Most towns have a pathology. Astorias is alcoholism. The thread of alcoholism runs back into the towns distant past.

We talk more frankly and openly about alcoholism these days than we did, even a few decades ago. Mothers Against Drunk Driving had something to do with that. So did Betty Ford, who spoke publicly about her own substance abuse and founded a treatment center that bears her name.

Alcoholism and drug use forestall emotional and intellectual development in adolescents and adults. Thats one reason why the recent news about members of the Astoria High School football team was sobering. But if you talk with longtime residents who went through the high school, you learn that alcohol has been a mainstay in the student experience.

A public Facebook site contains a segment titled Youre a true Astorian if … The Facebook page includes these revealing entries from young Astorians. Youre a true Astorian when you start drinking at a young age. Youre a true Astorian when you used to go to school drunk or high. Youre a true Astorian when you have Steve Romans number on speed dial. … (Roman is Astorias leading drunk driving defense lawyer).

Astoria Schools Superintendent Craig Hoppes effectively countered the towns dominant culture of alcoholism by imposing harsh penalties on the Astoria High School football team for its infraction of the alcohol and drug rules.

In the same way that our culture now gives us a vocabulary to talk about treatment for alcoholism, Astoria is trying to become a different place. Civic renewal is apparent across a broad swath of downtown. Attractions such as the Sunday Market give the town a new vitality. Astoria is on the map for being a cultural draw.

Against that backdrop, it is more puzzling than ever that the Astoria City Council clings to a vestige of the days when a trip to Astoria Municipal Court for drunk driving could include a virtual get-out-of-jail-free card.

When the Stephen Moore case was exposed in 2002, the City Council gave us an essential clue. The Moore case came to light only when The Daily Astorian sought a writ of mandamus. The case was moved to Clatsop County Circuit Court where it was adjudicated in a straight-up fashion, appropriate to a repeat offender.

A city council not in thrall to the towns culture of alcoholism would have asked its municipal judge how he could allow such a miscarriage of justice. Mayor Willis Van Dusen and members of the City Council did not question the competency of its municipal judge, whose main job is being a criminal defense lawyer.

Those who speak against the tacit enabling of drunk driving in Astoria easily feel like a resident in an insane asylum. And that is the essence of enabling. If you dont enable, others will say that you are the problem.

If someone notices that the Astoria Municipal Court hands out some pretty peculiar justice in drunk driving cases, they are blamed for having that observation. Thus our district attorney is the problem, because he wants competent prosecution of drunk driving cases.

In the literature of alcoholism, it is said that every alcoholic affects 10 other people. The Astoria City Councils tacit enabling of drunk driving through its Municipal Courts egregious judgments affects the entire town.

S.A.F.