THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015
NORTH COAST
A race in Warrenton,
even if by accident
Dennis Warren, Joe
Talamantz run for
school board post
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — Dennis Warren, a
former Warrenton-Hammond School
Board member, thought he was ap-
plying to take over the Position 5 on
the board, being vacated this summer
by former Major League pitcher Bri-
an Bruney.
But Warren found himself locked
into a race for the two remaining
years of an unexpired term in Posi-
tion 7, for which he’s challenging
appointed incumbent Joe Talamantez
Jr. for in the May 19 special district
election.
Warren, 64, served on the school
board from 2007 to 2011, but didn’t
file for re-election, citing health is-
sues. After graduating from the Uni-
versity of Oregon, he was a U.S.
history and English teacher at War-
renton from 1974 to 2004, along with
coaching the wrestling team for more
than 26 years. After retirement, he
helped run the People’s Scholarship,
which gave out over $100,000 in a
seven-year time frame, he said. He’s
married to Jocelyn Warren.
“It looks like an interesting time
for the schools right now. I think I
could bring some more experience
to the board,” Warren said, counting
among his former students current
board members Kelly Simonsen,
Bruney, Isaac Anderson and Adam
Neahring.
Warren said he’d like to know
more about the new Smarter Bal-
anced testing being rolled out along
with Common Core State Standards,
an effort to nationalize learning stan-
dards.
“That’s a huge deal; they’re put-
ting so much emphasis on that,” War-
ren said, adding that he’s been on
state-level policy committees to help
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the region in 2003 with his wife, Kris-
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ing Warrenton Grade School.
He was appointed to Position 7
of the Warrenton-Hammond School
Board over the summer, after Len
Mossman left the school board to be
more involved in The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I like being involved in things that
impact myself” and my son, Talamantez
said. He’s involved in Warrenton Kids
Inc. Warrenton Kids Football, Lower
Columbia Wrestling and a member of
the Warrenton Parks Advisory Board.
“If it’s good for my son, it’s going to be
good for everyone else.”
Talamantez had also applied for the
board position vacated by Mark Carl-
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Astoria who left for a similar job in
Joe
Dennis
Lake Tahoe, Calif. But Bruney was ap-
Talamantez, Jr.
Warren
pointed to the position.
Talamantez said he wants to have in-
develop history tests. Warren said
he’s also represented the teacher’s put as the Warrenton-Hammond School
Board grows and institutes new testing.
union.
The Warrenton-Hammond School Before joining the school board, Ta-
District recently ordered new portable lamantez said he thought it was about
classrooms to help house burgeoning providing day-to-day direction to the
elementary classes and has been look- principal and staff. But after months of
ing at whether to invest in its existing reading up on the school board, he said
buildings or build a new campus, likely he learned how the school board focus-
es on the bigger picture.
through a bond measure.
“My goal is to make sure that we can
Warren said he might be open to that
effort, but wants to scrutinize all the op- get more kids to … graduation,” Tala-
tions. “I just don’t want us to walk into mantez said, adding part of getting kids
something that will cost us money for there is the day-to-day support for things
a whole bunch of years,” he said, mak- like modern curriculum and facilities.
Asked about his potential support for
ing reference to a bond measure he said
invested in the existing buildings 15 to a bond measure for a new and/or im-
proved campus, Talamantez conceded “I
20 years ago.
“I won’t lose sleep at night of he don’t want it, but do I support it? Yes.”
Besides the race between Talaman-
does win,” Warren said of Talamantez,
adding that the two are friends and have tez and Warren, Board Chairwoman
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worked together in wrestling.
the Clatsop Association of Realtors,
Talamantez
is running unopposed for Position 1;
7DODPDQWH] LV WKH ¿QDQFLDO Bergerson Construction President Greg
manager for Management and Training Morrill is running unopposed for Posi-
Corporation, which operates Tongue tion 2, being vacated by Anderson; and
Point Job Corps Center. He graduated 'DODQ 0RVV FKLHI ¿QDQFLDO RI¿FHU RI
from Astoria High School in 1985 and Coast Rehabilitation Services, is run-
has a bachelor’s degree in accounting ning unopposed for Position 5.
3A
New library at Heritage
Square likely a city goal
Astoria council
had been
reluctant to
identify a site
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria City Council
tentatively agreed Monday
night to make the study of
a new public library with
mixed-use development at
Heritage Square a city goal
for the next fiscal year.
In January, city council-
ors had been so reluctant to
commit to a location that
they dropped the word “ren-
ovation” from their draft
goal on the library, since
some thought it implied ex-
panding the existing library
and demolishing the old
Waldorf Hotel next door.
The City Council has
since backed away from
that option, which had been
approved last year, and has
instructed city staff to study
a new library at Heritage
Square with a housing com-
ponent.
The council is expected
to approve city goals at a
meeting later this month.
While there appeared to
be consensus around a li-
brary at Heritage Square
when the council voted
unanimously in late April to
direct city staff to look into
the idea, some hesitation
surfaced Monday night.
City Councilor Cindy
Price said she has heard
from unhappy residents. “I
have gotten an earful from
constituents throughout As-
toria about our decision to
abandon looking at other
options and go directly to
Heritage Square, particular-
ly without asking questions
like how much will it cost to
look at that only, where will
the money come from?” she
said.
Mayor Arline LaMear
said the council “needed to
have some kind of direction
for the staff. I think for the
last year, they’ve been won-
dering what in the world are
we doing?
“And so this does give
staff a direction to look at
this site and see what the
possibilities might be.”
Ted Osborn, the president
of the Lower Columbia Pres-
ervation Society, had spoken
with the city about expand-
ing the library into the Wal-
dorf without tearing down
the hotel. That option, like
Heritage Square, could also
involve housing.
Osborn told the City
Council he was disappoint-
ed in the shift to Heritage
Square without what he con-
siders sufficient information.
“I can’t tell you how
disappointed I am,” he
said.
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