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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2016 State issues inal rules implementing new minimum wage law A compromise between business and labor By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries inalized new minimum wage rules Wednes- day, requiring employers to pay a regional rate based on where the employee works more than 50 percent of the time. The rules are a compromise between a proposal favored by labor groups and requests by business groups to base the rate on where the employer is located. “I appreciate that both industry associations and min- imum wage advocates stepped up to advise our agency’s rule-making process,” Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian said in a statement. “As Ore- gon raises its minimum wage for more than a hundred thou- sand workers next month, we hope that the rules will pro- vide fairness to workers and employers alike.” The Legislature in Febru- ary boosted minimum wage rates and set a schedule for increases with three different regional rates, based in part on the area’s cost of living and income levels. Proposed rules that deined location of itinerant employees required employers to pay different rates if an employee worked in a different region for four hours or more. Business groups opposed the rules because they said it required onerous record keeping. Tracking hours Under the inal rules, no additional record keeping is required for most employ- ers, said Charlie Burr, labor bureau spokesman. When an employee works in mul- tiple regions the majority of the time, the employer may choose whether to pay the employee the highest rate or to track the employee’s hours by location and pay them dif- ferent rates according to where they worked. Delivery workers who report to and from the same location will be paid the rate of the region where they report. Weston takes new role in King City Former Port business director also works as a consultant Since separating from the Port of Astoria late last year, Mike Weston has kept his local home and popped up at various planning meetings. Most recently, he provided testimony at a Clatsop County Planning Commission hear- ing Tuesday as the consultant on Richard Krueger’s proposed 168-unit Bella Ridge Apart- ments in Miles Crossing. Krueger’s project is one of several Weston and his wife, Crystal, advise on through their company Frog Consulting LLC. In his day job, though, Weston is the new city manager for King City, a small planned community southwest of Tualatin. “I’ve always kind of been interested in city administration, in county administration, port administration along the same line,” Weston said. “When I was in college, I irst ran across a professor who said, ‘You know, you should look into city admin- istration, because in ive to six years, there’s going to be a huge turnover and no one’s going to be there to kind of take it on.’” Weston, 39, took over in March in King City, which he described as a less intensive, smaller community where he could get his feet wet and learn city operations. “And also, the way that the council worked together, and the unity that they had, and the vision they had for the city, was something that I admired and looked forward to participating in,” he said. After four years as a U.S. Navy SEAL, Weston went back to school, ultimately earn- ing a master’s in public admin- istration from the University of Oregon. Weston came to Astoria in 2006 as a planner for Clatsop County. He joined the Port as a property manager in 2010 and worked his way up to direc- tor of business development and operations by 2012. When Hank Bynaker resigned as Port director in 2013, Weston was appointed the interim replace- ment and asked to take on sev- Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Mike Weston, consultant for the proposed Miles Crossing de- velopment, listens as Attorney David Noren speaks to the Clat- sop County Planning Commission Tuesday at Astoria City Hall. eral other positions amid stafing shortages and a hiring freeze. Late last year, Weston signed a separation agreement with the Port after becoming embroiled in a lawsuit during his stint as interim director with two former employees who accused him of abuse of power. “I really liked the Port realm,” he said. “I might make an entry back in there someday in my career. I don’t know. But it was deinitely one of the bet- ter experiences in my life, and it deinitely furthered my career for what it was.” Weston said he and his wife took part in several proj- ects in December and January that are now coming to frui- tion. He hopes to have his proj- ect for Krueger wrapped up next month. “By then, I’ll probably have one or two more in the hopper for public hearings,” he said. “So my hope is, that here in the near future, I can get those all done.” While Weston and his fam- ily still live in Astoria, they plan on transitioning to the Portland metro area. “It’s the lessons I’ve learned here that I will take with me for a long time, and hope- fully I’ll use to the betterment of my career, and hopefully to soci- ety,” he said. said. “Those companies have to track hour by hour. That is pretty tough, and I don’t the distinction is defensible. What if they’re picking things up instead of dropping things off?” Series of seminars The labor bureau will hold a series of seminars to help employers comply with the new rules. The irst-of-its-kind law takes effect July 1, bumping up the state’s minimum wage from $9.25 to $9.75 in urban coun- ties, and $9.50 in rural counties. In 2017, wage increases will diverge according to region. The minimum gradually climbs to $14.75 in 2022 in the Portland urban growth boundary, which includes The next Astoria Parks and Recreation Depart- ment CHIP-in event will he held 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Cathedral Tree Trail head on Irving Avenue. Volunteers will be tasked with trimming brush, removing old and decrepit structures and replacing a railing on a section of stairs. T-shirts, snacks and tools will be provided for volunteers at the trail head. CHIP-in events are organized volunteer activ- ities where citizens can make a difference through environ- mental stewardship. CHIP-in stands for Citizens Helping Improve Parks. For questions or to volun- teer, contact the department grounds coordinator, Randy Bohrer, at rbohrer@astoria. or.us or call 971-704-4812. F O RT ST E V E N S PA R K an d F R IE N D S O F O L D F O RT ST E V E N S O BSE RV E the JU N E 21, 1942 JA PA N E SE A T T A C K on T H E F O RT S ATU R DAY AN D S U N DAY , JU N E 18 TH AN D 19 TH : The 24 9 th Coast Artillery Living History grou p w ill be at Pacific Rim Peace M em o rial lo cated at Battery Ru ssell from 10:00 AM -4 :00 PM . They w ill w ear period u niform s, show eq u ipm ent and answ er q u estions abou t Battery Ru ssell and the attack . Spaghetti Dinner Friday June 17 th 4 pm ‘til gone $7 .00 Pa cific Rim M em oria l D edica tion Jun e 21, 1992 a t Ba ttery Russell. O ver 150 Fort Steven s Vetera n s a tten ded. TU ES DAY , JU N E 21 S T : An interpreter w ill be at Battery Ru ssell’s Pacific Rim Peace M em o rial from n o o n -4 :00 PM . Displays w ill provide details of the attack . 6PM “Karaoke Dave” ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION For M ore Inform ation & D irections, c all (503) 861-1470 or click on www.visitfortstevens.com T h is E vent is Sponsored by T h e Friends O f O ld Fort Stevens & Fort Stevens State Park Cla t sop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 Brought to y you o u by parts of Multnomah, Wash- ington and Clackamas coun- ties. It will rise to $13.50 in Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Jack- son, Josephine, Lane, Lin- coln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Til- lamook, Wasco and Yamhill counties, and parts of Mult- nomah, Clackamas and Wash- ington counties outside Port- land’s urban growth boundary. In rural areas, the wage increases to $12.50. Those areas include Malheur, Lake, Har- ney, Wheeler, Sherman, Gil- liam, Wallowa, Grant, Jefferson, Baker, Union, Crook, Klamath, Douglas, Coos, Curry, Umatilla and Morrow counties. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. CHIP-in event at Cathedral Tree Trail The Daily Astorian By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED PIE WALK PM 0 4:30 & 6:3 SDAYS THUR -7 3 PM Food Only Market BACK SUPPORTER MATTRESS SPECIALS! Located L Lo ocated at 12 th & a E Exc Exchange h Street Downtown Astoria M Meet Your Y F Farmers Weekly $ 10 SNAP Match Utzinger’s off 25 L S % iquidation ale June 20 th -22 nd and June 27 th -29 th 9 am -5 pm New hours starting June 20 th Mon-Wed: 9am to 5pm Closed M on d ay Ju ly 4 th Betsy Earls, vice presi- dent and counsel of Associated Oregon Industries, said the inal rules are an improvement from what was originally pro- posed, but the guidelines still have shortcomings. “Those are huge strides, so much better,” Earls said. Earls argued that lawmak- ers intended employer location to mean the location where the employee reports to work, rather than different pay based on where employees go during the day. She said exempting deliv- ery workers and not other workers that work in multi- ple locations from the rules doesn’t make sense. “There is nothing discernible about delivery workers except that they drop things off,” Earls We greatly appreciate the community for many years of loyalty to our family-owned and operated hardware store. Ca ssa n d ra , Albert & Teresa Utzin ger Da ve W illo u ghby, Bo n n ie Hellberg FREE Delivery * Min. $599 Purchase FREE Set-Up * FREE Mattress Recycle * Advanced memory foam mattress featuring triple action gel memory foam. Unique combination of triple action gel memory foam and an advanced coil support system. 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