3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016
State House Democrats block
transportation funding bill
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM
—
Democratic
leaders in the Oregon House have
blocked a $340 million transpor-
tation funding bill introduced by a
Wilsonville Republican.
State Rep. John Davis, R-Wil-
sonville, knew his bill faced long
odds, given that Gov. Kate Brown
and leaders in the House and Senate
all said they would not attempt to
pass a transportation funding bill
until 2017. But Davis decided to
pursue the legislation anyway, in
an attempt to get a jump on proj-
ects to reduce traf¿c congestion
and compete for a share of $800
million in federal grants for freight
projects available this year under
the transportation funding bill
Congress passed in December.
Davis said Democratic leaders
never responded to his emails and
phone call requesting a hearing on
the bill, and he ¿nally learned the
legislation would not get a hearing
when he ran into Rep. Jessica Vega
Pederson, D-Portland, chairwoman
of the committee where the bill
was assigned.
Davis’ bill would have raised
‘I don’t think anybody expects
a transportation package to
pass this session.’
Elizabeth Steiner Hayward
Senate majority whip, D-Beaverton
money for transportation through a
combination of bonds, an increase
in the gas tax in the Portland metro-
politan area to pay for local proj-
ects, increases in license and regis-
tration fees, and a hike in the
weight mile tax for trucks.
House Democrats objected
to the bill because it would have
eliminated the carbon credit
system created under Oregon’s
low-carbon fuel standard. Last
year Republicans refused to vote
for any transportation bill that
included an increase in the gas tax,
unless Democrats would agree to
repeal the fuel standard.
“Last session, in 2015, I spent
a lot of time and effort on both the
clean fuels bill and the transpor-
tation package and really worked
hard to see if there was a path
forward to compromise,” Vega
Pederson said. “It wasn’t there.
We spent a lot of time on it, and
a lot of hours in rooms, and really
we weren’t able to come up with
anything that worked.”
Davis said he hoped legisla-
tive hearings would have provided
an opportunity to revisit the
low-carbon fuels program.
“I still think legislative over-
sight is vital, because the (Environ-
mental Quality Commission) has
changed the facts on the ground in
meaningful ways since the 2015
session through rulemaking,”
Davis said.
In December, the commission
voted to delay enforcement of
the fuel standard until 2018, and
commissioners said they wanted
frequent updates on the supply and
cost of alternative fuels and carbon
credits.
Senate Democrats, who had
helped negotiate a 2015 transpor-
tation funding package that ran
into opposition in the House, listed
transportation package as one of
their priorities this year.
“I don’t think anybody expects
a transportation package to pass
this session,” said Senate Majority
Whip Elizabeth Steiner Hayward,
D-Beaverton. “I do think a lot of
people think we will have robust
public conversation about it in
multiple committees because
I think the vast majority of us
agree that without a transportation
package we are going to be strug-
gling, and it is going to be more
expensive for businesses to get
their goods to market. It’s going
to take longer for people to get to
work. We are more at risk for bridge
collapses not just from earthquakes
but from other causes so we need
to be thinking hard about how we
invest in Oregon’s transportation
infrastructure in ways that protect
our future.”
Paris Achen contributed to this
report.
The Capital Bureau is a collab-
oration between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
Warrenton schools aim to take community’s pulse
Board ponders
vision before
deciding to build
or upgrade schools
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — As they
grapple with whether to upgrade
their existing buildings or
build a new
K-12 campus,
the
Warren-
ton-Hammond
School Board
wants to explore
the
district’s
long-term
vision.
Debbie Morrow
D u r i n g
a
Monday
visioning
workshop,
board
members agreed that creating
a uni¿ed vision comes before
potentially going out for a bond,
which Board Chairwoman Debbie
Morrow said could take three to
¿ve years of preparation.
Superintendent Mark Jeffery
said any part of the vision having
to do with upgrading facilities is
likely to involve a bond, adding
the district needs to know the
community’s pulse before it votes.
In 2013, voters in South County
roundly rejected a 30-year, $129
million bond by the Seaside
School District to build a new
K-12 campus in Seaside Heights.
Voters in that district will decide
on another bond measure again in
November.
Survey planned
The
Warrenton-Hammond
School Board is planning a survey
to ask what the community wants
from the district, which Morrow
said will build a shared sense of
ownership. The board would use
the community survey, along with
student surveys and town halls, to
meld the community’s vision and
theirs into a uni¿ed mission.
School
administrators
cautioned the board to ask the
right questions in the survey and
not get stuck in the weeds. But
if the district isn’t asking the
questions, board member Greg
Morrill said, it is operating out of
ignorance.
“My end game is to see higher
community involvement and
interest in what’s going on in
these walls,” Morrill said, noting
the small to nonexistent audiences
at board meetings. “We have
limited resources. We need to
engage the community to bolster
those resources.”
Morrow said she plans to talk
to Jeffery about how the school
board can craft a proposed vision
statement, contact the Oregon
School Boards Association for
help creating a meaningful survey
and seeing if Seaside Superinten-
dent Doug Dougherty will share
his experience.
Vocational ed
Warrenton has been lauded
for its focus on science and tech-
‘My end game is to see higher
community involvement
and interest in what’s
going on in these walls.’
Greg Morrill
Warrenton-Hammond School Board member
nology, from an operational ¿sh
hatchery on the Skipanon River
and a technology course building
underwater robots and drones to a
Lego robotics team and computer
coding classes.
But the district also grapples
with how to build more work-
ing-class, career-technical oppor-
tunities, such as its Àedgling auto-
motive program run by volunteers
from a local auto club, and the
small number of students trav-
eling to Clatsop Community
College for welding courses.
Warrenton High School Prin-
cipal Rod Heyen said the high
school and college’s relation-
ship is challenged by scheduling,
priorities for students with other
activities and at-risk kids who
lose the ability to take electives
as they play catch-up on core
courses for graduation.
Board
member
Kelly
Simonsen, who championed
the creation of the automotive
club two years ago, said voca-
tional courses would have much
more interest on campus. Heyen
agreed, and said the high school
has found a niche of using night
classes to work around students’
schedules and busing students to
the college needed.
“I like to think of our STEM
(Science, Technology, Engi-
neering and Mathematics) classes
as Shop 2.0,” Heyen said, adding
he has no problem trying to sell
more interest in the school’s
welding classes at the college.
But Heyen said he feared what
he might have to cut to accom-
modate something like a dedi-
cated welding course. Jeffery
said the district isn’t anti-ca-
reer-technical, but wants to be
realistic about how such courses
are prioritized.
“It comes down to the teacher,”
Heyen said, noting the success of
technology teacher Josh Jannusch
and biology teacher Steve
Porter’s ¿sheries class. “A good
teacher runs a good program.”
Tom Rogozinski, the principal
of Warrenton Grade School, said
a career fair could be a quick and
easy way to help enthuse kids. “I
think we could start something
like that by spring,” he said.
Omnibus
housing bill
unlikely to
pass this
session
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — An omnibus bill to address the
state’s affordable housing crisis is unlikely to
pass during the Legislature’s 35-day session
that began Monday, according to state Senate
Majority Leader Ginny Burdick.
“There really is a crisis out there,” the
Portland Democrat said. “People are being
thrown out of their apartments. It’s a very
serious problem in Portland, so I would hope
to do at least something on it, but it won’t be
the omnibus bill. It’s just too ambitious for
35 days.”
Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland,
chairwoman of the House Committee on
Human Services and Housing, proposed the
housing package after public testimony in
November. The testimony highlighted that a
shortage of affordable housing and no-cause
evictions have exacerbated homelessness
and poor living conditions in the state.
The package, which also is championed
by House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland,
includes restricting no-cause evictions and
requiring landlords to give 90 days’ notice
before terminating a lease or raising rent on
a tenant.
It would exempt property owners from
capital gains taxes when they sell their prop-
erty to a housing authority.
It would yield an estimated $5 million by
increasing the states’ document recording fee
to $30 from $20.
Keny-Guyer also is seeking $10 million
for emergency housing assistance and $17.5
million in lottery bonds to preserve afford-
able housing by compensating for expiring
federal rental assistance contracts or matured
federal loans.
Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland,
chairman of the Senate Workforce Committee,
has resurrected a bill that would repeal a ban
on requiring developers to include affordable
housing units in their new developments. That
practice is known as inclusionary zoning.
He made a similar proposal last year. That
proposal died in the Senate.
Dembrow’s proposal received strong
support during a public hearing Monday in
front of the House Committee on Human
Services and Housing. Out of more than
a dozen speakers, none spoke against the
measure.
Burdick said lawmakers need to narrow
the legislation down to one or two measures
that can make the most difference. It’s
unclear whether lawmakers can agree on
what those one or two items might be.
“I would say personally one of my biggest
concerns in this regard is the issue of tenants
being afraid to complain to landlords about
unsafe conditions in their housing because
of our no-cause eviction law in Oregon,”
said Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth Steiner
Hayward, D-Beaverton. “They’re basically
very worried that if they complain about
mold or poor ventilation or any of the other
conditions we know contribute to poor health
that they could be given a no-cause eviction
notice and be out of a place to live.”
The Capital Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
Warrenton school board interviews new recruits
Rescue teams
expand search for
missing Cannon
Beach man
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
By LYRA FONTAINE
EO Media Group
CANNON BEACH —
Rescue teams continued to
search Tuesday morning for
an 87-year-old Haystack
Heights man who has been
missing since Saturday.
Raymond R. Hickman
is described as 5-feet-9-
inches tall, bald, blue eyes
and wearing glasses. His
family said he may have
“memory issues.”
“We’re always hopeful,”
Cannon Beach Police Chief
Jason Schermerhorn said.
“Surprisingly, the body can
do different things. We’re
hoping someone took him
in.”
The rescue teams now
have about 60 volunteers
from Clatsop, Washington,
Tillamook,
Multnomah
and Clackamas coun-
ties and Mountain Wave
Search and Rescue. They
were gathering at the ¿re-
house Tuesday morning to
expand their search area in
the north end of Cannon
Beach.
On Monday, teams of
volunteers focused on high-
ways and trails by Ecola
State Park, as well as near
Haystack Heights. Scher-
merhorn remained opti-
mistic, emphasizing the
generosity and help of the
Cannon Beach community
and nearby counties.
“It’s been great, the
community support and
neighbors and friends who
have come to help,” he said.
It’s dif¿cult to search for
a person in a large, heavily
forested area, he added.
Anyone with infor-
mation about the missing
man
should
contact
Clatsop County Search and
Rescue at 503-440-2650
or Cannon Beach Police at
503-436-2811.
WARRENTON — The two
likely newest members of the
Warrenton-Hammond School
Board were introduced Monday.
After whittling down from
¿ve candidates, sitting board
members interviewed Dan Jack-
son, owner of Safekeeping Stor-
age Center in Warrenton, and Joe
Talamantez, ¿nancial manager at
Tongue Point Job Corps Center.
Two vacancies formed after
the school board accepted the
resignations of both Adam
Neahring and Dennis Warren
last month. Neahring and his
family moved out of the district,
while Warren cited health issues.
Jackson, who joined the
district’s budget committee
this school year, said he found
out about the position in the
newspaper and thought there
Joe Talamantez Jr.
Dan Jackson
would be more action on the
school board.
“I want to do something in
my community,” he said. “I’ve
grown up here; I went to War-
renton; my kids went here.”
Jackson has a daughter who
graduated in 2014, along with
sons in the eighth and second
grades.
Talamantez was on school
board until May, when he was
defeated by Warren, a former
teacher and school board mem-
ber. Warren claimed he didn’t
mean to run against Talaman-
tez, meaning instead to take the
board seat being vacated by
retired major league pitcher Brian
Bruney and eventually ¿lled by
Dalan Moss, a ¿nancial manager
for Coast Rehabilitation Services.
Talamantez said the district
needs to look at adding more
attractive programs and con-
tinuing to grow, while ¿nding
ways to engage teachers and
students. “We need teachers
and students ¿ghting to get in
and stay here,” he said.
Superintendent Mark Jeffery
said school board members Dar-
lene Warren, Debbie Morrow,
Kelly Simonsen, Greg Morrill
and Moss will deliberate, decide
whether the two are good ¿ts
and come back Wednesday to
appoint the new board members.
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