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Routson is missed
I am deeply sorry to hear that Hood River County has lost a real
leader with the passing of Jerry Routson. Jerry was very dedicated to
his county and its residents. He was a sincere representative locally
and in the state.
I had the pleasure of working with Jerry when he was chairman of the
Down Manor Board of Directors and on various committees. He was a
gentleman and will be greatly missed.
Bill Baiker
Portland
‘Shocking’ map
Wow, did everyone find that map of M37 claims as shocking as I
did? Look how tiny the City of Hood River is on the to-scale map;
there are claims larger than the city in Pine Grove, Odell and
Parkdale.
Is this avalanche of sprawl what we want? Some will claim that not
all claims will be developed, but it is true that all these claims
might be. How much are we willing to let our community’s
development be shaped by good luck and individual charity?
It’s a shame we didn’t start this conversation in the newspaper
before the election; different candidates had very different
positions on solving this mess. Measure 37 is the wrong solution
to an important problem.
I hope we will communicate with our representatives that we want a
better solution that is fair to farmers without ruining our
beautiful valley in the process.
Paul Blackburn
Hood River
‘Wow,’ a ‘Beauty’
Mark Steighner, cast, stage crew and orchestra;
Stunning, enchanting, superb casting, five-star performance. I
can’t think what might have gone better. I am hard-pressed to pick
a favorite character. Wow.
Marilyn Brennan
Hood River
Measure 37 attack
The recent article on Measure 37, submitted by the Friends of Hood
River County does not surprise me. It is as one-sided as it can
be. Again, it is a few individuals who know what is best for all
the rest of us.
To give you an idea as to what ends they will go to achieve their
goals please read on.
I am a 37-er. One nice day recently I was working on my property
close to the county road. A car pulled over to the my fence and a
lady stuck her head out of the window and asked if I was the one
who filed a Measure 37 claim. Surprised, I responded, “What
concern is that of yours? Who are you anyway? Do you need help?
Shall I call 9-1-1 for you?” She proceeded calling me everything
under the sun and then some. Needless to say I was surprised. She
drove off toward Highway 35, giving me the flat. I did get her
license number. So fellow 37ers out there, be prepared for a lot
of verbal abuse and hopefully no violence.
The verbiage in the paper submitted by this group is a big façade.
Ever hear of the wolf in sheep’s clothing? It could come from your
neighbor or this group of friends. What a mindset. Good luck!
Allen Ehl
Mt. Hood
‘Whiners’ numbers
If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops
in the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and
2,112 deaths; that gives a monthly firearm death rate of 60 per
100,000 soldiers.
The same firearm death rate in Washington, D.C., is 80.6 per
100,000 for the same period. That means that you are about 25
percent more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol,
which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation,
than you are in Iraq.
Conclusion: The U.S. should pull out of Washington.
This is just a little something to put things in prospective for
all the whiners who appose the war in Iraq.
Wendell Ellis
Mosier
Suits question State
In the Nov. 8 paper Steven B. Andersen of Mosier asserts that
applications under Measure 37 need not be approved if they are not
in the public interest. It is true that Section 60.10 of the Hood
River County Zoning Code states that an application must show that
it is in the public interest and that the greater divergence from
current uses the greater the burden of proof for the applicant.
My observation of the Planning Commission over more than five
years is that other criteria than the public interest are used to
limit or deny an application. If a Planning Commission decision is
appealed to County Commission, that body may consider whether an
application is in the public interest.
However, I remember no instance in which the public interest
played a dominant role in the deliberations of the planning
commission. I think it is, then, misleading for Mr. Andersen to
indicate that the public should have no concerns over Measure 37
claims for large subdivisions.
Unless Measure 37 has forced a change in the way that the planning
commission views applications, it is not likely to turn down a
Measure 37 claim of any sort because it may, for instance,
irrevocably change the orchard industry in the valley.
The threat to public safety from too much traffic on any sub
standard county road may be considered but it is not likely (by
itself) to lead to an application’s denial. And we cannot know
whether the likelihood of ground water and/or stream contamination
will lead to an application’s denial.
A lot of people in the valley place a high value on what, to them,
is its quality of life. I remember no instance when the planning
commission has considered this aspect of the public interest in
their deliberations. And if there exist a few examples where the
public interest has played an important part in planning
commission deliberations, I know that it is not a usual or
significant part of them.
The planning department and commission also infrequently, if at
all, consider the cumulative effects of development in Hood River
Valley. These will certainly impact the public interest as it
relates to quality of life and their effect on the agricultural
base of the county (which still accounts for the majority of
income and production for the valley).
It should also be pointed out that Mr. Andersen, like me, is not a
neutral commentator in this matter. He has exercised his
professional skills to advise many for those filing Measure 37
claims and has filed many claims in his clients’ behalf. The suits
that Hood River Valley Residents Committee is filing are about the
flawed process the state is following that does not follow the
requirements of Measure 37. The suits are not about people’s
property rights.
Peter Frothingham
Land Use Monitoring Chair
Residents Committee
Hood River
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