3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2016
State projects $2.7 billion
hike in cost of services
Shortfall pegged
at $1.3 billion
Eli Stillman/The Daily Astorian
Regulations state that anglers can keep only one Chinook salmon a day during the fall
season.
High expectations for Chinook
this season as ishermen converge
Salmon season is
up and running
By ELI STILLMAN
The Daily Astorian
Hundreds of boats have
launched into the Columbia
River this month for the fall
salmon season at Buoy 10.
Predictions are high for the
Chinook return, but sample
igures show that ishing at the
mouth of the river is off to a
slower start than recent years.
John North, the manager
of Columbia River isher-
ies with Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, said that
the catch rate was about .1 for
the opening week at the popu-
lar ishery. This means that for
every 10 anglers on the water,
only one would bring home a
Chinook salmon.
The last three years have
had higher numbers during
the opening of the fall season.
“Last year we had catch rates
around .7,” North said.
The heavy bite that came
at the beginning of August
last year kept up through the
remainder of the season, as the
return totaled over 1 million
ish caught.
“Many would say that
there’s not a lower ishery than
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The cost to
maintain existing state ser-
vices in the next two years
will climb by 14.3 percent,
or $2.7 billion, according to
budget projections released
Wednesday.
The state faces an esti-
mated budget shortfall of
$1.3 billion, according to the
report by the Legislative Fis-
cal Ofice and Department of
Administrative Services.
Personnel and pensions,
the state’s increasing share of
the cost of the federal Afford-
able Care Act, rising human
services caseloads and inla-
tion are driving the costs, the
report states.
The projected cost of
maintaining state services in
2017-19 is about $21.7 bil-
lion compared with $19 bil-
lion in 2015-17.
Personnel costs alone are
projected to increase by 9 per-
cent, according to the report.
That includes raises in collec-
tive bargaining agreements
and salary packages, health
beneits and an increase in the
rate for the Public Employees
Retirement System.
The projections are based
on the state’s June eco-
nomic and revenue forecast
and could change with the
September and subsequent
forecasts.
A Department of Admin-
istrative Services spokesper-
son emphasized in a tweet
that Wednesday’s projection
is only a “starting point.”
The state’s budget pic-
ture could change dramati-
cally if voters in November
approve a controversial cor-
porate sales tax measure. The
2.5 percent tax on the Ore-
gon sales of certain corpora-
tions exceeding $25 million
would yield an estimated $3
billion per year in additional
state revenue.
Craft3 hires new leader from within
problem-solving approach are
exactly what Craft3 needs.”
Nonproit lender Craft3
Zimmerman has worked
has chosen Adam Zimmer- at Craft3 for 14 years, most
man as the new president and recently as the executive
CEO. He takes over for John vice president guiding orga-
Berdes, who died in June of nizational growth, consumer
lung cancer.
lending and brand
“Our late CEO
management. He
John Berdes’ pass-
has been a member
ing in June left big
of Craft3’s execu-
shoes to ill at the
tive management
helm of Craft3 —
team since 2011.
and while John can
When Zimmer-
never be replaced,
man started with
the board is coni-
Craft3 in 2002, the
dent that Adam is
organization man-
the right choice to
aged $8 million
Adam
guide Craft3 for-
with a staff of 10.
Zimmerman
ward,” said Steve
Craft3 now man-
McConnell, chair-
ages $164 million
man of the Craft3 board of with 55 staff.
directors, in a release. “As
“Craft3 is at an inlec-
we inalize our next ive-year tion point,” Zimmerman
plan later this year, the board said in the release. “We are
believes Adam’s leadership on the cusp of $400 mil-
capabilities, deep knowledge lion deployed in Oregon and
of community inance and Washington, and have opened
The Daily Astorian
Eli Stillman/The Daily Astorian
Gregg Robinson of Vancouver, Wash. shows off one of the
first Chinook salmon of the season.
this Buoy 10 salmon run for
quality and volume of ish,” said
Michael O’Leary, a conserva-
tion consultant for the Associa-
tion of Northwest Steelheaders,
a nonproit organization focused
on sport ishing advocacy and
protecting isheries.
While the numbers of the
irst week this season were
what North called “more realis-
tic,” as of Tuesday, it appeared
that the catch rate had picked
up. Even with the slow start,
the Department of Fish and
Wildlife is conident that this
season will yield a high return.
“This year’s prediction is right
there at 960,000,” North said.
To help the number of
salmon caught coincide with
the end of the season on
Sept. 5, anglers must adhere
to state regulations. Each
angler is allowed to keep
two salmon a day, but only
one Chinook. Also, on Sun-
day and Monday, the Chi-
nook must have a clipped
adipose or left ventral fin in
order to be caught.
“Everybody hates it when
we shut down Buoy 10 early,
so on all Sundays and Mon-
days you can only keep
clipped,” North said.
ofices that better relect our
role as a regional institution.
I’m thrilled with these devel-
opments — but they aren’t
enough. Our late founder
John Berdes believed that
Craft3 needed to think big to
reach underserved commu-
nities with the capital they
need to be successful. And
so I look forward to carrying
out John’s vision as we move
Craft3 into our next era.”
In 2012, Zimmerman was
appointed by then-Gov. John
Kitzhaber to serve on the Ore-
gon Growth Board. In 2013,
he was recognized by the
Portland Business Journal as
one of the region’s “40 under
40” business leaders. Zim-
merman earned his master’s
in community and regional
planning from the Univer-
sity of Oregon in 2002. He is
an Eastern Oregon native and
lives in Portland with his wife
and two children.
Vacation rental owners make plea for compromise
Survey says:
take a fresh
look at new
regulations
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — Short-
term rental property own-
ers are seeking a compromise
to new rules in Gearhart that
were approved in a irst read-
ing of an ordinance early this
month.
“Half the voters are against
regulations or have no opin-
ion,” vacation rental property
owner Jim Whittemore said
in a letter to the City Coun-
cil. “The message is, the vot-
ers of the city want this process
to take more time — that we
need a compromise.”
Homeowners in Gearhart,
including Whittemore, hired a
polling company to determine
local attitudes on short-term
rental housing.
The poll was conducted
by Jim Moore Methods, after
being contacted by part-
time Gearhart resident David
Townsend, founder and pres-
ident of political consulting
irm Townsend Raimundo
Besler & Usher in Sacramento.
Townsend said while he is the
owner of a rental property in
the Little Beach area of Gear-
hart, he would not be affected
by the new rules.
One-hundred people drawn
from voter rolls were sur-
veyed, six of whom said they
had rented their home as a
vacation rental and 94 who had
Clatsop Post 12
Stuffed
Cabbage Rolls
With Rice, Veggies,
Salad and Bread
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Homeowner Laurie Whitte-
more addressed the Plan-
ning Commission at a May
hearing in opposition to
rental regulations.
not. All said they were famil-
iar with the short-term rental
issue.
“These are decision-mak-
ers. They are not vacation
rental people in this year,”
Townsend said. “What they’re
really saying is, ‘Can’t we
compromise? Why do we have
to jam this thing? Why don’t
we step back, form a commit-
tee, sit down and see if we can
do some compromise?’”
But the results also show
almost two-thirds of Gearhart
residents said the city needs
to adopt an ordinance to regu-
late vacation rental units. And
slightly more Gearhart res-
idents favored moving for-
ward with new rules — 41 to
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Crowds filled Gearhart’s firehouse to hear discussion on
short-term rentals earlier this year.
38 percent — even if the “vast
majority of vacation rental
owners think the process has
been unfair and incomplete.”
City Administrator Chad
Sweet said this week that the
survey, which was created
without city input, “pretty
much says the Planning Com-
mission and City Council are
moving in the right direc-
tion. It reinforces what we’re
doing.”
The council approved new
rules in a irst reading earlier
this month and could bring
them into law with a vote in
September. The ordinance
would go into effect a month
later.
If enacted, permit appli-
cants would be required to
complete forms, pay a $600
al
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permit fee and provide proof
of inspection. The ordinance
requires a 24-hour property
owner representative and per-
mit display, which would list
maximum occupancy, park-
ing and the designated rep-
resentative by the entry door.
Each rental would need a
$125 inspection and a posted
tsunami evacuation map. Per-
mit holders would need to pay
city vacation rental taxes.
Overall, a majority of res-
idents polled supported these
measures, however, seven
out of 10 residents disagreed
with a provision stating:
“Any home currently used as
a vacation rental unit cannot
be used as a vacation rental in
the future unless it stays in the
family.”
“The voters acknowledge
the need for ordinances, many
of which are already on the
books, but do not want to lose
(their) rental homes,” Whitte-
more said.
“The voters are really,
‘Let’s have some fair regula-
tion,’” Townsend said. “Let’s
not go overboard and deprive
owners of their right to rent
their property or sell their
house so somebody else can
rent their property out.”
Opponents to the rules
could ile an appeal with
the state Land Use Board of
Appeals or present a referen-
dum challenging all or any
part of the ordinance they
want to change or remove,
Sweet said.
Townsend said a referen-
dum could be iled within the
next year.
“We don’t want to do that,”
Townsend said. “The coun-
cil should do the right thing.
There’s no reason not to look
at what this poll says, not to
dismiss it out of hand because
you don’t agree with it. All
the council has to do is step
back, take a deep breath, pull
some people together and say,
‘Where can we make some
compromise to bring every-
body together?’ I don’t know
why the council and the
mayor need to make this so
divisive.”
On Sept. 7, the council will
vote again on the proposed
ordinance.
“I expect they will be
unanimous again,” Sweet
said. “But you never know.
And they did have time to
take this survey under con-
sideration before the irst
vote.”
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