4A • September 29, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS
I
n case of emergency, start here.
Ham radio is at the heart of our
region’s safety efforts when the
Big One hits.
“We know it’s going to hap-
pen,” said Hal Denison, President of
Seaside Tsunami Amateur Radio and a
licensed expert radio operator. “We’ve
been training for that on a daily basis.”
Amateur radio is the last resource
in an emergency when there is no other
means of communication.
“That’s what we prepare for and
back up for,” Denison said. “There
may not be phones. There may not be
cell phones. We don’t really know how
many are going to survive. But we
know that the amateur radio is run-
ning.”
The more operators, the greater the
possibility of having people who can
help, Denison said.
Local radio enthusiasts watched with
great interest the response in Texas and
Florida after a season of hurricanes and
fl oods.
“From a ham point of view, we
know those were the only commu-
nications down there,” Dana Gandy,
president of Sunset Empire Amateur
Radio, said.
Broad-based community
Radio operators in the region range
from age 8 to older than 90.
“They all jump in and work togeth-
er,” Irv Emmons, a former communi-
cations professional and amateur radio
operator said. “If anyone has any issues,
we all jump in and try to resolve them.”
Terry Williams received her license
10 years ago when she moved to Sea-
side.
She got hooked after making radio
communication with a radio operator in
Scotland. “I’ve been on the radio ever
since,” Williams said. “I love it.”
Since then she’s served as an offi cer
of the Seaside Tsunami Amateur Radio
Society and continues to introduce
other women to the hobby.
The women hold a practice session
every Sunday night at 8 p.m. and a
“hams’ brunch” at the Uptown Cafe in
Warrenton.
A power boost
Users fi nd a wide range of technolo-
gy, from basic packages to sophisticated
gadgetry.
A hand-held battery offers low,
medium and high power capabilities,
Denison said.
On high power, a battery will be
dead in one day. Medium power pro-
vides two to three days of communica-
tions. Low power lasts longer — up to
four days — but limits broadcast reach.
Capabilities are rapidly being en-
hanced, Denison added.
Solar power, backup generators and
car-size batteries can provide many
days of power after an emergency
event.
One operator uses a bicycle power to
generate power.
A self-sustaining repeater site in
Arch Cape operates on solar power with
no connection to the grid, bringing cov-
erage from Nehalem to Warrenton.
Far and wide
Repeater and EchoLink sites allow
licensed operators using a computer or
smartphone to connect to repeater sites
anywhere in the world.
Gearhart approved a repeater site at
the city’s September council meeting.
The site, including pole, electrical
communications and equipment, is
budgeted at about $5,000, and will
provide amateur radio service from the
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Local author Shannon Symonds and Mayor Jay Barber.
Domestic violence
and sex traffi cking
more prevalent
than you think
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Ham radio operators Dana Gandy, Irv Emmons, Doug Barker, Carl Yates and Hal
Denison.
‘WE KNOW IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN.
We’ve been training for that on a daily
basis…. That’s what we prepare for and
back up for. There may not be phones. There
may not be cell phones. We don’t really
know how many are going to survive.
BUT WE KNOW THAT THE
AMATEUR RADIO IS RUNNING.’
Hal Denison,
President of Seaside Tsunami Amateur Radio
Arch Cape area to
trained more than
the northern tip of SEEN FROM SEASIDE
900 hams since
the Long Beach
the region’s 2007
R.J. MARX
peninsula.
storm, which
A site in Sea-
brought the need
side at the water
to the fore.
treatment plant
Investment is
has battery backup and two separate
about $35 plus a $15 license good for
generator backups, Denison said.
10 years.
A remote message system site in
Denison teaches “everything there
Seaside, located at Seaside Heights El-
is to know” to pass the beginning FCC
ementary School, uses a laptop capable
license classes.
of sending emails over radio waves.
Club members help new hams get
Global positioning systems capabil-
started, make wise decisions about what
ities can provide specifi c information
they purchase and give them hands-on
about a user’s location when other
experience leading to licensing, Gandy
means fail, helping to identify victims
said.
who may be trapped or isolated.
Carl Yates attended a class shortly
“If you get in trouble, and you have
after relocating to Seaside and earned
no other means of communicating, you
his technician’s license.
can type in a code in an emergency with
“I’m kind of a novice,” he admitted.
your exact location,” Gandy said.
“But I’m an example of somebody
He said GPS capabilities have so far who can start from scratch and go from
been sporadic, but will be brought into
there.”
all of the county’s radio sites.
How to train
Training
Training in procedures and com-
munication are not only essential but
mandatory, as all operators must be
federally licensed.
Amateurs are licensed by class,
from the entry technician level to the
intermediate general license and the top
level of “extra class,” a distinction held
by Gandy and Denison.
“The higher you get in, the more
complicated it is, but the more benefi ts
you have,” Denison said. “You have
more frequencies to operate on.”
Gandy, a former information
technology professional, said there are
more than 600 members in the area’s
two clubs, and the teaching group has
Clatsop County Auxiliary Emer-
gency Communications presents a ham
radio licensing class Friday, Oct. 20,
from 4:30 to 9 p.m. at Clatsop Commu-
nity College’s South County Campus in
Seaside, and all day on Oct. 21.
A similar course takes place Oct. 28
in Astoria.
Groups like STARS check in on a
weekly basis by giving their names and
information.
A South County check-in — for the
communities of Arch Cape, Seaside,
Cannon Beach, Gearhart and Warrenton
— takes place Wednesdays.
“It’s a great hobby,” Emmons said.
“I’ve been in it since 1960.”
“We’re all hams fi rst,” Gandy said.
L
ast Tuesday evening I skipped book club to attend
a program hosted by the Seaside Branch of the
American Association of University Women held at
Beach Books. The topic was domestic violence and sex
crimes, subjects that have captured my journalistic interest
for a very long time.
The meeting was a “get-acquainted” get-together. Fol-
lowing opening remarks by Cindy Gould, AAUW’s local
chapter president, Shannon Symonds, author of the novel,
“Safe House” and
part-time advocate
of domestic and
VIEW FROM
sexual assault vic-
tims. Symonds was THE PORCH
joined by Seaside’s EVE MARX
Mayor Jay Barber,
an advisor for
Shared Hope International, an organization dedicated to
ending sex traffi cking.
Symonds, who by day is the outreach manager for the
Foster Club in Seaside, said she became a domestic vio-
lence advocate years ago after working at Head Start.
There are two types of abusers, Symonds said. One is
a “cycler,” a person whose triggers are known and who
almost predictably goes off the rails; the second and more
deadly type is the abuser who often has no prior docu-
mented history of abuse. “There may have been no red
fl ags,” she said.
These abusers are power motivated and are control
junkies. “They are the ones who are most likely to commit
a homicide,” Symonds said. The most dangerous time for
the victim is when she decides to leave.
Symonds said victims least likely to seek help are
women of means. “The more you have to lose, the less
you will tell,” she said. Maintaining personal privacy is
the primary reason victims don’t report; there is also con-
cern the abuser may lose his job and stature in the commu-
nity. Victims in these cases rarely report abuse or follow
through to press charges when police become involved.
That’s because they love their abuser and keep hoping for
the best. These victims customarily play down the severity
of the abuse, claiming even serious injuries as minor.
Barber told the audience I-5 is the principal thorough-
fare for sex traffi cking in this part of the country. “It’s a
hotbed,” he said. He spoke of his work with Shared Hope,
an organization offering legal counsel to victims, and
boosts initiatives such as the Protected Innocence annual
report on state child sex traffi cking laws and Traffi c Stop,
which examines state agency responses to traffi cking.
Sex traffi cking, Barber said, is America’s fastest growing
crime. He quoted an expert on the subject who called
traffi cking “the new slavery.”
In Oregon, to target victims, traffi ckers use social net-
works that appeal to teens. Victims tend to be 14-16 years
of age, although girls as young as 9 have been known to
be traffi cked. Many victims, and they are not all female,
are victims of prior sexual abuse, are in foster care, or
are runaways. He cautioned people shouldn’t think sex
traffi cking can’t happen in Seaside.
Symonds said no shelter or safe house currently is in
operation in Clatsop County for victims and their children
of sex abuse or domestic violence. More money, she said,
has been raised or allocated to animal shelters. But the
need for a human shelter in this area is very real.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. “If we
can help one person at a time,” Symonds said, “That’s a
victory.”
LETTERS
Vote no to short-term
rental measure
I have received a lot of ques-
tions on the short-term rental
repeal and replace ordinance that
will be on the ballot this fall and
is fi nanced by a political fi rm out
of California and a vacation rental
management corporation. I want to
be perfectly clear on what Measure
4-188 will mean for the residents
of Gearhart.
A yes vote will allow unlimit-
ed short term rentals in our single
family residential zones, no septic
regulations, and will get rid of state
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
David F. Pero
R.J. Marx
certifi ed safety inspections for fi re
and life safety.
A no vote will continue our cur-
rent laws which include; a balanced
and responsible cap allowing all
STR owners to continue to rent, ad-
equate septic regulations to protect
neighbors from high commercial
use, and certifi ed safety inspections
mandating legal fi re escapes to keep
children, families, and visitors safe.
Our current laws also allow citi-
zens to rent multiple rooms or their
entire homes for 30 days or more at
anytime, and allow funds from STR
permits to go towards our police and
fi re departments through proceeds
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
John D. Bruijn
ADVERTISING
SALES
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Brandy Stewart
Carl Earl
from our general fund.
I campaigned last year on keep-
ing Gearhart the quiet residential
community we all know and love.
As your mayor I made a vow to
protect our citizens and I will con-
tinue to fi ght along side you. Our
residential property values, quality
of life, and sense of community are
at stake.
With a no vote on Measure 4-188
we have the opportunity to end the
divisiveness, keeping Gearhart from
becoming an investment property
community that would allow outside
corporations to buy unlimited prop-
erties on any neighborhood street.
STAFF WRITER
Brenna Visser
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Skyler Archibald
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Jon Rahl
Please contact me anytime and I
will go over our current law next
to the repeal and replace ordinance
line by line with you. I won’t try to
convince you how to vote but will
give you the facts so you can make
the best choice for our future. Thank
you.
Mayor Matty Brown
Gearhart
Thanks to Sen. Johnson
Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook
counties are truly fortunate to have
a powerful and compassionate advo-
cate in Sen. Betsy Johnson. Because
of her tireless commitment to meet
our needs, Oregon lawmakers made
decisions that protect and provide
resources for our most vulnerable
neighbors.
Community Action Team staff
and board members wish to express
deep gratitude to Sen. Johnson for
asking the hard questions, seek-
ing our input regarding community
needs and for carrying that informa-
tion to the legislative arena.
Senator, please accept our many
thanks for your unshakable loyalty
in serving all of us.
Leanne Murray
St. Helens
Seaside Signal
Letter policy
Subscriptions
The Seaside Signal
is published every other week by
EO Media Group,
1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, OR 97138.
503-738-5561
seasidesignal.com
Copyright 2017 © Seaside Signal. Nothing
can be reprinted or copied without consent
of the owners.
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 signed by the
author and include a phone number for verifi cation. We
also request that submissions be limited to one letter
per month. Send to 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR
97138, drop them off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to
503-738-9285, or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com
Annually: $40.50 in county • $58.00 in
and out of county • e-Edition: only $30.00
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaside
Signal, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Postage Paid at
Seaside, OR, 97138 and at additional mailing offi ces.
Copyright 2017 © by the Seaside Signal. No portion
of this newspaper may be reproduced without written
permission. All rights reserved.