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
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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
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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-
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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
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“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
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tle Women about once every
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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-
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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-
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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-
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the key and got in my house
to warm up.)
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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
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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
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for the Emery.”
