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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2015)
12A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015 Library: There is a political ingredient in the preservation debate Continued from Page 1A Mayor Arline LaMear, a retired librarian who has made library renovation her priority, said the city could start fresh at Heritage Square. “Let’s just move. Let’s go. Let’s do something,” she told the City Council during a work session on the library that set the stage for the vote. “It’s just been going on for so long and it seems like, you know, nothing has happened.” The city has long wanted to transform Heritage Square, which has been undergoing a makeover with the Garden of Surging Waves and the envi- ronmental cleanup underneath the former Safeway property. The square also includes a parking lot and the American Legion building. The Sellwood-Moreland Library and the Hollywood Library in Portland are possi- ble models for pairing public libraries with mixed-use de- velopment. New directions The City Council had agreed last year to proceed with the library renovation plan into the Waldorf. But the composition of the council changed after the November elections, and public pressure to save the Waldorf grew, so councilors opted to take an- other look. LaMear said she and city staff met privately with Ted Osborn, the president of the Lower Columbia Preserva- tion Society, and John Good- enberger, a historic buildings consultant, as well as with associates of Suenn Ho, the Portland urban designer who Daily Astorian file The Astoria City Council has directed staff to look at relo- cating the Astoria Public Library to Heritage Square from its current location at 10th and Exchange streets. worked on the Garden of Surg- ing Waves, about expanding the library into the Waldorf without demolishing the hotel. Those options, which could have included hous- ing and other development, would not have provided ad- equate space for an expanded library, the mayor said. Expanding the library at its existing location, meanwhile, would disappoint the preser- vationists who want to protect the architecture of the build- ing, she said. While the debate has been about preservation, there is a political ingredient. Larry Taylor, the Intel technology manager who lost to LaMear in November, has been in- volved in both the campaign to save the Waldorf and the more recent appeal on behalf of the existing library. “If we are to go the route RIKDYLQJWR¿JKWWKHPZH¶UH going to be running into years and years of appeals,” LaMear said after the work session. “And I’m not sure that it wouldn’t end up cost- ing us just as much to try to do that as it would be to build a brand-new facility that we can build the way we want to.” LaMear and some on the City Council worry if a new library is built at Heritage Square, both the Waldorf and the old library will sit vacant for years as blights on a block shared with City Hall. The mayor said, however, the ho- tel and the library might be more attractive to buyers if packaged together for rede- velopment. City Councilor Drew Her- zig said the hotel, which is privately owned by Groat Brothers Inc., a transportation DQGGHPROLWLRQ¿UPLQ:DVK- ington state, is not the city’s responsibility. “We do not own that build- ing,” he told the council. “If people want to save the Mer- wyn, they can form a nonprof- it, they can get partners, they can do it. “We should not have that albatross around our neck.” ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian Daily Astorian file The inside of the Astoria Column as seen in this 2002 photo. Column: ‘It’s the symbol of our city’ column’s benefactors. “And giving back to something that Astoria Column, a non- is so substantial and touches SUR¿W WKDW KDV JDWKHUHG so many people’s lives.” more than $3 million to Marie Laibinis, of MCL preserve the column since Conservation LLC, a Port- forming in 1988. ODQG¿UPZLOOVHUYHDVSURM- Jordan Schnitzer, a Port- ect director and conservator. land real estate magnate and Laibinis also worked on the philanthropist and the presi- column restoration project dent of Friends of the Astoria 20 years ago. Column, said $500,000 has John Goodenberger, a been raised so far for the res- historic buildings consultant, toration plan. Schnitzer said will serve as site manager. he and his mother, Arlene, “It’s the symbol of our have donated $250,000. city,” Mayor Arline LaMear “What greater joy do said of the column. “It’s an you have in life than giving amazing place. I think we all back,” Schnitzer said of the feel that way.” Continued from Page 1A Daily Astorian file North Coast residents and visitors crowd the Asto- ria Column atop Coxcomb Hill in 2011. James Egler, a student in Clatsop Community College’s Historic Preservation and Restoration program, hammers away at nails inside a 1920’s-era cupola Saturday as bracing is added to strengthen and stabilize the structure. Cupola: Reconstructing the octagon base will make up a large part of their work “They had this cupola sit- ting there and they asked us Cangelosi said the Rec- if we would be willing to take reation District removed the it on,” Swerdloff said. “They FXSROD DV SDUW RI D UHURR¿QJ didn’t just take it off and throw project. it out. It was in pretty bad “We had to take it down shape, but I think they realized anyway,” Cangelosi said. “It the historic value.” became dilapidated from be- Swerdloff’s students have ing out in the elements for the already begun preliminary better part of 90 years.” work on the cupola. The stu- Cangelosi said an adjunct dents spent all day Satur- professor from Clatsop Com- day and Sunday continuing munity College, Anthony their restoration work in- Stoppiello, connected the Rec- side a building at 667 Duane reation District with the histor- St. across from the Clatsop ic preservation students. County Jail. Scovel’s Towing in Ne- A large part of the work halem moved the cupola to is reconstructing the octagon Astoria. base. Three of the eight pan- Lucien Swerdloff, the his- els have to be replaced and the toric preservation class in- RWKHU ¿YH SDQHOV DUH UHSDLU- structor, said the cupola is one able, Swerdloff said. of the more unique structures “The idea with most preser- his class has worked to restore. vation projects is to try to save The octagon-shaped cupo- as much of the original as pos- OD PDGH RI ¿U DQG FHGDU ZDV sible,” Swerdloff said. designed by famed Portland ar- 2QFHWKHVWXGHQWV¿QLVKWKH chitect A.E. Doyle. At one time, restoration work, the plan is to the cupola was functional and bring the cupola back down to would allow moisture to leave Nehalem and use a crane to when students hung their wet place it back on the Recreation jackets in the school building. District building, where it has It has since fallen into disrepair. been for nearly a century. Continued from Page 1A Photos by ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian Joseph Cain uses a Japanese pull saw to create a new sill for the North Coast Recreation District building’s cupola Saturday. The structure, used to provide ventilation and commonly found atop barns, had deteriorated over the years and needed to be restored if it was to remain a part of the Nehalem building. Lucien Swerdloff, the historic preservation instructor at Clatsop Community College, hauls away a louver to be painted with primer before being reinstalled on the cupo- la the class was working to restore Saturday. Port: Browne, Herman each seek more than $2.5 million on claims Continued from Page 1A • Individual immunity. “The only proper defendant to plaintiff’s claims is defen- dant Port, pursuant to ORS 30.265(1). Therefore, defen- dant Michael J. Weston II should be dismissed;” • Tort Claims Act, limit- ing claims for damages by Browne and Herman to caps set forth in the Oregon Tort Claims Act, as to all state law claims; • Preclusion of punitive damages. “Pursuant to the Or- egon Tort claims Act, plaintiff cannot recover punitive dam- ages from a public entity;” • ORS 659A.885 (civil action), placing additional limitations on the damages Browne and Herman can re- coup; • Reservation to assert ad- ditional defenses, allowing the Port and Weston to assert additional claims as discovery in the case unfolds; and • The ability to recover at- torney fees and other costs if the Port and/or Weston prevail. Allegations Browne and Herman each seek more than $2.5 million on claims of whistleblower re- taliation, aiding and abetting retaliation, unauthorized dis- closure of a whistleblower’s identity, breach of employ- ment contract, defamation of character and post-employ- ment retaliation against the Port and/or Weston. Their allegations paint a grim picture of their time un- der Weston: • They include that Weston abandoned or mismanaged continuing projects in his ex- LVWLQJ SRVLWLRQ DQG GHÀHFWHG blame onto subordinates; • Attempted to give union staff and himself a more fa- vorable vacation accrual pro- vision, which, if approved, would have cost the Port up to $156,800 in annual personnel costs; • Gave lease discounts to certain businesses connected to individual Port commis- sioners, which cost the Port $51,000 annually, in support of his bid to be permanent di- rector; • Hired several employees without authority, against a Port Commission-mandated hiring freeze and without the funds necessary to pay their VDODU\DQGEHQH¿WVDSRWHQWLDO loss to the Port of $350,000. Once his actions were dis- covered, the complaints add, Weston threatened to use lay- offs and furloughs to balance the budget; • Waived the new employ- ees’ probationary status to protect them from the Port’s layoff policy; • Gave himself and his new “executive team” addi- tional/accelerated accrual of vacation time, full medical coverage and fully employ- er-covered retirement contri- butions; guaranteed himself WKHLPSURYHGEHQH¿WVLQFDVH he didn’t become permanent director; and asked his execu- tive team to keep the contracts secret from the Port Commis- sion and International Long- shore and Warehouse Union; • Intentionally gave the Port Commission inaccurate RULQFRPSOHWH¿QDQFLDOLQIRU- mation to falsely imply the 3RUW¶V¿QDQFLDOFRQGLWLRQZDV improving under his steward- ship; • Compromised the Port Commission’s governance by failing to fully disclose his successful and attempted self-interested transactions and by asking staff to stay quiet; • Abused his authority by threatening the job status of any employee who opposed or reported his actions to the Port Commission; and • Violated the Port’s per- sonnel policy by keeping secret notes critical of cer- tain employees without their knowledge or an opportunity to respond. The Daily Astorian has a pending public records re- quest for a third-party report performed last summer by Local Government Personnel ,QVWLWXWHLQWRFRPSODLQWV¿OHG against Weston, at the time the interim executive director. In early August, Port Commission Chairman John Raichl said that the Port had received the complaints July 17, and that the investigation started July 28. The com- plaints were likely by Browne and Herman. At the time, Port attorney Ronald Guerra said because the report involved the head of a public agency, it would eventually become public. But the Port denied a public records request by The Daily Astorian, triggering a review of the validity of the denial by District Attorney Josh Mar- quis.