THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2016 5A Candidates: Election is first foray into local politics for them Continued from Page 1A dominant issue at this moment tual understanding to a real per- himself and several Ward 4 amount of traffic.” that, because I know so much in Astoria’s history. sonal understanding of what residents. In 2015, the visitor flowmore about the community now The city needs more hous- “That’s, really, probably the some of the needs in the com- Meanwhile, the tide of tour- became so intense that “you’d than I did before. I feel like I’m ing, a better library, a wider No. 1 priority for a lot of peo- munity are,” he said. ists visiting the Goonies house be kind of scared to walk out of a much better informed citizen, diversity of jobs and — an ple,” he said. According to the Secre- in Uppertown remains a neigh- your house,” he said. and a much better informed issue specific to the east side In addition, many residents tary of State’s Office, Jonesborhood has nuisance, Pederson Though the number of vis- neighbor,’” he said. “So I don’t — a solution to the fluctuat- want more jobs in town that are received campaign donations said. itors has decreased, Peder- have any regrets.” ing flood of fans checking out not tourism-related. The city is from several prominent resi- Though the house featured son said it seems to -be pickPederson said that, if he the iconic Goonies house in working to devise an economic dents, including former Mayor in the 1980s cult classic is ing up again. And with talkdoesn’t of a win, he will continue Uppertown. development strategy that, Willis Van Dusen; Jon and Kurt located in a residential area, it “Goonies” sequel, the situation attending City Council meet- This election is the first among other goals, reduces the Englund of Englund Marine draws the foot traffic — and the is bound to worsen. ings, keep up with concerns in foray into local politics for local economy’s dependence & Industrial Supply; travel actual traffic — of a commer- “It’s going to continue to Ward 4, stay engaged in local Jones, 56, and Pederson, 37. on tourism, a fickle industry. agency manager Bruce Con- cial area. rise until all heck breaks loosepolitics and, possibly, run for Both have said they share Jones said he has become ner; and commercial real estate Pederson understands the again,” he said. office again in four years. many of the same views, and more sensitive to the economic adviser Dan Stein. house’s benefits from the city’s “Whether it works out or that, if elected, their approach hardships in the community Library and Goonies perspective, he said. But the No regrets not, I’m not going to hang my to governance will consist of than he was before. Pederson, the president of problems it has created over the After canvassing the ward, head down; that’s not at all who listening to different views “You see for yourself that a the Jewell Educational Asso- last couple of years are “hard Jones told his wife, “‘You I am,” Pederson said, adding, and weighing them against lot of people are struggling to ciation union, said the library to explain to people who don’t know, if I don’t win the- “It’selec been fun. It’s been abso- the city’s interests, rather than make ends meet, take care of remains a vital topic. actually physically see the tion, I’m still really glad I did lutely fun.” trying to push an ideological their homes, and that their need The City Council voted in agenda. for a good job and more afford- July to scale back an ambitious able housing options is very and expensive plan to create a ADVERTISEMENT OPINION Housing and jobs real,” he said. “I mean, it really new library, opting to renovate Jones, the former com- hits home.” the existing 1960s-era build- Mr. Graves signs off with, “I could be wrong.” I will open with his line. In this vast, diverse mander of U.S. Coast Guard Getting to know the peo- ing — likely without a major country of ours, it distresses me that we fi nd ourselves voting for the least undesirable of two Sector Columbia River, said his ple in Uppertown, Alderbrook expansion — rather than build choices. I do not vote early because I do not know what might fall out of their closets to add to what campaigning experience con- and Emerald Heights took a larger one at Heritage Square. we already know. firmed what he already knew: his knowledge of local issues The issue has led to rather ani- My wife and I celebrated our 60th anniversary driving over 11,000 miles visiting family and The housing shortage is the “from being sort of an intellec- mated discussions between friends while we are still able. It gave us the opportunity to follow the campaigns as we never had time to do when we were home. Regardless of who wins, at my age I can deal with it, but I do have kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids and our great country I am concerned about. Some vote with their trade organizations or unions, others have a single issue behind their Crossing: Many of the event’s vote. I don’t expect to fi nd “MY” perfect candidate, but I do scrutinize their record, character and ambitions. I may not be enthused with my choice, but I am not going to write-in for a white knight and in the process give my vote to the worst of the candidates. Some think it’s time for history to expenses had already been paid be made by electing a woman to the presidency. I have no problem with that. With the exception of Argentina, we have seen some great women lead their nations. But that should not be the Continued from Page 1A ‘Getting everyone on the qualifying factor. I don’t like resorting to name-calling as both have done. Both have also declared the to show up. The chamber same page in an abbreviated other unfi t for offi ce. Nobody is comfortable with the unknown, but in this election, I am more announced it would resched- uncomfortable with the known. ule the crossing for a later date. time period is something Mrs. Clinton has not yet gone to trial and been declared guilty, but the evidence is However, “after much con- overwhelming. She says she takes the oath of offi ce and national security very seriously and implies sideration, we did not feel that that was nearly impossible.’ that her opponent will not. Facts are she has had a chance and failed miserably. She doesn’t even rescheduling the event was Kelsey Balensifer “remember.” She was given several things she needed to distance herself from, but she ignored feasible,” Event Coordina- event coordinator them. She has been party to failed domestic and foreign operations. She has repeatedly been tor Kelsey Balensifer said in a proven to have lied and still says she thinks the American people deserve all the facts. What? She release. the organization on race day. ing T-shirts — and still want to has been down on the women that accused her husband of real assault. Some of these have been The chamber, she wrote, The chamber has paid them in claim them can fill out a form, proven. The evidence is overwhelming that she has used her offi ce for getting rich and infl uence coordinates with about 60 agen- full. available on the chamber web- peddling at home and abroad. Also, destroying evidence, obstructing justice and who knows cies, contractors, suppliers and “We host this event to ben- site, by Dec. 31. Any items what else and still says she “doesn’t think she or her staff have done anything wrong.” I have never nonprofits to schedule the Great efit our community, and this is unclaimed after that date will be heard a hint of apology. “It’s a mistake.” I can still hear yelling at the Benghazi hearing, “We have 4 Columbia Crossing. just one way we can help offset recycled, reused or resold. Americans dead, what does it matter now?” “Getting everyone on the the burden of this year’s cancel- The chamber will cover the Mr. Trump has a lot of big ideas, most of which sound good. He has skeletons in his closet as same page in an abbreviated lation,” she wrote. mailing costs but has also pro- well. His accusers have not had their day in court, but they all seem to be in the past. He has denied time period is something that Though the chamber is not vided an option to donate via some of them and some appear to be exaggerations or not true. His “locker-room talk” is totally was nearly impossible,” she said obligated to issue refunds, the PayPal to cover these costs. inexcusable, but it is prevalent and some of it you hear on TV in the living room. He did say that it in an interview. participants who had registered “Thank you for your patience was inappropriate and apologized. He is accused of shooting from the hip and on the campaign trail The chamber also relies on will be mailed a $20 check to during the past couple weeks we have seen some of that. People who have sat down with him say he listens, and I don’t believe the nearly 100 volunteers who the address on file.