The false and misleading statements in the article published in The Daily Astorian on May 16, 2017, entitled “Short-term Rentals Rules Under Fire,” cannot go unchallenged. The article begins by stating, “The City of Gearhart misrepresented a challenge to new short-term rentals, a Clatsop County Court judge has ruled.” This statement is not only false but misleading. The written “ORDER” published by Judge Dawn M. McIntosh makes no such statement and there is no known oral statement made by the judge. We suggest The Daily Astorian publish the order issued by the court to allow citizens to reach their own conclusion.

The article goes on to state that “A summary of a ballot initiative to ‘repeal and replace’ the legislation underwent significant changes as a result of the decision, issued by Judge Dawn McIntosh on May 4.” This statement is also not only false but misleading. A comparison of the summary of the ballot prepared by Gearhart’s city attorney with the summary set forth in the court’s order show that the changes made by the court were minor, insignificant and few. The court cleaned up some grammar and combined certain portions of the original summary into one sentence that were originally more then one sentence. All material statements in the original summary were left intact.

Given the above stated truths, why would Gearhart property owner David Townsend declare, “This is a huge win. What we’ve said solidly from Day One is that the current regime at City Hall is very solidly against vacation rentals. The City was trying to completely manipulate the language. The judge agreed with us, that they were 99 percent wrong. I’ve been doing this a long time and it’s the first time I’ve seen a judge completely rewrite and take everything from one side.” David Townsend made this statement in order to mislead the reader into believing that it took a court of law to protect the residents of Gearhart from its own City Hall. The fact is City Hall is not solidly against vacation rentals, The City did not try to manipulate the language, and the court did not agree with them 99 percent. This was merely an attempt by Mr. Townsend, to use his word, to manipulate public opinion against City Hall’s intention.

You may ask, who is David Townsend? He is not a resident of Gearhart, but resides in Sacramento, California. If you were to Google him you would find that David Townsend is the founder and president of Townsend Raimundo Besler & Usher. For more than 35 years he has created and directed winning multimedia, communications, political and public affairs campaigns. He provides strategic consultation to corporations, statewide coalitions, elected officials and trade associations in addition to directing state and local issues and candidate campaigns. It is difficult for one to believe that a person with Mr. Townsend’s vast experience would state “it’s the first time I’ve seen a judge completely rewrite and take everything from one side.” But then that is what a political consultant/strategist would be paid to say.

So what else is known about Mr. Townsend? If you check with the Oregon Secretary of State you will find that Mr. Townsend has registered a political PAC to support his opposition against the short-term rental regulations. He calls it “Gearhart Citizens for Fair and Reasonable Government.” Who are these “Gearhart Citizens” who support this PAC? Public records show that that there has been a total of $14,962.50 contributed to the PAC either by cash or by in-kind contribution. The records further show that $2,487.50 has been contributed by people living in Oregon and $12,475.00 has been contributed by people living outside the state.

The opposition to the short-term rental regulations is not a residents- based opposition: per City Hall records, 109 permits were applied for. Of that 109, four were from Gearhart residents. The remaining 105 were from non-residents, mostly from Portland, Washington, California, Idaho, Alaska, Minnesota.

Those opposing the current regulations are doing so to protect their for-profit investments. We don’t believe the actual residents of Gearhart want their city turned into a commercial investment property community where “short-term rental property owners” become known as “for-profit investment property owners.”

Jeanne R. Mark

Keep Gearhart Residential