Fifty years ago, Oscar the Grouch greeted anyone who approached his trash can on Sesame Street with a simple, blunt message: SCRAM!
About the same time beloved Oregon Gov. Tom McCall was telling potential newcomers to “Visit, but don’t stay.”
Today, as an elected official in Lincoln County, the heart of the beautiful Oregon Coast, I’m delivering a message I thought I’d never be sending: “Don’t visit! Come back later! The beach will still be here when you are able to get here safely.” And just in case that’s not clear enough, I’ll channel my inner Oscar and add: SCRAM!
This isn’t an easy thing for me to say. More jobs in our county are dependent on hospitality than any other segment of our economy. The state’s closure of restaurants, beaches and campgrounds, and our county order curtailing lodging operations, are being keenly felt in the pocketbooks of many workers and small business owners already. I’m hearing from single parents who are worried about paying the rent and mom and pop shops of all kinds who don’t know if they can survive this,
I get those messages, loud and clear. But while lost dollars can be made up someday, a lost life is lost forever. When I ran for this office, I said my highest duty was to protect the health and safety of my communities, and I’ve never wavered from that belief.
One group of people aren’t getting that message, though — the absentee property owners. Many of these homes are in the vacation rental market, and while we’ve been able to prohibit renting a home out for less than 30 days, the legal experts say there’s no way we can keep people away from their own property.
I have friends here who have second homes in other parts of our beautiful state. They’ve cancelled all plans to travel to their homes indefinitely. They have seen what I fear many absentee owners don’t get — that in a community with limited stock in stores and two small hospitals, seeing parking lots full of out-of-state license plates right now fills many hearts with anger and fear.
So please, everyone, stay home. Follow the state, national and international guidelines and stay home. Be a decent human being who shows they care about others, even those they don’t know, and stay home.
If you truly love this coastline, you’ll do what you need to do to protect those of us who call it home.
— Claire Hall, Lincoln County commissioner
I find this letter an insult from a county official. We have not gone to our beach house as of yet, but the attitude of this County Supervisor to say we are un-welcome is a bit too much. We own our home for the last 18 years, we pay our taxes, we bring our own supplies. No, we are not coming to use or gather the limited stock in the coastal stores nor to stay at either of the two small hospitals, No, My wife and I would come because the ocean is something of beauty that is good for our health and to insure our properties are kept up to standards.
I encourage Commissioner Hall to be a little more open minded towards all of her tax payers. If she is worried that we will consume local supplies while staying in our own house, that is sad. Perhaps a better way of saying it would be to ask us to bring supplies with us because there is a limited supplies in Lincoln Co. or for us to be mindful of your coastal neighbors and the limited supplies.
On another note, those of us that do share our houses on short term rentals, we bring revenue to Lincoln county. We support this community in many ways–i hope this terrible crisis may help the locals understand how important it is that we work together in good times and bad. Let’s stop the negativity.
Get a sense of humor. She was using the Oscar the Grouch reference to soften a message that needs to be delivered. What’s more, she delivered it apologetically. I don’t know how much nicer she could have been.
I am not a homeowner in Lincoln County but have been a frequent visitor there over the past 15 years. Now it seems elected officials are using this as an excuse to embark on power trips. It’s just unbelievable the insulting and elitist garbage that has spewed forth from these people. Hopefully when this ends the tourists will take their business elsewhere
I just lost a member of my immediate family to Trump’s virus. This isn’t a game. Oregon was the third state to have a COVID-19 case, we are doing better than most, but it is because we care about each other. Get over your trivial crap. Lincoln County is a vulnerable area, we need to be as cautious, maybe overly so to protect our citizens. We need to stay together for not only this crisis but others that will undoubtedly follow.
Please, please stay home. This is a crisis we can manage, but only if we are intelligent.