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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2015)
4A • January 23, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com The dark side of Gearhart I n his impassioned speech at a recent Gearhart City Council meeting, Councilor Dan Jesse got it right: The city of Gearhart is being torn apart by the acrimony between Mayor Dianne Widdop and those who are seeking her re- call. For months now, or even years, depending on the issue before the council, the accusations, suspicions and shouting matches have made the monthly meetings nearly un- bearable. If the City Council hopes to en- courage community involvement, this is, I guess, one way to do that. The small council chambers always RYHUÀRZVWRVWDQGLQJURRPRQO\,Q RUGHU WR FRPSO\ ZLWK ¿UH PDUVKDO regulations, the doors to the exit have to be unlocked, if not open, in case the crowd needs to leave in a hurry. Some might say those doors would also make for a quick get- away for anyone wishing to escape the tension contained in the room. There are few “neutral” parties: People are either applauding those who read lists of accusations about the mayor’s lack of respect for the constitutional right of free speech, her disdain for councilors and res- idents who don’t agree with her and her intention to follow her own agenda without consulting anyone. Impressions them, that turbulence has literally spilled over into the streets. Add to that recall petitions mailed to Gearhart’s registered vot- ers and a website that lists all of the mayor’s public discretions, and it is apparent that this quiet little town B Y has a dark side. NANCY Widdop, too, has fueled the McCARTHY ÀDPHVRIGLVFRQWHQW+HUFRPSODLQW WRWKH6HFUHWDU\RI6WDWH¶VRI¿FHWKDW the recall petition contained “inac- curate, misleading and untruthful statements” has done nothing to Just who’s laughing change attitudes. Widdop said this week that she anyway? KDVEHHQWROGE\VWDWHRI¿FLDOVWKDW her complaint cannot be validated. Then there are the mayor’s sup- $Q RI¿FLDO UHSRUW IURP WKH 6HF porters who defend Widdop’s right UHWDU\ RI 6WDWH¶V 2I¿FH ZLOO EH UH to offer personal opinions, who re- leased in a few days. member what they call her “cour- But the acrimony isn’t contained age” on past issues and who con- to just the pro- and anti-Widdop gratulate her on her “forthrightness.” camps. It has leached out to other +RZHYHU WKH VXSSRUWHUV RIWHQ ¿QG city issues and touched other resi- themselves being personally grilled dents. Whether the issue is about by sharp-tongued opponents. fences or RVs or short-term rentals, In a quiet town where “livabil- there’s a fair amount of anger. ity” and residential character are One resident, who owns an RV emphasized, the turbulent City and is concerned about a proposed Council meetings have been the zoning ordinance that spells out community’s dirty little secret. how long he can park an RV at his Only, with recall signs posted residence, told Widdop at a City on fences and a camera and mo- Council meeting that he was glad tion sensor trained on the signs to she was the target of a recall effort. discourage anyone from removing “I hope it’s successful,” he said. NANCY MCCARTHY — EO MEDIA GROUP After someone removed the recall signs posted on a fence next to the post offi ce in downtown Gearhart, they were reposted, this time with a camera and motion sensor to monitor them. Recall leader Harold Gable has since removed the signs and monitoring devices. The signs were posted elsewhere in town. Another resident, who recently expressed a worry that his short- term rental will be affected by a possible ordinance regulating rent- als, brought a Christmas card he re- ceived to the last council meeting. On the front of the card was a peaceful photo of the beach. Inside the card was a harsh, anonymous “greeting” that criticized him for his “incessant bleating ramblings.” It was apparent that the man and his wife felt like they had been stalked. The spark of annoyance that started so long ago has erupted into D¿UHRIDQLPRVLW\WKDWLVVSUHDGLQJ to all parts of the community. Dan Jesse said that Gearhart has become a “laughingstock” of Clat- sop County, but has it grown into more than that? Just who’s laughing anyway? Nancy McCarthy covers South County for The Daily Astorian and is the editor of the Seaside Signal and the Cannon Beach Gazette. Between the Covers ESTHER MOBERG It’s time to read the book that’s been gathering dust For the new year, why not tackle that one book you have put off reading? You know what I am talking about, that one book you bought in the airport, or the one you keep checking out from the library, only to let it gather dust because every WLPH\RXORRNDWLW\RX¿QG an excuse not to pick it up and read it. For me, that book has been, To Kill a Mockingbird. A classic, but because I was home schooled, it was nev- er required reading. Even though I always heard how great it was, I put off reading LW IRU \HDUV XQWLO ¿QDOO\ WKLV past year, I picked it up, dust- ed it off and read it. Of course you already know (if you have read it) why so many people recommend it. The setting and characters leap off the page and into your mind, leaving a lasting mark. Of course, we librarians are the worst at having a “to read” list that keeps getting longer and longer. While I probably won’t be tackling The Rise and Fall of the Ro- man Empire any time soon, there are a few other lighter books that I just might add to my “reading resolutions” for the new year. I am waiting with impa- tience for the next books by some authors, while others I am reluctant to start on. While I have enjoyed all of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Pot- ter series, for instance, I am reluctant to start reading the books Rowling wrote under a pseudonym for adults, just because I do not want to be- come disenchanted with her writing. Sometimes authors have D QLFKH RU DXGLHQFH WKH\ ¿W best, and when they try to cross platforms, they fail, ESTHER MOBERG at least in my expectations. I personally prefer Neil Gaiman’s children’s books to his books for adults, just because he tones down the dark side of his writing. My “to read” list includes every- thing from Tess of the D’Ur- bervilles to Where Did You Go, Bernadette? As a Jane Austen fan, I always keep thinking I will, perhaps, someday read ev- HU\¿FWLRQERRNHYHUZULWWHQ about her characters, wishful thinking when you realize there are hundreds of titles published every single year! There is a quote right now on the Internet about having hobbies. It says, “Have one hobby that keeps you creative, one that makes you money and one that keeps you healthy.” I would say something similar, only about books. Read one book in 2015 that helps you get organized or perhaps challenges you to live life to the fullest; one book that stirs up your cre- ativity and inspires you; and one that makes you think about your priorities in life, or provides an escape from reality. Recently, I just read the book, The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo, which, for PH ZRXOG ¿W XQGHU WKH “read one book in 2015 that helps you get organized.” This book really has in- spired me to take a hard look at all the books and other items I own. I really like how Kondo talks about holding each book you own in your hand to see if it res- onates with you. When I hold Little Women, by Lou- isa May Alcott, in my hand, it makes me think of long rainy winters curled up by D¿UH,XVXDOO\UHUHDGLit- tle Women about once every ¿YH\HDUV Kondo also makes a good point that if you haven’t read it yet (and it’s been on your shelf for years), you prob- ably won’t ever get around to reading it. So, start set- ting those reading goals for 2015. Online, www.shelfari. com is a great place to track the books you have read. You can set a personal read- ing goal, and it will let you know how far you have pro- gressed toward that goal as you log each book you read to your “shelf.” If you do decide to get organized and have some books you are getting rid of, the Friends of the Seaside Library is always looking for donations of books and VHS tapes. Please keep in mind that the books should be in like-new condition, and the VHS tapes should not be home movies or pi- rated copies. These items are resold in the Friends of the Library bookstore, and the funds are used to pur- chase more books for the li- brary and/or support library programs. Thank you for your support of the Seaside Library! Let’s PLAY DARREN GOOCH Recreation district looks to the future with a new logo I have talked a lot in the past about change, and like most people, it has been a constant in my life. Where some of the changes have ap- peared to be bad in the short term, their effects have prov- HQWREHRIJUHDWEHQH¿WLQWKH long run. As once stated by Pres- ident John F. Kennedy, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” Change is always an in- evitable, immutable force that pushes us into the future as new ideas and inventions take root. Here at the district, new ideas from staff and input from our patrons drive the New logo changes we make every day. Recently, our administrative staff and board of directors chose to update our district logo. The current one has rep- resented the district for many years and will always be a valuable part of our history. However, even it has under- gone many minute changes over the years, morphing into what you see today. The current logo, for all of its beauty and symbolism, suffers from a few limitations that have made it a challenge Former logo DARREN GOOCH to deal with in certain aspects of our work. First and foremost, as the designer for district publi- cations, I have seen many changes in the landscape of graphic design since the original logo was developed. It began its life as a piece of low resolution line art, mean- ing that it was perfect for small print publications, such as those you might add to a Word document that you are sending to a printer attached to your computer, but not scalable enough to send to a commercial printer. More recently, I invested in a nice polo shirt with a district logo on the front. I noticed that after several washings, the thin lines of the logo had started to crack. After a couple more trips through the wash- ing machine, it was looking pretty sad indeed. Its intricate detail, although beautiful, just didn’t lend itself well to that kind of process. The new logo, created by local artist Kevin Ames, overcomes the older design’s limitations. Its blockier styl- ing and thicker lines will bet- ter withstand the rigors of my washing machine. It also re- tains much of the symbolism of the former design, with the sun setting behind the water, indicative of the ma- jestic place we are fortunate enough to call home. Change is never easy. I don’t think it was meant to be, but if we take President Kennedy’s words to heart, it’s really the future that we should be looking forward to. Having had a great deal of input on it, this is one change that I am very excited about! To see the new design, please visit our website: www.sun- setempire.com. Darren Gooch is the IT & marketing manager for the Sunset Empire Park & Recreation District. District information is always avail- able at sunsetempire.com or by calling 503-738-3311. Darren’s email is dgooch@ sunsetempire.com. Scene and Heard CLAIRE LOVELL Gee...maybe you should watch your language One of the most irritating turns of present day conversa- tion is what I call the French- ifying of language. Guys start- ed it. Newscasters began with saying things like “seezh” for “siege.” Each time they come to a word ending in a syllable, which should be a hard “g,” they instead use “zh.” The lat- est of these, if you can believe it, was “scroozhe” at Christ- mas. Yikes! Friends gone We lost two friends in December: Carolyn Mason on Dec. 9 and Betty Mosar, Dec. 6. Carolyn was once my neighbor on Seventh and North Lincoln Street. She had two little pug dogs that ran up and down inside the fence, barking at everyone in sight. I learned not to be afraid of them because they were al- ZD\VVR¿HUFH Betty was also a neighbor on Second Avenue when I worked for Avis and Elliott Hurd and lived with them for a while. Walking the neighborhood for a phone to help me get in, I got roundly soaked. Knock- ing on doors didn’t help much. I was a pariah in my own environs, and the next day, I had several cold symp- WRPV (YHQWXDOO\ , GLG ¿QG the key and got in my house to warm up.) 7LPHÀLHV On New Year’s Eve, I watched the goings on at Times Square with Fox re- porters. Moving from one year to the next takes only a minute and it wasn’t actually 2015 for three hours yet be- cause of the time difference. But I looked forward to a clean slate and better health. It’s my intent to eat more nutritious food, get back to regular exercise and get more rest. Although they do say the pathway to purgatory is paved with proper positions — OK, good intentions, except I love alliteration. Walk in the rain One rainy Sunday, I mis- placed the key to my house. tan Bakery and Restaurant where they lived, although I didn’t recognize the name of the town. We correspond- ed infrequently. Her mother and my brother Rudy were sweethearts — probably in their twenties. Another friend gone Spectacular sunset Les Morris (John’s old- est brother) wrote to tell me Ordinarily I don’t like of the death of Gail Harri- cooking shows. Recipes are son Smith in Sultan, Wash., often too complicated for a a while ago. Gail grew up simple person like me. One in Seaside (attended high Sunday on PBS, I enjoyed a school in the 1950s) and was cake-making contest from the the daughter of Milton and U.K. — about 10 contestants Irma Harrison of Harrison’s making Suisse rolls. Each Bakery. She died of cancer had a collection of ingredi- a short time after being diag- HQWV WR ¿QLVK WKHLU SURGXFWV nosed. Gail was a lovely girl in a certain time. It was cool. and a dear friend. She and her Most of us were rooting for husband operated the Sul- Piece of cake! CLAIRE LOVELL a certain person. The roll was PDGHRIDÀDWSLHFHRIVSRQJH FDNHZLWKGLIIHUHQW¿OOLQJVWR show their originality. I felt sorry for the judges who had to sample all the results. They must have been truly nause- ated at the end. Twelfth night ended with a most gorgeous sunset. I saw it from my front porch on North Lincoln Street, so, of course, it was more beautiful at the beach, deep fuchsia colored and all along the horizon. Wish I could have been there. Laugh line When a very generous salon worker gave me a nail ¿OH,VDQJWKHWXQH³7KDQNV for the Emery.”
