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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016 Warrenton budget meetings wrap up By ERICK BENGEL The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — The city’s budget committee approved spending plans Thurs- day for the city and the War- renton Urban Renewal Agency — and explored how both enti- ties can help relocate and rein- vent the Warrenton Community Library. Along with the city’s pro- posed $32.3 million budget — up from $29.3 million this year — the committee proceeded with a plan to raise water rates 7 percent and sewer rates 6 per- cent. The hikes are meant to sta- bilize funding for city infrastruc- ture after years of low rates. The committee transferred $5,000 from the Warrenton Business Association’s contin- gency fund to a new line item in the association’s budget: a grant match for a strategic plan study of the Astoria Regional Airport environs and the North Coast Business Park. Clatsop County and the Port of Astoria will also contribute. The proposed Urban Renewal Agency budget of $4.2 million — down from $4.4 mil- lion this year — includes fund- ing for major improvements at the Warrenton Marina (such as the full replacement of the commercial dock) and smaller improvements in the city’s urban core. The City Commission will vote next month on whether to adopt the pair of budgets for the iscal year that starts in July. Library long term While reviewing the library fund, the committee discussed moving the library from its cur- rent operation in the former Hammond Town Hall building to a more central spot — and possibly using urban renewal dollars to do it. A recent memo from City Manager Kurt Fritsch detailed the condition of the city-owned building and painted an unpretty picture. “Besides the structural issues with the facility, we’ve out- grown it,” Fritsch told the bud- get committee. “There’s just not the room in there for any ofices, or even storage.” Since the new location would draw more families to downtown, urban renewal funds could come into play, he said. “That would be the way to achieve it,” Mayor Mark Kujala said. Kujala said a number of peo- ple have told him that having a library in downtown Warrenton, closer to City Hall, would com- plement other city services. Library Site Manager Net- tie-Lee Calog noted that the Hammond site isn’t very accessible for most people in Warrenton. “We have a lot of foot trafic in Hammond, and a lot of peo- ple are very attached to that lit- tle building,” she said. “But, if it was downtown, here, you could get kids from the high school and from the grade school, and there are lots of elderly people in the area that could get there easier.” Calog said someone sug- gested to her that the old build- ing could become an object of historic preservation. Fritsch acknowledged that some people in town would rather not see the building demol- ished. However, “the open-mind- edness has been very pleasant to come across,” he said. ‘A community’s soul’ The library is funded largely through a ive-year tax levy that expires next iscal year but will require more funds during a relocation and upgrade. City Commissioner Henry Balensifer loated the idea of establishing a new taxing dis- trict as a more sustainable fund- ing solution than an ongoing series of levies. If the city wants to go that route, it should make vot- ers aware of the library’s need irst, said Paul Mitchell, a mem- ber of the budget committee and the Warrenton Business Association. He suggested that business association-hosted events could donate a portion of the proceeds — from, for example, a beer garden — to the new library, creating a funding source and a way to raise that awareness. “This is the type of thing that a community can rally around,” he said. “It’s the type of thing that businesses could rally around.” Fritsch said the city must ind a way to grow the library into something greater. For people without a computer or access to the Internet and social media, a library is a lifeline, a place to do research and look for employment. “We are a reading library, and libraries are becom- ing so much more than that,” he said. “We could capture so many more people in this community.” A library, Fritsch said, is an amenity — on par with parks — that expresses a city’s priorities and sense of self: “It is an identiier of a community’s soul and who you are.” Superdelegates choose between Sanders and Clinton in Oregon Astoria’s Taylor sides with Sanders By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press Alex Pajunas/The Daily Astorian Larry Taylor, who leads Clatsop County Democrats and is a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, has backed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination. If all three undeclared superdelegates go for Clinton, the result would be 37-35, a squeaker for Sanders. That is, if the superdelegates don’t change their minds, which they are all entitled to do. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, is unhappy with this system. DeFazio, a superdele- gate by virtue of his position as a congressman, is staying out of the fray for now. “Generally, I do not weigh in on contested primaries, and as long as the race for the Demo- cratic nomination continues, I have no plans to do otherwise,” DeFazio said in a statement. He was blunt about his feel- ings about the superdelegate system, implemented by the Democratic National Commit- tee before the 1984 election to prevent candidates with little chance of winning the presiden- tial election from being chosen as the party’s nominee. “I ind the role of superdel- egates undemocratic and they “We are charged with supporting the candidate that we feel is best prepared and best qualiied to win the presidency in Novem- ber and run the country,” she added. “There’s no question in my mind that she ills that description far better than her opponent.” Superdelegate Lupita Maurer came out for Sanders after his win on Tuesday, and was delighted to do so. ACCE P T IN G N E W P AT IE N T S As to ria Ch iro p ra ct i c B ARRY SE ARS, D .C. AU TO ACCIDEN TS W O RK -RELATED IN JU RIES D on ’t dela y! Ca ll toda y! 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CCB#177717 SALEM — After Bernie Sanders won Oregon’s Dem- ocratic primary this week, two superdelegates announced they’ll back the Vermont sena- tor and one declared support for Hillary Clinton, amid increased discomfort with a system viewed as undemocratic, even among some of the superdele- gates themselves. The issue is particularly criti- cal in this election, because even though Sanders beat Clinton by nearly 10 percentage points in the primary, the former secretary of state could still amass about the same number of the Oregon delegates if a certain share of the 13 superdelegates, a nickname for unpledged delegates, swing her way. “Every Democrat I have talked to inds the unpledged delegate system offensive,” superdelegate Larry Taylor, chairman of the Clatsop County Democrats, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. He became a superdele- gate because of his position in the Democratic Party in Oregon, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with the system. After Tuesday’s pri- mary results came in, Tay- lor announced he would sup- port Sanders, one of only three superdelegates to do so, with U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley having endorsed Sanders before the primary. Seven have declared they back Clinton. Three remain undeclared. “I don’t think my vote ... should invalidate the vote of thousands of voters,” said Tay- lor, who ran unsuccessfully for Astoria mayor in 2014. Each delegate vote on the loor of the Democratic convention in July will represent about 8,500 Dem- ocrats who voted in the Ore- gon primary, he noted. He was speaking to AP from Philadel- phia, where he and other party oficials from Oregon were vis- iting the convention facilities. The breakdown of the Ore- gon primary gives Sanders 34 pledged delegates and Clinton 25, with two pledged delegates still unallocated amid close returns. Adding the declared super- delegates gives Sanders a total of 37 and Clinton 32. should not be a part of the nom- inating system,” DeFazio said. “Instead, I would prefer to let the voters determine the results of presidential primary.” But superdelegate Karen Packer, who said she came out for Clinton Tuesday night at her campaign headquarters in Port- land, makes no bones about her choice. “I’ve been a Hillary sup- porter all along,” Packer told the AP from Philadelphia. “I was an Obama delegate in 2008 and 2012. In my mind its Hillary’s turn.” She said the system adds value and aims to unify the party behind the best candidate.