Tom Freel News and Comment

As Promised

2012-01-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is the response from Pacific Power to my previous post on PUD formation in Clatsop County.

Watching with great interest as this issue is discussed. As an employee and spokesman for Pacific Power, though, I do need to correct a few points thrown around in your recent blog post.

One, Pacific Power is not an “off-shore company.” Scottish Power hasn’t been in the picture since March 2006, when MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company purchased PacifiCorp, and therefore Pacific Power. MidAmerican Energy is based in Des Moines, Iowa and PacifiCorp’s corporate headquarters is in Portland. Pacific Power’s home office is in Portland and serves Oregon, Washington and Northern California. We also have a presence in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, serving those communities as Rocky Mountain Power, and our sister utility in Iowa, MidAmerican Energy Company. It is from these affiliated businesses that we have brought in crews to assist in restoration during and after the 2007 storm. Today we are most assuredly not a Scottish-owned company and haven’t been for a long time.

Two, our energy portfolio is not as described. Non-hydro renewable (mostly wind) make up 10 %, Hydro 10%, natural-gas-fired 20%, coal fired 52%. (The rest is bought off the market.) We eliminated new coal plants from our plans years ago and we are investing in making the ones we do own cleaner. We have increased our commitment to wind power by 3,000 percent since 2005, making us the second largest utility owner of wind power in the nation, second only to our sister utility in Iowa. We are well on our way to meeting the state’s “25% by 2025” Renewable Portfolio Standards, a standard that smaller PUDS are not obligated to meet. Our company is among the most aggressive renewable energy companies in the U.S.; MidAmerican just acquired more than 800 megawatts of solar projects in late 2011, on top of our wind, geothermal and biomass projects.

Three, our community donations, which have been ongoing for more than a century now, are not funded by the 3 % surcharge on your bill. That surcharge is a state-mandated charge that goes specifically to the Energy Trust of Oregon for energy efficiency and small renewable energy project funding. It also goes toward home weatherization assistance and to energy efficiency programs for schools.

Pacific Power’s community impact and giving is not part of our rates, but comes directly from our shareholders and employees. We give through our foundation and through direct company philanthropy. For instance we donated over $510,000 in contributions from our employees and owners just in 2011 for low-income energy assistance, and give about $50,000 in direct grants and sponsorships in Clatsop County each year.

Four, the “comparative rates” are not accurate. And the biggest inaccuracy would be the impression that any existing PUD rates would be approximate to what would be paid by a new PUD. Unless and until accurate research and analysis are done to estimate the true cost to taxpayers and ratepayers from a government condemnation to take over and set up a new utility, there is really no accurate way to compare rates that don’t really exist yet.

There are plenty of conclusions in your blog that we also take issue with, but first we thought it might help to clear up a few of the basics on which you are basing your argument. As you said in your opening, “a little research.” A little more research was needed. Call me any time if you have a question.

Tom Gauntt

Spokesman, Pacific Power

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As Planning Commission Chair Bruce Francis told Pacific Power's Pat Eagan, This is really going to come down to three things. Rate, reliability and, the value of local control.

Sure. What we pay for power plays into this but before putting a price tag on this proposal we need to have a discussion about what the expectations would be for an operational philosophy if a PUD were to be formed here.

It is important going in to be clear about why we would spend the next two or three years setting all this up. For example, I would hate to see a PUD board that has a philosophy akin to manifest destiny where it never stops growing until you end up with a wonderful facility and huge staff instead of the kind of operation where the focus is on long term reliable service at a reasonable rate for the customers. How often can a PUD raise rates I wonder?

One area where it could all fall to pieces rapidly comes with the election of the board that will guide the new organization. This can't be a typical popularity contest with a disconnected, ill-informed electorate. The first incarnation of the PUD board must be comprised of people who understand what leadership, management and strategic planning are all about. This can't be the kind of board that doesn't have time to pay attention, allows itself to be badly informed, and leaves leadership of the organization strictly to it's managers. This is a critical service organization that needs full time attention. Being well-meaning won't be enough. Since local politics might make the creation of such a board nearly impossible perhaps it would be possible to have an active advisory group composed of individuals with the level of experience necessary to guide the process. That might be the first action taken by a new PUD board.

What if the County decides to drop this idea as Pacific Power has demanded? It's entirely possible that during the

discussion that will take place at the County Board level that this idea might attract little public interest, or be given a very low, or perhaps no priority at all. The cities might decide they'd rather not go this direction either. What happens if a city opts out? If an election is held and the majority of citizens in one city want the PUD but the majority in a smaller city don't want a PUD, what happens then? Lots of questions. Few answers yet.

It will be interesting to watch what happens over the next couple of months.

PUD Politics

2012-01-09T15:48:00.000-08:00

The discussion regarding a People's Utility District for Clatsop County is bound to be contentious. Over the years PUD's have slowly developed even though they offer big advantages over paying an investor owned utility company. Once you do a little research you quickly begin to ask your self why there are only six PUD's in the state. It doesn't make any sense at all.

Most people say they are satisfied with what they have until they learn that PUD customers on average pay upwards to 30% less every month. That's when the the two major private power providers march out the arguments about how expensive it will be to pay them for everything they have built and how unreliable public power supplies and services tend to be. The problem with these arguments are that it's pure hog wash at best.

Pacific Power can't argue about rates. Right now it costs about $97 for every 1000 kWh you use. Tillamook PUD customers pay around $79 per thousand. Clatskanie PUD customers pay around $40. They benefit from power sales to the Wanna Mill and the development of their own power sources. PUD's have access to hydro power supplied by the federal Bonneville Power Administration which is the cheapest power source around year in and year out. They also have gas-fired power at a smaller percentage. Compare that to Pacific Power which relies primarily on coal to the tune of about 72% of it's power source.

There are community ties with Pacific Power, of course, that would seem to make the utility a good "community partner" I understand just as the story about a possible PUD surfaced a local museum suddenly got a check for $10,000. The fact is PGE and Pacific Power are required by law to contribute 3% of what they make to charitable, or not for profit community organizations. You still pay for that. Check your Pacific Power bill. it's a separate line item.

The fact is every PUD in Oregon is a community partner in the same way. That's not because the Oregon legislature mandated it. It's because the people that run the PUD live and work in the community and participate in community support year round.

If the county commission proceeds with this idea it won't change anything for people currently covered by a PUD or Electric Coop. The boundaries of a new PUD can't interfere with those.

A major player in this discussion is Pacific Power's Sheila Holden. She is well known locally and that is her job. She is the face of the power giant here. Holden is a regional manager for Pacific Power and has earned her position and reputation as a change agent, mixing business with personal passion, cheerleading for businesses, pushing for social services for low-income people and creating economic opportunities for women and minorities in Northeast Portland, and here acting on behalf of her company in the 2007 storm to provide supplies to feed those stuck in shelters unable to return to damaged homes and workplaces.

She is very highly though of and rightly so.

In this debate however she will be pushing the company line. We know this because of her reaction at a recent Astoria city council meeting and a discussion of the possible PUD which she said she had only heard about incidentally. She seemed puzzled that the county had not approached Pacific Power. She stated that any PUD would have to buy Pacific Power's system here and it would be very expensive. She didn't quote a figure. When asked about what her company might do to help the area in an emergency she said if it's not in the company service area she suspected there would be great resistance to lending aid. Too bad since she makes much of the strong ties the company has to it's roots in Astoria. I guess that only applies if we pay our bill including the line item that allows her to have fountains rebuilt and give grants to museums.

I agree that Pacific Power investors should get fair market value for what the company has built here. The county has the figure already because the county assessor keeps track of those filings with the state revenue department. All private utilities are required to file a report on the market value of their holdings. The number doesn't seem to bother anyone at the county, nor has it made the proposal economically unfeasible thus far.

The company won't have a choice to sell everything to the PUD because of eminent domain rights which includes paying fair market value, not what Pacific Power wants to charge. A PUD has that right but not the right to exercise eminent domain on any other industry or individual..An important point to remember as the campaign starts to get nasty. And it will.

Here's an example from a 2003 Oregonian article that was written as PGE was battling a proposed PUD in Portland that shows exactly how the company will use Holden here:

In a fight to keep its customer base, Pacific Power has joined PGE in distributing and financing anti-PUD information. But Holden -- and her long-established community credibility -- may be the secret weapon in this dogfight.

For the last two years, Holden has run the North-Northeast Economic Development Alliance. The group will soon release its first State of the Community report, which monitors all of the area's investments.

Last year, Holden was a chairwoman of the citizens committee for the Interstate Corridor urban renewal area. Her group helped identify projects that later got cut out of the funding loop of the Portland Development Commission.

What's more, in 1988, Holden helped create a business incubator called the Cascade Business Center. Pacific Power provided the financing and North Vancouver Avenue building, which now houses the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs, or OAME.

"If it wasn't for Pacific Power paying my salary," Holden says, "I wouldn't have the freedom and time to do that work."

Now, it's payback time. Holden plans to use those contacts she's made helping people to build community angst over the public-utility initiative.

"We see this right now as a grand opportunity," Holden says, "to tell them what's real and what's Memorex."

She's good.

At the end of the day the decision to form a Clatsop PUD will come from voters who will have to decide three ballot issues. 1) To form the district, 2) To elect a local board to run it and, 3) To vote on a levy to pay for the legal work and any engineering studies and provide other start up costs that will need to paid back to the county. The power may or may not come from the Clatskanie PUD depending on decisions made by the board of the Clatsop PUD

That's the basics. The fine points are still in development.

PUD Or PP&L?

2011-12-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

We interrupt our discussion on the Legion Block to bring you and new topic.

Last week KAST reported that Clatsop County was holding a number of quiet discussions with various parties about the possibility of dumping Pacific Corp and going with the Clatskanie PUD.

This came up at the Astoria City Council meeting when the Pacific Power Regional Community Manager asked if anyone on the council had heard this as a rumor. She said she was trying to track it down and that her company had heard nothing from the county. It was surprising to discover that most of the council had heard about it. In fact Peter Roscoe said while he didn't know much about it yet he had been asked by one of the commissioners to sit on a citizens committee to explore the idea. Then City Manager Paul Benoit said that County Manager Duane Cole had recently paid him a visit to chat about the proposal. Benoit said that the county had approached some key power users for letters of support.

Today I discovered that Cole is moving even faster to secure the support of school districts who think it will save them money even though it doesn't look like there is much more than speculation involved with that conclusion.

Cole is saying that since Clatskanie PUD gets it's power from the Bonneville Power Administration it is coming from clean hydro power and not the coal burning plant Pacific Power uses. So it's greener and it's cheaper.

I'm all for paying less on fixed expenses like energy bills. I'm just a little concerned about whether there will be any actual savings involved. Pacific Power has made it clear that buying their infrastructure will be at current market rate because much of the system has been replaced since the 2007 storm. That's going to be a big number. I'm also concerned about how the Clatskanie PUD spends money after seeing the incredible headquarters building they just finished.

Then there is the question about reliability. What happens if we get slugged with a big storm or series of storms? Will the Clatskanie PUD be able to get to us? How long will it take to make repairs? In 2007 Pacific Power brought in teams of engineers and linemen from throughout the western states. Can the PUD do that?

I await the outcome of this rush to change something that isn't broken.

What's In A Name?

2011-12-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

I've come to the conclusion that giving a certain block in downtown Astoria it's own name is really just a temporary convenience. Once the block has been turned into a central park or garden square the importance of a name will evaporate. It's just so cumbersome to have discussions about what to do with it right now because you have to call it something to clearly identify it.

You could call it the 12th and Duane block I suppose but then people might think of the Liberty theater, or the Elliott Hotel or the Bankers Suite that used to be a Day Spa and before that a part of Hunts Home Furnishings for a brief period instead of our central hole in the ground that was a Safeway Store next to the American Legion building and across Exchange from the Senior Center that was once Hunts Home Furnishings before Hunts moved to the old Astoria Public Market building which used to be the Police and Fire station but is Roby's now. You have to have lived here at least 30 years to follow what I've just wrote. There are a lot of places in town that require some personal history to describe accurately.

We had a similar problem with the Flavel buildings. Before anyone realized who owned them you would have to know that the Shipyard tavern is across the street from what used to be the Benjamin Franklin Savings which was next to the old Szenders Mens Fashions until Szenders moved across the street to the now abandoned storefront and Sears moved into Szenders old spot until Sears moved to Marine Drive. Lazlo Szender, by the way, was a tailor from the old country who could make a beautiful suit from scratch. That's a skill set we've lost.
Back to the point. All you have to say to most folks today is the Flavel buildings and they know what you are talking about.

Naming the Safeway/American Legion Block is important for communication and it's somewhat important what that name is. I have no problem dedicating the entire block to the Legion. They've earned it many times over. The Safeway name has to go away because Safeway is not a active community partner and simply hasn't earned the recognition. So until the City Council comes up with a new name I will refer to it as just the Legion Block. Period.

So next up a few thoughts on what might work on that block and why moving the Garden of Surging Waves there just isn't appropriate.

Kitzhaber Rejects Education Reform

2011-11-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

The State Board of Higher Education has unanimously voted to fire University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere (la-RIV'-ee-AIR') effective Dec. 28.

Board members voted 12 to 0 on Monday to oust Lariviere, saying they have lost trust and confidence in his ability to lead the university. Lariviere was hired in 2009 and has publicly clashed with the Board and with Gov. John Kitzhaber, who says Lariviere's advocacy for the UO has undermined other universities. The Following is from the University website and is a portion of a letter written by the UO President:

Since becoming the UO’s 16th president in July 2009, my focus has been on enhancing the education of our students at Oregon’s flagship public university. I have sought to do that by focusing on our critical public mission and tapping the brilliance and innovation that resides here among our faculty staff and students.

The UO has had a leading voice in public discussions that resulted in this year’s legislative overhaul to the structure of Oregon’s entire educational system – from early childhood through post-doctoral studies. Our bold ideas have led to the promise of additional changes in the not-too-distant future, including eventual consideration of our proposal for individual universities to form local governing boards.

But our primary mission has been to provide educational opportunity and academic excellence, and you have taken both to new heights. Enrollment is at an all-time high this year, topping last year’s record enrollment. Much has been made of our ability to attract out-of-state and international students, but we are also educating more Oregon students than ever before. This year’s freshman class is the most diverse and has the highest grade point average of any incoming class in UO history, and we have raised freshman-to-sophomore retention to a new level.

We are what great students look for in a university. We are different, and embrace difference. We have brilliant, dedicated faculty, cutting edge research, and award-winning programs. Through careful financial stewardship we were able to give well-earned salary increases to faculty and staff. UO’s research grant funding has set records.

Even though the past 2 years have been difficult economic times for our entire country, we have generated a quarter of a billion dollars in private gifts at the UO and we have half a billion dollars in ongoing construction projects.

One of my proudest accomplishments is the concerted advocacy for public policy, governance and funding changes to strengthen the university and the entire state. I remain hopeful that honest debate and the exploration of new ideas – whether academic or political – will be celebrated and encouraged.

Too Cold?, Wearing Out?, Management Issues? Lock The Doors.

2011-11-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

It is good to see citizens take an active interest in their City. It is quite unusual to see anyone at any council or commission meeting other than the elected officers and the staff paid to show up. That goes for every city.

So when a group of people decide to take action on an issue they care about by showing up in force at one of these meetings it draws some attention.

A small group of Astorians unhappy with the Astoria Aquatic Center attended the City Council meeting Monday bringing complaints about it's operation and how they are being treated. They say it needs better management. They were not happy with how staff handles seniors and the disabled. They say the water is too cold and equipment needs to be replaced, amongst other things they don't like. Remember last year when it was going to close entirely? Maybe it should have. The biggest issue with the Astoria Aquatic Center (AAC) is that it made it off the drawing board and into a burdensome reality.

Much has been said about the AAC savior JP Moss. How he stepped in and in a relatively short period of time proved that the city could most likely afford to keep the place open after all. Shortly after that he was named the "interim" Parks Director at a hefty salary He hired a manager for the pool and moved on to consolidate the parks department and enlarged the programs available adding Star of The Sea's old gym to the mix as the new Astoria Recreation Center.

I'm surprised anyone who uses these facilities would have a complaint.

At a time when the Great Recession has thrown many out of work, and more people are considered homeless and in need of simple means to put food on the table it seems to me those who complain about how a swimming pool operates are incredibly out of touch.

This latest business about the Aquatic Center got started when people found out how much Mr. Moss is making as an "interim" department head coupled with the City Council approving raises for the city staff and increasing the city manager pay retroactive to July. I understand how difficult it is to have great employees and be unable to reward them financially because of a market that doesn't support it. What I can't understand is a City Council that is extravagant at any time much less under circumstances we find ourselves in now. These raises are extravagent

The Aquatic Center is an extravagance.

People should be treated with respect regardless of age or condition so please be assured I say the following with the greatest respect: Water too cold? Stay home and run a bath.

But Do They Mean The Same Thing?

2011-11-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Following release of the December 2011 revenue forecast for general and lottery funds, House Co-Speaker Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay) issued the following statement:

Today’s revenue forecast is further evidence that job creation and economic development must be our top priority. While Oregon continues to grow, it isn’t fast enough for those that are still working to find a job, make their mortgage payments or pay off student loans. We must use every tool in our toolbox to help get Oregonians back to work.

The budget choices in February are even more difficult after today’s forecast, but our priority must be protecting the middle class while being mindful that further job losses will only cause additional economic harm. We must be creative, compassionate and smart to achieve outcomes that protect services Oregonians depend on in this tough budget environment.

That was followed by another news release from Oregon House Co-Speaker Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg)

“Once again we have a revenue forecast in decline because of continued economic difficulty across our state. Unemployment lingers near ten percent statewide, and it’s much higher in many rural counties. Forecasts for personal income, corporate income and lottery revenues have all dropped, and until we can create a climate in which businesses can grow, create jobs and help spur economic activity, we won't be able to reverse this trend.

Many difficult decisions lie ahead. The Legislature owes it to Oregonians to hold agencies accountable for living within their budgets while making sure the budget is based on priorities that reflect the most critical needs in state government. I remain committed to working with my colleagues and the Governor to make any necessary adjustments to the budget and, even more critically, to stimulate the economy and get Oregon working again.”

The forecast, released by the Office of Economic Analysis, shows that employment is down an additional 3,348 jobs and personal income is down an additional $1.8 billion from the September forecast. Total anticipated general and lottery fund resources for the 2011-2013 biennium are now $306 million less than expected at the close of the 2011 legislative session.

On the surface it appears that Hanna and Roblan are standing up for the same thing. This is what I hate about politicians. These two will be steering the next session of the Oregon House and they don't agree on several elements that will be key to the discussion. So what's needed is an interpretation of what these tow are actually saying in these position statements.

Arnie Roblan hasn't done his homework and thinks Oregon is growing when it clearly is not. This is the most outrageous statement of all. Arnie Roblan would protect jobs by blocking cuts to government agencies. That does not grow jobs in the private sector where growth is absolutely necessary. The budget cuts are neither difficult, nor complex if you remove the fear of ignoring the primary directive of the Democratic party and the Teacher's Unions and instead think it through using a little common sense instead. Mr. Roblan thinks the middle class still exists. It has virtually disappeared which explains the

steady downward trend in the Oregon income picture.

Mr. Hanna would stop short of what is needed. He would hold agencies responsible for staying within budget. He does not call for agencies to be eliminated or be reassessed to determine how they could operate more efficiently. He would sent directives these agencies already get and are good at ignoring.

Working with the Governor may not be the best approach. Do you think the Governor would support serious cuts to department heads? No, he would say what he has said before. He would hold with the idea that sort of discussion isn't central to addressing the needs. he would contend we need to make Government more efficient and more service oriented by hiring more people. He thinks Oregonians want more interference, not less.

I see no light at the end of the tunnel for Oregon with this kind of leadership in Salem. It falls short.

Letters, We Get Letters

2011-11-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

A fan writes in appreciation for the stand I've taken on local government spending and the scam that we call "property taxes". The writer also suggests that if I were to run for office I would have at least one vote. This has come up before. I'm perfect right where I am. With the current attitude regarding elected officials it is likely that if I were elected I would lose my voice in these matters. Nobody trusts anyone in politics and rarely pays attention to anything they say. I do appreciate the thought as it was well intended.

We also received an email via our web page editorial comment section this week from a writer who has a great idea for Christmas gift giving:

I received this email from a friend and wanted to pass the idea along! We are going to give this a try this year...Stephanie..... As Christmas approaches, Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide the American market with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor.

This year will be different.

This year Americans will give gifts of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is! It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper? Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber? Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement. Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American-owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down some Benjamin's on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course. There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint? Remember, folks, this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home-town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy? Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day. My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running. OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner-operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theater? Your local charity thrift store has more than used clothing! A gift for small children doesn't have to be NEW! Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip. You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city.

Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition. Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations, and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other, and isn't that what Christmas is about?

Amen.

The Comforts Of Denial

2011-10-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

Are you still working? Are you getting a raise next year? Have your retirement investments made the big turn around?

I ask these questions because everybody running the governments around Clatsop County thinks these are boom times. It's just amazing to me that nobody running the Cities, Schools, or the County for that matter has taken any action to ease the burdens of those they represent. When I think about people making the very low average income in this county and the many who make far less, I wonder why it seems all these councils and commissions are talking about spending more money on unnecessary luxuries like parks or talking about far less important matters like whether the new grass will be ready for the new ball field we all ended up paying to build and patting themselves on the back for paying one guy $200-grand a year to save $300-grand a year on that worthless aquatics center. The cost of government services has increased because we have governments focused on nice amenties rather than simple survival. Check your water and sewer bill, or take a good look at your property tax statement. Shouldn't we be discussing ways to decrease this burden? Shouldn't we be seeing projects delayed or halted altogether? Please don't tell me I paid to take down the Darigold building (both Darigold buildings) to say nothing of that miserable downtown Astoria block. What a mistake it was for the city to get involved in that.

Now our government servants are planning to pile on even more by spending money to study a jail...again, by having discussions about how nice the city hall will be once that work is done, that is, once the taxpayers finish paying for it. How do they do it? The county has even found a "new" way to figure out how much to stick you for the right to live on the property you think you own. Why should anyone have to pay the government for the rest of their lives to live on a piece of property you have already paid for in the first place? Property taxes are the lowest form of scam. It's right up there with paying 100 times the actual cost to have water in your house and a sewer to flush it to when you're through.

Your elected leaders need to hear from you. If the Port of Astoria can retire it's debt and provide private sector jobs in the process why can't all the other governments do the same, or at very least show some self control acknowledge that times are really tough and try hard not to make things worse?

I can absolutely guarantee you just one thing. Until the people put their collective foot down there will be no change because there is no mandate to do so until YOU speak up.

Many Don't Get It

2011-10-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

Lars Larson summed it up pretty well yesterday when he commented on the OCCUPY protest in Portland asking what result the protesters are seeking. What is it they want exactly? Fair question.

They are calling themselves the 99%. They say they represent the vast majority of Americans who are deeply in debt, lost their homes, lost retirement or have huge student loans owing or medical bills that would require the treasury of a small country to satisfy and just don't think that's fair. They say this is about fairness. They point to "evil" financial institutions and the other 1% of the population who have benefited by their positions in those institutions, who are rich and getting richer. There are others who have joined this protest about fairness. You read me right. it's not about economics so much as what these people expect in terms of fairness. I assume from this they would like student loans forgiven, they would like to have the homes back they could not afford to own in the first place. They want retirement savings that melted away to be magically replaced by someone, most likely the investment firms that could not foresee the global collapse. The OCCUPY protests are the ultimate expression of "misery loves company".

OCCUPY Wall Street, OCCUPY Boston, OCCUPY New York, OCCUPY Portland, OCCUPY Seattle..etc...Is an expression of the need to do something, anything, to gain attention for the multiple social issues that this country and countries around the world are deeply mired in. As is usual with these protests the motives of all those who join are not exactly the same and not pure in every case.

Some clearly don't understand personal responsibility and the fact that for every action you take there will be a consequence. The actions you take directly determine the nature of the consequences. If you want to go to College it will cost you money. How you pay for it leads to consequences of their own. Decide upfront how important it is to you, buckle down and move forward.

Some just enjoy being part of something they hardly understand and make it their own by introducing their own issues. I put some self-styled community activists in that group. The end justifies the means for this group and they crave the attention that comes with being dragged off by the authorities screaming about the right of free assembly all the way to the paddy wagon. If you will be a community activist then, by all means, go after solutions, form coalitions, work the process and make your point for change. Standing in a public right-of-way daring police to put the cuffs on you rarely works and is least effective long term.

Change in America comes at the ballot box. It's not just those elected to sit in Congress either. Change comes from finding people who are able to affect change in the both the Executive and Judicial branches of both state and federal government. Our system is only as good as the character and commitment of those who lead it, those who regulate it, and those who have oversight. May I suggest OCCUPY THE BALLOT?

Nothing Lasts Forever

2011-09-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

It seems to me the issue of endangered species comes with two schools of thought. One, which is prevalent now, insists that mankind has a responsibility to insure the continuation of every creature on the face of the planet. We have this responsibility because, according to proponents, mankind has caused or contributed to various animals and birds, and whatnot losing the will to either procreate fast enough, or can't do so
efficiently because we have disturbed some natural need or pattern of activity.

I will tell you this sort of thing does not seem to discourage human beings because in spite of doing things that may make life difficult for various creatures we show little sign of shrinking our numbers significantly.

The second school of thought comes from those who say that it must be part of a natural process that some animals, birds and /or insects go missing. Mankind isn't in charge of this problem. It's somebody else. We should not have to change a thing we do just because some under appreciated species of slug can't make it in the contest that we call "survival of the fittest" by adapting to changing conditions.

This brings us to the point. Some might say "at last!"

We have spend or lost literally billions of dollars over the years on the proposition we have the responsibility to not only protect all of God's creatures but in fact we must help those creatures repopulate the Earth. We spend public funds to raise, track, research, tabulate and photograph nearly extinct wolves only to end up shooting them all for doing what comes naturally to them and the very reason they were nearly wiped out to begin with. We spend public funds to raise Condors so we can reintroduce that prehistoric relic across the country, including our own backyard eventually if the completely disconnected scientists at the Oregon Zoo have their way. They can't wait to have another reason to stop cutting trees. I've talked with them about it. They get a gleam in their eyes when they talk about saving the trees for the Condors. Sea Lions? I shouldn't have to say a word about that debacle which creates a tourist nuisance but little else.

Personally I think that when we mess with the natural world in an attempt to erase our footprints, ignoring the fact that we are a part of that natural process we always end up failing to accomplish much of anything. We make things worse.

2011-09-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Within about two hours after this picture became available this morning over 50,000 users had posted it in their personal profiles to protest a change in the universal template for the news feed portion of Facebook. Here's what Facebook says about the change:

When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn’t worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it’s tough to zero in on what matters most.

Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won’t have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top. If you haven’t visited Facebook for a while, the first things you’ll see are top photos and statuses posted while you’ve been away. They’re marked with an easy-to-spot blue corner.

It isn't unusual for FB users to hate every single change that comes down from the world's #1 social networking site. At one time the feature now called "News feeds" didn't exist and when it first hit the site users thought they were being spammed, or worse.

Isn't it interesting that with everything else going on this change has commanded the attention of millions of people around the world?

Now if we could just fix the economy and end the wars...

Letters, We Get Letters...

2011-09-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Occasionally we pass along letters we receive for your consideration. Here's one about the ongoing debate between the City Of Astoria and the D.A. On the DUII issue which now is extending to the city's designated municipal prosecutor. Enjoy and do comment. tf

The quality of reporting has reached lows never seen here in Astoria, with the Editor and Publisher Steve Forrester adding to his own newspapers demise. In a recent editorial, which he continues to use in attempt to destroy peoples livelihood, he makes false claims and outright lies to his readers, this time about Attorney Mary Ann Murk.
In this edition, he has crossed the line-of-no -return and justice needs to be turned in his direction. As much as Attorney Murk must follow a certain Canon of Ethics, so to as to the accountability of an Editor in Journalism.
In Mr. Forrester's continued attempts to strengthen the District Attorney’s argument against the City of Astoria and its position with the public, he now has destroyed his paper's credibility by making false acquisitions against a local attorney.

It is no secret that Mary Ann Murk as an efficient attorney as she can be in Astoria is highly critical of Josh Marquis as DA, but there is no reason that the Daily Astorian should lie in an attempt to strengthen the District Attorney’s argument. In my world, we call this psychological warfare, and unfortunately to the credibility of once a fine newspaper, Mr. Forrester owes it to the people of Astoria to apologize for his gross negligence and poor quality control as editor and publisher of the Daily Astorian, and resign as editor.

It is no secret that the recent turn over in reporters, the internal complaints and decreasing add sales are challenging to any newspaper business, but to stoop to lies and personal attacks is not acceptable, anywhere. Our community and businesses should expect better from our local paper.

The Board of Directors of the East Oregonian should call for his resignation as Editor and CEO Immediately and replace him as fast as it could.
Floyd E. Holcom

Who is Running Things Here Anyway?

2011-09-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

There seems to be some confusion in the State Justice Department about who runs the City Of Astoria. Is it Josh Marquis? or is it the duly elected Mayor and City Council? My money is on the people elected locally to run it and not the State guy making a fuss about it.

For the past year or so the District Attorney has been attempting to interfere with city government and the right of a municipality to hold it's own court and bring matters to trial. Marquis wants all DUII cases sent to Circuit Court and prosecuted by his office. I would say this is because he has proof to substantiate his position that justice will be better served by doing so. His implication is that Astoria Municipal Court is unable to perform this function. The city challenged that assumption and asked for proof. The report supplied by the DA's office, which was apparently prepared by an intern, was full of errors but to their credit the City Council directed changes be made to the municipal court procedures that seemed reasonable. That should have satisfied the DA but it wasn't enough.

So far Mr. Marquis has vilified the City in appearances he has made in the State Capitol, attempted to have legislation passed to force the issue that went absolutely nowhere and has sought and gained the support of the State Attorney General who says that the DA has the right to prosecute any case in his jurisdiction. A statement that falls short of saying Astoria can't handle it's own drunk driving addiction. Of late his pal on the radio Lars Larson has made attempts to discredit our local radio conversations by sticking his nose in it and declaring that I am a liar. All to no avail.

That we have a problem is undeniable, as does every city and town in the United States when it comes to the

person who drinks and drives. That we are unable to properly prosecute in a court of law, or that perhaps the court is incapable of dispensing justice appropriately has not been shown to be true.

It was quite appropriate for the DA to point out issues and critique the system to it's benefit. Taking over

the process is far too extreme.

You've Got To Be Kidding!

2011-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Crazy but true.

The New York City Police and Fire Departments are NOT invited to the Ground Zero observance in NYC on 9/11.

Not invited. The excuse is lack of space at the venue. All the politicans who want face time with the public have crowded out the people who should be in the front row. Nobody had to invite these guys to the World Trade Center when the planes hit they just showed up and did their jobs. It's shameful.

The police officers, firefighters, and emergency workers who searched the rubble for lost colleagues when the towers collapsed were not invited to the Sept. 11 ceremony. Their absence has become an issue and a media headache for New York’s mayor.

Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni declined to give his thoughts on the exclusion, referring questions to city officials. He pointed out that New York City operates the memorial and is responsible for the invites, and said he chooses to empathize with those who will be there.

The New Order

2011-09-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

As we are headling toward the Special Election to replace David Wu in Congress I've been working on our on line election guide. It's amazing how many of the candidates have nothing about themselves on the web. Can anyone win an election these days without having a web campaign? Interesting question and there is at least one candidate who needs some help when it comes to site design. Pavel Goberman rants on his site for pages and pages and pages. Orgininally from a country in the old Soviet Union, Pavel obviously glories in the freedom publishing on the internet provides. More power to him. His name comes up frequently as a candidate for office and he makes it quite clear that the media are against him and that's why he loses everytime. I suspect the results for him will be the same in this 1st District race.

Back to using the web...Perhaps we can glean some unique intelligence about the various candidates based on how they use the web. Brad Avakian's website looks like something the webmaster for the state of Oregon would crank out. Pretty flat. He is on Facebook. Saba Ahmed's website is quite interesting with various recordings of prayers being sung. She is obviously a devoted person. She has a Facebook site as well. Nice person. Probably too nice to be effective in this Congress. Suzanne Bonamici is a clever girl. You can see it in her web design. Very grassroots as opposed to the very corporate look Avakian puts out there.
I couldn't find a thing for former contractor Dominick Hammon. Local pro Dan Strite has had a web site forever. DiscountDansGolf.com. But nothing significant about the campaign and no Facebook page.

Strong candidates use the web effectively. In a world where most people under 30 get their news from The Daily Show and spend more time on FB or Myspace than watching TV and never pick up a newspaper it's critical to spend time on the web side of the campaign. The winner of this Congressional race will have done that and very well.

This Can't Be Good News

2011-08-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

Clatsop County is in fundraising mode.

This week the Assessment and Taxation Department is doing it's part by launching an unusual door-to-door campaign to figure out how much the county could tax you if the moves Democrats are making toward taxing real market value come to fruition.

Right now your property taxes are figured based on assessed value not real market value. Limitation measures prevent increases of more than 3% annually but if the base figure changes that 3% could be a significantly higher number for you. The County points out in a news release this week that because of budget limitations the A&T department since the 1990's has been figuring real property values based on a few site inspections but generally pegged the price of homes in a particular neighborhood on how much a house would sell for in that neighborhood.

That system, they say, isn't very accurate because houses sitting on properties next to each other can be of widely varied quality. To get a more accurate picture a house by house assessment becomes necessary. The problem with this, of course, is that a property is only worth what a buyer will pay not what an expert estimates it's value might be in a free market with optimum conditions. In other words, the assessment system for real market value is flawed from the very start.

It is important to note that you are not required by law to allow access to your property. You are not required to grant access to the inside of your home or any other building on your property. That does not mean an assessment won't take place but it does mean the inspector will have to do it from the nearest public right of way if you ask them to leave your property.

You can expect to hear a lot of support for this return to on site assessments from the usual suspects who would love to see an overall increase in taxable value. They will say that it makes sense to know exactly what your property is worth and it is possible your real property valuation could drop. That doesn't mean you'll pay less tax because the county automatically increases property taxes 3% each year on the assessed value and this little exercise is aimed at real market which (up to this point) have been two separate things. If the tax and spend crowd gets their way Clatsop County will be at the forefront of places in Oregon no one but the rich can afford. For many we are there already.

Remember Old Clatsop County?

2011-07-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about that period that lasted until the county government changed over to "home rule".

We had three salaried commissioners and a County Executive officer. Compared to today county government was a fairly modest affair. The Commission meetings where held in what was really a small side room in the courthouse on the main floor and the audience was pretty small. The issues were pretty much all the same ones we deal with today. They were just cheaper to solve.

I also remember very clearly how unhappy people were with the county government. They grumbled about everything (see? nothing really ever changes) but the one thing that would come up time again was how much money we would save and how much more representative our government would be if we went to home rule and stopped paying people to be full time commissioners. That was when the total budget for county government was a tiny 20 million or so. Now it's 70 million. The county shops, the Courthouse and, the "new" jail were just about it for buildings now we have a multi-story professional office building and a fully renovated meeting hall with the full media enhanced experience, and the Courthouse remodeled, the jail, the county shops..etc...etc..etc..

We saved nothing going to home rule and not paying those commissioners
a professional salary. We just hired a lot of other professionals. One outcome of home rule was the incredible proliferation of consultants and "studies" that have been conducted here over the last 20 years. Government has grown to the point where it is Clatsop County's major employer.

Government is so important to the economy now that Astoria City Manager Paul Benoit noted that it is the government sector, when one considers local, county, state and federal employees, that insulates the north coast from economic ups and downs.

Right now, in coffee shops and morning breakfast get togethers and in Face book discussions people are starting to talk about change. Some are pushing for the overthrow of home rule after the last election resulted in a liberal take-over of the county commission. They argue that going back to a paid commission elected countywide is the only way to defeat the liberal mob that have taken over and are moving quickly to solidify their position of government control on all levels.

I have serious doubts that this kind of change is the answer. I'm not entirely sure we have defined the problem if indeed one exists. The commission has blown up LNG. No surprise there. It's why they were elected. They are taking control of the Planning Commission and the new President of that commission has made it clear he wishes to operate strictly at the pleasure of the County Board as the laws state and in such a way that a separate planning commission is hardly necessary. What's wrong with that? The government is responding to the electorate. How can this be a problem? I can tell you that when someone is elected to office saying one thing but does another they don't stay in office long.

Throwing out home rule is a political solution to a philosophical difference. I can't think of many times that has made things better.

Should Wu Step Down?

2011-07-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

The story goes that pressure is mounting on Congressman David Wu to step down from office in the wake of allegations he had made inappropriate sexual advances toward the young daughter of a campaign contributor.

Wu says he will not identify the woman to save her from the media spotlight and to protect her family. Yet another stumble by the Congressman who has made one bad decision after another in this term representing the people of the 3rd district. Aides say Wu won't quit but it's unlikely he'll run again. Is that because the charges are true or because he is just very tired of constantly defending himself? Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is calling for an investigation. Liberals and conservatives alike are calling for him to step down.

Brad Witt says Wu needs to step aside at this point so that the District can move forward and so that Wu can get the help he obviously needs. Witt has announced his candidacy for the seat and it would help his effort financially if Wu were to step down now. Witt might have a shot against the war chest of Brad Avakian if he could avoid taking on an incumbent who has already raised significant dollars for his re election bid. Wu walks away with that cash but his departure would help level the field and allow voters to focus on what comes next.

Politics aside (if that's possible) Wu has always made it a point to include this part of his district in the national discussion. He has visited Clatsop County frequently and been quite accessible to constituents here. While his focus has been in the arena of global technologies and his fondness for Asian issues, I think he has represented Oregon well in the past. It is a shame that his mind isn't allowing him to function as he did. He needs to recognize that fact and work for a transition that will make sense as best he can.

Midnight For Tuna

2011-07-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share this little tidbit from the Care2 make a difference website...

Three tuna species are threatened and two others are likely to be, if measures are not taken to protect them. Overfishing is the main reason, due to their high commercial value. Tuna species are one of the most popular fish for human consumption globally. Will they be eaten into non-existence? Three species of bluefin tuna–southern, Atlantic and Pacific–are all in danger of collapse due to human activities. The two species not yet threatened, but close to it, are yellowfin and albacore. All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure.

“The southern bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery,” said marine conservationist Dr. Kent Carpenter. (Source: IUCN.org) Just this year a single bluefin tuna sold for nearly $400,000 in Japan. Bluefin tuna were denied status as an endangered species by the National Marine Fisheries Service in June. An online pledge to boycott bluefin tuna has been published by the Center for Biological Diversity. If all the tuna are eaten, what fish will be next up on the overconsumption menu?

My answer? The next one that is almost as delicious as the bluefin tuna.

The problem here is that the writer compares consumption of bluefin with albacore attempting to cobble together some arguement for halting tuna fishing. I would hazard a guess that albacore (which is abundant) is the #1, without any question about it, eaten fish in America. The problem seems to be with the Japanese and their insane hunger for Bluefin.

The lower classes of Japanese consumers are busily gobbling up the yellowfin at an alarming rate. The Japanese are still whaling too, for crying out loud. Who whales anymore? Our people end up paying guilt money to Greenpeace over it.

The point to all this is that while we would like to control and conserve the little beasties of the sea we can't. We are powerless to (legally) stop the foreign fleets that cover the best fishing grounds including some on the east coast that used to be guarded over by American fishermen.

If we continually cry for less fishing what we will get is less American fishermen and more japanese gobbling up the chicken of the sea.

Who wins in a battle like that?

The Rundown July 8, 2011

2011-07-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we got caught up on all the stories behind the news so let's do that, shall we? Okay. Settle back with your favorite breakfast sandwich and that perfectly brewed cup of coffee and let's get started.

On the energy front the county is starting to pay some attention to a proposal brought to the Port of Astoria by perennial candidate and frequent commentator on local government John Dunzer. Mr. Dunzer, in his typical straight to the point, no nonsense approach tells the Port Commission a few weeks ago that he has a new idea for the Bradwood landing site. He would like to see an energy farm developed there that is really rather ingenious. He would like to see someone contract with small LNG vessels working out of Alaska to bring their loads to Bradwood. He says that one of the opportunities that Northern Star Natural Gas completely missed comes with the energy that is produced in the process of warming up the super cooled liquefied gas. The gas is shipped as a liquid and then must be brought back up to a gaseous state. Under the Northern Star plan evaporator towers would have been built that would warm up the LNG. Dunzer would use the super cold to create a wide array of industrial gases such as argon and the like to be sold to manufacturers who use those gases to create numerous products.

Here's another one. When rubber is exposed to those super cold temperatures it turns to powder. That powder can be reused to do things like mix with aspalt for example. We bury a lot of tires in this country and sometimes they catch fire and seem to burn forever. This is a rather elegant solution. Dunzer has a detailed plan that he says contains even more ideas to make use of LNG in ways that would produce jobs and create a new industry for Clatsop County if not the entire state.

The Port has supplied a letter of support for Dunzer and the man who owns the Bradwood site who says as a contractor he is perfectly capable of building such a facility. Dunzer planned to take that letter to Business Oregon to gain further support. The plan would not require nearly as much LNG and would not require nearly as much river dredging. It seems to be more environmentally friendly. In his weekly update to the County Commissioners Manager Duane Cole writes that the proposed alternative energy farm would require multiple county permits and a public process.

County Board Vice Chair Peter Huhtala attended a July 1st town hall meeting with NOAA to hear the latest thinking on Federal ocean policy planning. In a Face book post Mr. Huhtala says it will be interesting to see how things play out in terms of Oregon's Territorial Sea area. He speculates that Clatsop County should have some control in this arena because he contends that the County
boundaries extend out to sea three miles. It's only right that the county has input but some are concerned about the nature of that input in view of some of the actions the county board has taken to date. Will the commissioners support the fishing industry? I guess we'll see.

The newly appointed County Planning Commission meets next Tuesday for the first time and will select new officers and determine which commissioner will serve in each available term. The terms vary in length and the County Board decided to let he Planning Commissioners work that out for themselves. The new commission has a number of important items on their public hearings docket for the meeting including some critical rezoning for the Westport area.

County staff has been working with the Westport community and Georgia Pacific to make some big improvements including a new park and boat launch and improvements to the roadways and the ferry dock. Planner Jennifer Bunch will be updating the planning Commission on issue surrounding Oregon Pipeline. Ed Wegner will talk with the commissioners about the Camp Rilea Joint Land Use Study. The JLUS is an attempt by the military to maintain the base as training facility while at the same time dealing with the issues of ever encroaching development in the Clatsop Plains area.

Contract planner Mark Barnes will update the commissioners on ocean planning issues.
There will also be some discussion in preparation for a work session with the County Board the next day. That should be an interesting discussion on a number of levels.

The City Of Astoria never seems to lack for large projects. In the next few weeks we should see the city staff moving out of city hall in preparation for the remodeling of the old facility into something more efficient for staff and more useful for the public.

At the same time the city is wrapping up the Tapiola ball field project. If you recall, Tapani Underground completed the installation of a huge holding tank for sewer run off under the new ball field. Unfortunately the new field was not ready when it was promised and Mayor Van Dusan was rather irritated with the situation when it was revealed that it would be another season before the turf would be established as a playable surface.

At the last city council meeting there was another update from the rather sheepish contractor and the city engineer with the council asking some pointed questions about every aspect of the project from the depth and quality of the fill dirt to the efficiency of the drainage system. The new Tapiola Field will be a big improvement over the old with amenities like dugouts and an electronic scoreboard. Councilor Peter Roscoe compared it to the Volcano Stadium in Salem. Well, it's not quite that grand..but it will be very nice for those who play or serve as loyal spectators. I can see it being a great place to spend a summer afternoon watching a ballgame

The 17th street dock has served the U.S. Coast Guard, passenger cruise ships, tall ships..etc and serves as the home for the Maritime Museum Lightship Columbia and a huge Columbia River Bar buoy. The dock is showing it's age and needed emergency repairs to keep it going just a bit longer as the city looked for a way to replace it. The opportunity came with the state transportation program grant Connect Oregon. The dock will be replaced this year with a modern concrete and steel structure. Not a small project. Staging is set for October.

Back to the county.

Over the last few years (honestly, I've lost track) there have been some issues with county corrections. The state was running community corrections and built a fine facility in Warrenton as a headquarters for parole/probation and transition, the Sheriff was running the jail which is always threatened with over-population. I won't go into the history here. Just suffice it to say there was always an uneasy relationship involving the Sheriff and the Community Corrections Director. The Judges and the D.A. were not very happy either as they would gain a conviction or set a sentence only to have the bad guy get out of jail due to overcrowding, or skip court dates without serious sanction. The previous incarnation of the County Board decided that the problem was centered around who exactly has the authority to decide the disposition of a prisoner. They decided to create a new authority made up of a County Commissioner, the Sheriff and, the Community Corrections Director.

I'm sure that approach did not really solve anything but at least the situation quieted down. With the new County Board comes a new approach. The Sheriff runs it all. He also inherits animal control. The transition center closed but offices for the parole/probation staff stays in that building for the time being.

This makes perfect sense and puts things back where they belong. A county commissioner has no business being involved in who goes to jail and who doesn't and the Sheriff is the elected official who should have control over all areas of county law enforcement. New jail anybody?

An American Icon

2011-07-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th Of July we visited the new Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. It was a worthwhile experience.

This museum is about the Disney back story. The details of his life and that of his Irish immigrant family. It should come as no surprise that it is largely a success story but not in a way that glosses over the challenges Walt faced in his life.

A few things I didn't know:

He lied about his age to go to work for the Red Cross during the first world war as a battlefield ambulance driver. He was 17 and had to be 18 to qualify. His mother signed a permission slip and he says he changed his birth date to 1900 to qualify.

The first year of profits from Mickey Mouse all went to a film distributor because Walt wasn't very good at reading the fine print in contracts.

In the early 40's his artists went on strike. Walt got into a battle with the head of the new union and workers picketed the studios for some time. He was frequently accused of stealing artwork but it never came to anything.

The strike left him bitter about unions and he testified before the house unamerican activities committee in the 50's saying he was convinced that the unions were run by communists.

The museum exhibits rare Mickey Mouse toys of all kinds. Walt was one of the first to hire a marketing specialist to merchandise a cartoon character which lead to a major industry all by itself.

Disneyland started with a passion for trains, for miniatures which he collected in the thousands. He visualised a place where Disney employees could take their children near the studio for picnics. That developed into ideas for rides and shows. When he told his wife he was interested in building an amusement park she said "Oh no Walt! Amusement parks are so dirty!" He replied "Not mine!"

The Museum is housed in a historic Presidio building that has been expanded in such a way that you can't telll from the exterior. The back of the building features a glass wall overlooking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Walking past that wall you are led into a gallery that tells the Disneyland story. A curved ramp runs past the display of the miniature train Walt built in the back yard of his Holmby Hills home. It was just big enough to ride on. At the bottom of the ramp is a scale model of Disneyland with video monitors that show how the park was built with lighting timed to highlight different sections.

The last gallery is about Walt's last year on earth. He was named "Showman of The World" by the motion picture theater operators association and you can hear the speech he gave. There is a description of his last 24 hours. Then you walk into a completely white gallery with pictures and video on the walls summing up Walt's life. For a fan it is an emotional moment.

I admit I'm one of those.

New Commissioners Take Office

2011-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Today marks the end of the government fiscal year and with July first comes the new Clatsop County Planning Commission. Ordinarily the county commissioners would appoint new members for those whose terms had come to an end but this year the county commissioners voted to replace all seven members. This morning we broadcast a news special focusing on the last commission meeting where those appointments were made including the discussion surrounding the controversial move.

There are at least a couple of points that came up that don't jive with the actual events. Former Clatsop County Commissioner Ann Samuelson testified that she had acquired emails between commissioners Birkby, Hutula, Rohne,and, the County Manager that indicate there was some consensus reached between those commissioners that it would be appropriate to make a last minute addition to the agenda to consider removing all the planning commissioners. Samuelson further stated that Birky brought the county ordinance establishing the the right for commissioners to remove any committee or commission member to the table and that when it was clear she had argued her point for the dismissal successfully she stated "glory be!

The item was added the day before the county commission meeting. The Planning Commission was meeting that evening and apparently were not informed officially at that point because they all expressed surprise and argued that they had little if any opportunity to defend themselves, or at least have a conversation of any kind with the county commission. Planning Commission President Cary Johnson told me that he had no contact from the newly seated county commission, nor had any other planning commissioner. County Commission Chairman Dirk Rohne said that he sent a letter that was intended to be completely respectful informing the planning commissioners of the decision and encouraging them to reapply. He said he personally contacted PC Mike Autio to ask him to reapply. That was unlikely to happen as Autio's term was to end this year anyway. Commissioner Peter Hutula, at Rohne's request contacted PC Pat O'Grady to ask him to reapply. Both declined. In fact the seven member panel all signed a letter to Rohne declining to reapply and detailed the reasons why.

Commissioner Patricia Roberts explained (again) how important it is to have public discussions and to do business such as this in public. She pushed to have the decision reversed. The motion died for alack of a second and during the appointment process she abstained from voting on the new membership for the Planning Commission.

It's clear that Dirk Rohne is tired of the discussion. He lashed back at those who have made it their business to oppose the replacement of the planning commission by pointing out that OPB interviewed him on the controversy taking the issue to Portland listeners. He said he got many phone calls in support. He thanked the opposition for making him more popular statewide.

It has been rumored that Rohne has political ambitions beyond county government. It is said that he has become a favorite up and comer among those in local Democratic leadership.

Rohne stated that since the Planning Commissioners acted unanimously in their reaction to the dismissal that indicates that there was a lack of diverse opinion on that body which represents a justification of the dismissal decision. That's a pretty broad statement. It will be interesting to see how the new PC functions in light of that comment.

The Times They Are A Changin'

2011-06-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Maybe.

Weed, Dope, Doobies, grass, smoke, MJ, Marijuana. Whatever your favorite pet name may be the people who support it, love it, grow it and ingest it in various forms are making the attempt to go mainstream in America and Clatsop County is right there at the forefront.

In fact, the State of Oregon is now looking to make it's only legal use a cash bonanza during these difficult budget times by bumping up the fee to be issued a medical marijuana card to $200.

When Astoria's first shop specializing in indoor gardening opened it's doors people were winking and nodding then. Now there is a club that has opened it's doors to those with medical marijuana cards in Astoria along with another similar operation in Seaside. It's unclear just what these clubs do that would be legal.

A local advocate who bills herself a activist and journalist is inviting the public to Seaside City Hall on June 25th for what she calls a "Cannabis Conversation". The forum will feature a couple of speakers who are leaders in the effort to legalize pot. Those on the other side of the fence have been invited. Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, who takes a very dim view of these trends, has declined the invitation telling reporters that marijuana advocates are badly informed, do not know what they are doing and he intends to shut down these operations in the county as illegal.

While you can pay that $200.00 to have a medical marijuana card (that is if you can find a doctor to sign off on the paperwork) It is still illegal to grow it, own it, transport it, deliver it or for that matter be in the same proximity. People say that you can have it in small amounts but unless you have a $200 card it's still illegal and you can be fined. If you have more than an ounce it's a stiff fine card or not. Growers and transporters face prison time and fines up to $300,000. All convictions carry with them the potential for property seizure and your driver's licence goes away.

Cannabis supporters argue that all those controls just make it easier for the drug cartels to make big money. It doesn't stop anyone from getting their hands on the stuff. It never has.

The Oregon Legislature has really messed this up by dipping a toe in the water. If this session's action in seeking more money from medical marijuana users is any indication the state is on a track that has to lead to some legal method of supply but then how do you write the law to exclude the criminal element while still profiting on the popularity of the drug? The answer is that you can't.

A Good Man Gone

2011-06-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was saddened to hear that my friend Marty Wertz passed away while I was gone. I need to say a few words about Marty here.

I first met him when he came to work for my company several years ago. He and his wife Krickett were both involved in the film industry in Hollywood. Marty worked for the biggest post-production house in L.A. and was in charge of the Disney account. His team took an entire floor of the Ascent Media offices. They both came to a point where they wanted something else and found Astoria as the answer.

Marty came to work for us in sales and he was the kind of guy you just liked right away. He loved baseball. He needed MLB on line on his computer or life wasn't complete. I loved his stories about L.A. and people he knew there from the artists who would prepare every frame of a film to go to DVD and the restoration work they did on old feature films in danger of being lost forever to the studio big shots he did business with on a first name basis. Even though he was here the phone calls from movie people never stopped because he had the biggest rolodex in tinsel town and often could connect people who were working on a project. When he left us he went back to post production sales but was so valuable to them he worked from Astoria as he pleased and only had to travel to the home office occassionally.

He loved music and played guitar. He would talk about his love of the California desert and his younger days exploring them. He loved Astoria and made many friends, like me, who will remember him.

Goodbye my friend.

In Astoria? Wow!

2011-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Clatsop County Historical Society is doing something remarkable. The venerable organization known for careful preservation of artifacts and historic buildings that are it's museums and a generally conservative, traditional approach to museum display has stepped out of the box creating Oregon's first 21st century example of superlative storytelling. The Oregon Film Museum redefines the museum experience in a compact space that is at once a real place used in movies and historically a place that actually served the function of a county jail.

The film story in Oregon is a big one to tell. The state has provided the backdrop for over 400 movies since the inception of silent films in the 1920's. That list grows every few years. The number of television shows and commercials making use of the state's generally welcoming attitude and ideal shooting locations is huge. Calling itself the film museum representing all of that is an imposing responsibility.

The decision was made early on to limit the story to feature films just to provide a focus. Then there were lots of questions that needed to be answered. Principal among those was how best to tell the story of film making in Oregon. The major studios jealously guard the rights to show much more than a few seconds of any of the films and have further restrictions on the venue and most would not allow anyone to charge for admission to see them without an expensive process. So while it might appear the best approach would be to gather clips from as many films as possible and show them along with a collection of encased memorabilia and posting signs to link the two it's not a practical approach. This is probably why there isn't a place that celebrates this important Oregon industry.

That is until today.

The CCHS approach is a thoughtful and well executed one with Society Director Mac Burns at the helm and a supporting cast of Directors who have trusted Mac to deliver something special. Here's a short clip of one of the unusual features of the museum with credit to Chelsea Gorrow
for the camera work:

The clip shows two of three "Hot Sets" in museum where you can actually make your own movie. There is also a post production room where you can then edit your film and staff will upload it to youtube and you could email a copy to yourself. This is a new piece of technology designed specifically for the Oregon Film Museum. It works through the use of a movie pass card that identifies each scene with the same user. You can then call all the scenes up in the editing room and cut and splice your final movie together. While you are doing that you can listen in on a real-life film crew via walkie talkies that are actually playing a recording of crew that was working on the coast and agreed to record all their communications for the new museum.

The museum layout includes jail cells used in The Goonies with a planned fourth digital video camera aimed at the infamous cell two where one of the Fratelli brothers escaped. If you want to reenact that moment you can film yourself doing so.

Surrounding all this are reminders of the films made in the state. Movie quotes fill the walls and clipboards with production notes offer explanations of the displays of memorabilia.

This is just the second phase. In the next phase Burns tells me he envisions a Goonies cave scene that would include the skeleton of "One Eyed Willie".

This museum could easily be mistaken for a theme park attraction but, in the great tradition of Disney rides, this one also educates, enlightens and delights.

As to the future, Burns has his eye on where to go next as the museum's inevitable popularity will demand more detail, more display, more interaction.

Congratulations to the CCHS board for supporting this vision and to Mac for delivering.

Just Vacation

2011-06-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

Just traveling back from Orlando, Florida today. If you have been trying to post comments I ask for your patience as it will take a couple of days to catch up. For radio and streaming listeners, I'll be back on live Wednesday morning. Did I miss anything?

Something Nice (for once)

2011-05-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

I promise not to make a habit of this but....

I got a nice piece of news to share thanks to Peter Roscoe and Ron Larson from Astoria Golf and Country Club. It seems Mark Keating Assistant Pro at the club has made the cut and is playing today at the Senior PGA Championship. According the his player profile:

Tied for 35th in the 2010 Senior PGA Professional National Championship. . .Previous other national appearance was in 1988 PGA Assistant Professional Championship, when he tied for 28th. . .Competed in the 1989 Australian Masters . . .Has recorded five holes-in-one, with one in a Nationwide Tour event. . .Prior to current position, served as PGA head professional at Shadow Hills Country Club in Junction City, Ore. . .Winner, 1991 Pacific Northwest PGA Championship, 1988 Pacific Northwest PGA Assistant Championship.

Good Luck Mark!

Fighting Jobs Is Expensive

2011-05-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

That's what four of our county commissioners have learned after spending nearly $143,000 in attorney fees since January in their fight to kill Oregon LNG.

Some in this county would say that it's well worth it. Probably the same people who are convinced that we need to stop cutting down trees..oh wait! That's the four Clatsop County Commissioners too!

I suppose the next big thing will be making sure we stop building too...what? you say the planning commission is gone? Oh yeah...

Is anyone out there interested in dropping this "home rule" thing we've been doing? I'm thinking none of these commissioners could have won a countywide vote.

Let's Review

2011-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Judge Phil Nelson says the decision to throw out Oregon LNG's pipeline project is in LCDC's court and not his. The judge supports this view citing case law that makes it very clear that the Clatsop County Commissioners had a perfect right under state law to pull the decision to approve the project, reconsider it, and throw it out. It's up to LCDC or the State Legislature to rescue this project. That's a few hundred jobs.

The Clatsop County Commission has sent a letter that says very little and is less than supportive of the implementation of the Astoria District forest plan. That threatens a few hundred more jobs in the woods and at the mills including the newly retooled Hampton Mill in Warrrenton and the lumber export possibility for the Port of Astoria.

The Clatsop County Commission has dismissed the entire Planning Commission. The Planning Commissioners are refusing to leave other than the two whose terms were up in June. The County is depending on a local ordinance that may be mute in the case of a planning commission that also serves as the state mandated Citizen Involvement Committee..In short we have civil war between the County Commissioners and the Planning Commissioners. That's going to slow things down for anyone wanting to start a business here (That is if there is anyone out there who would even consider it at this point)

Now that's an awful lot to accomplish in less than five months. God help us.

Decoupling The Forest

2011-05-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Three of our Clatsop County Commissioners seem vitally interested in setting parts of the Clatsop State Forest aside to be forever spared the loggers chain saw. On April 26th the Wild Salmon Center and the Sierra Club held a join organizational meeting at Clatsop Community college to organize local forces with the goal of "decoupling", as they put it, the connection between timber and Clatsop County. My sources say that this meeting was devoted to a plan that would ween timber dependent schools districts, fire departments, county government capital projects...etc from timber dollars. In concert with that effort this group has assigned members to target specific areas of the forest to preserve from cutting entirely. Commissioners Lee and Birkby attended that meeting and Commissioner Hutuala came and went I suppose to prevent a quorum being present.

It is curious that at the public hearing on the following May 11th where the commission took all that testimony from 50 speakers neither Birby, nor Lee , or Hutuala for that matter, admitted to any exparte contacts. One would think attending a meeting aimed at limiting logging would qualify.

To be fair, I would expect commissioners to make an effort to listen to all sides. If that was the case here then fine. Not declaring the contact is troubling. Not discussing what they heard and how it might affect the decision they were about to make suggests it was secretive.

My source tells me that comments made at the hearing by Commissioners Lee and Birkby echoed those made by representatives of the Wild Salmon Center and Sierra Club at that meeting. That is just plain damning evidence by itself.

The difference between a commissioner attending a meeting elsewhere and the county commission meeting is a matter of the record. Minutes of commission meetings are kept and the audio from those meetings is posted on line for anyone to hear. This is the point that Commissioner Patricia Roberts has attempted to make several times in asking her fellow commissioners to publicly discuss these matters in open session so that there is a record. It is not that the commissioners should not be free to gather information as they will.

The idea that Clatsop County should divorce itself from dependence on the forest defies logic and removes a vital revenue source that could only be replaced by such high taxes, or such impoverished services that few could live here, much less thrive.

Ban The Animal Circus

2011-05-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

Next week the Clatsop County Commissioners will hold a work session that could lead to an outright ban on animal circus performances in the county. Last year the previous commission passed the buck to the Fair Board which resulted in a rather weak rule that did not prevent one of these circus operations from putting on shows here.

These are often referred to as a "Shrine Circus" sponsored by the Shriner's to support their hospital system for children. Once upon a time this was appropriate. You would have to go back to the 50's and 60's to find that time though. A circus did not exist then that did not feature exotic animals and movies like "The Greatest Show On Earth" were blockbuster films of the day.

By today's standards those kind of circus shows are outdated and a little sad. I think so. While it's highly unusual for me to find myself on the same side with PETA and those who generally espouse an entirely liberal and way overboard agenda, in this case I agree that these animal exhibitions need to be banned.

I disagree with those who say this doesn't mean a ban on the circus all together. Ban supporters try to make the point that shows like Cirque Du Soleil can be classed as "non" animal circuses. Just because "circus" is in the name doesn't make it one. It is an art form that is difficult to classify but it's definitely not a circus.

There isn't a single example of a traditional circus that has not been cited multiple times for either filthy conditions or outright acts of cruelty to the exotic animals they display. Not one.

The City Of Redmond banned animal circuses years ago without a single legal issue coming up as a result. The ordinance language is available to the County to model a new ordinance here so it shouldn't take much valuable time from other matters.

Would this be a case of the County Commission telling the Fair Board what to do? I think it takes a burden off the Fair Board in dealing with a controversial issue best addressed by the County.

Smooth Sailing?

2011-05-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

Nobody in Astoria's east end has slept for the last two nights and it's spreading west. The Oregon Department of Transportation has a huge crew laying new surface on Highway 30. They are working all night long from 7pm until 7am. The sound of heavy trucks and the safety required beep-beep-beep of vehicles backing up combined with the sounds of gouging and scraping out the old road bed to prepare it for the new is constant and really kicks into high gear just as most people are turning in for the night.

It is understandable that ODOT is attempting to minimize the impacts on traffic (particularly on the Bicentennial weekend) during the day but this plan not only has a major and very noisy project operating through residential neighborhoods all night long, but they are working so long that they interfere with the morning drive.

To those who shrug and say "well at least we'll have a nice new road when it's all through" I say: Is it impossible to find a time during the day to do this? Reader boards indicate the project will continue through what will be a very busy weekend and upset more than my repose.

The Bicentennial committee was not aware of this in spite of going through some incredible logistical planning for every aspect of the celebration.

While the new road is appreciated it might have been nice to have a little more communication going on before this project got underway. I suppose ODOT planners just decided to hold their nose and dive in. I hope the state and federal officials who will be here Saturday are impressed.

Seven Years and Counting

2011-05-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

It was the same year that the Astoria City Council made it a goal to buy the Astoria trolley from the San Antonio Museum of Art. It was 2005 when Mayor Van Dusen brought the idea of building some kind of chinese park to the table. At the time the council was stinging from a much criticized city park project at 9th and Astor that consisted of a series of concrete chucks the designer called a "rain fountain. It was supposed to flow whenever it rained but since nobody ever spent much time in rain there it is impossible to report whether or not it actually worked. The city paid $90,000 for the fountain idea. At the goal setting session for fiscal year 2006-07 the Mayor suggested that it would be appropriate to replace the ninth street fiasco, as it was popularly named at the time, with a tribute to the chinese workers who manned the canneries and did all the heavy lifting. 9th and Astor would be the perfect place, according to the Mayor, because it marks the location of the old chinese neighborhood.

Now fast forward to 2011.

The offending fountain is long gone but the chinese park has yet to appear. The Mayor had promised it would not be built with taxpayer money and instead would be built by donations and grants. A new face on the city council, Arlene LaMear has suggested that what has since become the "Garden of Surging Waves" should not be built on the 9th and Astor spot at all. Instead it should go to help the city deal with a much more visible eyesore of it's own making. The Safeway/American legion block. Mayor Van Dusen formed a committee to explore the idea. The committee members were charged with determining whether or not the Chinese inspired garden would fit in with the block somehow. MulvanneyG2 was hired to conceptualize three different designs for the block showing the chinese garden in various spots.

The Garden committee met at city hall Tuesday morning to see the proposed designs and launched into a discussion about the entire block not just whether or not the "Garden of Surging Waves" would fit in.
Planning Commission President Zetty McKay said she was having trouble with the idea that the block seemed to be going to open space when the city has a deficit amount of property for residential development. There was some discussion about whether or not parking should be allowed.

The Sunday Market was discussed with some committee members concerned that there might not be enough space for both trees and booths for the event that runs a total of twenty days out of the year.
In the end the committee voted on their preferences among the three plans with the Mulvannyg2 design team offering their opinions on what they preferred and pushing those concepts a little harder than one might expect. The woman who designed the Garden of Surging Waves insisted that the footprint of the garden should not be any bigger than the one currently designed for the much smaller space at 9th and Astor since she said the artwork had already been purchased.

One advantage to placing the Garden of Surging Waves on the old safeway lot might be the fact that the block was recently included in the Urban Renewal District which may help with funding it's upkeep, keeping in mind that the Mayor promised in 2005 that no taxpayer dollars would be used in the garden construction.

Fundraising for the Garden Of Surging Waves continues with the Port of Portland sponsoring an event in June aimed at Oregon businesses that do business in China.

Random Sampling

2011-05-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

Today we offer a sampling of comments on the Clatsop County Commission:

I appreciated the "people" that showed up for this bocc meeting, unfortunately it seems the elected people minus Commissioner Roberts did not hear them, only patronized them. Face it folks, this club of four just doesn't get it, and they had no idea of the millions of dollars sitting in that room, and the hardworking people that were going to get up in 3 hours to go to work in the woods. Lee's comment "This is democracy and he appreciated all the comments except the irresponsible rhetoric" just made me sick. The embarressment they have already caused us, let alone the dollars they are costing us now and in future is not something that we can tolerate for 4 years.

....And this observation

How long till forest harvesting will cease to exist under these so called advocates. They do not speak for me and do not represent the masses. The Port of Astoria better watch out because once they lock up the forests your deep draft port will cease to exist. (Public and Private) They are loose cannons with unknown sources of black powder. Who is funding their socialist maneuvers??? Anyone willing to make a guess??? They cannot keep doing what they are doing without this backing. Shorebank?? Marc??Gov funds??

...And this letter from concerned fishermen

Lower Columbia Alliance
for Sustainable Fisheries
Bernie Bjork
P.O. Box 1204
Astoria, OR 97103
May 14, 2011
Subject: Support For Clatsop State Forest Plan.

Dear Mr. Weeks;

This letter is written in support of the Oregon Department of Forestry's Clatsop State
Forest plan.
My name is Bernie Bjork, and I am the grassroots coordinator of the Lower Columbia Alliance for Sustainable Fisheries. We are a coalition of over 100 like minded entities formed back in 2003 to work in our common interest of keeping as much ocean open to fishing as possible. We are made up of mostly commercial and sport fishing family run businesses and businesses that cater to the industry. In the past our stance has been supported by the Port Districts of Astoria, and Ilwaco and Chinook Washington, and the cities of Astoria and Warrenton, and also the Clatsop County Commission.

Our reason for supporting the plan is that we feel that the Oregon Department of Forestry has done a fine job of managing our state forests. We feel that there is no reason for our Clatsop County Commission to weigh in on this subject. This is due to the simple fact that, besides Commissioner Roberts, they personally know nothing about the subject.

Over the last 11 years the members of our Alliance have had to endure one lawsuit, and one closed to fishing area after another, and more and more fishermen leaving the industry, for really no good reason. We see similar environmental entities lining up to do to the logging industry, what they have done to our local fishing industry. Our Alliance feels that the environmental community needs to step back, take a breath, and truly try to comprehend what their paid minions have done, and what more they are capable of doing. Locking up all of our natural resources, from business that create sustainable family wage jobs, is truly not the answer.

Thank you for allowing our Alliance to weigh in on this very important subject.

Truly;

Bernie Bjork

Forest Plan Politics

2011-05-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few government entities around here who depend on the dollars that come out of the Clatsop State Forest through timber sales. The County is first in line for those dollars. Several years ago after a hard fought battle the County Commission developed policies to ensure that these dollars would end up in capital improvement projects and not in backfilling programs that lose State grant funding. While the operation of County government is not dependent on timber revenues at present because of these wise policies we must recognize that we have new players on the commission who have already begun taking things apart. In the upcoming fiscal year they are planning to double the amount of donations to non-profit organizations. They have accepted an increase in their own monthly stipends and approved a whopping increase for the stipend paid to the District Attorney going from 13,500 to 21,500. The County budget for 2011-12 is around $55 million with the general fund portion around $19 million. The Commission is on track to increase your property tax bill again this year by 3.5%. Not because they necessarily need the money but because the law says they can do it. So they do. That's been going on for years.

For many years the Clatsop State Forest was managed primarily for timber production. This meant that when timber was cut it was replaced, which is the responsible thing to do, but the forest began to look like a tree farm instead of a naturally occurring forest. You can see the result with stands of trees planted close together and all about the same height. Clear cuts really aren't a bad thing. Wildlife needs meadow as well as forest. Timber companies are required to leave woody debris in streams these days for salmon habitat. A few years ago, under pressure to deliver some diversity ODF came up with a forest plan that was to encourage varied tree heights to more closely resemble a forest instead of a tree farm. The argument began about things like identifying the highest priority use. Are we growing trees to provide lumber, or habitat? Should productivity outweigh species protections? To what degree can you accomplish protection and production?

The Oregon Department of Forestry has many masters to please.

With all these issues to deal with it becomes important to hear all the voices. Have productive, meaningful discussions. Unfortunately the political machine in Clatsop County has become more important than debate and reasonable problem solving. Read the emails that follow and then ask yourself why it's necessary to focus on one person in this discussion to be singled out and targeted in this fashion.

If, as Commissioner Hutala says, the "People" have taken back their government does that mean just certain people or all the people?

----- Original Message -----
From: Laurie Caplan
To: Astoria Neighbors
Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 9:31 AM
Subject: [astoria-neighbors] ALERT: Key Clatsop State Forest Decision Wednesday-- Clatsop
It's important for Clatsop County Commissioners to know the public wants smart, strategic forestry plans. Commissioner Patricia Roberts is once again backing short-sighted, short-term profits at the expense of long-term, sustainable development. Our forests are key to salmon habitat and environmental harmony.

I hear that advocates for clear-cutting will be out in force. Please attend this important meeting.

Clatsop County Commissioners
Weds, May 11 at 6 pm
Judge Guy Boyington Bldg - 857 Commercial, Astoria - -enter on 9th.

Please forward this email.
Laurie
From: Bob Van Dyk

It's important for Clatsop County Commissioners to know the public
wants smart, strategic forestry plans. Commissioner Patricia Roberts
is once again backing short-sighted, short-term profits at the expense
of long-term, sustainable development. Our forests are key to salmon
habitat and environmental harmony.

I hear that advocates for clear-cutting will be out in force. Please
attend this important meeting.

Clatsop County Commissioners
Weds, May 11 at 6 pm
Judge Guy Boyington Bldg - 857 Commercial, Astoria - -enter on 9th.

Please forward this email.
Laurie
From: Bob Van Dyk

Credit Where It's Due

2011-04-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

Faithful readers of my ramblings here have probably noticed that when it comes to the Port of Astoria I've been quite critical when it's clear things aren't going quite right. You may also have noticed that nothing much has been written here about the Port in general for quite sometime other than the recent, inevitable loss of air service.

It's time to break that silence. The Port is doing very well and in spite of my personal feelings about at least one member of the Commission it seems we have the right mix of people on board..Well at least four of them..Maybe three but I digress.

According to BST research findings released recently the Port returns approximately $60 for every tax dollar they spend. They have created jobs. The average Port job runs about $45,000 a year which is above the county average of $36,000. So far the log ship business has made the Port over $400,000 alone and instead of the estimated six loads in the first year we're looking at twice that. With Hampton coming up on line at some point this summer there is also a good chance we could see finished lumber exported from our docks as well.

As far as the number of jobs? direct and indirect job creation comes in around 1400. It may be higher because the indirect job creation is a little harder to track.

In short, the Port of Astoria is doing exactly what it should be doing. For a guy who came from a Port District without a single pier or serious marina that Crider fellow is doing rather well.

Protect Our Border. Save Lives

2011-04-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

We have spent untold billions, trillions? on the war to protect oil supplies. Many would say that action is justified because in protecting our supply lines we help protect our way of life and therefore the security of our nation. But what about our nation's security in view of the escalating crime and violence found in our border neighbor to the south? The stories we hear coming out of Mexico makes be fear for those friends I have made there in years past. Our nation's security is surely threatened by this brutal behavior. Americans have personally invested in Mexico in the form of real estate and monetary support for organizations that aide the very poorest in that country. Millions of Americans were vacationing in places like Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta but no longer. Cabo San Lucas is still considered safe that will cease to be the case soon. I have a good friend who is a native of Mazatlan. She had a business giving cultural tours for cruise ship tourists and it was a good business. She told me once that she had plenty of money, enough to live comfortably in the U.S. but she would not leave her home in Mexico to do so. She said far too many educated Mexicans had fled the country already leaving less to run the government properly. This was two years ago and even then she feared things were going to get far worse. She was right. It is clear to me that if the U.S. has a responsibility to the world and it's own people to take over and occupy nations halfway around the world, we have the same responsibility in Mexico. We must send in peacekeeping forces in large numbers and do it as soon as possible. It is unfortunate that the culture of corruption that rules every part of Mexico has been allowed to continue until it has made what was once a developing, progressive neighbor a threat that we must deal with.

The Friday Show

2011-04-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Coming up in the 8am hour an in depth report on the County Commission meeting where planning commissioner supporters showed up in force to protest the firing of the entire planning commission on March 23rd and the reaction from the County Board. Open phones of course! The number to call in is 503-861-6621

Good Read

2011-04-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

Tom, I had sent this to your old, but no good, email address, so perhaps this will now get to you--Art ---

On Tue, 4/12/11, Art wrote: From: Art Subject: Re: Letter to the Editor (online form) To: "Elleda Wilson" Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 12:54 PM Dear Ms. Wilson, Here’s your reply to my inquiry as to why my letter (shown way below) was not published: "Dear Mr. Hyland, Our county reporter, Katie Wilson, reviewed the letter, and it was not published because it contained a few problem areas: 1) We were unable to verify that the commission was meeting secretly 2) and the Planning Commission was on the meeting agenda" I fully recognize that the paper has a right to do whatever it wishes with regard to publishing what gets into print. But really, do you actually believe what you wrote to me? For you to reply, on behalf of the paper, " We were unable to verify that the commission was meeting secretly," might be something quite interesting for the Daily Astorian to share with its readers. Rather than allowing a mere reader such as me to opine that they met in secret, why don’t you come right out and tell your readers that you can’t verify that the commission met in secret about the planning commission decision so that your readers can more fully contemplate the possibilities. That I claimed the commission made their decision in secret is indeed a claim that I made and make. That's what I believe. I don't have the resources of a prosecuting attorney (nor apparently do you) to ferret out what did or did not happen prior to the public meeting, but the dialogue at the meeting was so sparse and ill-explained that the decision looked clear to almost everyone it had been well-discussed in private. But of course that just remains my humble opinion, one your editor thinks needs filtering from public view. If letters to the editor are not supposed to be opinion pieces but must be written based upon 100% factual evidence, they wouldn't be letters of opinion. Please refer to just about any opinion article of Paul Krugman's and you'll find so many factual, provable errors--not just ones "unable to verify,"--that none of his pieces would have been allowed to make it to print if you applied the same standard you applied to my letter. I would understand your argument to me if you were editing a news story; I didn’t know my letters had become the equivalent of one of the paper’s regular correspondents’ submissions. As for your no. 2 rationalization for not printing my letter--"the Planning Commission was on the meeting agenda,--tell me, was it put on as an action item? And, why did Commissioner Roberts not know it was on the agenda? Your paper is pathetic in so many ways, not the least of which is its willingness to ignore, TO ITS DETRIMENT, roughly half of the population it could serve by virtue of its editorial biases. Claim what you do that the paper's revenues are okay, you know they are not. They could be considerably improved if the paper weren't so biased that conservatives routinely mock it, and virtually none subscribe to it. It doesn't have to be that way. You can have both political spectrums engaged, producing a paper all parties would want to read (and in which more advertisers would want to be seen), but for reasons I cannot fathom, you (well, Forrester actually) wishes to be different. His father ran the paper much differently, and much smarter, but that’s just my opinion; I didn’t fact-check that statement, so we’ll keep that between you and me. If the nation, state and county weren't so important to me, I wouldn't care one wit what you or the paper think or do, but I do care about the nation, state and county. So I do care what you think and do. Yet you and the paper’s editors treat me and so many other conservatives like some sort of pariah. That says a lot more about you and your editors than it does about conservatives or me. Sincerely, Art Hyland my March 25 letter to the editor: Editor, Daily Astorian Single-issue commissioners spell trouble for Clatsop County

The sudden action taken by the majority of the Clatsop County Commissioners to remove all Planning Commission members is just the latest example of ill-conceived decisions made by this board in secret prior to public meetings. They don’t want the public to witness their debate or rationalization, nor even who originates a measure upon which they take action. Even ordinary public notice isn't considered important to this bunch. To this group it doesn't matter that decisions other than personnel and contract matters must be conducted and decided in open, public meetings. The legal weight behind this state rule is based upon functional as well as moral purposes: to purposely restrain corruption in government. That this commission is blatantly willing to ignore this rule means Clatsop County is now controlled by single-issue extremists who have virtually no regard for the public they serve, and are daring its citizens to stop them. It will be simultaneously interesting and depressing to see how county staff and departments operate under this kind of supremacy. The county manager will be spending lots of ;time conferring with legal counsel at the expense of all other department business. Current, potential and routine county business will all suffer because of the issue blinders worn by these commissioners. I’s a sad time for Clatsop County. I expect the next move by this regime will be to flee, to another county, or perhaps another state in their efforts to sidestep the normal processes of governing. That seems to be the latest government model by their political relatives in other states, so look for that decision soon. Art Hyland Art- I love that you fight the good fight but there is no way the paper would publish your letter. To do so would imply that what you are saying is factual instead of supposition because you don’t qualify the statement. I find it odd that they are fact-checking letters from the public now. How did all that garbage about LNG get published? I find it amusing that their response suggests they checked anything. Are they suggesting that Katie called someone on the gang of four and asked them if they had a secret meeting? Probably. I wonder if she asked if there was some other method they reached consensus. Emails? No, too smart for that. They wouldn’t leave that kind of trail. It would be interesting to see how often they get together in groups of two..say, over lunch at the Blue Scorcher, or a quick beer after the official meeting. It’s even possible they are meeting on Ted Thompson’s boat to get their marching orders directly from Larry Taylor. Who knows? tpf

To Protect And Defend...

2011-04-06T09:07:00.001-07:00

I have to establish a new rule about comment posting effective immediately. Because of the potential for introducing malware, or spyware this blog will not publish comments that include links to other sites. I'm very interested in what readers have to say about the news of the day or the issues brought up here so the comment section won't be closed down. tf

Todays Show

2011-04-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

This morning we take some time to review the March 23rd meeting where the Clatsop County Commission fired the entire Planning Commission. We go back to the audio and comb it for the reasons and the discussion that led to the decision. That's on am 1370, or on line at www.kast1370.com

Support For AAC

2011-04-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here is another perspective on the Astoria Aquatic Center that comes from the editorial section of our main site kast1370.com ================================================================== Pool Support I find it frustrating to hear the city complain about how the Aquatic Center is not paying for it's own costs. I clearly remember one of things the city told the citizens when we voted for the bond measure to have it built. They said they did not expect the Aquatic Center to pay it's own way and that it would always need public funds but it would be a vital service to the community as a replacement for the pool at Tapiola Park. For years, the pool was poorly manages. Every time the kids were out of school for in-service days or holidays, you'd think the pool would be available for open swim or have activities scheduled. But no, the hours were very un-user friendly. Pool management at that time successfully trained most of the people that if the pool hours weren't convenient, too bad. Go do something else. I'm glad an outside consultant was brought in to "Save the Pool" and revamp the schedule to make it more accessible to the community at large. After all, that's why the pool exists. As a citizen of Astoria, I have no problem with my tax money going to support the pool, even though I don't use it myself. I don't expect it to be self-supporting although I DO expect it to be managed well. It is a vital service to our community and should remain so. But I will have a problem if the city decides at some point to close the pool because they don't want to support it with tax dollars. That isn't how it was sold to us in the first place.

Program Note

2011-04-01T08:01:00.001-07:00

An unusual Friday morning meeting of the Astoria Development Commission is scheduiled for 8:30 this morning at Astoria City Hall. The meeting appearently involves the purchase of a vehicle but the specific use or department to which it has been assigned isn't clear. KAST News will be covering that meeting this morning and more details will be available in our Friday Noon news report and right here on kast 1370.com. Due to the special coverage the Friday edition of the Coast Watch Talk show will not be presented today and will return to the air on Monday.

A Side Note In A National Debate

2011-03-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

One of my pals out there sent this along. I thought I might share it with you. Some of the language is strong but then so are the feelings behind this open letter.

Your comments are always welcome.

THIS SENIOR CITIZEN NAILED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama's deficit
commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he
compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
August, 2010.

Here's a response in a letter from a unknown fellow in Montana ...
I think he is a little ticked off! He also tells it like it is !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY
YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15
years old. I am now 63).

3 My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other
Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for
decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give
OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus
bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme
that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the
proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing
retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to
age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the
goalposts YET AGAIN.

5 I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare
from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the
game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy
to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay
the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our
entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why?
Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that
you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come
to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on
your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for
YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during
your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and
how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the
American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you
proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual,
have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called
Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases
who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from
millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That's right,
sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of
advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and
you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.
If you like the way things are in America , delete this. If you agree with
what a fellow Montana citizen says, PASS IT ON!!!!

Supremes say "STOP...)

2011-03-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

Just got this:

SUPREME COURT HALTS COUNTY PIPELINE REVIEW; HEARING CANCELED

The Oregon Supreme Court, in a ruling handed down Tuesday, issued a stay against Clatsop County from proceeding with its reconsideration of the Oregon Pipeline LLC land-use application. As a result, the public hearing scheduled before the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners for Wednesday, March 30 has been canceled.

The board was scheduled to review and possibly approve findings of fact denying the consolidated application for the construction of 41 miles of natural gas pipeline.

The court also ordered Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Cindee Matyas to reinstate a writ of mandamus sought by Oregon Pipeline against the county and proceed with the mandamus case.

The board of commissioners is reconsidering the approval originally granted to the Oregon Pipeline application by the county commissioners in November 2010. On March 9 the board gave tentative approval to preliminary findings that would deny the application. The board was due to review the final, modified findings at the March 30 hearing.

On March 4 Oregon Pipeline filed a writ of mandamus petition with the local circuit court, arguing that the county has failed to take final action on its application within the timeframe mandated by Oregon land-use law. Matyas signed the writ and set a show-cause hearing for March 18, but on March 17 she vacated the writ.

On March 21 Oregon Pipeline filed a writ of mandamus with the Supreme Court asking the court to order Matyas to reinstate the writ filed in Clatsop County court, and to stay all proceedings and decisions by the county on the application.

Oregon Pipeline contends that once the writ of mandamus was filed in local circuit court, the county no longer had jurisdiction over the application.

Q&A

2011-03-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Quite a few comments on the weekend round-up post and a couple with questions that readers would like answered. I'll give it a try. Could you remind us all again how much money NNB Radio stations took in in advertising dollars from the various natural gas entities that were trying to convince us to allow these projects to happen? Could that possibly be related to why you would still be trying to advocate for these companies? Answer: Northern Star Natural Gas was an advertising client on NNB radio and ran a regular schedule of ads in support of their project for which they paid just like any other advertiser. NNB also participated in an annual promotional campaign each December in which we took phone calls on the air from listeners who made Christmas wishes which Northern Star granted to the best of their ability. I believe we did run promotional announcements following the campaign each year to say that Northern Star had spent well over $5000.00 each year to do things like get people home for the holidays, buy toys and clothing for those in need..etc. Oregon LNG and Oregon Pipeline are not advertising clients of NNB. Their approach does not seem to include an advertising campaign. Well, Tom, if you actually updated your website with the comments of listeners in a timely manner, you would have heard something different. However, as long as you update when you feel like it and only select the information you want, you will be, unfortuately, very much like Steve Forrester's Daily A. So, why are you here anyway? Answer: It's true that I never have as much time as I would like to respond directly to listener comments here and to moderate comments as quickly as some might like. As far as picking what I publish goes I think if you were to read some of the comments to my posts you might be wondering instead why I would allow some of them that appear to be personal attacks. I think most people understand the difference between a chat room or forum format and a blog. Some don't and want to carry on conversations on line here. I've tried running "boards" in the past and, frankly, I don't have the time to devote to moderate those properly. I like to write. I like to share a personal perspective. This blog provides a space where I can expand on some of the things that the "tyranny of the clock" does not permit on the radio. I do enjoy reading all the comments and sometimes I learn something new.

Clatsop County Weekend Round up

2011-03-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well my friends it's been quite a while since my last update and we have a lot of ground to cover. In this report we'll have the latest Oregon Pipeline v.s. Clatsop County and we'll take a look at that decision to fire the entire county Planning Commission...

Where to start? How about the Bus?

Former Executive Director Cindy Howe and her lawyer have reached a settlement with SETD and part of it was acceptance of her formal resignation according to a news release from Dan Schwanz who is the temporary Executive Director. Cindy offered her resignation three months ago but the Board refused to accept it. Not because they were trying to talk her out of it but over the settlement terms of her very well written contract. Insiders tell me she didn't get everything she wanted but at least she can put "resigned" on her resume instead of "fired". The rest of the details are officially under wraps. Meanwhile we just got the following news release:

Sunset Empire Transportation District recently announced employee layoff and route service cuts in response to their recent discovery of a severe cash flow problem and mounting debt service. The Transit District with assistance from the Oregon Department of Transportation and Special Districts Association of Oregon developed a financial recovery plan that will allow Sunset Empire Transportation District to eventually restore some of the service cuts implemented in the restructure plan. The Sunset Empire Transportation District Board of Directors invited public input to assist in the restructure plan, route design and service hours. Three new route proposals and other service changes were presented at the regularly scheduled SETD Board of Directors meeting today. Due to the volume of public input the SETD Board elected to postpone making a decision The SETD Board of Directors will hold a Special Meeting at 9 AM on Monday March 28th at the Transit Center in Astoria to make their final decision on the proposed route changes.

The public meeting held on Thursday was packed with people truly scared for their jobs, their homes, their health...and these are riders, although I'm sure it's safe to say that the 36 SETD employees who are looking at lay-offs come the end of the month are thinking about the same things. There were a couple of big sticking points for riders. First, all weekend service will stop. That's a huge problem for riders who depend on that bus to get to and from work. These are the folks that don't have an alternative and the board seems to take no responsibility for seeking a solution. The other point is that the system will be down to six buses total.

The math , such as it is, works out that it costs $45 to $47 per hour to run those buses. If buses are half empty the district loses money every hour. By having fewer buses and either less coverage or less travel time the two guys trying to save SETD from imploding entirely think they have a better shot at filling more seats more consistently thereby reaching the hourly operational cost.

Some people asked about raising money by selling the buses that would otherwise just sit unused. The board didn't respond so I will. The problem is that ODOT holds the title to many of those buses and the buses that are owned by the district are already leveraged. The Board does plan to sell them but only to get out from under trying to maintain them in a mothballed state. They don't expect to make big bucks by reducing the fleet.

There is a misconception about seeking grant funding. There is some of that going on but those grants that Cindy Howe was going for that required matching funds have been thrown out. SETD doesn't have the matching money and it's not likely they would go looking for it. Howe never had the chance to explain how she was going to make that work. The fact is the Board was having difficulty communicating with their Executive Director

Cutting routes has another effect. The State DHS has concerns because so many of their clients absolutely depend on the bus. The State agency on Senior and Disability Services just moved into their new facility in the Warrenton business park and many of their clients depend on the bus service to make appointments there. Community Action Team (CAT) just placed some families in homes in the Warrenton area to get them off the street. The state granted funds to get that done but that grant depended on regular public transportation being available. CAT had no idea that SETD was crashing as they were arranging the grant.

Another misconception is that "somebody" took the money that would have kept the buses running. There is no question that funds were mishandled in terms of the way the budgeting was handled but it's also pretty clear that this situation, from all indications so far, didn't come about as the result of someone stealing from the district. It happened because the District tried to do more than it is truly capable of handling. It tried to be a Tri-Met when all it could really be is much smaller. Running multiple buses on multiple routes in the cities with half full, sometimes nearly empty buses, providing long distance connections between cities more frequently while making many stops along the way. Board Chair Ron Bline put it this way: 'We just had too much out there and now we have to pull back".

Pull back they will and the fallout will be significant.

Meanwhile...Over at the County.........

As KAST reported this week, the Clatsop County Commission threw out the members of the County Planning Commission. The entire planning commission.

I received the following email from one of those volunteers:

" The issue at hand is being mischaracterized as one that claims that Debra Birkby and I have a dispute and that the two of us are engaged in a conflict.

This is not the case.

The issue at hand consists of local citizenry that must interact with Debra, who has functioned in a few public capacities.

During her limited tenures, she has demonstrated a track record that selectively disregards the rule of law and those things that make up good governance for our community.

This is well documented in Arch Cape public record.

Birkby's disrespect for both the rule of law and good governance, as demonstrated in Arch Cape, has now departed South County and has taken up residency on the body of the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners .

My sole issue with Birkby, is to hold her accountable for her campaign promises of restoring transparency and trust in our local government as well as her promise to assist small business in job growth."

Stephen Malkowski / Planning Commissioner

I want to thank Steve for his communication. The reasons for releasing all the Planning Commissioners was not stated clearly by the County Commissioners in public session other than Commissioner Birkby's odd comment that the action marks a "Rite of Passage" for the Commission. This term is usually reserved to describe a significant event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. Marriage is one example. I suppose this would be a divorce. It is common in the business world that when a new CEO takes the helm of a company the executives who worked for the former CEO are asked to resign if their philosophy of operation differs from that of the new boss. Birkby cited the example of a new President bringing along his own adviser's to fill cabinet posts. This is expected. What the County Commissioners did was not.

The action lines up perfectly with Birkby's personal grudges and shows that Chairman Rohne thinks it's quite proper and in fact Democratic to put anything on the agenda that the other commissioners desire without

thinking of consequences. There was nothing wrong with adding this item to the agenda for discussion but to make it an action item that was handled in a matter of minutes doesn't make any sense.

Callers to KAST Coastwatch said it was certainly insulting to those volunteer Planning Commissioners and an insult to anyone who volunteers their time to the County as a matter of civic duty.

Callers also found it troubling that Commissioner Scott Lee made it a point to say to the audience that "There is no conspiracy here" "Methinks thou dost protest too much" would have been my response. Then Commissioner Huhtala really played it up by saying he just wanted to listen to the discussion but he certainly didn't like one of the staff options that would have had him tell the Planning Commissioners from his district that their service would be ending prematurely. He insisted the commissioners formally take it off the table. They did.

The discussion was rather limited. If indeed Commissioner Huhtala was trying to make a decision based on what was said at the meeting I can only conclude he must have psychic powers to have come to the conclusion that dumping the entire Planning Commission was the best possible option. There was no reasonable argument presented. Just the fact that the Planning Commission serves at the pleasure of the County Commissioners doesn't cut it. The disposed of Planning Commissioners may reapply for consideration if they choose. Really? Do you think any of them will? Why would they after a slap in the face like this?

Let's move on, shall we?

Oregon Pipeline has gone to the State Supreme Court with claims that Circuit Court Judge Cindee Matyas acted improperly when she vacated an Alternative Writ Of Mandamus sought by Oregon Pipeline Company against Clatsop County. The Writ was designed to force the County to do one of two things. They could immediately approve the consolidated land use application for the construction of he natural gas pipeline OP needs to build to service it's proposed OLNG terminal in Warrenton, or set a show cause hearing with the court to offer substantial evidence in support of delaying the decision to approve it. Neither of those things happened. Instead Judge Matyas wrote a letter to the parties involved saying that she is satisfied that the process in reconsidering the application, while slow, is still proceeding and she felt it would be inappropriate for the court to take over the process at this time.

Oregon Pipeline argues that the statutes involving the Alternative Writ of Mandamus do not allow the court discretionary powers to simpily cancel the hearing and vacate the Writ. Oregon Pipline says the county missed the statutory deadlines even after Oregon Pipeline agreed to several extensions and that the Writ is intended as a legal remedy for applicants when governments drag their feet on these sorts of decisions.

Oregon Pipeline would like the Oregon Supreme Court to direct Judge Matyas to reinstate the Writ and to make that decision before the county makes it's inevitable decision to deny the permit. OP's lawyers say failure to do so will get very expensive, very fast. They use nicer language but that's pretty much the gist of it.

It seems the County was successful in it's argument with the local court that they had in fact approved the application in question by the agreed deadline and they had also acted legally in later withdrawing the application from LUBA for reconsideration and therefore reset the deadline.

We can only hope that the Supremes see through this shell game.

Well of course there's more to blog about and we'll get to other matters later. Until then feel free to hit the comment link and chat amongst yourselves. Comment moderation is sometimes a bit slow but I ask for your patience.

The New Clatsop County

2011-03-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

If I were to ask you to predict what our county will look like over the next five years what would you say? If you exclude those things you would like to see and base your answer on what you know about the political climate and where opportunities would become realities, what would your best guess be?

Nuclear? Really?

2011-03-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

The Obama Administration has stated that we should start building more nuclear power plants. In doing so he would point to other counties which have built and operate far more nuclear plants than the United States has. Countries like Japan. You can't say the Japanese aren't careful about building something like a nuclear plant yet it seems the nuclear option may not be the best idea in a country prone to earthquakes to begin with. I'm thinking the Obama energy push will be somewhat less nuclear in the future. I'm thinking he'll even deny he ever brought it up.

Meanwhile the 155 LNG terminals and storage facilities and associated pipelines in Japan seem to have weathered the quake and the tsunamis very well. Any issues following the quake were handled by the individual crews at the sites and there was nothing major to deal with.

Which brings us back home to Clatsop County. The Japanese disaster serves as a great example of what the experts have been saying about LNG safety since the topic first came up. LNG has been around a very long time. The methods and materials for handling the product have developed along with advances in science over those years. Requiring Oregon Pipeline Company to present a fully fleshed out emergency plan before granting permits may seem reasonable but it's truly not. Requiring the company to have a plan in place before the gas is allowed to flow is reasonable. That's why it was deemed a "condition" of approval. As long as our emergency responders end up with everything they need to handle any conceivable emergency along the pipeline route, I'm happy. It's reasonable. To hold out on this issue shows the automatic bias of the commissioners. The fact that their own attorney had to warn them to actually have a reason for changing the requirements was troubling.

Ah-h-h The Weekend Has Arrived

2011-03-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

Do me a favor? Drive carefully or not at all. Don't use candles for lighting, kerosine or gasoline for heating and, lets just keep that barbecue outside on the deck where it belongs. Tie everything down just in case the wind blows and if you plan to set foot in a boat of any kind make sure you wear a life vest and stay out of dangerous currents. No traffic accidents, no fires and, if you don't know how to run a tractor stay away from them because the first thing that happens is they turn over on top of you. Don't even get me started on the topic of chainsaws. Have a safe weekend. Let's not create any news..okay?

Transit A Mess

2011-03-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

After attending SETD board meetings recently and hearing first-hand the situation the bus service finds itself in I can't help wondering what the real story is here.

We reported last Thursday that the South County Transit Center is a dead deal and we also reported that at this point the transit agency figures it is spending about $70k to $80k more each month than it takes in. It's also reported that the ridership numbers are no where near the estimates used to apply for some grants the agency was seeking up until the board decided to abandon those applications.

My question is: Was there a governing board for this organization before November of 2010? apparently there was because the Executive Director did get some job performance reviews from somebody. According to the paper the reviews were positive with one exception. It's easy to remember the conflict between Cindy Howe and Jim Santee because it was rare for any spate to become as public as that one was. Jim didn't buy in the boards position and frequently asked questions that created unwelcome conflict. This is where I depart from some. Government boards are not formed with the idea that each member must agree on every point of discussion. If you find yourself on the losing end of a vote that doesn't mean you give up your position and support the majority just to appear to be cooperative. Sometimes the majority is wrong and to change one's public position on an issue isn't necessary unless you have been utterly convinced that your position was incorrect. Unfortunately I've seen this question asked: Okay you have voted against the majority of the board but you will support the majority position. Is that correct?". A completely inappropriate question on the part of a board leader whether that be a chairman or a Mayor.

Where Does it All Go?

2011-02-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Port Of Astoria Commissioners raised the question in their meeting Tuesday night.

Where does all the money flowing into the Department of State Lands from Clatsop County actually go? Well..it's supposed to go into the common school fund and it's a nice chunk of cash. Ballpark estimates would place the number at around a million
dollars over the last couple of years alone. Clatsop County schools totaled about $220,000 in payments from the common school fund for 2011. For Astoria schools that means just a little over $84,000.

I'll let you chew on that for a minute.

The Department of State Lands is the administrative arm of the State Land Board which, since it's inception, is constitutionally composed of the Governor, the State Treasurer and the Secretary of State. The Department is responsible for the collection of fees for things like use of submerged and submersible lands, execution and collection of lease agreements..etc on any lands owned by the State Of Oregon. If a person dies and leaves no will behind then the estate goes to this department. If unclaimed property pops up then this department holds it. So there is a lot of money flowing into this department all the time.

The last published audit of the Department of State Lands in March of 2010 indicated that they were doing a very poor job of keeping track of their money. They had no controls in place, in fact the Director was unaware of some of the basic accounting practices they need to have in place.

The method of disbursing common school funds is a bit of a mystery and I suspect it is based on some method best described as the "dart board" technique shrouded in methodology far too complicated for the common person to understand. My suggestion is schools should make every effort to keep the Governor happy. Flowers would be nice.

I'm sure someone out there has the extra time on their hands to fully research this matter. I know this has caught the Port's attention and they are looking into just how much coastal communities are pouring into this department. It takes months to get the numbers so as that moves along I'll pass it on to you.

Good idea

2011-02-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

Oregon State lawmakers may get the opportunity to make changes to the state helmet laws. As it stands the law requires all those who ride motorcycles to wear an approved helmet. The law has been in effect for many years and every year motorcyclists bring some version of this bill forward to eliminate the requirement. This latest attempt would require those under 21 years old to wear a helmet and eliminate the requirement for those who should be older and wiser.

Those who seek the wind in their hair and the freedom of going helmet less argue that helmets cause accidents because they limit vision. I don't suppose any of those accidents had something more to do with speed and handling skill. Nonetheless, I believe that people who are of age should be encouraged to take responsibility for themselves and the State should work to withdraw or alter laws like these that limit personal freedom of choice. Seatbelts next.

Why It's Important

2011-02-10T12:16:00.001-08:00

It might seem to some listeners that we spend entirely too much time covering LNG issues on the radio. I can understand that. We're all getting a little tired of it. I was very glad to see the county commission decide to hold a limited hearing in March to go over the consolidated land use application for the Oregon Pipeline LLC project. Even the major opponent stated there has been more than enough evidence gathered and sees no reason to gather more.

The issue that I didn't see coming was this bias challenge that Oregon Pipeline filed with the county this week. It's really the most obvious move they could make. The company claims that LNG was the key issue that swept the standing commissioners out the door and brought three fresh faces on board the commission. Starting with that supposition the company says there was a concerted effort to convince the previous board to delay making a decision on the consolidated application and let the new commissioners and hold-overs Dirk Rohne and Patricia Roberts make the decision. The company says that because Huhtala had direct connections to Riverkeeper and the Columbia River Business Alliance he should recuse himself now. The company claims that Birkby and Lee campaigned on the strength of their anti-LNG stance and should recuse as well.

I may not agree with the tactics used by Riverkeeper supporters (they are just plain rude) and I may not agree with those who claim science fiction is fact but I do respect how these commissioners handled this challenge publicly in answering each question in the challenge in open session. They didn't have to do that.

Now we come to the important part. Having gone on the record as having no bias against the Oregon Pipeline LLC project they really need to make absolutely sure they "walk the walk", otherwise they could face a state ethics investigation. Serious stuff. It would help if the commissioners would make public the reason for bringing the land use application back for review in the nick of time. They won't do that so I'm afraid there will always be a question as to motivation.

A House Bill That Ticks off Everyone

2011-02-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

House bill 3025.

Sponsored by Representative Debbie Boone at the request of District Attorney Josh Marquis and apparently the topic of Marquis' appearance before the Governor's Advisory Committee
on DUII this Friday.

The bill changes the powers of the District Attorneys in Oregon so that they may take control of the investigation and prosecution of any misdemeanor committed in the county served by the District Attorney.

After several attempts to convince the Astoria City Council to turn over the misdemeanor DUII's currently handled in municipal court to the Circuit Court and the prosecution of those cases over to his office and being unable to make a convincing argument, Marquis takes it to
the State Legislature in a bill that would give DA's across the state the authority to take over any misdemeanor case from a city court. Makes one wonder why we need municipal courts.

Representative Boone says she has a responsibility to introduce legislation when requested by a constituent and Mr. Marquis qualifies. Mr. Marquis, obviously aware of the fact that without a champion this sort of bill usually either fails to get a hearing, or just dies in committee, is looking to the Governors Advisory Committee on DUII to give it's seal of approval to give the bill momentum.

Honestly, it doesn't matter to me which court hears the cases or who the prosecutor may be. I think most people think the same way unless, of course, a person has reason to believe it's easier to get "slap on the wrist" justice in a municipal courtroom. That sort of thing just hasn't been proven in the case of Astoria's municipal court. This bill would take away a local decision-making process and give more authority to the state with no good reason for doing so other than a desire to centralize control of the justice system.

Centralized control works very poorly in government. It just creates bigger, dirtier government. The Soviets proved that without a doubt. Russia is still trying to foster innovation and invention through state controlled big business and can't get anywhere with it. They do win the prize for most corrupt government on the planet. I'm not sure how many more lessons we need on this topic before we come to realize that while local control, right down to the city level isn't perfect, it's better. It's more representative of democracy and therefore closer to American ideals.

What do you think?

The State Of Education

2011-01-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

I had a chat with Astoria Schools Scott Holmsted today that was an eye opener about where things are going in the classroom. I thought I'd share it with you since many of us may not be as connected to the schools as we used to be.

As we have reported over the last couple of days, the high school will benefit from an upgrade in technology over the next few days and weeks as wireless Internet is installed on campus and through a pilot program the kids and teachers will have the use of new Google Chrome notebooks being supplied by that company.

The question is: what will they do with all this new stuff? Actually quite a lot.

For years now some have questioned why we need brick and mortar schools at all since so many distance learning options have become available. Others say nothing can really replace the experience of a physical classroom environment simply because 80% of human communication is non-verbal. That's why printed material like email alone are only useful to a limited extent as a communications tool.

How about a blending of both ideas into a physical/virtual educational environment where you still have the benefit of a teacher and class dealing with each other in a, at least potentially, full interaction and adding to that the best things that computing and networking offer?

One of the continuing issues this addresses is the expense of hard copy textbooks that are almost already out of date once they get into a student's hands. In the world of the virtual
classroom textbooks are on-line and can be updated easier. Instead of just a picture of an event that happened in history, now you can have video. Instead of the one size fits all approach now you can add localized, meaningful content to those on line textbooks. All that is accessed by the teachers and students.

Another example could come in quicker testing. By that I mean the ability for a teacher to prepare a on-line quiz covering in just a few questions the topic of that days class. The student logs on and takes the quiz and the teach knows immediately how effective the class was and which student might need further instruction. It's a game changer. It can affect everything from catching up on homework assignments to creating very professional looking presentations using readily available and free open source software. Google is a leader in what they call "cloud" computing where instead of loading expensive word processing software you simply access your account and use Google Docs. And that is just a quick example demonstrating the potential involved.

It does mean that teachers who want to get involved in this kind of thing will have to spend more time upfront updating, localizing and customizing on line materials. This is a stepped process and won't all happen next week but it does offer tremendous opportunities to significantly improve the entire educational experience.

Vote!

2011-01-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/coolestsmalltowns/CST2011.html

Budget Travel magazine is running a on line contest to find the coolest small town in America. It's easy to vote in the poll. You need not leave any personal information or sign up for anything but you can also upload pictures and videos to help support the point that Astoria is indeed the coolest small town in the country if you choose to do so. Those who live in other cool towns like Warrenton, Gearhart, Seaside, Ilwaco, Long Beach, Ocean Park and lovely Oysterville are encouraged to support the effort.

Here We Go

2011-01-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

I'm told by a usually reliable source that the oath of office given to the newly minted Clatsop County Commissioners was incorrect. This undoubtedly means that any actions taken by the new commissioners must be null and void. This must be true because until an individual is officially sworn in they may be elected to the position but have not made the official contract to fill the position.

This may complicate things. If you recall the very first action of the new commissioners was to withdraw approval of the Oregon Pipeline land use plan. If one discounts the votes of those people not yet officially sworn in that means only two actual commissioners voted. One commissioner voted in favor the other voted against withdrawal. That would be a tie vote with no one to break the tie therefore rendering a decision of no change to the original approval.

I point this out as just one example of the complications involved with not getting this very primary function right to begin with. This would mean that any vote taken up until the correct oath of office is performed and duly recorded would be null and void starting with the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting and ending with accepting any department head reports. This new commission is already under attack from the right over charges of holding an unofficial meeting when after the regular commission meeting a quorum of commissioners met with constituents at a local pub to celebrate the democratic process that got them elected. Luckily even though it wasn't known at the time, most of them were not officially commissioners yet.

I say, lets nip this sort of thing in the bud. Let us be supportive of these new commissioners. Let them make mistakes and own up to them without fear of reprisal or recall. Can't we all just get along?

What Safeway?

2011-01-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

Just a small aside on the Safeway block today.

It occurred to me that the Safeway store in downtown Astoria has been gone for so long now that we should probably start calling it something else.

There was an attempt a couple of years ago to give the space it's own name but nothing inspiring popped up. Names like Heritage Square or Astoria People Park just didn't resonate.

With this year marking Astoria's bicentennial perhaps it's time to make another attempt.

Calling it the Safeway block is like getting directions from a local that start with" Take a left where Bob's gas station used to be..."

What would you like to see?

Public Transit Before Howe

2011-01-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

Was there any?

I'm talking about Cindy Howe who has tendered her resignation as Executive Director of the Sunset Empire Transportation District. The Board, as of this writing has not accepted her resignation. Board members come and go but honestly, my friends, it was Howe who build what we have today often by dragging her board along with her. This isn't anything she told me. I just know how boards tend to work. I've probably been on too many. There are times when people just need to stay out of the way and refuse to recognize when they should. I say this in general and anyone who has served on any board knows what I mean.

There have been members of the community who have been critical of different proposals over the years but by and large Cindy has always done what a leader does. She finds solutions to problems. Here are a few reported by area papers most recently

May 2010
New bus service connects Portland, North Coast
by CRBJ

July 2010
New program seeks to make transportation services more accessible to seniors, disabled
by Greg Cohen

August 2010
Grant will help link coastal transit programs, promote regional service
by Greg Cohen

9/2/2010
Transportation plan for Seaside relates a tale of two cities
Improvements will help drivers, bikers and walkers get around town
by Nancy McCarthy

8/27/2010
Lawmakers support transportation plans
State funds North Coast projects on rail and sea
The Daily Astorian

8/26/2010
Transportation Commission approves request for Seaside transit center
by Nancy McCarthy-Daily Astorian

6/30/2010
New transport van helps veterans- Daily Astorian

And on and On....I remember one occasion when Senator Wyden was visiting the coast and took a ride on the bus. Cindy was right there pitching natural gas buses..and "wouldn't that be a clever idea?" The Senator was very fired up..

I don't know what finally amounted to the last straw leading to her deciding to move on. I just hopes she stays here because whatever she decides to do next, while any ones guess, is bound
to be a good thing. As I said, the board has not accepted her resignation as yet.

Happy New Year!!

2010-12-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

So what's on your annual list of "must do" resolutions?

For many it's all about looking better, feeling better. I'm all for that one. Tough to stick to it but worth it. Columbia Memorial Hospital and Astoria Parks and Recreation are sponsoring a weight loss contest called 'The Smallest Winner" as oppposed to tv's ' The Biggest Loser". Obviously more positive.

If you would like some information on how it works call parks at 503-325-PARK

Merry Christmas to All

2010-12-23T21:19:00.000-08:00

Great old time radio shows are one of my favorite things. I hope you get a kick out of them as well. Each Christmas we play holiday versions of the best shows. It all starts at noon Christmas eve and goes until noon on Christmas day. That's on KAST 1370 AM. For Christmas Music tune over to My Christmas station 99.7 fm. It's playing nothing but holiday tunes right now.

As evening approaches we'll be tracking Santa with the help of the Air National Guard which scrambles F-15 fighters to escort the jolly old elf every year as he swings by the coast. I understand that he's scheduled to be approaching Oregon and Washington between 5pm to 9pm..Better turn in early just in case. Hear the reports on KAST and on MY99.7 FM.

Beginning Monday at 6am I return to the air broadcasting my morning show on KAST. I've missed it and am very happy to be back in the saddle again. Thanks to all my listeners for your support over the years and here's to a Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!

Paper Or Plastic? Nope! Both!

2010-12-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

Last night the Astoria City Council tabled a proposed resolution that would have shown support for a very broad piece of legislation.

The draft summary of the proposed Oregon law would prohibit the use of "single-use" checkout bags except in certain cases. The assumption at first was this about getting rid of plastic grocery bags but actually it would include paper bags that contain less than 40% recycled material as well. It wouldn't affect restaurants or fast-food joints. It encourages the use of reusable checkout bags as if nobody ever throws those way. One should not assume this is only about grocery stores. The legislation talks about retail establishments. The legislation adds a requirement that the DEQ require retail establishments to provide a report to ensure compliance. Civil penalties would apply to those who don't comply

It doesn't stop there.

It changes some of the provisions for permits issued by DEQ to solid waste facilities and repeals other statues.

It also encourages local governments to actually impose a fee on single use checkout bags by setting a deadline for the imposition of such a fee. Once the legislation goes into effect and imposes it's own 5 cent fee per bag, local governments will not be permitted to impose any further fee. if they already have one it is then grandfathered under the bill.

I missed just how this got on the agenda, or who brought it forward.

I suspect it will come up at other council and commission meetings. I hope others will follow the example of the Astoria Council and wisely table this or vote to show no support.

Reba Coming To The Coast!!

2010-12-20T05:13:00.000-08:00

The Eagle 103.9 FM welcomes country music great Reba McEntire and Phil Vassar to the North Coast for a huge concert Sunday August 14th. Former NNB General Manager Paul Mitchell who now runs marketing efforts for CMH is the guy behind this concert along with Eric Paulson with the Astoria Regatta who says contracts are signed and the event is set for Camp Rilea which should seat about 12,000. This will be a great event helping bring attention to Astoria's Bicentennial next year.

A Little More History Gone

2010-12-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

The fire that destroyed the buildings at 6th street in Astoria took some history as well. John Lansing ,who works for Seaport Airlines these days, used to work in those old waterfront buildings when they served as the world headquarters for Bumblebee Seafood's.

He told me there are a couple of other guys still around who used to work there as well. Most people know that Bumblebee traces it's origin to 1899 and the formation of the CRPA (Columbia River Packers Association)a combination of eight different fish packing companies.

The group was formed to more effectively market salmon for starters and many know that the old cannery at 39th street was also home to CRPA. Lansing told me that the building that housed Gundersons Cannery Cafe was once the base for Bumblebee Alaska Operations. According to the company website the name of the company was changed to Bumblebee to honor a fishing boat by the same name whose captain and crew spent two years at sea hunting for the perfect tuna. Sardines had become all the rage at the time even replacing salmon as a favorite. The Bumblebee, it's said, returned to the Astoria docks with the most beautiful tuna anyone had ever seen. We've been gobbling up albacore ever since.

The boat became famous and the crew adopted yellow life vests with black stripes. You had to earn those stripes to be a member of that crew.

The west side building at 6th street was empty for many years after Bumblebee moved on. Most of it was removed in the renovation that saw the dock turned into a public place and the buildings made suitable for habitation. I'll miss the Cannery Cafe, as will others. The fire displaced many . The Chamber is helping out with relocation. If you have suitable lease space for either temporary or long term you should contact Skip Haukie and get on the list.

When I talked with Fire Chief Hansen he said that firefighters almost ran out of water. Even with a river full within arms reach. The city no long has a fire boat. The old Harry Steinbock was rarely used so it didn't make sense to invest in a new fire boat. As boat owners are well aware the upkeep on even a small boat can tax resources. I wonder though if it would have made a difference in this case?

What Would You Cut?

2010-12-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

In our discussions today a caller stated that government should be cut in half so my question was "what would you cut?". Things got a little vague after that but later on in the day this individual turned up at the studio.

He explained that he follows the federal government, not necessarily local government but he said as far as he is concerned government employees have too many opportunities for a good retirement. He feels PERS should be eliminated because government employees are already able to contribute to tax -advantaged retirements to which the general public do not have access. I wasn't aware of it. he gave me an education and said that I'm turning into a bleeding heart when I talk about how important government jobs are to our local economy. He says dump those jobs and somehow private sector jobs will appear out of thin air.

Seriously, I understand the principal behind his thinking and there is room for it in a healthy economy that puts government back where it belongs and encourages private sector development and the jobs that would entail regardless of where the private sector ends up taking those jobs. China and Russia are suffering too. The private sector is about finding ways to control the means of production and the market price point by using cheap labor in countries where they have few concerns about the environment, or making pretty planning choices.

Am I making my point? This isn't simple stuff. It's a matter of recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of our system. It's a matter of either accepting our boom and crash economy for the train wreak that it is and look for the alternative or just sticking to what we have and accepting that we will continue to allow profit
to drive us to balloons and government to continue to suck the life out of us while paying lip service to the principal of sensible regulation.

So back to the questions: What would you cut? How would you cut? Even if true efficiencies exist are we designed and equipped to recognize and take advantage of them? What fundamental changes need to take place to stabilize our economy long term? Is it desirable to do so or is it right and proper for our economy to be ruled by chaos (think about that one before answering too quickly)

Astoria Derelict Buildings Direction

2010-12-07T04:02:00.000-08:00

We are at least a couple of meetings away from the council passing a new set of rules on property standards within city limits. The new ordinance takes into account current rules on the books and adds a few more to deal specifically with some properties that can only be described as a nuisance.

City planner Rosemary Johnson told the council last night that even though there are some new standards for private property owners the intent was to avoid creating a "hate your neighbor law" that one neighbor could use to harass another. Tough to accomplish.

I'm not in love with the new rules on landscaping that are part of this law because by design they need to be a little vague. Under this law vegetation has to be trimmed so that it is at least a foot away from any outside wall of your house. I have this particularly stubborn bush that insists on hugging the side of one corner of my house. I suppose that under this new law this very stubborn bit of greenery will have to be rooted out. I'll miss it though. It's been a love/hate relationship from the start. Oh well.

Back to the new law. It could take effect by March of next year. It has another small loophole. The law states that broken windows must be replaced. That's okay but the law goes on to say that using temporary measures such as plywood to cover the broken window is forbidden after a reasonable amount of time on buildings that appear abandoned. This gets tricky. The Astoria Aquatic center would be in violation since it uses plywood for extended periods in this fashion but since it's not entirely abandoned I suppose this is one of those loopholes in the new rules.

The rules for commercial buildings say the city prefers window displays to prevent empty properties from looking..well..empty. They suggest tourist information, displays of some kind, or artwork to fill the windows to make the downtown look more vibrant. In comments from the city attorney it is cautioned that our constitutionally protected freedom of speech rights would prevent the city from actually specifying what can be expressed in those displays. City sign code would also play a role.

The 28 page document that make up the new rule is actually a good piece of work that will never be perfect but may allow the city to have some measure of control over problem properties both private and commercial. It does so without telling you what bushes to plant or what color you must paint your house. It goes where we need it to go in securing public safety and putting some enforcement behind forcing negligent building owners to step up. It also may end up helping those with historic properties to find some financial help to do restoration work.

The rules also specify what exactly constitutes "rubbish". This includes a number of not terribly surprising objects. It also includes coal and coke left lying around. Since our Mayor is a Pepsi guy naturally the mention of coke as part of the definition of rubbish drew some dry wit to comment. Not the same sort of coke, of course but the comment was irresistible.

Great Party Coming Up

2010-12-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday at the Astoria Events Center we host the Eagle 103.9 VIP Party and you are the VIP.

This is our way of saying thank you to our very loyal Eagle listeners. The doors open at 8:00am and the evening features a concert performance by country up and comer Jamie Lee Thurston.

Jamie was on the Coastwatch show with me this morning and treated us to a couple of tunes. The guy is a great performer and knows his way around the business. This will be an event you won't want to miss.

It Can't Run Like A Business

2010-12-03T14:40:00.000-08:00

So just stop saying that would you?

Government was never intended to be businesslike. It was invented with a different purpose in mind. I'm not quite sure what that purpose was but nonetheless it has nothing to do with the principal of pricing mechanism that private markets naturally provide which directs goods and services to their highest value uses.

This was common knowledge as far back as 1944 when Ludwig Von Mises explained in his classic book "Bureaucracy" that any cost-benefit analysis of government is pointless because government bureaucrats have no way of allocating resources rationally, even if they wanted too.

The more government uses the private sector, which adheres to market forces, the better off we all become. As long as government continues to try and do more than it is intended to do the less efficient and economical it becomes. Oregon is a perfect example.

Dudley Ignors Party Leaders

2010-11-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Word is that GOP leadership had advised all candidates not to concede. Concession closes the door on other possibilities and leadership advised it would be best in any race to bypass offering the concession speech too early. Dudley surprised me when he conceded before every vote was counted. Sure it was obvious that Multnomah County was going for Kitzhaber and it was also obvious that Linn County would go the same way once their count issues were resolved, but Dudley should have held firm until the bitter end. After all, when you spend as much as he did trying for the job he deserved a seat at the finish line. I suppose he decided to create his own finish.

Elections

2010-11-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

This election shows Clatsop County to be a rural county with decidedly metro county tastes.

While most rural counties in Oregon came out strong for conservative candidates, Clatsop County aligns itself with the crowd in Multnomah county when it comes to state leadership choices.

That's not to say that conservatives made no in-roads in this election, quite the opposite. I believe that many people voted in this election as the result of a strong showing in key races by republicans. I don't remember a time here when republicans like Bob Horning and Lew Barnes were able to make any impact at all.

The Tea Party has had its impact in elections across the country and that was true here in terms of providing a moral support structure for races that everyone knew would be difficult. It's tough to beat a Betsy Johnson. Slamming her over a "possible" conflict of interest was a stretch and a critical error.

It will be interesting to see how a more equal politically populated Oregon legislature grapples with the budget, amongst other things. The Democrats have lost the super-majority to pursue their party agenda without the republicans so we are likely to see some fireworks over a number of key issues. Reaching consensus will be challenging and I suspect we may see a return to less civil discussion in Salem.

At this writing the Governor's race is still too close to call but with ballots yet to be counted in Multnomah and Linn counties it's looking better for John Kitzhaber.

Viral Video

2010-10-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest Freel Video Pick on www.kast1370.com. This one was taken by a fellow as a tornado was bearing down on him. Every day I scan the world of on line video and pick one to post on the KAST website. If you find a video on the web you think should be the pick of the day just send me the link and we'll take a look.

Just add your comment to this post with the link to the video on line.

Fly With It

2010-10-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's not such a bad idea.

The port of Astoria may hire someone to market airline tickets to potential users in the business world. The offer would be a $50 price per ticket in a bulk buy.

The thinking is that this approach will keep the airline in business at least another 11 months. After that it's most likely to join Empire and Horizon in the history books as far as air service to the north coast is concerned.

I'm assuming here that unless you have the wherewithal to lay out the bulk price most people would still pay normal fares and fees and continue driving instead of flying.

To pay for this, $40,000 would come off the back end of the connect Oregon funds to pay for the marketing effort. I just wonder who might buy?

If government buys them to use for trips it may be cheaper than reimbursing staffers for driving. Port Director Crider points this out saying it could end up costing the port half the cost since he is eligible for a $100 reimbursement for using his own vehicle. Seems excessive but after all we are talking government here.

How many private businesses would consider buying into this strategy is anybodies guess and I certainly don't have the answer. It will come down to how that decision will impact cash flow at a time when people are nervous about the state of the economy. For some it might pay. I hope it does and I wish the Port luck in the endeavor.

We Haven't Figured It Out

2010-10-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to text while driving. Texting while doing nothing else is about my speed. When I first heard that people do this I had to scratch my head a little. How the heck do you do that and keep enough attention on the road and the cars around you to avoid a head-on? Unfortunately laws that are aimmed at banning the practice aren't effective. People who persist in doing this just attempt to hold the phone lower so it can't be easily seen which causes them to lower their eyes from the road entirely for longer periods of time.

Then we have issues with people texting each other when a meeting is going on that should demand your full attention. This happens in business meetings and some government meetings like city commission meetings.

The city of Gresham Council is considering a new law that would ban texting during their meetings. The new rule is justified over concerns about texting being a method of conducting business out of the public view. That's right. Appearently council members are texting each other and city staff members during the course of the meeting rather than having those discussions verbally.

Remember when email was becoming popular? Some City Councils were under fire for exchanging emails that could be construed as reaching consensus on issues before council meetings were actually held to hold public discussions. This ended up with efforts at transparency by making emails available to the press.

There needs to be a standard here that includes texting. As a matter of safety on the road, or the operation of heavy equipment the force of law might be appropriate but efforts so far have been largely ineffective. In other cases people need to apply rules of common courtesy in using this technology. Some of that comes in correcting behaviors by setting policy and sticking to it.

Fed up?

2010-10-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

We should all be standing up and saying "enough is enough!".

It is long past time for you and me and every right-thinking person to take a stand on this issue. Failing to do so will cost more lives and allow continued misery.

Tonight we broadcast a special event calling attention to the destructive behavior known as domestic violence. It was important, informative, touching and tearful.

It's not the first time we have joined with the Woman's Resource Center in the attempt to reach out to those in harm's way or simply call attention to the issue. This time was different though. This time a large room full of local people from all walks of life joined together in a call to action.

What can you do?

Tune in to KAST or KAST1370.com tomorrow morning at 8 and find out.

Interesting Broadcast

2010-10-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

I could have spend another hour talking with Lew Barnes this morning. Judging by the volume of calls we had this morning it seems many of you could do the same.

Barnes has the kind of background, experience and plain old commonsense that would make him a perfect pick to elect for the state rep race. Most politicians (oh heck, every politician) is like a fog machine. Ask a question of any kind and they start putting out fog instead of direct answers. Lew is a fog cutter. That's because he's not a typical modern politician. He is a new breed for Oregon politics.

I did get a call from a listener asking that if we are going to have political discussions to have every side at the table at once.

I'm not opposed to broadcasting debates. We have done so in the past. However, I think there is value in the one-on-one interview. Especially when you have open
phones and the public can participate as happened this morning.

What do you think?

CMH Has More Good News

2010-09-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

The recent announcement of yet another partnership agreement between CMH and OHSU is terrific news for all of us. Even better, this arrangement brings a Cardiologist to Astoria from OHSU's premiere program.

I know this program intimately. They saved my life and improved it.

Columbia Memorial is moving forward in addressing a pressing need in this community and the partnership with OHSU cardiology means far more than just one Doc coming to Astoria. At OHSU the cardio team is huge providing many years of research and treatment experience that is easily tapped to provide exceptional care.

By the way, CMH already has a great cardiac rehab program. I'm going through it now.
Three days a week I hit the Gym at the hospital with a personal trainer and a nurse keeping an eye on my stats while I'm working out. It's a first class experience all the way with the latest workout machines and high tech remote monitoring. It surprised me that we have something like that here.

Demonstration Brings Town To Stand Still

2010-09-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well...not quite.

The twenty or so, mostly out-of-towners, braved a perfect day to hold up signs. I'm not quite sure what the signs said since most were being held every which way. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with liquid natural gas. The location of the protest was odd. They were somewhat close to the wooden Indian statue at the entrance to Astoria so at first I was hopeful they were protesting against it and calling for it to be moved someplace more appropriate...like Westport. I was disappointed in this faint hope when it became clear it was just another protest of the Warrenton LNG project.

Since I strongly believe one should not be critical without offering up a better idea and in the interest of the community as a whole here are some helpful suggestions for the next big protest.

1. If you are protesting a project to be built in Warrenton don't stage a protest in Astoria. It is a matter of credibility to at least get the city right.

2. The use of very uniform style and color signage sends the wrong message. You already have a unfair image in the community as lock-step morons. Take immediate steps to encourage at least the appearence of being intelligent individuals who have gathered almost spontaneously.

3 Involve young people. Right now you come off as a bunch of older people who are acting selfishly. If you can't get actual young people I would suggest using stand up cut outs of young people. When an older person objects to projects that will create jobs or increase the tax base leading to better public safety and money for schools the general public doesn't understand that you are actually standing with a bunch of strangers because at least it gives you something to do. The perception changes as soon as kids are carrying the signs. Sometimes.

I hope these suggestions can help you protestors out there do a more effective job..

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2010-09-21T04:12:00.000-07:00

So it's 4 o'clock in the morning and I'm sitting here thinking about my radio show for today. It's exciting to be back on the air after being laid up for a good portion of the summer and under doctor's orders. The last time anything like this happened to me was 50 years ago. It was the summer I turned seven years old and my family lived in Albany Oregon at the time. I remember it as being just like Mayberry on TV.
I got very sick one Sunday afternoon and ended up in emergency surgery to remove my appendix. I now understand that they didn't
Hold out much hope for me then. The organ had burst and the infection was serious. It was months before life got back to normal and I got back to the serious business of catching frogs in the city canal.

The reason all those memories dominate my thoughts this morning is a phrase spoken by two different Doctors separated by a half century of time. "You are very lucky. It is obvious someone wants you here". Interesting huh?

This year, in early July, I simply disappeared from the public eye. The silence wasn't intentional. Very little about my life has been private for the last three decades. In this case personal privacy laws prevented anyone at KAST from saying anything in public. The rumor mill was wild. Stories about a terminal brain illness appears to have been the most popularly accepted explanation although a few people held that it was more likely I was caught up in some scandal and had left quietly in disgrace (bless your black little hearts for that one!)

The truth is less interesting but provided the kind of experience I would wish on no one. My heart was failing. It had been failing for several months but it felt at first like a serious cold I couldn't get rid of. Fearing lung infection and noting that I just didn't look good my wife dragged me down to CMH urgent care. The last time I'd had any serious contact with Doctors was when my kids were born and it had little or nothing to do with me.

Doctor Little, following examination and some quick lab tests told me two things. First, I was suffering from some serious form of heart failure and second, that it was nothing to mess with. Before I knew it I had my first local primary care Doctor and he was working hard to get me into see the best cardiac guys he could find. That put me in front of the team at OHSU. August 18th I underwent open heart surgery for a quadruple bypass and I had recovered quickly enough to be back at work less than a month later.

I'll live with the heart failure for the rest of my life which, at this point looks like it will be a reasonably long period of time. Today with proper treatment, exercise and a diet based on moderation and some common sense a person can thrive.

The only thing I must guard against is excess stress and anger. I'll be sounding less angry on the radio. That may be a real challenge at times.

Start On The Right Foot

2010-07-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Word today that the City Of Long Beach is considering building a municipal pool must have a few people thinking hard about the approach to the project. The long term costs are considerable, as we've learned in Astoria. We've also learned that once you make this commitment to the community it becomes impossible to back away.

The 3.5 million dollar bequest could lay the groundwork for an aquatic center but wouldn't last long. Establishing a tax base for a new district will be difficult in a community where so many property owners are absentee much of the year. When you own a second home as a weekend getaway you are less likely to vote to increase your expenditures for critical services much less an extra item like a pool. It's been difficult just providing adequate public safety.

Perhaps the better approach would be a smaller facility scaled to the community needs year round that could include a new community center. This might be more useful and more manageable.

Relay For Life

2010-07-09T12:36:00.001-07:00

Saturday the American Cancer Society Relay For Life event takes place at Seaside High School. I would encourage you to take part. You don't have to have a team to take part. One way to do that is to make a donation for a luminary. These will line the track at the school Saturday night each one a lighted memorial. There will be a number of booths set up with educational displays, food will be available. Every dollar counts in this effort so consider dropping by and lending a hand in the fight against cancer.

One Busy Month

2010-07-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

About the time I wrote my last post our station General Manager, Paul Mitchell, announced his plan to take a new job with Columbia Memorial Hospital. I wish him well. We had a good management partnership over the last six years. Paul will do well for the hospital and we continue to talk about management challenges and opportunities as I have accepted the position here as Vice President and General Manager for NNB.

I am grateful for the support I have received from my staff and from members of the community in accepting this new position. I plan to stay on the air on KAST while promoting some of our staff members up the chain to responsibilities they are more than ready to handle. Promotion from within is a standard practice at NNB and some of these people have been waiting a long time to move forward here.

Listeners have been asking questions about the future of their favorite radio stations. After working on KAST for various managers and owners over the last three decades I tend to take a longer view of these matters. I see no disruptive changes coming, just welcome opportunities for improvements to how we do business and serve our listeners.

Stay tuned.

NHA A No Go

2010-06-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Years in the making.

A process that engaged stakeholders in Oregon and Washington.

It all goes away. Why? Because everyone didn't agree. Because baseless fears drove a handful of people to object. Since when have we all agreed on everything that happens around here?

The proposed Lower Columbia National Heritage Area concept is dead.

I find this rapid reversal curious for a number of reasons. The draft feasibility study makes the case for the unique character of the region and it's serious contributions to American history. The study establishes a model for financial sustainability through (though controversial) an organization with a local track record for solid economic development projects.

You may remember the long battles over expansion of Fort Clatsop. NPS really wanted that one and actually moved staff managers around and lobbied congress until they made it happen. That in spite of very similar arguments against it and a clearly divided community that had to be won over.

This sudden decision after laying so much groundwork is just plain odd.

The New Economy

2010-06-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

A friend spotted this classified ad and sent it to me today. I was a little worried about where the country is going with the job picture no better. After reading this I felt better knowing that the politics that have upended Clatsop County and driven off major industry is actually an industry unto itself with growth opportunities. Read on.

Job opportunities working on urgent grassroots campaigns.

Right now, we have the opportunity to make huge gains on critical issues, from re powering America with clean, renewable energy and reducing our dependence on oil, to winning the battle for equal rights. America’s leading advocacy groups are gearing up to meet these challenges this summer. In order to win, they need citizen support and grassroots action. That's where we come in. At the Fund for the Public Interest, we've been organizing campaigns to protect the environment, stand up for the public interest, and defend human rights for more than 25 years. Now we are working to stop ocean pollution and ban plastic grocery bags in Oregon. Get skills. Learn vital campaign skills including how to fund raise, run a news conference and mobilize activists. Know the issues. Learn about the issues from some of the nation's top advocates, organizers and experts. Be part of a winning team. Work alongside other motivated staff who share your passion for change. Make lasting friendships. Leadership Opportunities: We also have opportunities for additional responsibility as a Field Manager or Campaign Coordinator. Gain great experience;like an internship, but you get paid. Field Managers work with the director to meet the office goals and increase the impact of our campaigns. Campaign Coordinators work closely with the directors to develop and implement winning campaign tactics, such as organizing the media, building coalitions, and writing letters-to-the-editor. Earn $400-600 per week.

Yes it is a real ad. Yes it is a real company. I love the line about "organizing the media".

The Dog and Pony Show

2010-06-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

I just got my hands on the findings regarding FERC's investigation of complaints against Oregon Pipeline. The judge who conducted the hearings here and in Forest Grove and Portland has determined that there is no evidence to support the complaints.

There was something else troubling about the report that reflects poorly on the process. FERC's lawyers had promised that the scope of the fact finding would be limited to those specific charges levied against Oregon Pipeline ( a sister of Oregon LNG) regarding it's practices in siting a natural gas line from Warrenton to Mollala. The findings went well beyond those limitations.

In her summary the presiding judge writes that MANY of those with standing to testify were actually talking about the Palomar Pipeline project which has no bearing on Oregon Pipeline. That's a helpful note even though one would think those comments would be redacted and not referred to in the final summary. More troubling were the judges comments that there seems to be a great deal of opposition here to any LNG terminal project in the state! She left that and those comments as part of the public record to FERC. She makes this conclusion after listening to testimony from some 30 people in three cities who were for the most part not directing their comments to the questions regarding Oregon LNG or Oregon Pipeline at all.

This is just outrageous behavior.

Every affected property owner was sent notice of these hearings. A very small percentage even bothered to reply.

Oregon LNG was right to challenge the very concept of holding these hearings in the first place.

Diamonds Are Forever

2010-06-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well...Maybe not.

Tim Gannaway hosts "The Diamond Chronicles" weekday mornings at 8:30 on KAST where he tells short stories about diamonds. In one trivia episode he talks about how that stone oxidizes. He says (dramatically) that your diamond is actually burning. It's a very slow chemical process..let me stress that. It's a very s...l...o...w process. But it's burning.

I find that sort of fact very interesting. Tim also shares stories about legendary stones. He talks about who discovered them and how in many cases these gems have been associated with major historical figures and events.

Got a question about diamonds or the diamond trade?
Post it as a comment to this post and I'll pass it along.

Good Question

2010-05-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

In the June edition of Coast River Business Journal Publisher Susan Trabucco writes a compelling commentary on energy production.

She says 'Energy production isn't pretty, but be clear on the reason you're against it"

In other words, she asks "What DO you want?"

Trabucco cites a recent Astoria Planning Commission workshop where wind energy was a topic in regard to the potential siting of wind power turbines in the city limits. She says when commissioners were asked their views on the project after touring a nearby wind farm the end result was that many now have reservations about an Astoria project. Wind turbines are noisy, they are large and, not visually appealing to some. It's not that wind power has some inherent shortfalls (they do) it's just something some would rather not have in their backyard. Sound familiar?

Read the Publisher's Note. I think you'll find that Trabucco has hit the nail right on the head.

Budget Woes Deepen

2010-05-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

People aren't smoking enough.

The State budget office reported today that they seriously overestimated how much the cigarette tax would bring in and as of now the immediate deficit has grown from $560 million to just a little over $577 million.

Today it was reported that legislative republicans and at least one democrat are calling for a special session rather than follow the Governor's plan to make across the board cuts. This was before the latest increase in the deficit.

The word from the Governor's office is he will resist a special session but the ballots are going out to lawmakers that could override both the Governor and the foot-dragging Democrat leadership just as soon as hell freezes over. I don't see the majority democrats willing to rush back to Salem to face the music on this one. Especially not when so many face bids for re-election. They just don't trust the Republicans to keep politics out of the discussion. No kidding.

A Blast From The Past

2010-05-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

We learned quite a lot about the ship breaking industry several years ago when a proposal for that kind of work at Tongue Point hit the news.

At the time the company making the proposal was looking at locating at Tongue Point, using the old finger piers and hauling in some big ships to dismantle for scrap. It never went anywhere but did cause a great deal of heated discussion.

Now the Port of Astoria has been approached by another company seeking to do the same kind of work on a smaller scale. In our news this morning Port Commissioner Floyd Holcom suggested that the people making the proposal take a hard look at the previous proposal before moving forward. Good Idea.

As long as we are talking about the Port I'll just throw this in: I noticed the other day that some road building is going on adjacent to the Englund Marine and Industrial Supply. The new road seems to be heading toward the upland end of Pier 3 where the Port is looking at bringing log exports back to the docks. I may have missed it but has the Port signed a deal with the log handling outfit yet? I also have heard that the State agency that put up the money for Bornsteins to build their new plant has started an investigation into how that log operation may impact their investment in the processing plant. I also understand that at least one of the Port Commissioners is just hopping mad about it and wants to know who blew the whistle.

At least happenings at the Port are rarely boring.

Best Intentions

2010-05-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

Jay Flint's job title is Columbia Pacific Strategy Coordinator for Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia. As such Flint is the guy who looks for ways to mitigate concerns locals may have about the impending National Heritage Area here.

Flint's approach seems to be one of coming up with ways to counter arguments against the formation of the NHA by making changes in the packaging without changing the contents.

In our interview today he admitted as much.

Are you concerned about people using the National Heritage Area designation to steer land use decisions? Okay, we change the name of the designation to something like "Columbia Pacific Heritage Investment Zone". That might actually work. It really changes nothing but it does better define what this thing is envisioned to do over the long term and adding the words "investment zone" emphasizes that NHA's are not about freezing everything in time.

On the other hand, there are those who would look at this one example of flexibility and charge that SBEC is willing to tell you anything you want to hear to gain your support.

I think it's possible that SBEC could end up outsmarting itself with this approach regardless of best intentions.

As to questions regarding Shorebank's financial position or the quality of it's management Flint isn't the guy to ask. Many of you are already well aware of the institution's internal problems and Flint did talk about that in responding to questions about the attempt to separate SBEC from the parent corporation.

I'm satisfied that the animal we are dealing with now is pretty much the same animal we have been dealing with when it comes to Shorebank if for no other reason than the players are the same.

This doesn't address fundamental objections to using tax dollars in this fashion. The appropriation process will be interesting to watch when that comes around in a few years. I suspect that in order to enlist the cooperation of enough members of Congress in securing the $5 million Shorebank wants upfront there will be loads of other project appropriations attached.

Less Tax Collection = Big Hole To Fill

2010-05-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

The State Economist has released the latest news on Oregon's runaway spending habit. He estimates government will be short $560-million after a big dip in tax collections.

The Governor is calling for across the board spending cuts to put Oregon's budget back in balance. He says 10% should do it. I'm thinking 20% is probably closer to what's really needed.

I applaud the Governor's move to grab the reins and cut government(he said with tongue firmly planted in cheek)at long last. Well done sir!

2010-05-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Credit for the following goes to the North Coast Oregon Blog. More on the stink coming out of public officials handling of LNG and their various conflicts of interest...

"We've been very straightforward," said Cathy Tortorici, NOAA Fisheries Oregon Coast/ Lower Columbia Habitat Branch chief. As of early this week she said she had not yet seen a hard copy of the FERC request and guidance.Newspapers around the Northwest cut, copied and pasted the quotes into their articles during the first weeks of January 2010. "It could take longer than 135 days" because of the complexity of the issues involved, Tortorici said. Her staff is working to develop a timeline for completing the BiOp.The decision to be made was whether the construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas terminal in the lower river would jeopardize the survival of 13 Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The agency that would make that decision was NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Services and the ominous warning from the agency's local branch in charge of the evaluation, Lower Columbia Habitat Branch, was that the answer would take a long, long time in coming.What was left out of the articles as they circulated in January was the fact that the chief of this local branch, Cathy Tortorici, who was influencing the decision making at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Services, had what many might think of as a slight conflict of interest. Tortorici has also been serving as the President of the Willamette RiverKeepers (WRK), who often joined their sister group, Columbia RiverKeepers (CRK), in protesting LNG on the Columbia River, along with protesting pipelines that may be beneficiaries of the new influx of natural gas.

READ IT ALL HERE: http://northcoastoregon.com/clients/northcoastoregon/fosters-emails-answer-the-puzzle-and-ask-more-questions-p3178.htm?twindow=Default&smenu=1&mad=No

Shore Bank Interview Coming Up

2010-05-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm working with the people at Shore Bank Enterprise Cascadia to set up a live interview on the morning show next week. We'll be talking about what might have changed since we talked a month ago when the NHA study was released. We'll also talk about that curious email from Shore Bank that started this whole thing.

One of our blog comments on this was also interesting regarding how the NHA designation might be used in land use discussions or perhaps in public hearings testimony on land use decisions even though there have been unending assurances from the parties involved that NHA designations have no bearing on land use or property transactions. A representative of Shore Bank apparently said that is would not be allowed. I wonder how they plan to control that?

What we will all lose...

2010-05-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

I just got this from Joni Marcks

Joni is a local who ran the office in Astoria for Bradwood Landing for years. It's worthy of a re-print here.

What we will all lose...

In all of the pro and con letters to the editor I've seen since Bradwood closed up shop, I notice there's not been much said about what our community will lose. Many people might not realize that Bradwood Landing contributed more than $100,000 per year to arts, kids, senior programs, the needy, and sponsorships for community events locally and regionally.

Some were major contributions of $5,000 or more, but often, Bradwood helped groups at a time they needed help. We made thousands of free photo copies for events. I offered free notary services. And, Pete Hackett used his carpentry skills practically every week. Here are just a few organizations and events will no longer get the help they so desperately need:

CASA

The Lighthouse for Kids

United Way

Columbia Memorial Hospital Foundation

Food Banks in Clatsop, Pacific and Columbia Counties

The Scandinavian Festival

Astoria Regatta

Astoria Music Festival

Astoria Warrenton Chamber of Commerce, which includes all of the events they produce, such as the Crab Festival, Great Columbia Crossing, etc.

Astoria Warrenton Kiwanis Club

Astoria Rotary

The Wishing Tree and other Thanksgiving & Christmas programs for the needy

Clatskanie Kiwanis Club

Turning Point Community Center, Clatskanie

Local sports teams

Clatsop County Fair and Rodeo

Loaves & Fishes

Port of Play

After the hurricane of 2007, Bradwood started the "Christmas Wishes" program with $20,000, partnering with New Northwest Broadcasters. Over the life of the program, $50,000 was given to very needy families. Many of the gifts came directly from our employees. I could paper a wall with the thank you notes and tears of joy.

Bradwood never felt that they were "buying" their way into the community. When we could help someone, we did. Pete and I volunteered hundreds of hours to make our community a better place. Over the last 5 years, I am proud to say our company made a difference.

The people opposed to LNG are cheering these days...but when all is said and done, many of our local non-profits will be hurting. And that's what is very sad. I would encourage everyone to please dig deep and give what you can to our local non-profits to help make up for the money they will no longer be getting from Bradwood Landing. And, to the anti LNG group, your work is not done; I challenge you to turn your energy and money into efforts that support these local groups.

Senator Wants Emails

2010-05-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Senate Republican leader Ted Ferrioli wants those emails that the DOJ says are off limits regarding their former environmental lawyer Brent Foster.

Foster quit his position when he lied about a field trip he took with his old buddies from Columbia Riverkeeper to Hood River. Riverkeeper is trying to shut down yet another Oregon business. This one makes fruit juice. Riverkeeper activists went to take some discharge samples and Foster went along then, by his own admission, misrepresented to his boss the reason he was there.

The emails in question have a Bradwood Landing connection and Ferrioli wants to know if the state DOJ had an active hand in killing a project that broke no laws. That's basically what it breaks down to.

The Senator may be on to something since State AG Kroger is anti-LNG and he hired former Columbia Riverkeeper head Brent Foster to prosecute environmental crimes.

Ferrioli says at the end of the day there may be nothing to it but we won't know until all the information is in the public spotlight.

Check Out Shorebank Comments

2010-05-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

An earlier post here poking fun at Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia as resulted in some very interesting comments. Check it out and feel free to join in....

tf

Sweeping Change

2010-05-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

If the first count in tonight's election holds, the Clatsop County Commission will be a very different animal when the new commissioners are sworn in.

With over 62 % of the vote Scott Lee replaces Jeff Hazen.

With 55% Peter Hutula takes John Raichl's spot.

With 57% Debra Birkby takes Robert Mushen's seat.

There are no do-overs, no general election run-off because the winning candidates each garnered over 51%.

As pollsters predicted the Republicans have selected Chris Dudley as their best hope of keeping John Kitzhaber out of the Governor's mansion.

When ShoreBank Isn't ShoreBank

2010-05-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Just got an email from John Berdes the CEO of Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia with an attached FAQ that explains the difference between his Shorebank (The proposed entity to be in charge of the proposed National Heritage Area) and other Shorebanks.

Basically his Shorebank was created by the other Shorebank but now has no connection to the other Shorebank and would continue to do business even if the other Shorebanks didn't exist.

You know, it's been a very long day today and when I read this message the one question that immediately sprang to mind was "why call it Shorebank at all?"

Okay, I admit to being a little tired but it just seems to me that if the organization felt there was enough confusion about this to warrant sending this email to everyone in local media it might be that the easiest way out is to just
change the name to reflect the separation.

I suggest " The ENTIRELY SEPARATE SHOREBANK ENTERPRISE CASCADIA WHICH BEARS NO CONNECTION TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS NAMED SHOREBANK AND ARE ACTUALLY BANKS AS OPPOSED TO US AS WE ACTUALLY ARE NOT"

It would make a very impressive business card don't you think?

Good night everybody....

Pipeline Hearing Rescheduled

2010-05-18T16:31:00.001-07:00

OREGON LNG PIPELINE HEARING RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 10

A public hearing on the consolidated land-use application from Oregon LNG for a proposed natural gas pipeline has been rescheduled to June 10.

The hearing will begin at 1 p.m. at the Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Commercial St., Astoria, before Hearings Officer Peter Livingston.

Oregon LNG/Oregon Pipeline LLC has applied to Clatsop County to install 41 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline serving its proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at the Skipanon Peninsula in Warrenton.

The pipeline route runs in a generally southeasterly direction from Warrenton. The proposed pipeline is 121 miles long overall and would connect to a natural gas hub in Molalla. The terminal project itself is within the city limits of Warrenton and is not part of the pipeline land-use application.

The proposed pipeline route through Clatsop County crosses seven different zoning designations and three special overlay zones. Natural gas pipelines are allowed in those zones as outright permitted uses or conditional uses.

The entire application and accompanying documents are available on the Clatsop County website, www.co.clatsop.or.us . The application file can also be viewed at the Transportation and Development Services office, 800 Exchange St., Suite 100 during normal business hours.

The planning office will accept written testimony on the application until 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 9. Comments may be faxed to (503) 338-3666, emailed to comdev@co.clatsop.or.us or mailed to the Clatsop County Transportation and Development Services Department, 800 Exchange St., Suite 100, Astoria OR 97103.