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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (March 11, 2016)
4A • March 11, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Views from the Rock You can run 3,000 miles but you can’t hide from Donald Trump W henever I’m in CB people want to talk to me about Donald Trump. It’s not be- cause the Donald and I have the same hairdresser, but we did live in the same town, Bed- ford, New York. “You must write another article on your old pal Donald Trump,” Rex Amos wrote. “You might be interest- ed to know that I keep telling Diane that if he’d just shave off that horse’s mane, he’d look just like Mussolini. You know, the way he purses his lips and juts his jaw. Well, today he quot- ed Mussolini. The NASCAR circuit loved him for it! We have become dumbed down in our everloving search for entertainment. Our culture is becoming caramel corn (which I really like).” For the record, I am no “pal” of Trump. I talked to him as a journal- LVWDIHZWLPHVRQWKHSKRQHWKH¿UVW time after he won a lawsuit against the town I lived in and another when he gave comment on a lawsuit he won against the Nature Conservan- F\DQRQSUR¿WWKH7UXPS2UJDQL]D tion doing business as Seven Springs had just K.O.-ed in court. Both times, I might add, he was quite cheerful. In general, though, I fear I may be in the same category as the protester Trump singled out at Central Florida University. “Get that guy out of here,” Trump snapped to his security force. “But don’t hurt him.” As entertaining as Trump is today when he’s not discussing actual pol- icy, he was making us laugh — and weep — in Bedford long before his ¿UVWEDQNUXSWF\ Trump is the owner of Seven Springs, 213 acres straddling three suburban towns. (The address of Seven Springs, incidentally, 52 Or- egon Road, may give Trump some- thing of a “native son” feel to us in the Beaver State.) Trump planned to turn the fan- cy estate into a Masters-quality 750-member golf course. When neighbors objected to limos arriving on dirt roads and choppers landing on wetlands, the plan stalled. A decade ago Trump said he would build a ghetto of 109 luxury in 2006 for $39.5 million. He sold a portion which is now the Saugatuck CANNON SHOTS Harbor Natural Area, but was in- R.J. MARX volved in a lengthy legal battle over his plans for a development that would include high-end homes, a re- sort and golf course. homes if the three towns — Bedford, The McLendon developer of Sin- North Castle and New Castle — gapore Dunes has built a two-mile, didn’t approve his golf course. paved road in what are described as While Trump’s plans slogged “critical dunes” along Lake Mich- through the courts, he decided to rent igan to provide access to proposed the place out. He made the most dar- homes. ing short-term rental deal ever, leas- As I’m writing this my dad in- ing his property to Libyan dictator formed me McClendon was killed 0RDPPDU*DGKD¿DQGHQWRXUDJH in a crash in Oklahoma City after his The Libyans were occupied car hit a bridge at high speeds early SLWFKLQJ WHQWV ZKHQ WRZQ RI¿FLDOV this month. It happened the day after told them they were violating local McClendon was indicted on federal ]RQLQJFRGH bid-rigging charges accusing him of A couple years later Trump de- conspiring to suppress prices for oil FODUHG³KHJRWWKHEHWWHURI*DGKD¿ and natural gas leases. in the deal” by refusing to return the Castles in the sand dictator’s deposit. The North Coast has faced big Foregoing Seven Springs as transient lodging, Trump’s son Eric egos before — it took Gov. Tom Mc- Call to stand up in 1967 in Cannon moved in. Meanwhile, there is no golf Beach to the string of developers, course there and the McMansions successful and not, who have chosen to take their God-given rights as cor- have yet to be built. SRUDWHFLWL]HQVDOOWKHZD\WRWKH86 Supreme Court. A little more than a century ago, real estate developer Thomas Ben- ton Potter and surveyor H.L. Chapin were so eager to make a quick buck that despite geologic evidence to the contrary, he built a town along the Oregon coast, south of Nehalem, called Bayocean. It was billed as “the next Atlantic City.” “Never once,” wrote author Bert Webber in his book “Bayocean,” “did Potter seem concerned about SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE putting buildings on sand founda- Advertisements for Bayocean, a tions.” The town of Bayocean fell development since sunk into the into the sea one house at a time, until sea. 1952 when giant breakers collapsed the spit leaving an island separated from the land by a mile of ocean. Public, private interest Within a month the population dwin- My dad, who retired to western dled to six people. Michigan a few years back, has long Author Matt Love may be touch- been railing about a guy named Au- ing an important nerve when he brey McClendon, the CEO of Chesa- writes in “The Great Birthright”: peake Energy, a midwestern Trump, “Ever since the election of Ronald bullying everyone in his way. Reagan in 1980, much of the country McClendon bought what’s known had suffered from an ongoing politi- as the Denison property, overlooking cal conspiracy to implant a virus to WKH PRXWK RI WKH .DODPD]RR 5LYHU SULYDWL]H SUR¿WL]H DQG FRUSRUDWL]H Save these dates at the library AT THE LIBRARY CARLA O’REILLY B AP PHOTO/SCOTT HEPPELL Presidential contender Donald Trump looks on at the 16th green on the 1st fi rst day of the Women’s British Open golf championship on the Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, 2015. everything. The virus was of such a malignant strain that it had weak- ened the resolve for community leaders and politicians to come out in favor of anything that proposed or even lauded elevating the larger public good over the smaller private interest.” Matt Love is not the only Or- egonian to share this thought. His passion for the land and sea — and the shared goals of most Oregonians —is what keeps our beaches public and forests protected. It is important for Oregonians to cherish this rare privilege. Straight to the top Back to my pal, the Donald. Long before Trump’s presidential visions were an apple in Melania’s eyes, his political charisma was ap- parent. In 2014, New York’s 19th congressional district lacked a Re- publican candidate to face off against incumbent Sean Patrick Maloney. Maloney had easily knocked off a health care industry lobbyist in 2012 and the GOP needed some muscle to compete. Perhaps prophetically, we wrote: ³)LQDOO\ZHDUHFRQ¿GHQWWKDW'RQ ald Trump, despite a Bedford res- idence, will not run for Congress. Unless someone asks him to.” He skipped Congress. ecause spring break time is nearly upon us, we have a very exciting program planned this month, a special event for children of all ages — our own Brett Willyard, a local magician, will be putting on a show at the library Saturday, March 26, at 1 p.m. Well-known for his appearances at the Can- non Beach Farmers’ Market in the summertime, he will be re- membered from the last time he visited the library and gave a standing-room-only magic show. A not-to-be missed event! Also in March, as part of the Northwest Author Series, Re- becca Harrison will be on hand to talk about her soon-to-be re- leased book Aboard the “Port- land: The History of the North- west Steamers.” The book takes us back over 150 years ago when the grand Columbia and Willa- mette river sternwheelers were used for trade and transport. Har- rison also wrote the book “Deep, Dark, and Dangerous: On the Bottom with the Northwest Sal- vage Divers.”The event takes place Saturday, March 12, at 2 p.m. The members of Cannon Beach Reads group will con- vene at the library at Wednesday, March 16, at 7 p.m. This month the group will be reading and dis- cussing the book “Being mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,” by Atul Gawande. L ooking ahead to April, be- cause we at the library are be- yond appreciative of the efforts of so many library members and volunteers, we wanted to do something special. To ex- press our gratitude and celebrate your service, we will be hosting a special member and volunteer appreciation luncheon Wednes- day, April 6, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce Com- munity Hall. LETTERS Time for a new board The Cannon Beach Fire Board claims they were “elected.” I’m sorry… how many ran unopposed? Who was “elected” with less than 200 votes? Exactly. Folks, this is an appointment by default. No “majority” has spoken. Social media posts state, “people have no idea what it takes to serve on a public board.” I concur, but not for reasons the poster intended. What’s happened is that the community now UHDOL]HVWKHGDQJHUVRIFRPSODFHQF\ You, the people, are granted the op- portunity to replace a public board who has served too long because no one else would. People are ready and waiting in the wings. You must vote to see a change. Social media posts state, “Voters needs all of the facts.” The fact is that this board had issues well before 0LNH %DO]HU ZDV KLUHG :KDW KDS pened to him was just icing on a cor- rupt clique of cupcakes; the same old B.S. continues, only with more paper DQGOHVVVWDI¿QJ,ZLVK,FRXOGVD\ more regarding Mike and how the board has alluded to inadequacies in the media. Due to the lawsuit, we all have to wait. But regardless to what happens, the board and their track re- cord is the reason for this recall. The ¿UH ZDV DOUHDG\ EHHQ OLW 7HUPLQJ KLPMXVWVHWLWDEOD]H There are 18 letters (out of 23 ¿UH¿JKWHUVLQVXSSRUWRIWKLVUHFDOO A true majority of the Cannon Beach Fire Department disagrees with how their board micromanages and con- ducts business. Being “elected” by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins, these three should’ve resigned. Yet here we are at the district’s time and expense. It’s up to the community to speak up and vote without fear of public scrutiny or retaliation. Please don’t Publisher Steve Forrester Editor R.J. Marx Reporter Lyra Fontaine Advertising Manager Betty Smith Production Manager John D. Bruijn Circulation Manager Heather Ramsdell Advertising Sales Laura Kaim IRU0U%HQH¿HOGWKHFRXQFLODOOUH fused to acknowledge or address the opponent’s positions. It really does feel like they are deferring to the city lawyers and staff. I just can’t under- stand why they are so pro-Nicholson Decision was not surprising in this matter. Is there something The Cannon Beach City Coun- they have to gain by this alliance? cil’s decision at its Tuesday night The city councilors were elect- meeting on March 1 was not surpris- ed to support and represent their ing, but so disappointing. IULHQGVQHLJKERUVDQGWKHFLWL]HQVRI On the one side, they heard from WKLV WRZQ:KHQ D VL]DEOH JURXS RI Nicholson and his cohorts talking our community opposes this PUD, about the threats of destruction of largely because the proposal ran historic homes, an imaginary 15,000 counter to the requirements set out sq. ft. “McMansion” and the value of in the city codes, why would three “small, affordable cottages.” In fact, councilors and the mayor support it? there will be no restored home, Mc- They approved it with a long list of Mansion or cottages. His four houses conditions, which made it obvious ZLOOEHIXOOVL]HGDQGIXOOSULFHG+H that the application was incomplete. was accompanied by his usual hand- Many opponents begged them to ex- ful of lawyers, geo-techs and archi- plain why they supported this issue tects. But we were also treated to an and so far, in the last year, none of entourage of his “supporters,” a crew them have even tried to explain their of young people from Portland who rationale. knew nothing about Cannon Beach We are frustrated and sad about or this issue. I wonder if the council the council’s handling of this mat- and staff weren’t insulted to think he ter. It seems like our new staff is would try to pull off this charade? It in charge of Cannon Beach and the was another attempt to fool us into elected representatives have turned thinking he has viable local support. their power over to their “expert” ad- 7KH UHVW RI WKH FLWL]HQV RI &DQQRQ vice. By the way, do any of the hired Beach could see right through his lawyers and staff live in Cannon latest sham. Why couldn’t the coun- Beach? Just asking. cil? Fred & Elizabeth Lorish On the other side, there was a Eugene standing room-only crowd of con- Vote no recall cerned homeowners, both local and There is much to-do over the seasonal. Most of the opponents have had deep connections to Can- ¿ULQJ RI &DQQRQ %HDFK )LUH &KLHI non Beach for up to 50 years or 0LNH%DO]HU9HU\OLWWOHKDVEHHQVDLG more. They are taxpayers and over in support of the three board mem- half are Clatsop County voters. They bers who voted for his termination. presented incredibly clear, well-re- These three individuals are members searched arguments for why the of the community, and have also giv- council should have denied Nichol- en many years of volunteer service son’s proposal. They couldn’t have to make the Cannon Beach Fire De- been more respectful, knowledge- SDUWPHQW D ¿QH RUJDQL]DWLRQ7KRVH able and rational. And yet, except LQWKH¿UHGLVWULFWHQMR\UHGXFHGLQ cave to these tactics blanketing so- cial media; I implore you. Vote ZKDW¶VULJKWIRU\RXU¿UH¿JKWHUV Krysti Ficker Gearhart LETTER POLICY The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon signed by the author and include a phone number 97138 for verifi cation. We also request that submissions be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555 503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738-9285 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them Web: www.cannonbeachgazette.com off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738- Email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com 9285, or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com CANNON BEACH GAZETTE The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other week by EO Media Group. LQFOXGLQJFRQWULEXWLQJPRQH\WR¿JKW a losing battle at the Land Use Board of Appeals. Instead of providing councilor 0LNH%HQH¿HOGWKHFRXUWHV\RIDVHF ond so they could discuss his motion to rule that the council did not have ju- risdiction to hear the matter, since the Planning Commission had not yet ap- proved the application, they sat mute. None of the other four councilors were capable of contending with the land use lawyer hired at $375 per hour to sit at planner Barnes’s elbow and parse the code in favor of the applicant. Proceeding with the public hearing, a carload of the applicant’s proponents, most of them from the Portland area, followed one another with testimo- ny that amounted to “cottages good, McMansions bad.” Not one local op- ponent has ever suggested that a large house built on the property in question ZRXOG YLRODWH WKH ]RQLQJ FRGH RU EH of concern to neighbors. This was a chimera thrown into the fray by the 17 form letters signed by Realtors hungry for more houses to be available on the market. Ignoring the testimony of 22 oppo- nents, councilors — though the appli- cation was incomplete — proceeded to vote 4-1 to approve the application. This was followed by dithering over what conditions to require of the ap- City Council failed to take SOLFDQW¿UVWFKHFNLQJZLWKKLPWRVHH action when needed if he would be willing to accept each $Q\ KRSH IRU FRQ¿GHQFH LQ WKH one. We can only hope that future can- Cannon Beach City Council’s ability to deal with a complicated and conten- didates for City Council will be strong tious issue with integrity was dashed enough to stand up to threats of law- at its meeting of March 1. Almost 50 suits, do their homework and respect RIWKHFLWL]HQVZKRPWKH\ZHUHHOHFW the advice of the planning commission ed to represent came out on a stormy rather than depending completely on night to urge them to follow the city WKHVWDIIUHSRUWDQGDVXSHUÀXRXVDQG ]RQLQJ FRGH UHJDUGLQJ SODQQHG XQLW expensive land use attorney for their GHYHORSPHQWV0DQ\RIWKRVHFLWL]HQV decisions. Diane Amos have studied the code closely and fol- Cannon Beach lowed the process for more than a year, surance rates, thanks to the direction that they have given. A lot has been said about the manner in which the termination was handled in the public meeting. %XW WKH PDQQHU ZDV 0U %DO]HU¶V choice. The state of Oregon requires that an individual be informed of the meeting and given the option of an executive session (closed meeting), or having the discussion in public. 0LNH %DO]HU FKRVH WR KDYH LW LQ D public session. He also knew that he was going to be terminated, and he should have arranged for transporta- tion home after the meeting, leaving the department-owned car. There are many facts which can- not be made public until the trial. Until all of the facts are known, I would hope the people in the district ZRXOG UHPHPEHU WKH \HDUV RI ¿QH VHUYLFHJLYHQE\WKHVHRI¿FLDOVFRQ tinue to support them and give them the courtesy of voting no on the re- call. For four generations my fam- ily and I have lived and worked in Cannon Beach. I have only the best interests of the community at heart when I urge you to vote no on this important decision. David Kent Price Gearhart SUBSCRIPTION RATES Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county. Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110 POSTMASTER Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Copyright 2015 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING
