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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2015)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 CHIEFS: Clatsop County police departments participate in talk Continued from Page 1A “Cops and Community: A Local Perspective,” a dis- cussion Thursday night at the Judge Guy Boyington Build- ing in Astoria, featured a panel of local police chiefs: Cannon Beach’s Jason Schermerhorn, Seaside’s Dave Ham, Warren- ton’s Matt Workman and Asto- ria’s Brad Johnston. Astoria City Councilor Drew Herzig moderated the discussion, asking the chiefs to talk about “community po- licing” and what programs or policies they’ve implemented to improve interactions with the community. He asked them to describe the challenges they face in their distinct communi- ties. Though Clatsop County police departments have not recently been involved in any racially-charged cases like the KLJKSUR¿OH RQHV VHHQ HOVH- where in the nation, this sum- PHU D &ODWVNDQLH SROLFH RI¿- FHU ¿OHG D FRPSODLQW DJDLQVW Clatskanie police chief Marvin Hoover after Hoover allegedly made racist statements while being debriefed on the arrest of woman who had said she was being discriminated against. $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH RI¿FHU Hoover — who has since re- tired — compared black peo- ple to monkeys, sang “Dixie” and made monkey noises. This incident and other more distant events reverberat- ed in the questions members of the audience asked Thursday night. WIND: ‘Project located directly in prime shrimp DQGURFN¿VKDUHDV¶ Continued from Page 1A “It doesn’t sound like there’s room for discussion at this point,” Chambers said. “That may change. But at this point, it sounds like we have WR¿QGDZD\WRSD\IRUWKLV´ Katie Wilson/The Daily Astorian Audience members including Andrew Marshall, left, Glad- ys Klingerman, center, and David Klingerman, right, lis- ten during the beginning of the Lower Columbia Diversity Project’s “Cops and Community: A Local Perspective” discussion. makes for good police work evolves, however, they have changed how they interview SRWHQWLDO RI¿FHU FDQGLGDWHV Ham said. His department, as well as the other departments, now try to zero in on a can- didate’s core, asking how a candidate makes ethical deci- sions and examples of when the candidate has made such decisions. The answers, Ham said, are deeply revealing. In some cases, based on these answers, they haven’t hired someone who, other- wise, earned high scores on the other tests the departments use to single out strong candidates, tests the departments used to rely on heavily. And though diversity train- ing is important, Johnston and Workman pointed out that, as social concerns go, the ques- tion of how to best deal with mental health issues tops the list here, not racism. There are next to no beds available for people who are experiencing a mental health crisis and need a safe place to go, the chiefs said. There are few local re- VRXUFHVWKDWRI¿FHUVFDQHDVLO\ tap when they have questions or concerns while out policing or when emergency situations arise. getting out into the neighbor- hoods, getting to know people, being a trusted member of the community. Many times it is about forging partnerships with oth- er groups or agencies that are better equipped to deal with the underlying issues like men- tal illness, substance abuse and family strife, the chiefs said. While local police might be WKHRQHVZKRUHVSRQG¿UVWWRD domestic violence call, strong partnerships with The Harbor, an organization that helps vic- tims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, mean advocates trained to get victims the legal help and personal counseling they need are often present, too. “In small cities like these, you really have to rely on one another and we currently do every day of the week,” Scher- merhorn said. Diversity Clatsop County law en- Astoria residents Andrew forcement is in a good place in Marshall and Gladys Klinger- many ways, the chiefs said. man, the only two people of “We do a have these – de- color present at the talk, asked cades-long in some places — about the level of diversity connections with our commu- at the various police depart- nity,” Johnston said. ments. The chiefs admitted But challenges remain. All that none of their departments the police departments are are particularly diverse. In all small and many struggle for the departments combined, adequate funding. In recent there are only a handful of years, most have had to drop women, Hispanic or Latino of- WKHVFKRROUHVRXUFHRI¿FHUSR- Community policing ¿FHUV HPSOR\HG DQG QR EODFN sition, losing out on those face- Community policing is not to-face opportunities with kids RI¿FHUV Marshall, who has lived in a new concept on the coast, in the schools. the area since the late 1970s, said Schermerhorn. It is some- $OVR RI¿FHUV RIWHQ VKRZ pointed out that the county’s thing all the departments cur- up in the middle of what demographics are changing rently do, and have done for has likely been a long-term rapidly. He and Klingerman some time, to varying extents. problem. By forging strong asked about ongoing diversity This work goes beyond simply relationships with communi- training at the departments. keeping the peace. It can look ty partners, police can be in- The chiefs said diversity in like funding a school resource strumental in solving some of their departments remains a RI¿FHU ZKR VSHQGV KLV RU KHU these long-term problems, but challenge. In small, rural de- time working with students; ultimately, the chiefs said, this partments where there are few it can look like holding com- is the community’s work. chances for promotion, it can munity picnics, giving neigh- These days, Johnston said, be hard to attract a wide range borhood residents a chance police have to be everything to of good candidates, they said. to voice concerns in an infor- all people. But often, he added, $V WKH GH¿QLWLRQ RI ZKDW mal setting. It often looks like “We’re just Band-Aids.” Annual Located in prime sKrimp and rocN¿sK areas In written testimony on the ELOOWRIXQG:LQG)ORDW3DFL¿F earlier this year, the Southern Oregon Ocean Resource Co- alition said Principle Pow- er initially worked with the ¿VKLQJ LQGXVWU\ WR LGHQWLI\ D location for the wind project. After the company received federal preliminary approval for a larger footprint, Princi- ple Power moved the project site north within that area. “The project is now locat- ed directly in prime shrimp DQG URFN¿VK ¿VKLQJ DUHDV utilized by several small busi- nesses in Charleston,” the coalition wrote. “This action GLVSODFHV WUDGLWLRQDO ¿VKHU- men.” The project could also take over some of the area XVHGE\D¿VKLQJÀHHWZKRVH members are based in New- port, Astoria and Seattle. The pilot project was originally supposed to gen- erate 30 megawatts of pow- er, enough to serve 7,000 to 8,000 homes, according to news reports. However, Prin- ciple Power decided over the summer to downscale the project to at most 24 mega- watts. Under the terms of a $46.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Prin- ciple Power was supposed to have longterm agreements from Oregon utilities to pur- chase power from the project by July, company vice pres- ident Kevin Banister said during a legislative hearing in April. However, Banister said IHGHUDO HQHUJ\ RI¿FLDOV UHF- ognized the timeline was ag- House Bill 2216, sponsored by Sen. Arnie Roblan, D-Co- os Bay, and Rep. Caddy McKeown, D-Coos Bay, was in the Legislature earlier this year, Chambers heard the tariff to subsidize the Wind- Float project might have added as little as 35 cents a month to a residential rate- payer’s monthly bill. The cost would µ7KinNing oI tKe ¿sKing be more of an Àeets¶ issue for busi- State Rep. David nesses that use Gomberg, D-Otis, attended large amounts part of the committee meet- of power. Mike ing at the Oregon Department One way Weston of Transportation building in Principle Salem. Power could “As we explore these new try to sweeten the deal in opportunities, we need to Johnson’s district would be make sure we’re doing what to handle part of the assem- we can to explore existing bly for the project in her dis- industries and minimizing trict, at the Port of Astoria. Mike Weston, director of SRWHQWLDO FRQÀLFWV WKHUH´ Gomberg said. “I’m thinking business development and operations at the Port, said RIWKH¿VKLQJÀHHWV´ Gomberg said the commit- Principle Power approached tee did not discuss the impact WKH SRUW IRXU RU ¿YH PRQWKV WR¿VKHUPHQZKLOHKHZDVDW ago to discuss possibly com- SOHWLQJ ¿QDO DVVHPEO\ RI the meeting. The chairwoman of the the wind turbine structures governor’s committee, Rep. in Astoria. The structures Caddy McKeown, D-Coos would be too tall to assemble Bay, did not respond to a re- in Coos Bay, because of the quest for comment. Banister, bridge that crosses the bay. the Principle Power executive “There’s no guarantee it’s who is also a member of the going to happen,” Weston committee, also did not re- said. “For us, it’s kind of spond to a request for com- hypothetical at this point. It seems like a great concept, ment. Sen. Betsy Johnson, though.” It is unclear when the D-Scappoose, is a member of the committee committee will hold its next and said basic meeting. Although Brown’s questions re- RI¿FH LQLWLDOO\ SODQQHG WR mained unan- keep the committee meet- swered at the LQJV SULYDWH WKH ¿UVW PHHW- ing was packed, with some ¿UVWPHHWLQJ “If there’s people even sitting on the Betsy a power pur- ÀRRU 6SRNHVPDQ &KULV 3DLU Johnson chase agree- said last week that future ment, the question still meetings will be open to the remains: at what cost, to public. whom?” The Capital Bureau is a Could tap Port of collaboration between EO Astoria Media Group and Pamplin Chambers said when Media Group. gressive and would allow the company to retain the grant if it could demonstrate in some other way that Oregon is willing to pay for the project. Principle Power is working on the Oregon project with Deepwater Wind, the compa- Q\EXLOGLQJWKH¿UVWRIIVKRUH wind project in the nation off the coast of Rhode Island. Make a difference! Hospice volunteers needed In the absence of a cure, care makes all the difference. I NVITATIONAL T OURNAMENT Cla ts op D is trib u tin g Com pa n y held its a n n u a l Bu d w eis er In vita tion a l Tou rn a m en t a t the As toria G olf a n d Cou n try Clu b on S eptem b er 9, 2015. Eighty-eight golfers a n d s pon s ors pla yed in the tou rn a m en t. The golf tou rn am en t raised $8,000 for local sp orts p rogram s n ot fu n d ed b y school d istricts The tourna m ent d irectors w ere L a rry Perkins , Fred Ha m el a nd Ronny W illia m s Ja m es Fo lk — Low G ros s w ith a 70 Ro b ert Fu lto n /G en e S ta llin gs/Ha ro ld Rigga n ( 3-w ay tie) — Low Net w ith a 64 Firs t place Team : Tim Rega n , Ro ss Kn u tsen , Ro n n y W illia m s a n d Da n n y Riser T hank you to all our s pons ors : • Ha yw a rd ’s O cea n Cres t Chevrolet Ca d illa c • Cla ts op Com m u n ity Ba n k • A s toria G olf a n d Cou n try Clu b • Va n Du s en Bevera g es Special thanks to: John K aw as oe (Clu b Profes s ion a l) and Dave L ebeck (A s s t. Clu b Profes s ion a l) CLATSOP Volunteers hold a special place in the hearts of our patients and their families. Volunteers serve as members of the Hospice Team in a variety of ways including, respite care, companionship, listening to concerns and other loving acts. Apply now to be a patient care volunteer. Participation in a 25 hour training program is required. Training Classes begin November OE Applications due by October 2SE Call Lower Columbia Hospice at 503-338-6230 for more information & an application. DISTRIBUTING COMPANY L OCALLY OWNED — L ARRY P ERKINS 1375 S E 12TH P LACE, W AR R ENTO N, O R • 503-861-4275 UI4U"TUPSJB0SFHPOttXXXDPMVNCJBNFNPSJBMPSH
