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WEEKEND
EDITION
FRIDAY EXTRA • 1C
IN ONE EAR • 1B
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015
142nd YEAR, No. 158
ONE DOLLAR
Twists and turns on The Way to Wellville
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Initiative Coordinating Coun-
cil (HICCup), which created
The Way to Wellville, said
5LFN %UXVK LV WKH ¿UVW WR there has been some confusion
admit he and other organizers since the initiative evolved
behind The Way to Wellville, from a competition for a $5
a national five-year challenge million prize to a collabora-
to promote health across five tion with no prize money, but a
communities including Clat- chance to share ideas and con-
sop County, could do a better nect with investors for overall
job explaining the details be- better health.
hind their initiative.
“Honestly, we have not been
Brush, the CEO of Health our best PR agency,” Brush said.
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
Rick
Brush
“Our website is, as you know,
very out of date. We are now
talking to a Web designer and a
communication consultant.”
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munities under 100,000 in pop-
ulation in August for the chal-
lenge.
The other four communities
selected out of 42 applicants are
Greater Muskegon, Mich., Lake
County, Calif., Niagara Falls,
N.Y., and Spartanburg, S.C.
When the communities ap-
plied to be a part of The Way to
Wellville, each was told the one
that improves the most would
win $5 million at the end of the
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However, when representa-
tives from each community met
A BLAST FROM
OUR PAST
Sept. 16 to 18 in Tampa, Fla., for
a Way to Wellville introduction
conference, the Wellville Five
requested to shift the initiative
so the communities could col-
laborate with each other.
See WELLVILLE, Page 8A
Another
proposal
afoot to
change
Port picks
Group wants voters
to decide by district
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Astoria’s Historic Landmarks Commission has filed an application to designate the property with the old White Star Cannery boiler
as historic.
Iconic cannery boiler from
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By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
T
he old White Star Cannery
boiler, a stark and solitary
reminder of Astoria’s past,
may get historic designation.
The city’s Historic Landmarks
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tion to designate the property with
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last rocks in the Columbia River
west of Second Street as historic.
City planners are also explor-
ing development restrictions over
the river near the old boiler as part
of the Bridge Vista phase of the
Riverfront Vision Plan that would
keep building heights to the top of
the riverbank.
Taken together, the historic des-
ignation and building height limit
would essentially shield the property
from development and preserve an
unobstructed view of the river, the
shipping lane and the Astoria Bridge.
Jill Stokeld, the owner of The
Ship Inn, who pays $4,750 a year
to lease the property around the old
boiler as view protection for her
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described the view as “priceless.”
See PAST, Page 8A
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Jill Stokeld, owner of The Ship Inn, walks through dining room of
the restaurant. The dining room has an expansive view of the boil-
er, the river and the bridge. Stokeld pays $4,750 a year to lease the
property around the boiler as view protection.
The Committee for Democratic
Change at the Port of Astoria hopes
to start collecting signatures soon for
a ballot initiative in the May 2015
election or later that would make Port
of Astoria Commission elections by
district, similar to the Clatsop Coun-
ty Board of Commissioners.
The ballot initiative is a response
to the recent initiative petition by the
Committee to
Restore, Revi-
talize and Reor-
ganize the Port
of Astoria. That
group is collect-
ing signatures
for a possible
ballot initiative
in the May 2015
election or lat-
Larry
er that would
Taylor
ask voters in
Clatsop County
whether they want Port commission-
ers recommended and vetted by local
governing bodies, but ultimately ap-
pointed by the governor of Oregon.
The Committee for Democratic
Change at the Port of Astoria seeks
to:
• Make Port commissioners elect-
ed by districts, similar to the county
commission.
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commissioners in the May 2017 elec-
tion.
“It is not appropriate to jettison
democratic processes just because
the current Board of Commission-
ers is not popular with some people”
wrote Larry Taylor, chief petitioner in
the effort, in a press release.
See PORT, Page 8A
Kitzhaber unlikely to comply with calls to quit
Gubernatorial
turnover is rare
here, but not
unprecedented
By HILLARY BORRUD
and PETER WONG
EO Media Group
Pamplin Media Group
SALEM — Democratic
leaders in the Oregon Legisla-
ture said Thursday they do not
want the controversy around
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lady Cylvia Hayes to distract
lawmakers from important
policy and budget work.
Lawmakers spoke out af-
ter The Oregonian editorial
board on Wednesday called
Pamplin Media Group/Jonathan House
Gov. John Kitzhaber deflected questions about first lady Cyl-
via Hayes’ tax returns during a press conference Friday in
Portland. The Oregonian has called for Kitzhaber to resign.
for Kitzhaber to resign, and
wrote that he is “now less a
governor than a source of un-
ending distraction.”
Hayes accepted sever-
al paid jobs at organizations
with an interest in the same
state policy issues on which
she advised the governor, and
The Oregonian reported this
week that people involved in
Kitzhaber’s 2010 campaign
helped Hayes secure two of
those positions.
Kitzhaber does not plan to
resign, and said in an emailed
statement that “I was elected
to serve the citizens of the
state of Oregon and I intend to
continue to do so.”
Although
gubernatorial
turnover is common in some
states, only four Oregon gov-
ernors have resigned in the
state’s 155-year history. Near-
ly all did so in order to accept
a different elected or appoint-
ed position.
“We’re not Illinois, and
we’re not Louisiana,” said
Jim Moore, a political science
professor and director of the
Tom McCall Center for Poli-
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versity.
At the same time, Moore
acknowledged the ethical
questions Kitzhaber now fac-
es are unprecedented for a sit-
ting governor in Oregon. For-
mer Gov. Neil Goldschmidt
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than a decade by the time Or-
egonians learned he sexually
abused a teenage girl while he
was the mayor of Portland.
Kerry Tymchuk, executive
director of The Oregon His-
torical Society, also said Or-
egon governors resigned for
mundane reasons.
“Oregon’s been fairly
clean in that respect,” Tym-
chuk said.
See QUIT, Page 8A