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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2020)
OUR 113th Year October 9, 2020 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM $1.00 MEET THE CANDIDATES Adam Wood Kathy Kleczek David Posalski Three vie for Seaside’s Ward 4 seat By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Candidates vying for the Ward 4 seat on the Seaside City Council are focusing on emer- gency preparedness, housing, transportation and tourism. Kathy Kleczek, David Posalski and Adam Wood are com- peting for the vacancy left by City Councilor Seth Morrisey, who did not file for reelection. Oct. 13 is the last day to register to vote, and ballots will be mailed from Oct. 14 to Oct. 20. Kleczek is the for- mer chairwoman of the Sunset Empire Trans- portation District board and the representa- tive for the district on Northwest Transporta- tion Options. She also serves on the Special Districts Association of Oregon’s board. She established and runs her own business, La Luna Loca, in Can- non Beach, with origi- nally designed, colorful clothing. “The common thread See Seaside , Page A6 Bob Shortman By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Issues in the races for Position 2 and Position 4 on the City Council coalesce on a proposed new site for the fire sta- tion and the potential pur- chase of the former Gear- hart Elementary School. Emergency prepared- ness, investing in the With more than two dozen active incidents including the 56,000-acre Zogg fire in Shasta and 60,000-acre Glass fire in Napa and Sonoma, Clat- sop County firefighters are returning to the front lines in California. The Oregon Office of the State Fire Mar- shal mobilized Oregon firefighting resources, including Clatsop County Task Force 57, to assist with the coordinated response to California wildfires, following a request for state-to-state assistance made by Cali- fornia to Oregon, the fire marshal’s office reported Jack Zimmerman area and preserving Gearhart’s character are also important to the candidates. City Councilor Reita Fackerell, who was appointed to Position 2 in December 2018, will face opposition from Bob Shortman. City Councilor Dan Jesse, who was first elected in Position 4 in 2012, is running for a third term. He faces chal- lenger Jack Zimmerman. Position 2 Fackerell seeks a sus- tainable future in the areas of finance and livability. Improving, maintaining and add- ing new park space is another priority. “I feel that Gearhart is See Gearhart, Page A6 ON THE past 19 tsunamis to have been generated by a Cas- cadia earthquake, fi ve struck before 320 years had passed. It has been 320 years since the last one, and the clock is ticking.” Seaside’s geographic location near the junction of two seismically active faults that could lead to a fatality rate of more than 50% if and when the big one hits. This assumes a winter- time event, Horning said, and could be fi ve to 10 that RISE See Shakeout, Page A3 Firefi ghters on move to California again By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Dan Jesse Competitive races in Gearhart Preparing for the next disaster starts with ‘Shakeout’ Science holds some unsettling forecasts for the North Coast. The Oregon Coast is in a cluster of earthquakes and tsunamis, according to City Councilor Tom Horning of Horning Geosciences. The average time between events is 330 years. Most earthquakes happen in a cluster, he said, and statistics show we are in a cluster now. “The window has been open for the next tsunami for the last 120 years,” Horning said. “It could hap- pen at any time. Of the Reita Fackerell last week . More than 3.9 million acres have burned in Cal- ifornia this year. “I’m sure California firefighters are getting tired after all the fires,” Seaside Fire Chief Joey Daniels said. “Trying to relieve them if the state of Oregon is able to do it is something we always try to do.” Of local teams, Sea- side and Gearhart sent four firefighters each; Knappa and Lewis and Clark fire departments each sent three, and Asto- ria and Nehalem each sent two. Seaside, Gearhart, Astoria and Knappa all dispatched apparatus See Firefi ghters, Page A3 Neal Maine/Pacifi cLight Images Elk grazing near playground equipment. No limit on number of elk in Gearhart Oregon Solutions By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal From a herd of about 40 elk a decade ago, wildlife biolo- gist Paul Atwood of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life said the population jumped to about 100 elk in the Gearhart herd just a couple of years ago. That number is estimated now at about 150 and will exceed 200 in the near future. “I would certainly expect local elk populations to increase,” Atwood said. “There’s not going to be a fast way to deal with this. With more elk comes more damage.” Sticking with the status quo, things will get worse year after year, project manager Man- uel Padilla said, given the low mortality of elk and the lack of options to reduce the population. Oregon Solutions, housed in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State Univer- sity, works across jurisdictional lines to help solve problems big and small, Padilla said. “Some are statewide, some are community specifi c and they can range pretty much anything you can think of.” Gov. Kate Brown designated the Clatsop Plains Elk Collab- orative as an Oregon Solutions project in April 2019, appointing Warrenton Mayor Henry Balen- sifer and Seaside Mayor Jay Bar- ber as project co-conveners. There are more elk in Gear- hart than any other city within the project area, Atwood said, attracted by access to lawns, fer- tilized landscapes and two golf courses — a recipe for “really stellar feed.” Local elk are in good body condition and have access to feed year-round, Atwood said. Healthy elk cows are more likely to carry their calf to term, he said, and when delivered, more likely to be in good body condi- tion than the average calf. With a low mortality rate and few if any predators, the major- ity of calves are recruited into the adult population — meaning more property damage, more elk-vehi- cle collisions and more unwanted elk-human interactions. While these are rare, Sgt. Joe Warwick of the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division said the number is rising. “We deal with them on a case- by-case, individual basis,” War- wick said. “My perspective is nothing can outweigh the safety of humans.” Elk management can also impact local fi rst responders. On Sept. 25 the Gearhart Vol- unteer Fire Department assisted See Elk, Page A3 Khan named state lodging group’s board chairman By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal The Oregon Lodging & Restaurant Association announced Masudur Khan as its new board chairman Thursday. Khan helms Seaside Lodging and owns and manages 13 hotels and one restaurant on the Ore- gon Coast including the Inn at Seaside, the River Inn at Seaside, the Coast River Inn and the recently debuted four-story, 65-room Saltline Hotel. Khan’s wife, Taslema Sultana, operates The Gil- bert Inn and the Inn at Haystack Rock. “I like challenges,” Khan said. “We have a lot of work to do in our industry, but I’m commit- ted and excited.” A Seaside hotelier for more than a decade, Khan was named the state lodg- ing association’s 2015 lodging operator of the year. Success during the coronavirus pandemic is not the same for everyone, he said. Hotel or restaurant location, size and demo- graphic are all concerns. “Every property is unique, and it’s going to come back slowly,” Khan said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty. We will have to work harder to survive. We have lots to do.” The lodging business is rapidly evolving, as some visitors are looking for private dining or meeting area options. “Groups are renting Coast River Business Journal See Khan, Page A3 Masudur Khan opened the 65-room Saltline Hotel in July.