2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016
Ilwaco cuts down on public info request hours
By KATHERYN
HOUGHTON
EO Media Group
‘What would you cut
in the federal budget?’
“Not the military. Cut congress-
men’s pay.”
Jamey Wilson, Astoria
“Defense spending. Because I
feel our government under funds im-
portant areas like mental health and
education.”
Jack Wetzel, Kansas City, Missouri
“I don’t know that I’d cut it com-
pletely, but reduce spending on
welfare.”
Abbie Adams, Knappa
ILWACO, Wash. — To
get a handle on a sudden
increase in public records
requests, Ilwaco has created
new regulations that could
delay public access to city
documents.
The city’s new rule limits
staff time processing public
records requests to 22 hours
a month . The City C oun-
cil unanimously passed the
amendment on Jan. 11 after
a former city planner and his
wife filed multiple requests
for information .
Ilwaco Mayor Mike
Cassinelli said the spike
in requests cost Ilwaco too
much time and money.
“This just protects the
city from someone using
public records requests as a
tool of harassment,´ Cassi-
nelli said.
He said the city didn’t
look for other solutions to re-
duce staff effort toward pub-
lic requests before making
the amendment. City H all is
now looking at switching to
a new server that could save
staff time, Cassinelli said.
Throughout 2015, the
city received 24 public re-
cords requests — 11 during
the final three months of the
year, according to the city’s
records logs.
According city docu-
®
ACCUWEATHER FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
Astoria 5-Day Forecast
Tonight
Periods of rain
47°
Thursday
Shown is
tomorrow’s
weather.
Temperatures
are tonight’s
lows and
tomorrow’s
highs
Portland
45/53
Corvallis
45/55
Eugene
46/54
Salem
47/56
Albany
45/55
Saturday
Sunday
Mostly cloudy
with a couple of
showers
51°
41°
Mostly cloudy, a
little rain in the p.m.
50°
The Daily Astorian
Klamath Falls
30/43
41°
Almanac
Sun and Moon
Astoria through Tuesday.
Temperatures
High ........................................... 49°
Low ............................................ 37°
Normal high ............................... 50°
Normal low ................................. 38°
Precipitation
Yesterday ................................ 0.78"
Month to date .......................... 4.97"
Normal month to date ............. 6.56"
Year to date ............................. 4.97"
Normal year to date ................ 6.56"
Sunset tonight ..................
Sunrise Thursday .............
Moonrise today ................
Moonset today .................
Regional Cities
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Today
Hi Lo W
37 27 c
42 36 pc
53 48 r
49 46 c
50 46 r
38 30 sh
52 42 r
51 48 r
56 49 r
Hi
36
46
60
54
54
43
59
57
63
Hi
47
30
29
36
27
27
57
-1
80
27
29
61
74
44
73
42
70
34
41
36
34
36
60
55
36
Thu.
Lo W
41 r
17 s
14 c
21 pc
17 c
15 pc
28 s
-11 pc
67 pc
17 c
16 sn
40 pc
51 pc
29 r
66 pc
36 r
46 t
24 s
27 sn
23 s
22 c
22 pc
54 c
46 r
24 pc
W
c
c
r
r
r
c
c
r
r
National Cities
Today
City
Hi Lo W
Atlanta
43 36 sh
Boston
31 20 s
Chicago
23 11 sf
Denver
45 25 c
Des Moines
25 17 c
Detroit
23 12 sn
El Paso
67 38 s
Fairbanks
0 -13 pc
Honolulu
80 65 r
Indianapolis
24 12 sn
Kansas City
30 23 c
Las Vegas
61 41 pc
Los Angeles
67 50 pc
Memphis
42 32 r
Miami
70 57 pc
Nashville
40 27 sn
New Orleans
71 58 sh
New York
37 25 pc
Oklahoma City 44 29 c
Philadelphia
35 25 pc
St. Louis
30 20 pc
Salt Lake City
38 21 sn
San Francisco
59 48 pc
Seattle
51 44 c
Washington, DC 33 24 sf
5:02 p.m.
7:50 a.m.
2:22 p.m.
4:35 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Jan 23
Jan 31
Feb 8
Feb 14
Under the Sky
Thu.
Lo
29
36
49
45
48
36
41
46
48
Fishing writer to speak at Fly Casters
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Vancouver
Yakima
Today
Hi Lo W
49 40 c
48 39 pc
51 45 c
51 45 pc
52 47 c
51 47 r
39 33 c
49 45 c
42 36 pc
Hi
55
47
53
59
56
56
41
52
40
Thu.
Lo W
42 r
42 c
45 r
44 r
47 r
48 r
35 c
44 r
34 sh
Tonight's Sky: Constellation Cepheus looks like
a child's drawing of a house high in the northwest
in early evening.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Tomorrow’s Tides
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
High
10:47 a.m. 9.7 ft.
none
Time
4:45 a.m.
5:56 p.m.
Low
3.0 ft.
-0.5 ft.
Tomorrow’s National Weather
Fronts
Cold
Warm
Stationary
Showers
T-Storms
-10s
-0s
0s
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
110s
Rain
Flurries
Snow
Ice
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands
are highs for the day. Forecast high/low temperatures are given for selected cities.
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
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Hughes grew up ¿ shing the streams and rivers
of the North Coast and wrote the outdoor column
for The Daily Astorian before moving to Portland
in the 1980s. His ¿ rst published book was “An An-
gler’s Astoria,´ which was reprinted in the past few
years. H e also writes a regular column for two na-
tional À y ¿ shing maga]ines. One of his most recent
publications is “Pocket Guide to Western Hatches.´
Career skills course available at The Harbor
Cloudy with a
couple of showers
42°
In Zink v. Mesa, the s tate
Supreme Court ruled the city
of Mesa violated Washing-
ton’s Public Records Act
when it limited the amount
of time responding to public
records requests to one hour
a week.
Mesa had a population of
fewer than 500 people and
one part-time city employ-
ee. According to court doc-
uments, from 2002 to 2005,
Donna Zink and her husband
filed between 68 and 172 re-
quests.
The court decided Mesa
discriminated against Zink
since the limit was created
in response to her requests.
Toby Ni[on, the p resident
of Washington Coalition
for Open Government, said
Washington is waiting on a
third case to test the previ-
ous rulings.
Ni[on is a Kirkland coun-
cilman. He said Kirkland set
a limit on how much of its
annual budget would go to-
ward records requests. He
said they felt confident in
the regulation because it was
based on the average amount
of money Kirkland spent
processing requests over two
years.
“It’s tricky because a city
needs to protect itself, but
regulations can delay pro-
ducing records,´ Ni[on said.
“There’s especially a risk if
this happens in response to a
city beef.´
Ontario
27/39
Bend
36/46
Burns
20/37
54°
Previous cases
At least three Washington
cities have created similar
amendments and two led to
lengthy legal battles.
In Forbes v. the City of
Gold Bar, the Washington
Court of Appeals recogni]ed
there are situations when a
city needs additional time to
fulfill a request.
According to court doc-
uments, Susan Forbes ac-
cused the city of failing to
respond to her public records
requests.
In 2010, Gold Bar spent
roughly $70,000 processing
requests, according to court
documents. Based on a re-
view of the city’s resources,
city officials limited staff
time fulfilling requests to 12
hours a month.
The court ruled Gold Bar’s
response was “reasonable in
light of the dif¿ culty the city had
in retrieving the information and
the efforts it e[pended.´
The Rainland Fly Casters meet at 7 p.m. Thurs-
day in the social hall of Peace Lutheran Church, 565
12th St. Native Astorian Dave Hughes, a nationally
known writer of À y ¿ shing books and articles, is
presenting the program, “Matching Hatches Sim-
pli¿ ed.´ All are welcome.
Pendleton
39/47
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
47°
Taskforce — which removed
Crater’s position — without
consulting the council.
Crater said he doesn’t in-
tend to sue the city, but plans
to take legal action in re-
sponse to “personal attacks.´
He said his e[perience is an
e[ample of how the city op-
erates unchecked.
“The public records issue
is just one aspect to how this
city handles stuff,´ Crater
said.
The Daily Astorian
The Dalles
39/48
Astoria
47/58
Medford
42/59
58°
Leading conflict
Ryan Crater and his wife
Natasha filed si[ of the 11
records requests the city re-
ceived since October. Many
of the requests were for
city documents. Some were
broader, like a request for all
of the mayor’s emails from
2014 to 2015 tied to public
business.
Crater said they filed the
requests to discover what
the city does behind closed
doors. He said he also want-
ed to learn more about Ilwa-
co before running for C ity
C ouncil. A position is not up
for election until 2017.
“If it takes a thousand
PDRs to get the information
I need for my campaign and
to understand how the city
operates, then so be it,´ Cra-
ter wrote in an email to the
C ity C ouncil and Chinook
Observer. During the 2015
election, Crater ran an un-
successful write-in campaign
under the banner of holding
accountable a mayor he said
had free-rein over the city.
Crater worked as the city
planner until Cassinelli can-
celed a contract with the Co-
lumbia River Estuary Study
Oregon Weather
Friday
A thick cloud cover
with a little rain
ments, processing public
request since October cost
Ilwaco $6,000. The city
didn’t document the amount
of money spent processing
public records before the in-
crease.
The Harbor is offering a ca-
reer skills readiness course for
all current and potential clients.
Participants will meet on Fridays
from 10 to 11 a.m., starting Fri-
day, at The Harbor’s Peer Center,
1361 Duane St. Some materials
covered in this course include:
communication skills, creating a
resume, professional manner and
attire, and accessing community
resources. These skills are vital
to men and women À eeing inti-
mate partner violence as they seek
autonomy. A recent study found
that between 21 to 60 percent of
victims of domestic violence lose
their jobs due to reasons associ-
ated with abuse. Furthermore,
many victims are isolated within
the home, limiting their employ-
ment e[perience and skills.
For questions, contact Mer-
edith Payton at Meredith@har-
bornw.org or 503-325-3426.
Memorial
Friday, Jan. 22
DIEGO, Marcella — Visitation from 5 to 8
p.m., Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary, 1165
Franklin Ave.
Saturday, Jan. 23
DIEGO, Marcella — Recitation of the rosa-
ry at 10:30 a.m., Mass of Christian Burial at 11
a.m., St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church,
1465 Grand Ave. Graveside service follows at
Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton, then a
reception at St. Mary Star of the Sea School
auditorium, 1411 Grand Ave.
On the record
DUII arrests
• At 2:20 p.m. Friday, Astoria
Police arrested Joanne M. Fenn,
60, of Seattle, for driving un-
der tKe inÀ uence of into[icants,
reckless driving, reckless en-
dangerment and animal neglect
after she caused a two-vehicle
crash on the 2800 block of Ma-
rine Drive. Fenn was also cited
for open container, failure to
drive within the lane and refus-
ing a breath test.
• At 5:57 p.m. Friday, Clat-
sop County Sheriff¶s 2f¿ ce
arrested David Floyd Martin,
58, of Astoria, for DUII on the
91000 block of Walluski Loop
in Astoria.
• At 10:46 p.m. Friday,
Oregon State Police arrested
Preston .night Devereau[, 71,
of Gearhart, for DUII on U.S.
+ighway 101 and Si[th Avenue
in Seaside. His blood alcohol
content was measured at 0.14
percent, according to police.
• At 10:49 p.m. Saturday,
Astoria Police arrested Kaili
Wood, 49, of Astoria, for DUII
on the 2200 block of Marine
Drive.
• At 10:36 p.m. Sunday,
Oregon State Police arrested
Marcelo Chassaigne, 65, of
Vancouver, Washington, for
DUII after crashing his vehicle
on U.S. Highway 30 milepost
83 in Knappa.
WASHINGTON
Tuesday’s Daily Game:
0-8-0
Tuesday’s Keno: 09-11-
12-17-18-20-27-31-32-38-42-
43-51-55-67-73-75-76-77-78
Tuesday’s Match 4: 03-
04-08-22
Tuesday’s Mega Millions:
02-17-31-39-47, Mega Ball: 9
Estimated jackpot: $30
million.
Lotteries
OREGON
Tuesday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 1-7-8-2
4 p.m.: 7-3-7-2
7 p.m.: 2-8-0-1
10 p.m.: 2-8-1-7
Death
Jan. 5, 2016
BARTOLDUS, Richard J., 76, of Honolulu, formerly of Astoria, died in Honolulu.
OBITUARY
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Public meetings
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Tourism Adviso-
ry Committee, 3 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway.
THURSDAY
Seaside Tree Board, 4
p.m., City Hall, 989 Broad-
way.
Cannon Beach Fire Dis-
trict Board, 5 p.m., e[ecutive
session, to consult with legal
counsel regarding possible
litigation, Cannon Beach Fire
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