Good news for the garden: the bees are back.

Summer check-in

Baby squirrels are learning the ropes, bounding around and chattering from the trees. Mama deer have spurned their yearlings, and our Nahcotta resident mama and her new long-legged fawn have been frequenting my lower lot. The osprey, eagles, and other predatory birds are being scolded by the crows. So, in short, summer is in full swing.

And the rhodies are stunning this year!

Also, on one of last week’s glorious mornings I stood in the midst of my old ceanothus, now in full bloom, just to watch the bees swarming around those blue-purple blossoms. I was worried about 10 days ago when its flowering started because I counted only one, two, three hesitant bees. But now I’m encouraged. This is my annual assessment of pollinator and garden health and so far so good. The bees have finally arrived en masse. My climbing rose just next door is also in bloom and the pollen-gatherers are loving that too. So maybe not all is lost in the world of insects.

Just another gardening note before we move on: this is the time to pull or cut to the ground those invasive and domineering scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) now blooming everywhere. The time to eradicate this garden enemy is when it’s young enough to pull out; but if it’s too big to pull, at least cut it to the ground so it can’t spread seeds everywhere and increase its territory next year. Do it now!

Ban the Boom update

Just a reminder that our county commissioners assigned an arbitrary and unwarranted “supermajority” requirement to the Ban the Boom vote. This meant that they required 60% of registered voters to participate in order to make the vote “valid,” despite the fact that they had already called it “advisory only.” (Count them — how many ways can they duck this issue?) Well, we didn’t quite make the supermajority rate (more on this in a moment) but the overall majority of folks did vote to ban the boom.

Yes, it was a close vote, but in our democracy, majority rules — at least that’s what we hold as one of our bedrock principles. Can you think of any other election in which administrators have said to a winning candidate, “Oh, sorry, you just didn’t get a big enough majority — we’re going to let the minority of voters put this loser in place”? No, neither can I. Yet, our county commissioners seem to be comfortable with that. They are still zigging and zagging, bobbing and weaving, trying to deny that as a county we have a “burning issue” that needs some final resolution. Meanwhile, we’re being held hostage by a minority of voters.

Starting next year, Ilwaco and Long Beach, the only municipalities on the Peninsula, have decided to ban consumer fireworks within their city limits. (Municipal shows will still take place.) But our commissioners have left the rest of us hanging out to dry — or whatever the appropriate metaphor is — for the mayhem we’ll be experiencing again in several weeks. The rulings in Ilwaco and Long Beach will undoubtedly mean that in the future even more unregulated fireworks will be taking place up on the north end, where 1) we provide more than our fair share of financial revenue to the county, and 2) we receive less than our fair share of county representation. OK, ‘nuf said. I hope saner heads prevail and that they can do the right thing by honoring the majority of voters.

Here’s to our health

Also on the April 25th ballot was a bond measure to increase the services and facilities of our Ocean Beach Hospital. Since this is a bond issue it did legally require a supermajority of support — 60% of participating voters needed to vote in favor of the bond. In this case even a higher majority of voters said, “Yes!” but the bond measure was five yes votes short of reaching the 60% requirement.

So back to the drawing board. Or, in this case, the Ocean Beach Hospital Board’s community action committee, now making an even bigger effort to get out the vote. (Initially, perhaps, folks were a little too sanguine that this was a shoe-in.) Yes, the bond issue is on the ballot again this summer. So now is the time to come to the aid of your county.

The new hospital bond issue vote will take place Aug. 1; you should receive your ballots in early-to-mid July. This is a modest bond issue — it’s projected to cost $0.17 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. So for the owner of a $400,000 home, the cost would be $68 per year. This amount is far outweighed by the benefits projected.

A few details. One aspect of the funding would be to establish and staff an urgent care center. I spoke to chair of the hospital board, Nancy Gorshe, last week to find out what this would entail.

“There is a big difference between an Urgent Care facility and a Emergency Room [ER],” she said. “Right now anyone who needs care without a doctor’s appointment comes to the ER at the hospital, but that is really meant to be for life-threatening events or diseases — like heart attacks or strokes. The staff there is highly trained physicians, so staffing costs are higher. They are ready to robe up and connect you to OHSU or a heart specialist. An urgent care facility is set up for patients who just need stitches or simpler medical care; it can be staffed by a nurse practitioner.”

“A lot of our restaurants send staff with a knife cut to the hand to the ER when an urgent care visit would be sufficient, cost less, and take less time,” Gorshe continued. “You might wait longer in an ER to get taken care of because if someone comes in needing life support, they are bumped to the front of the line. And that extra half hour you might wait could make a difference.”

This funding will also support an update to hospital facilities. Nancy talks about the era when she became the main caregiver for her elder mother, Marilyn Gorshe. “She loved the care she got in the hospital. But her room did not have a wheelchair accessible bathroom — so that involved two nurses who had to come in and shift her from her wheelchair to a walker or onto the toilet. These facilities were built in the 60s and have never been remodeled — they need some updating.”

Get your ballot in by Aug. 1!

The supermajority will be a challenge this time too because, as we’ve mentioned, the vote takes place in August — a time when many peninsulites are vacationing elsewhere. So the main message is “Just vote!” If you’re going to be traveling, get that ballot in the mail early.

There are other ways you can help too; there are yard signs to be had. These are good for visually reminding others that a vote is coming up. Or you could write a letter to the editor of the Chinook Observer in support of the hospital bond. If you’d like to do this and might want some helpful suggestions, email Jerry or Sally Macy at jsmacys@yahoo.com.

In addition, the action committee is gathering a list of names of local folks who are endorsing this hospital bond. To have your name included, email Madeline Matson at madmatson21@gmail.com. And the campaign won’t turn down any donations — it costs money to pay for banners, advertisements and yard signs. Finally, just talk to your friends and neighbors and encourage them to join those of us voting “Yes.”

A vital community, especially one like our cluster of small towns, needs a vibrant healthcare system — one that supports local employment, economic development, and quality of life. If you love where you live — and why else would you be here?! — support the systems that keep us all healthy.