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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015 Mission: ‘She puts a lot of heart and soul into it’ Continued from Page 1A Project Homeless Connect, an annual outreach initiative, links the homeless with so- cial-service providers. Shelters such as the Asto- ria Rescue Mission and Help- ing Hands in Seaside offer meals and guidance in drug- and alcohol-free settings. Contentious issue Nationally, the question of whether individuals or non- SUR¿WVVKRXOGIHHGWKHKRPH- less on the streets has become contentious. Underneath the compas- sion, some social-service ex- perts worry that food-sharing programs can enable home- lessness if not tied to services such as substance abuse treat- ment, mental health counsel- ing or housing assistance. Several cities have re- stricted food sharing with the homeless, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group, requir- ing permits to distribute food on public property or impos- ing standards to ensure food safety. Such restrictions are moti- vated by complaints that feed- ing the homeless allows them to remain in business districts, parks and neighborhoods where they can be disruptive. But the National Coalition for the Homeless argues that ¿JKWLQJ KXQJHU LV D PRUDO imperative and that “meals DERRICK DePLEDGE — The Daily Astorian Salon Boheme held a food drive for Filling Empty Bellies for the past two weeks. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Corri Buck hands people water from her car in the parking lot at 12th and Exchange streets Wednesday. should not come quid pro quo” as conditions of seeking treatment or services. “I certainly think society, GH¿QLWHO\ IURP WKH VLPSOH citizen all the way up to the government, I think we need to always think about folks in need,” said Dusten Mar- tin, the operations manager for the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank. “And I think we need to have a clear and constructive and simple way of helping people. “There’s a lot of regula- tions and restrictions and or- dinances and that kind of a thing. We have to really make sure, as a society, we’re doing justice by the folks who are in need, and not creating such a FRPSOH[ ZHE WKDW¶V GLI¿FXOW for them to navigate to get services.” Filling a need While the homeless in Clatsop County may have ac- cess to food, Buck has found ²DQGLV¿OOLQJ²DQHHG “It sounds like it’s some- body with a big heart,” Mar- tin said. “And I can only hope that there is maybe some steam that gets gathered be- hind it and there’s folks and organizations willing to help out with getting food and get- ting it out in a safe manner.” Kallie Linder, the owner of Salon Boheme, said she learned about Buck’s mission on Facebook. The downtown salon has held a food drive for Filling Empty Bellies over the past few weeks. “We are really involved in the community,” she said. “We do lots of food drives, coat drives, toy drives, shoe drives. “We just like to help.” Linder was not concerned that Buck is feeding the homeless on her own, rather than working through an es- tablished charity. She recom- mended others get involved. “Absolutely,” she said. “I say jump in with both feet.” Buck has branched out from lunches. In the back of her silver Ford Edge — the one with the bone-shaped “I (Heart) My Grandogs” mag- net — she has bins with socks, gloves, scarves and pants. She also hands out hygienic pack- ets with toothbrushes and shower supplies. Buck knows most of the men she helps feed by name. They know her as the woman who comes to them at noon at 12th Street and Exchange Street, with no strings — or preaching — attached. “She puts a lot of heart and soul into it,” said Chris Crone, who has done outreach with Helping Hands and was among the men waiting for lunch on Wednesday. $W¿UVW%XFNGHVFULEHGWKH experience as personally grat- ifying. “I feel so good right now my insides are dancing!” she wrote on Facebook in No- vember. But as she has gotten to know the men, and as “an- gels” like Linder and others have donated food and mon- ey, it has become something deeper. “They’re my friends,” she said. “And that’s what I’m doing. I’m simply feeding my friends. And I have a whole bunch of friends helping me do it.” Buck does not know when her mission might end. “I can’t answer that ques- tion,” she said. “I will go until I can’t go no more. I do not see an end.” Boatyard:1R¿QHVIRUWKH3RUWDVORQJDVLWGHDOVZLWKVWRUPZDWHUWUHDWPHQW Continued from Page 1A There’s still a 45-boat wait- ing list in Ilwaco’s boatyard, Green said, and the Port needs to advertise that its boatyard is still open for business. “They’ve completely put a halt to hauling anything that might be a derelict vessel,” Green said of Ilwaco’s policy toward suspected derelicts, add- ing there is a minimum require- ment of $300,000 in liability in- surance to haul out there, along with a limit of 30 days. Green added the Port should put some pressure on the Oregon State Marine Board to help deal with the boats that have been in its yard for years. Knight said AFP laid down VRPH ¿QHU JUDYHO EHKLQG WKH Best Western Lincoln Inn, where it had been storing logs, but where the several derelict vessels and long-term stays of the boatyard will be moved. The committee discussed short-term improvements to the boatyard, including making boat owners sign a copy of the Port’s boatyard rules; covered work spaces; erecting fences to im- prove security and, with privacy slats, cut down on crosswinds; sweeping the boatyard; and VWRUPGUDLQ¿OWHUV Regarding any short-term improvements, Knight said he would have a better idea in the coming weeks of where the Port VWDQGV ¿QDQFLDOO\ ZKHQ LW UH- ceives its 2013-14 audit being performed by Moss Adams. Background In August, the Port found out from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality it would need to follow more stringent monitoring requirements after testing high in copper at outfalls on Pier 3 and underneath Born- stein Seafoods between Piers 1 and 2. At the end of last year, it submitted a required stormwater WUHDWPHQWSODQWR'(4DELR¿O- tration pond located on the west- ern edge of Pier 3. EDWARD STRATTON — The Daily Astorian A conceptual drawing from 2005 shows the plan for the Port of Astoria’s Pier 3 to become a boatyard, with shops, covered work spaces, multiple places for boats to be hauled or towed out and a park on land owned by the De- partment of State Lands. cars near the Oregon State Pa- WURORI¿FHVWKDWFRXOGEHFRQWULE- uting to the issue, Knight said. OSP is moving from its Port lo- cation on Gateway Avenue this summer to Dolphin Avenue in Warrenton, which outside of the tsunami inundation zone, The Port’s stormwater plan depended Department of State Lands approval to place the sys- tem on Pier 3 land. DSL recently QRWL¿HG.QLJKWLWZRXOGEHZLOO- ing to lease the strip of land to the Port for $750 a year for the system. He added they offered to sell it to the Port, albeit with a price tag likely in the millions. Next steps Knight envisions two or three more meetings about short- Knight announced in late FDXVH¿QHVDVORQJDVWKH3RUW term planning with the boatyard, February that, because of pollu- moves forward with stormwater with monthly meetings after that looking at the long-term. WLRQFRQFHUQVDQGSRWHQWLDO¿QHV treatment. At the last boatyard meet- from DEQ, the Port would ten- The Port has troubled over tatively close the boatyard down the source of copper, because ing, members suggested adding by April 1. He canceled the the outfall near Bornstein Sea- names such as Greg Morrill, closure after saying the state as- foods is away from the boatyard. president of Bergerson Con- sured him the boatyard wouldn’t There are some rusted, crushed struction, and Willie Toristoja, who helps run WCT Marine and Construction Inc. at North Tongue Point. Some members again mentioned Bill Cook, the former deputy director of the Port and a central force in its concept of a Pier 3 boatyard, could be a good source of in- formation on the boatyard com- mittee, and his presence might improve the committee’s image through such sources as the Save Our Boatyard Facebook page, created by Cook. Knight said he still had lingering reservations, noting some potentially hard feelings between Cook and some of the Port commissioners. He said he keeps the lines of communi- cation open with Cook. “If Bill can help us, I’d be happy to call him,” Knight said. Coming Friday, the Port of Astoria’s boatyard committee also discussed a possible new location on the central water- front for the boatyard, related to the agency’s attempt to clean up past petroleum contamination. Fair: Participation rate of youth in the workforce has fallen by nearly half since 2000 Continued from Page 1A “Right now, we have about 400 job listings,” she said. “At least a third of them don’t re- quire previous training or expe- rience.” According to an article called “Youth Employment in Northwest Oregon,” put out by the Employment Department in February 2014, the participa- tion rate of youth in the work- force has fallen by nearly half since 2000. The Census Bureau estimat- ed an annual average of nearly 2,700 youth of ages 14 through 18 working in Clatsop, Colum- bia, Lincoln and Tillamook counties in 2000. By 2012, that number fell to about 1,500. The unemployment rate for Ore- gon youth aged 16 through 19 topped 30 percent during the recession the report said, and nationally, labor force partic- ipation for that age group fell from 47 percent in 2002 to 34 percent in 2012. In the meantime, college enrollment soared during the recession, a national trend. “They’re more focused on school than in the past,” Sykes said. Resume-building The mission of the job fair was threefold, providing in- formation on immediate jobs, training opportunities and ca- reers. While many employers were offering immediate jobs, from Wyndham and Baked Alaska to Fort George Brewery and retail outlets, others provid- ed future training opportunities, such as Clatsop Community College and Tongue Point Job Corps Center. “At least a quarter of our RI¿FHUV ZHUH ERUQ DQG UDLVHG in Clatsop County,” Astoria 3ROLFH'HSDUWPHQWRI¿FHU%UL- an Aydt said, adding that while SROLFH RI¿FHUV QHHG WR EH dispatchers can be 18. The mar- ket for those jobs is competitive and the department was mostly at the job fair to tell the teens how to prepare, he said. Executive Director Alana Garner from the Astoria Down- town Historic District Associa- tion was there with another vol- unteer, advertising on behalf of downtown employers and for volunteerism with the associa- tion as a resume-builder. Corbin Lampa, a junior from AHS, said he was there seeking immediate employ- ment, in maybe the forestry or construction sector. But the short-term experience could likely play into his longer-term goals of studying forestry at Oregon State University and becoming a forest engineer. It’s been a long time since there was a high school job fair, AHS Principal Lynn Jackson said. His hope was for students to come away with at least one or two ideas of what’s available locally, in terms of employ- ment. “It isn’t like it was in my day, when you just moved away,” Kevin Leahy said. As executive director of Clatsop Economic Develop- ment Resources, Leahy played a central role in organizing the job fair. It took months to put together, he said, including a volunteer committee of em- ployers to educators. The hope, he said, is to have it every year from now on. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
