3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016
Wheeler says energy loan program needs bailout
services such as education, joint committee, will ensure
public safety and human ser- that these issues are addressed
vices programs,” the Ore- responsibly and carefully. As
Gov. Brown has
SALEM — State Treasur- gon State Treasury
said before, while
er Ted Wheeler sent a letter to wrote in a press re-
we want to move
Gov. Kate Brown Thursday lease.
expeditiously, we
morning calling on the gov-
Chris
Pair,
must ensure that we
ernor to stop the state Depart- Brown’s press sec-
do it right.”
ment of Energy from issuing retary, said Thurs-
Wheeler asked
any new small scale loans day that the Gov-
Brown to suspend
because the loan fund has a HUQRU¶V 2I¿FH ZDV
the loan program so
PLOOLRQ GH¿FLW DQG ZLOO examining the loan
the state can review
program as part of
require a taxpayer bailout.
it and issue recom-
The program was sup- a broader review of
Treasurer Ted
mendations to the
posed to be self-sustaining, the Department of
Wheeler
Legislature on how
but loan defaults and delin- Energy.
to proceed.
“Gov.
Brown
quent payments have left it
without enough money to has concluded that lingering
residual issues have interfered
cover its costs.
Created in 1981
The bailout will likely be- with the Department of En-
The state created the small
gin in 2019 and could cost ergy’s ability to focus on Or- scale energy loan program in
taxpayers at least $15.3 mil- egon’s future energy-related 1981 to provide low-inter-
lion, according the Oregon needs,” Pair wrote in an email. est loans to governments and
State Treasury. The cost could “The agency review currently businesses. The program’s
increase if more loans go into being conducted by the Gov- problems are not new and de-
HUQRU¶V 2I¿FH LV DVVHVVLQJ spite its name, the loans were
default.
“As a result, to cover loan the Small Scale Energy Loan not what many people would
payments, money will be allo- Program and, along with the consider small.
Wheeler pointed to the
cated away from vital public Legislature’s recently-formed
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
default several years ago
of an $18 million loan to an
ethanol plant in Clatskanie,
which went bankrupt, as an
example of why the program
now requires a bailout. Other
large loans have since gone
into default and been written
off as non-collectible, “which
has further deteriorated (the
program’s) balance sheet and
reserve balances,” Wheeler
wrote in the letter to Brown.
The State Debt Policy Ad-
visory Commission, which
includes members of the state
House and Senate, repeatedly
raised concerns about the loan
defaults, including last year,
when the commission warned
in a report that payments by
loan recipients might not cov-
er debt. Wheeler said in his
letter to Brown that he asked
former Gov. John Kitzhaber
three years ago for money to
offset losses from defaults in
the program.
“In 2012, after a review of
projected loan payments ver-
sus debt service requirements,
I recommended to Gov.
Kitzhaber that the program’s
depleted loan-loss reserve be
replenished to safeguard the
State against future potential
defaults,” Wheeler wrote. “In-
stead, the program continued
without augmented reserves.”
at the agency. The governor
also announced in December
that she planned to pursue a
review of the agency.
The state Department of
Justice has an ongoing crimi-
nal investigation into the en-
ergy agency’s handling of tax
credits. In September, a top ad-
ministrator at the Department
of Energy who was brought
Recommendations
in to run the loan program and
pending
other renewable energy and
Wheeler, who is an ex-of- HI¿FLHQF\LQFHQWLYHVUHVLJQHG
¿FLRPHPEHURIWKHFRPPLV-
Wheeler wrote that the
sion, will formally present Department of Energy has
recommendations on the ener- committed to “tightened loan
gy loan program at the com- underwriting standards and
mission’s scheduled Jan. 19 pursued delinquent borrow-
ers,” but those actions would
meeting.
7KH 7UHDVXUHU¶V 2I¿FH not affect the need for a bail-
sent the letter to the governor out of existing bad loans.
DZHHNEHIRUHWKH¿UVWVFKHG-
The Capital Bureau is a
uled meeting of a new legis- collaboration between EO
lative committee which will Media Group and Pamplin
consider whether to overhaul Media Group. Hillary Borrud
or eliminate the Department can be reached at 503-364-
of Energy, following years of 4431 or hborrud@eomedia-
news reports about problems group.com.
Rental regulation on the menu in Gearhart
2I¿FLDOV
recognize
need for rules
ties, stressing homeowner ac-
countability and the need for a
balance “between community
and privacy.”
City Councilor Kerry
Smith referenced the city’s
comprehensive plan, which
By R.J. MARX
makes the need for regulation
The Daily Astorian
“quite apparent.”
“We need to set the stan-
Gearhart city councilors
teamed with planning com- dard, because this has been
missioners Wednesday at going on forever,” Planning
a work session to consider Commissioner Richard Ows-
steps to regulate short-term ley added.
Septic woes garnered
rental properties.
“They need regulations,” much discussion in a city
Mayor Dianne Widdop said. where most homes rely on
“There are certain things septic systems, but some still
that need to be adhered to.” rely on cesspools for waste
7KH ¿UVW VWHSV RI¿FLDOV processing.
“If you’re going to rent
VDLGZLOOEHWRDGRSWVWDWHGH¿-
nitions and to begin collecting here, you have to know we
have septic systems here,”
lodging taxes on the books.
To do so, they must re- City Councilor Paulina Cock-
peal a city code exemption rum said. “If you want to take
for rental of single-family three showers a day, go to the
homes from the necessity of Sunset Empire Recreation
pool.”
a business license.
“Letting 16 to 20 peo-
The city may also seek
to identify “low-hanging ple stay in a home with a
fruit” — health, safety and 1,000-gallon septic tank —
parking rules — and address it’s a disaster waiting to hap-
those issues by the summer pen,” Widdop said. “It could
end with us needing a sewage
season.
“This is a menu,” Chad treatment plant. It’s money
Sweet said. “You get to out of our pocket.”
In addition to potential
choose your appetizer, your
health hazards, Widdop and
entrées and your aperitifs.”
others said they feared specu-
lators who may purchase sin-
Septic problems,
Dwight Caswell/For The Daily Astorian
Darren Orange works on a painting in his studio.
Art a Oa carte Eene¿ts LiEerty 7Keater
Artwork by
renowned and
emerging artists
all priced at $99
The Daily Astorian
Works by emerging As-
toria and Cuban artists will
be among the art gracing the
walls of the Columbia River
Maritime Museum’s Barbey
Center Jan. 16 for the Liberty
Theater’s Art a la carte sale.
All works are priced at
$99, and some 75 pieces of
art will be for sale. Doors will
open at 2 p.m., and buyers
are urged to make an early
appearance. The works are
unsigned, which adds to the
adventure of the sale. Many of
the artists will be at the event
to sign their work following
purchase.
In addition to the art, there
will be food, wine and music
by Acústica World Music.
Prominent local artists
such as Noel Thomas, Eric
Weigardt, Darren Orange and
Carol Riley have given works
for the sale.
The Cuban aspect of
the event was generated by
Christine Lolich, vice presi-
dent of Liberty Restoration,
Inc. On her December trip
to Havana, Lolich purchased
art, which she has donated to
the sale.
Emerging artists also are
participating in the Artist in
Residency program, spon-
sored by Astoria Visual Arts.
During the artists’ three-
month term here, their com-
O P E N 2 4 /
W
7
N O
munity responsibility includes
a weekend open studio event.
This program is currently
limited to visual artists of the
greater Astoria area.
Renowned Astoria artist
Darren Orange is the Artist in
Residency committee chair.
Orange was elected to the
Liberty Board in December,
and he is helping organize the
Art a la carte event.
This term’s artists in resi-
dence are Sarah Henrickson,
H. Elizabeth Koch, David
Coyne, Liz Harris, Kinzi Gor-
don, Blaine Verley and Annie
Eskelin.
Art a la carte is 2 to 3:30
p.m. Admission is $15 and
tickets are available at the
door or in advance at the Lib-
HUW\7KHDWHU%R[2I¿FH
2I¿FLDOV XQDQLPRXVO\
supported regulation of
short-term rental proper-
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In case of ¿re
Sweet presented options
requiring a contact number
for each short-term rental, a
24-hour owner representative
or someone available within
30 minutes to respond within
an emergency. The city could
also require homeowners to
notify all neighbors of their
intent to rent out their prop-
erty, or to post contact infor-
mation on the exterior of a
building.
“That would be very help-
IXOIRUSROLFHRU¿UH´6ZHHW
a Gearhart Fire Department
volunteer, said. “Maybe the
vacation home is not occu-
SLHG7KHUH¶VDELJOHDNRU¿UH
That could go a long way to
address that.”
speculators feared
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gle-home properties with the
intention of turning them into
short-term rentals.
“I have a great problem
with transient rentals, the rent-
als that are one or two nights,”
Widdop said. “There’s no
continuity. Those kind of rent-
als belong in a hotel in Sea-
side or somewhere else. It’s
not part of the Gearhart thing.
People are buying homes like
crazy to make vacation homes
because it’s a money-making
thing. It’s like buying a chain
of motels, and I’m totally
against it.”
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