10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2016
Watkins: Criticism of agency
intensiied over the past year
Continued from Page 1A
A separate review by
the Oregon Health Author-
ity described complaints
that Crump-Hart engaged in
“unprofessional and disre-
spectful behavior, employee
favoritism,
and
ethical
violations.”
The state report, which rec-
ommended that the agency
improve training and examine
the causes of the high rate of
staff turnover, faulted Watkins
for not keeping the agency’s
board, the county manager
and county commissioners
informed about major issues.
‘Wishes her well’
“Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care appreciates Sumuer’s
many years of service to our
agency and wishes her well in
her new endeavor,” the agen-
cy’s board said in an email.
“Under her leadership, the
agency made tremendous prog-
ress in client care, the quality of
staff, and nearly tripled in size
as Oregon’s health care system
changed to the CCO (Coor-
dinated Care Organization)
model.
“Moving forward, our
board of directors is already
working closely with the
county, GOBHI (Greater Ore-
gon Behavioral Health Inc.)
and the Oregon Health Author-
ity to identify and announce an
interim director. We look for-
ward to collaborating with our
community partners to ensure
a smooth transition in leader-
ship that provides continuity
of service to our clients and
community.”
Kevin Campbell, the CEO
of Greater Oregon Behavioral
Health Inc., which oversees
mental health services in Clat-
sop and several other coun-
ties, said GOBI has offered an
experienced leader to step in
as interim director at Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare.
“We very much appreciate
the support of the community
during these dificult times and
pledge our support helping the
community achieving better
health and better care,” Camp-
bell said in an email.
County Manager Cameron
Moore said the county would
work with the agency’s board
to ind a replacement. “Really,
I think, in a circumstance like
this, it’s really all you can do
is try to move forward,” he
said.
Criticism intensiied
Critics of Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare have said that
the challenges at the agency
predated Watkins’ and Crump-
Hart’s leadership and stemmed
in part from a lack of federal,
state and local resources to
properly care for the mentally
ill.
But public and private
complaints about the agency
intensiied over the past year.
District Attorney Josh Marquis
and other law enforcement
leaders described a county
mental health system in crisis,
while doubts were raised about
whether the agency’s manage-
ment appreciated the degree of
concern.
Watkins grew up on the
North Coast and worked her
way through the agency’s
ranks over two decades. In an
email to community leaders
last June, she apologized after
hearing what she described as
consistent feedback that she
had not been displaying appro-
priate leadership skills and was
defensive and abrasive.
Former agency staffers
have iled federal lawsuits
alleging discrimination, retali-
ation and unethical and illegal
management practices.
‘Kept this in the
limelight’
The family of Carrie Barn-
hart, a 54-year-old woman
with a history of mental ill-
ness who jumped off the Asto-
ria Bridge last year, is also
exploring a lawsuit. Barn-
hart killed herself a week after
Astoria Police pulled her from
the bridge after midnight and
took her to Columbia Memo-
rial Hospital, where she was
evaluated by Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare and released
after two hours. Police had
responded to suicide threats
from Barnhart four times in the
months before her death.
“Her death did not go in
vain,” said Norm Tutton, a
retired Wyoming police ofi-
cer who lived in Surf Pines
and became an advocate for
Barnhart’s family and a thorn
to Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care. He has since moved to
Missouri.
“Due to concerned citizens,
and concerned professionals,
within the community and out-
side the community, that came
together and kept this in the
limelight until these investiga-
tions were completed.”
Smith: Pretrial hearings next month
Continued from Page 1A
Allowing jail staff to review
inmate medical records is
important for other ailments
such as diabetes or hepatitis C,
Marquis said. As an example,
Marquis noted Smith has com-
plained of severe back problems.
Smith’s defense lawyers
initially objected to Dr. Little
reviewing the reports.
“Ms. Smith was on suicide
watch, she was in dire conditions,”
Morgan said. “It was our view that
whatever we could do to get her the
help she needed was appropriate,
but things have changed.”
After consulting with the
doctor privately Tuesday, the
defense lawyers agreed to open
the records to him.
The reports and evaluations
remain sealed to the public.
Smith is due back in
court next month for pretrial
hearings.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
An apartment complex is being proposed on land north of Lewis and Clark Elemen-
tary School.
Complex: It would be located on a
section of road with blind corners
Continued from Page 1A
impact the new complex could
have on the rural Lewis and
Clark Road and the intersection
where it feeds into U.S. High-
way 101 Business. Heather
Hansen, the county’s director
of community development,
said that while trafic will
increase, the state Department
of Transportation determined
the incremental increase from
the apartments didn’t warrant
any mitigation.
Chief Deputy Paul Wil-
liams from the Clatsop County
Sheriff’s Ofice said that while
Sheriff Tom Bergin isn’t
against development, those
overseeing the project should
have realistic expectations for
how well an already stretched
department can cover a new
apartment complex and how
much pressure it would put on
the intersection of Lewis and
Clark Road and the highway.
Peter Gates, who lives
about a mile from the devel-
opment, said the complex
would be located on a section
of road with blind corners and
nowhere for pedestrians and
cyclists to transit safely. He
said he would also like assur-
ances that the Sunset Empire
Transportation District will
service the complex.
Gravel Lane resident Joan
Ferretti said Astoria Mayor
Arline LaMear, who wrote in
support of the Miles Cross-
ing project, was trying to push
housing development out of
the city and onto rural res-
idents, where traditionally
only single-family homes are
allowed.
“I also ask you not to allow
this precedent, because from
what I can gather, they’re not
inished with this one project,”
she said. “There’s a lot more
acreage to be rezoned.”
Housing needed
Kevin Leahy, who leads
the local Small Business
Development Center and Clat-
sop Economic Development
Resources, said two overar-
ching issues he hears from
businesses is the need for a
skilled workforce and avail-
able housing.
The project would pro-
vide much-needed workforce
housing, he said, easing pres-
sure throughout the entire
county.
Richard Lee, who sold the
property to Krueger, said he
did a highway study for Lewis
and Clark Golf & RV Resort,
a grocery store and nearby
housing and found no adverse
effect on Highway 101.
“We had a workforce in
Jeffers Garden in the (1940s)
of … 400 to 500 people at the
shipyards, and a housing proj-
ect of about 1,500 in Jeffers
Garden,” Lee said. “And we
had two deputies, by the way,
in the sheriff’s department
total at that time.”
Noren said a conditional
approval limiting the Bella
Ridge Apartments to its irst
two phases — totaling 96
units — could address many
of the concerns over capacity.
He said Krueger is in contact
with the water district on how
to provide additional water
storage, and that the third
phase of the complex could
wait until the extra capacity is
available.
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Library: ‘The hub of Hammond’
Continued from Page 1A
worst time for all structures in
this area,” Byerly said. “I’d look
at it real close then.”
Money matters
Hammond residents are
attached to their little library;
one person called it “the hub of
Hammond,” Site Manager Net-
tie-Lee Calog said.
Kelsey Balensifer, chair-
woman of the Library Board,
said the board members under-
stand the old library’s appeal,
but if the board is to begin
raising funds for an upgraded
library, it would prefer “looking
into an option that’s not going to
be a money pit.”
“We want it to go to some-
thing that’s going to be around
for a number of years to con-
tinue to beneit this community
and provide library services,”
said Balensifer, who is married
to City Commissioner Henry
Balensifer.
When the library relocates
— possibly to a brand new
building — the biggest obstacle
will be inding ways to inance
the move and future operations,
City Manager Kurt Fritsch said.
The library is funded with a
ive-year tax levy that expires
in 2017, but a new venue will
require a great deal more money
than the library collects today,
he said.
Down the road, the commis-
sion may need to decide whether
to keep the library under the
city’s direction or form a library
board with taxing authority.
“Do we want to become a
modern library that is much
more than simply books, that
has accessibility to computers,
that has more visual displays,
that is a gathering place for peo-
ple, groups, to come together
— for it to be a much broader
learning experience, where a lot
of libraries are going?” Fritsch
asked.
The City Commission and
Library Board kicked around
the idea of turning the Ham-
mond building into a satel-
lite ofice for the new library to
serve the Hammond population.
Another idea was to sell it to a
nonproit and use the money as
startup funds for the new library.
Commissioner Pam Ackley
said the “irst thing is, let’s get
’em out of that building.”
Mayor Mark Kujala said the
discussion will continue at a
later date. Calog said she would
like to have a community meet-
ing in the near future so that all
local patrons can weigh in on the
library’s future.
Ballot measure
The City Commission
referred to the November ballot
an initiative that, if passed, would
amend the city charter to require
double-majority voter approval
before the city may sell, trade,
divest or otherwise dispose of
any city asset valued at more than
$100,000 in 2014 dollars.
“Currently, decisions related
to the sale, trade, divestment or
disposal of these types of assets
are generally made by the City
Commission,” the resolution’s
explanatory statement reads.
“This measure would require
the commission to refer these
decisions to the voters for dou-
ble-majority approval before
the city could implement such
decisions.”
In other words, for the city to
take such an action, more than
50 percent of registered vot-
ers will have to vote on it, and a
majority of the people who vote
will need to approve it.
The charter amendment —
a move from residents oppos-
ing a possible land exchange
between the city and Warrenton
Fiber at Tansy Point — is the
work of the Warrenton Prop-
erty Protection Committee, led
by Ken Yuill.
In May, the commission
voted to ensure that measures
that would require superma-
jority or double majority voter
approval to change city law or
take government action irst
have to win voter support by the
same margin.
Rate increases
The City Commission held
irst readings on resolutions to
increase the city’s water rate by
7 percent and the sewer rate by
6 percent in the upcoming is-
cal year, as discussed during last
month’s city budget meetings.
The water rate increase is
projected to raise $162,400 for
the water fund; the sewer rate is
expected to raise $113,280 for
the sewer fund.
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