis, will be lost in a
bitter partisan fight.
Is that what we want right
now Hood River? It doesn’t
have to be that way. I call on
Mark Reynolds (organization
chair) and the Hood River
Democrats to have Lara Dunn
withdraw her recall petition
and I encourage others to do
so as well. We can agree to
disagree on policy but let’s not
jeopardize the fabric of our
community.
Rick Larsen
Hood River
And also EF: It's FINE.
Ditto for LisaAnn Kawachi at the front desk. I remember the
first time she came back into editorial to help us with proofing
the paper — it was evident that She Knew What She Was Doing
and our paper has been better for it. I will miss talking to her. I
will miss her coming into editorial with a proof filled with red
marks and saying, “Trisha, you’re not going to like this …” and
getting to say, “No sweat, LisaAnn Kawachi, I will make whatever
changes you want. Except that one.”
I want to thank Chelsea Marr, our publisher, for all of the sup-
port and kind words over the years. I want to thank our ad staff,
particularly Jody Thompson, Suzette Gehring, Niki Piacente and
Tamara Emler Ball, for keeping the lights on for so long. Thanks to
Classified Manager Kelly Gallagher for being such a cheerful spot
in the office. Thank you to former reporters Ben Mitchell, Patrick
Mulvihill, RJ Chavez and Caleb Lundquist, who have moved on
from the News but still check in and let me know what they’re up
to. And to Gabriel Bravo, our newest staff member — I hope I do
see you around, and we will reminisce about the good ol’ days.
And I also want to thank you for reading, for subscribing, for
supporting us on this mission. It has meant more to me than I
can say.
Well … the end, I guess.