4A • March 2, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
Common ground is the most uncommon
P
olitics descended on Seaside
last week as Republican
gubernatorial primary
hopeful Jeff Smith swung through
to meet local party leaders. Smith,
who grew up in a cattle ranch in
Elgin — “a couple miles outside
of La Grande” in Eastern Oregon
— is one of nine Republicans
seeking to unseat Gov. Kate
Brown. He’s making his first bid
for public office, although he did
serve as an alternate delegate
for the 2008 Republican Party
primary.
“Barack Obama demolished
Sen. McCain in Oregon,” Smith
said in a visit to the Signal office.
“After that I started analyzing Or-
egon politics. It’s something I’ve
been thinking about for about 10
years. I think I’ve got a thinking
man’s strategy to how to approach
politics in Oregon.”
The answer: You have to be
competitive in Multnomah Coun-
ty, home to one out of every five
registered voters in the state.
“You have to be willing to
listen to people who have a differ-
ent way of doing things than the
people in the eastern part of the
state, or many people out here,
too,” Smith said, referring to the
North Coast. “You have to look
for things people really are willing
to build common ground on.”
Fighting special interests,
ending homelessness, battling the
drug epidemic, reducing gov-
ernment waste and skyrocketing
health care costs, are among those.
“Everybody’s suffering from the
high costs of medical care,” Smith
said.
Unfortunately, he acknowl-
edged, some issues have no com-
mon ground.
On gun control: “I don’t think
that’s a winning issue for me,” he
said.
Marijuana: “I don’t think
there’s any common ground to be
had with the way marijuana laws
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
are now.”
Endangered species: “You can’t
find anybody in Eastern Oregon
who doesn’t have a strong view-
point about wolves. And the peo-
ple in Multnomah County have the
completely opposite view. There’s
no middle ground on that.”
Smith recognizes that a Repub-
lican has not held the governor’s
office in Oregon in 36 years.
“I’m going to try to persuade
people to jump on my strategy:
you have to listen to people in
Multnomah County,” he said. “To
win, you have to suck some of
those people onto your platform.
You have to find things people are
concerned about and that we have
common ground about. Guns are
not one of them. Wolves are not
one of them.”
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jeff Merkley speaks to the audi-
ence at the Feb. 20 town hall in
Seaside.
Divided America
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s term
does not come due for two more
years. But during Senate recess,
he came to Seaside Feb. 20 for a
Clatsop County Town Hall at the
Bob Chisholm Community Center.
Like GOP gubernatorial hope-
ful Smith, the cost of health care is
at the top of Merkley’s to-do list.
But so are no-go discussion
topics like rights for immigrants
raised in this country known
as “Dreamers,” environmental
protections and gun control. And
while both sides may agree on cut-
ting health care costs, it’s unlikely
conversation would lead to similar
paths to accomplish that.
As Merkley spoke, members of
the crowd held up signs that read
“AGREE” or “DISAGREE.”
In the wake of the Parkland,
GOP gubernatorial hopeful Jeff Smith in Seaside.
‘You have to listen to people who have a
different way of doing things in the eastern
part of the state, or many people out here
too. You have to look for things people really
are willing to build common ground on.’
Jeff Smith
Republican gubernatorial hopeful
Florida, shooting of 17 children at
Marjory Stoneman High School,
frustration boiled over.
When a proposal to ban assault
weapons came up, the audience
showed near-unanimous agree-
ment. “Please do more,” begged
one audience member.
Opposition to EPA chief Scott
Pruitt’s environmental deregula-
tion policy and a plea for immi-
grants also united the senator and
constituents.
Despite the consensus within
the community center, the ele-
phant in the room was definitely
Snow on the roof, fire in the belly
M
oving to the Oregon coast from
New York and being neither a
skier or snowboarder, I never
imagined I’d see the day when I’d say I
was glad to see snow on the ground.
Nevertheless it was joy I felt last
Thursday after a couple of inches piled
up.
After making myself a cup of coffee, I
went outside with the dogs. The very old
one, Rinaldo the blind Chihuahua, was
having trouble, slip sliding around. Basil,
the lame Lhasa Apso, was excited. He’s
always been a fan of cold weather. Lucy,
the miniature pinscher who was born here
and is only two years old, was confused. I
threw a ball for her, but she wasn’t sure if
she was supposed to like snow or not.
I’m not going to lie. New York
winters are rough enough to be scarring.
They involve shovels and snowplows,
and sometimes backhoes to move the
piles of snow when they pile up too
much. Our New York house had a long
steep driveway. I fell down in it a lot.
Some winters it snowed multiple times a
week and since plowing is costly, if there
was less than four inches we advised our
plow guy not to plow, in which case we’d
shovel it off ourselves. Great exercise for
the quads and glutes, but still backbreak-
ing work.
Still, there was a certain glory Thurs-
day morning at the sight of snow on the
beach and on the mountain. I don’t think
I’ve ever seen Tillamook Head so frosted.
While I was standing in my front yard
near the Cove, soaking up the sun, a guy
rode past on his bicycle dressed in a wet
suit and carrying a surfboard.
Not a sight I’d be likely to see ever,
not ever, in New York.
That made me smile.
VIEW FROM
THE PORCH
EVE MARX
Bottoms up
There’s a saying that where there’s
snow on the roof, there’s a fire in the
belly, which is why I’ve been drinking
Firebrew since the new year started. It’s
a vinegar based immune booster. I work
alone from home and frankly don’t ex-
pose myself to a lot of people. I’ve quit
going to the gym. Instead I take solitary
walks outdoors with only a dog for
company. I don’t have kids in school to
bring home viruses. I rarely take public
transportation. Besides my regular
attendance at the local coffee shops,
the thing that exposes me most to other
people is hanging out at WineKraft
in Astoria where my husband’s jazz
quartet plays once a month. At the
Sweet Shop in Gearhart, I stumbled on
a product called Fire Brew, purported to
be an immune booster. This particular
product is made in Portland. It’s a tonic
said to strengthen the immune system
naturally. Slug down a tablespoon
or two once or twice a day, or add it
to water, hot water, or your favorite
beverage. The young man who sold
me the flavor labeled citrus told me he
pours his in Red Bull. The ingredients
are organic apple cider vinegar, raw
honey, horseradish, turmeric, ginger,
onion, garlic, habanero peppers, apples,
oranges, lemon, pineapple, rosemary,
echinacea and rosehips. The first time I
tried it, it was poured into a plastic shot
glass, and I threw it back like a shot
EVE MARX/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
A little Fire Brew and memories of
snowy winters.
of alcohol. I’ve thrown back shots of
whiskey and tequila that burned less.
I will report that after 72 hours of
dosing myself with this potent mixture
(chased by 6 ounces of water for every
shot), a phlegmy cough that threatened
to become something worse didn’t. I
decided to quaff this brew every day
for the duration of February, and if the
ground hog is correct and there really is
going to be six more weeks of winter,
I’ll drink it for six weeks.
Standing in full sun in my bathrobe
and tall rubber boots sipping a shot
glass of Pomegranate Fire Brew last
week, I thought that despite all the bad
news — school shootings, the Rus-
sian investigation — I could still feel
enchanted by a few inches of glittering
snow.
Just not too often.
MEETINGS
TUESDAY, March 6
p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
698 Pacific Way, Gearhart.
Community Center Commission, 10:30
a.m., 1225 Avenue A., Seaside.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., 698 Pacific
Way, Gearhart.
MONDAY, March 12
Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., 1131
Broadway, Seaside.
THURSDAY, March 8
Seaside Planning Commission, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside Convention Center Commis-
sion, 5 p.m., 415 First Avenue.
THURSDAY, March 15
WEDNESDAY, March 7
Cannon Beach Academy, 5:30 p.m. 3718
S. Hemlock St., Cannon Beach.
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6
Gearhart Planning Commission, 6 p.m.,
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
John D. Bruijn
ADVERTISING
SALES
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
April Olsen
Carl Earl
CLASSIFIED
SALES
Danielle Fisher
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Seaside Tree Board, 4 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Seaside Transportation Advisory Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
STAFF WRITER
Brenna Visser
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Skyler Archibald
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Jon Rahl
outside the room.
“I do hear tremendous orga-
nizing energy around the country
from people who say we’re way
off track right now,” Merkley said.
“I really want to see a majority of
the House and Senate to stop bad
policy and to start the path moving
forward.”
There is a yin and yang in
American politics, Merkley said.
“If Trump is the yin, I’m hop-
ing there’s a whole lot of ‘yang’
coming.”
The path ahead
Parade? No parade? Wall? No
wall? Kneel? Not to kneel?
We’re going to have to confront
some of those “unbridgeable” top-
ics before we find resolution.
Sometimes it feels like a Civil
War has already begun. Not just
Democrat versus GOP or Eastern
Oregon pitted against Multnomah
County, but right here, in the Safe-
way parking lot where the Prius
with the “Black Lives Matter”
bumper sticker sits parked next to
a pickup truck with the Confed-
erate flag displayed in the back of
the cab.
The question now: Who is
going to blink first?
LETTERS
Candidate says
no coastal drilling
This letter is to declare
that as a candidate for the
State House representing
District 32, I will vigorously
oppose any attempt on the
part of the Federal govern-
ment to drill for oil and gas
on the north Oregon Coast.
Such efforts are the height of
irresponsibility on the part of
leaders in terms of the local
economy, trends in the ener-
gy industry and our duties as
stewards of the environment.
I am old enough to re-
member the damage coastal
oil drilling caused in 1969 on
the beaches of Santa Barbara,
California, and more recently
with the Deepwater Horizon
explosion on the Gulf Coast.
I believe the risks are too
great, the costs too high and
our pristine Oregon coast far
too valuable to justify drilling
for oil. Moreover, the gover-
nor of Florida was successful
recently in pleading a waiver
from the President on drilling
in his state. Our coastline is
just as worthy of protection.
No state should have to en-
dure potential environmental
catastrophe merely because
of partisan favoritism, or
worse, the economic self-in-
terest of a president who is an
owner of tourism-based in-
terests in the Sunshine State.
The owner of Mar-a-Lago,
has aligned himself with
dirty, 19th century energy
production, drastically rolled
back Federal incentives for
alternative energy and denied
the human contribution to the
destructive effects of global
warming.
I seek office in part to
change the trends in our
country. District 32 includes
Seaside, Cannon Beach,
Rockaway Beach, Bay City,
Warrenton and Astoria, and
providence has blessed us
with beautiful, inspiring,
tourism-dollar
generating
ocean beaches and sea life.
However, if as stewards of
the planet we fail to protect,
water, land and air to the det-
riment of our descendants,
history will judge us harshly.
I say, “not on my watch.”
John F. Orr
Candidate for the Dem-
ocratic nomination for
State House District 32
Time to replace
Sunset board
On Tuesday, I attended
the February board meeting
of the Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District.
During the public comment
portion of the meeting, sev-
eral pool patrons voiced a
variety of complaints they
have regarding Sunset Pool,
and the deterioration of its
operations over the last few
years.
One patron who spoke
referred to the changes made
in the men’s locker room as
being more appropriate for
a “gay men’s bathhouse.”
At the end of the public
comment segment, one of
the board members said that
he had a problem with the
reference to a “gay men’s
bathhouse” and the rest of
the board agreed. Really?
That was the only thing they
took away?
I find it disconcerting
that not one of the board’s
members responded to any
of the concerns that were
mentioned by the others
who spoke at that meeting.
To say that the board is in-
effective is an understate-
ment. For starters, not even
one of its members uses
the pool on a regular basis.
Perhaps it’s time we looked
into how to go about replac-
ing the board.
Marti Wajc
Seaside
Seaside Signal
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