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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 25, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016 Pierce says he needs large donors to fund campaign Republican relied on his own money during primary By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SILVERTON — GOP gubernatorial nominee Bud Pierce said he is unlikely to invest any more of his own money in his campaign for governor. “I think my affl uence is pretty tapped at this point,” the Salem oncologist said. “I frankly need to be able to attract larger Republican donors.” Pierce made the comments during the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association con- ference Friday at the Oregon Garden here. For the past 30 years, the association has traditionally hosted the fi rst gubernatorial debate of the general elec- Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Bud Pierce, GOP candi- date for governor, answers questions during a forum at the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association convention Friday. The po- dium next to him is empty because Gov. Kate Brown declined to attend. tion season. The debate turned into a one-person forum for Pierce after Gov. Kate Brown declined to join in the event. Pierce has contributed $1.3 million to his own campaign. He has raised about $700,000 in contributions from others and spent about $1.6 million. Pierce poured most of his money into a successful bid to gain name recognition and defeat his better-known oppo- nent, Allen Alley, during the primary election in May. Pierce is relying on large donors to orchestrate his gen- eral election campaign, said Stacey Kafka, communi- cations director of Pierce’s campaign. “Kate Brown will have union backing; that’s for sure, and she’ll have certainly large donors, and I need to be able to do that,” Pierce said. “That is part of being a viable candidate. Pierce made a speech and fi elded questions from a panel of journalists during Friday’s event. A podium next to him symbolically stood empty, where Brown had been invited to appear and debate her opponent. Brown is seeking elec- tion to the top state post after inheriting the job when Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned amid an infl uence-peddling scandal. In a June email, Brown’s campaign declined to partici- pate in the debate, making her the fi rst incumbent in 30 years to skip the event, according to the association . Brown’s cam- paign gave the reason that the governor was “focused on her offi cial duties” and would hold off on any debates until September. Brown originally was scheduled to attend the Ore- gon Mayors Association con- ference in Lincoln City Fri- day but had to cancel after she found out two weeks ago that her mother in Minnesota was scheduled to have breast cancer surgery , said Kristen Grainger, Brown’s communi- cations director. Pierce has blasted Brown for sidestepping the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Associ- ation debate, but on Tuesday, he tweeted to Brown: “I’m hoping for a good outcome for your mom. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.” The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Property owners rent luxury tents, teepees to Bend’s tourists Comforts of home in the great outdoors By MARINA STARLEAF RIKER The Bulletin BEND — A queen-sized bed. Wi-Fi. A home-cooked breakfast. These amenities aren’t usu- ally found at the average camp- ground, where campers are often responsible for bringing their own toilet paper and are lucky to access a shower. But in the midst of peak summer tourist season, prop- erty owners are pitching lux- ury tents, teepees and campers on private property and offer- ing them to Bend’s tourists. The rentals cost anywhere from $15 to well above $100, with some that boast comforts such as heated massage beds, tribal rugs and feather pillows. In Oregon and throughout the rest of the country, glamp- ing, or glamorous camping, is a growing trend, with luxury tent rentals and resort camp- grounds popping up in several states. From a $2,476-a-night tent with an adjacent teepee in Utah’s desert to a safari-style tent for $1,155 a night on a Montana cattle ranch, people are paying hundreds of dollars to camp without the discom- forts of setting up a tent or start- ing a fi re. But there’s only one prob- lem — it’s not legal to live in tents, teepees, yurts or mobile homes in the city of Bend, let alone rent them out as vacation rentals, according to city plan- ners. Deschutes County gener- ally doesn’t allow it either, with the exception of RV parks, per- mitted campgrounds and for those experiencing medical hardships. “It just doesn’t meet our code in any way, shape or form,” said Rachel Ruppel, an associate planner in Bend’s Community Development Department. Even if zoning laws allowed people to live in tents or trail- ers in Bend, property owners would still be required to get an operating license from the city to open a vacation rental, she said. “One of the things of being in a tourism-dependent econ- omy is that people are often trying to make ends meet,” Ruppel said. “So they’re like, ‘Oh, this could be a really low- cost way for me to get into the County receives state money for prescription drug monitoring Tool to combat drug abuse By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian The North Coast recently received $40,000 in state funding to expand the region’s involvement in the Oregon Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties are part- nering to use the funds on a contractor, who will begin fi nding and signing up med- ical prescribers into the state program. The program oper- ates a system that moni- tors over-prescribing opioid drugs. The system shows if a person received a prescrip- tion before, who prescribed it and when it was fi lled. Clatsop County Pub- lic Health Director Brian Mahoney said about 140 pre- scribers in the three counties are not in the system. Pre- scribers can be anybody with prescribing privileges such as doctors, nurses or dentists. The contractor will hold group meetings or one- Proposed campaign would promote donating to charity, not panhandlers Associated Press Joe Kline/The Bulletin via AP A king stargazer suite is visible at Panacea at the Canyon Resort near Terrebonne. long-term or short-term rental market.” An Airbnb spokeswoman said the company asks all its hosts to comply with local laws when they sign up for Airbnb. Right after property owners select the location of their list- ing, they’re provided with links to webpages on complying with local laws and how to be a responsible host. It’s also in HomeAway’s terms and conditions that peo- ple follow local laws when listing properties as vacation rentals, said Adam Annen, a spokesman for company. But because HomeAway. com works like an advertising agency, it doesn’t keep track of clients’ booking records and whether each one is complying with local laws, he said. Still, several Deschutes County property owners are offering up their land, tents and trailers for rent to visitors, with more than a dozen list- ings on websites like Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO. With names like “CAMPTIQUE, boutique camping,” “Tipi to the Sun” and “The Chief Deschutes,” the listings say visitors can expect an experi- ence more similar to staying in a hotel than roughing it in the wilderness. About an hour drive north of Bend, visitors can pay between $450 and $750 a night at Pan- acea at the Canyon, a luxury tent resort in Terrebonne. The resort was opened to serve as a sanctuary for those look- ing to unplug from cellphones and computers and reconnect with nature, said owner Darren Kling, who started planning the resort with his wife nine years ago. Joe Kline/The Bulletin via AP Darren Kling, owner of Pan- acea at the Canyon Resort, straightens a bed in one of the resort’s king stargazer suites on the property near Terrebonne. Kling said he spent nearly two years ob- taining all the permits re- quired to operate his resort. The permitting process took at least two years to complete, Kling said, adding that the resort was approved as a per- mitted campground, rather than short-term rentals. Since then, “the whole lux- ury camping thing has caught on quite a bit,” Kling said. But the vast majority of tent and camper rentals listed in and around Bend cost less than most hotel rooms. Meanwhile, the occupancy rate in Bend hotels and lodging rose as high as 90 percent in 2015, accord- ing to Visit Bend data. And on summer weekends, the occu- pancy rate is even higher. Over the last several years, visitors to Bend are increas- ingly opting for vacation rent- als instead of hotels, which has spurred pushback from some Bend residents who say the rentals have replaced long-term housing and are a nuisance to neighbors. In response, a city task force established new rules last year that made it more diffi cult to operate a vacation rental by imposing a density limit. The rules prevent two rentals from being within 250 feet of each other if approved after April 2015. Rental owners were also required to purchase an operat- ing license from the city, which must be annually renewed. Since the new laws went into effect, there are few enforcement issues with ille- gal rentals, most of which are spurred from complaints by Bend residents, said Julie Craig, a code enforcement offi - cer for Bend. And so far, the city hasn’t received any com- plaints about visitors offering tents or mobile homes as vaca- tion rentals, Craig said. “We are defi nitely com- plaint-based, especially in the short-term rental world at this point,” Craig said. “We are all about education and gaining compliance, so very rarely with code enforcement do we issue any citations.” NEWS TALK FOR THE COAST W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Pro viding live a nd lo ca l new s co vera ge every da y Y ou could see it ton igh t, rea d a bout it tom orrow or h ea r it live N O W ! one-one sessions this sum- mer with prescribers to edu- cate and encourage them to use the system. The funded effort will continue through September. Columbia Pacifi c Coor- dinated Care Organization — which coordinates health services for Oregon Health Plan (CareOregon) members in Clatsop, Columbia, Til- lamook and coastal Doug- las counties — is also pro- viding a physician and staff person to assist with signing up prescribers into the state system. “When you go talk to a physician, they like to talk to other physicians,” Mahoney said. Mahoney said he hopes the short-term project offers better pain management for patients and better commu- nication between medical providers and community members. “Hopefully, this can increase the number of pre- scribers in Tillamook, Clat- sop and Columbia counties who have access to this pre- scription drug monitoring,” he said. BEND — A proposed campaign in Bend will encourage people to donate to charity, not panhandlers. The Bulletin reported a group under the city’s Downtown Livability Com- mittee determined there was more success in promoting donations than increasing enforcement and citations. Bend Police Chief Jim Porter and the rest of the group told the council last week that money goes fur- ther when donated to orga- nizations that help the homeless. Family Kitchen Develop- ment Director Donna Burklo was on the committee and said panhandlers may use money to feed addictions. She said that to move the campaign forward a com- pany needs to be hired to develop a marketing plan and slogan. Options include donation stations and giving via text message. One group estimates over 2,000 people are homeless in central Oregon. Nurse surrenders license after violating probation The Daily Astorian Registered nurse Jamie D. Grijalva, of Astoria, vol- untarily surrendered her license last month for violat- ing the terms and conditions of her probation, according to the Oregon State Board of Nursing. Grijalva was placed on probation in November 2012 after she was reported to the state board for diverting eight hydrocodone from the workplace in October 2011, and supplying improper documentation. Since beginning proba- tion, Grijalva has missed urine drug tests and tested positive for ETG, a metabo- lite of alcohol, according to the state board. Both are vio- lations of probation. After three years, she can submit an application to the state board to reinstate her license . Grijalva was originally issued her registered nurse license in July 1998. Visit us online at www.dailyastorian.com
