Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 2016)
9A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2016 Candidates: Housing scarcity poses unique problem tor, she said, needs educated workers, such as engineers, and will provide portable, well-paying jobs. Boone, the legislative lead on the Oregon Resilience Plan, added the state will need these skilled workers to prepare for the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, which is likely to take down transmission lines, possibly for years. Bobek said Oregon needs angel investors to enter the state and promote small busi- nesses. The state, he added, should embrace new technol- ogies, as well. Jones said the most excit- ing thing happening in Asto- ria right now is the city’s eco- nomic development strategy, “Advance Astoria.” “I think there’s a great potential to attract small firms — white-collar and blue-col- lar firms — to Astoria, (work) together holistically with all those different partners that are on the economic develop- ment team, and to bring liv- ing-wage jobs to our commu- nity that would also help the city’s taxes.” Brownson agreed that “Advance Astoria” is a good start. One of the strategy’s goals is to diversify local industry. He said it is tempting to ride the wave of tourism “because here it is.” But, in his view, the city should try to attract busi- nesses that will continue to thrive if tourism drops. Continued from Page 1A Can’t please everyone Jones, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander, has can- vassed door-to-door on the east side. Housing, he said, is the most critical issue identi- fied by the residents he spoke with. But, in Astoria, the housing scarcity poses a unique prob- lem for politicians: “There’s not a single option you can think of to address this issue which isn’t going to upset a constituency. Not a single one,” he said. Therefore, he continued, “you have to decide: Do we either just say we’re not going to do anything about it, or do we accept the fact we’re going to make a few people unhappy and just try to mitigate that as best as possible? I’m in favor of that approach.” Jones said he supports exploring the recommenda- tions, laid out last year in Asto- ria’s housing study, that could put a dent in the problem. These include setting up an ad hoc housing task force that could identify locations for affordable housing and reg- ulatory changes to stimulate affordable housing. Jones does not believe the shortage can be seriously dealt with unless the city looks at high-density housing, whether in abandoned down- town buildings or on the scant parcels of developable land Bruce Bobek Astoria has left. “This is a huge problem, it’s not going away, and we have to do something about it,” he said. “And I think the idea that we should freeze Astoria in time and not allow for any new construction is crazy. Astoria has evolved for over 200 years and will con- tinue to evolve.” ‘A very tough situation’ Pederson, a music teacher and symphony conductor, acknowledged that, with tour- ists passing through and so many properties used as vaca- tion rentals, “it’s a very tough — a very tough — situation to handle.” He wondered why some vacant downtown structures have not been rehabilitated for housing purposes. He also believes the historic character of Astoria must be preserved. “You’ve got a community where you want to keep the architecture,” he said. “You want to keep the style. You want to keep the originality of Deborah Boone Tom Brownson it. That’s apparent. You must keep that — that’s what’s so charming about Astoria.” Brownson, a retired con- tractor, said that “10 years ago, this didn’t seem like it was going to be a problem,” he said. “And it has just blos- somed into a serious problem.” It is difficult, he said, to offer specific solutions to the housing crisis, but, as a city councilor, he can work to encourage development that fits the town. “Astoria may not be where all the housing takes place,” he said, “but we need to really sit down and get a good, strong vision of what we want Asto- ria to look like.” Brownson said the city should reach out to hous- ing development corpora- tions that can help sort out the challenges to building new housing. ‘A group effort’ Bobek, a physician and president of the medical staff at Columbia Memorial Hos- Bruce Jones pital, said the lack of housing is a statewide issue. He noted that several coastal communi- ties have made the creation of more housing units a goal. When it comes to policies related to zoning and housing density, communities looking to increase the housing stock need to “be a little bit flex- ible,” said Bobek, a former Warrenton city commissioner. “Where we have land, we should build (housing),” he said, adding: “This is going to be a group effort.” Boone, who has served as the District 32 represen- tative since 2004, suggested turning to Oregon Solutions, whose mission is “to develop sustainable solutions to com- munity-based problems that support economic, environ- mental, and community objec- tives and are built through the collaborative efforts of busi- nesses, government, and non- profit organizations.” (Flood mitigation in the Tillamook Basin, for example, was one such problem.) Cory Pederson A group of stakehold- ers, convened by the gover- nor, would meet to discuss how best to resolve the issue. Boone, whose background is in construction and oceanog- raphy, has worked with Ore- gon Solutions. In addition, state agen- cies that deal with land use and development would make good partners in the effort to create more housing, she said. “There’s a lot of opportuni- ties out there,” she said. Jobs Garner asked the panel what they can do to help bring sustainable industry to the area, and provide living wages to residents. Boone said her go-to sector is renewable energy. The state is working to ensure its largest utilities provide 50 percent of their electricity through certi- fied renewable resources by 2040. “It’s just the way of the future, I think,” she said. The renewable energy sec- Seafood: Per capita consumption in US went up by nearly a pound Continued from Page 1A Landings and the value of the seafood landed were pos- itive, Merrick said, and recre- ational fisheries on both sides of the country remained strong. Pollock, menhaden and salmon topped the list for vol- ume of landings, while lob- sters, crab and shrimp were the most valuable of landings. Alaska, of course, led all the states in both value of landings —$1.8 billion — and in quan- tity of commercial landings. Per capita consumption of seafood by Americans went up by nearly a whole pound and U.S. commercial fisher- men landed 9.7 billion pounds in ports scattered across the nation for a value of $244 mil- lion, an increase in landings but a decrease in value as com- pared to 2014. West Coast landings Zoom in on the West Coast, however, and the story becomes more nuanced. Astoria overtook Newport as the top West Coast port for commercial fishing. Astoria recorded 92 million pounds of commercial fish, the 13th highest mark in the nation. The catch was down from 122 mil- lion pounds in 2014, when the city was the 12th highest. The value of Astoria’s com- mercial catch was $38 mil- lion, down from $43 million in 2014. Newport had 65 million pounds of commercial fish — 21st — down from 124 million pounds in 2014. Newport’s catch also declined in value, dropping to $33 million, down from $53 million in 2014. Westport, Washington, recorded 84 million pounds of commercial fish, down from 100 million pounds in 2014. The value of the commercial catch in Westport increased to $65 million, up from $64 mil- lion in 2014. Ilwaco-Chinook, Washing- ton, had 15 million pounds of commercial fish, down from 27 million in 2014. Fishermen on the Pacific saw strong halibut and salmon seasons. Commercial land- ings of salmon, in particular, were up by 345 million pounds across the West Coast, though for both Oregon and Washing- ton state there was a decrease in salmon landed. On the rec- reational side of things, anglers took 4 million trips and caught over 14 million fish in Cali- fornia, Oregon and Washing- ton state. The bulk of these trips — roughly 92 percent — occurred in California. Still, the NOAA study Stephanie Yao Long/The Oregonian Joseph Tanner, center, survived a shark attack while surfing on the Oregon Coast earlier this month. With him were West Woodworth, who helped pull Tanner from the ocean; Roye Ely, Tanner’s mother; and Stephen Tanner, father. Surfer: Shark missed bone, key nerves Continued from Page 1A Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond was the first to apply the 1950s movie monster name “The Blob” to a dis- ruptive zone of warm water off the Pacific Northwest coast. records declines in landings for many fisheries here while the Pacific sardine fishery closed entirely, as did the Dungeness crab fishery for a time. Year of the Blob For fishermen based on Oregon’s North Coast and in southwest Washington at the mouth of the Columbia River, 2015 was the year of the Blob, a persistent expanse of warm water that began in the Gulf of Alaska in 2013 and moved south in 2014. It brought trop- ical and subtropical strang- ers to Oregon and Washing- ton’s chilly waters: moonfish, swordfish and even several very hypothermic Olive Rid- ley turtles. The Blob, a name coined by Washington state climatologist Nick Bond, persisted off the Oregon and Washington coasts throughout 2015, helped out by the arrival of El Niño con- ditions. For sockeye and sum- mer-run Chinook migrating back to the Columbia River that summer, it proved deadly. Drought, believed to be related to the unusually warm water off the coast, meant low-flowing, uncomfortably warm rivers and streams for the returning salmon. Coho returns to the Columbia River that fall were the lowest in 25 years, according to NOAA, while the impacts on young salmon that migrated to the ocean that spring and summer will not be known for several more years. And then there was the largest and most wide- spread harmful algal bloom NOAA believes has ever been recorded. Fisheries biologists noted high levels of the naturally-oc- curring marine toxin domoic acid in razor clams and, ulti- mately, shut down popular razor clam digs in both Oregon and Washington. When the toxin was later seen in Dunge- ness crab at unsafely high lev- els, fishery managers closed or severely limited the lucrative crab fisheries in California, Oregon and Washington. Fishermen and fishing com- munities in all three states are still feeling the effects. Domoic acid levels continued to fluctu- ate into 2016, delaying the start of the Dungeness crab season this year in Oregon and Wash- ington. And razor clam digs in both states were closed again recently because of high levels of the toxin. But in fishing, an activ- ity always at the mercy of a host of constantly shifting fac- tors, there’s usually some good mixed in with the uncertain: One big persistent problem that plagued 2015 could be finally going away. As recent storms have swept through the area, churning up the ocean, the Blob “appears to be breaking down,” said Toby Garfield, director of environ- mental research at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. And, as the Pacific North- west leaves El Niño behind and enters La Niña conditions, strong upwelling and the more frequent storms associated with La Niña conditions could help keep large algal blooms and domoic acid scares at bay. Such blooms are depen- dent on weather conditions, Garfield said, and it looks like the West Coast is returning to “more normal conditions. But, he added, “We won’t know until farther into the spring.” “I just paddled my life away. That was probably the scariest moment, trying to get back to the shore and leaving a trail of blood,” Tanner said. “I couldn’t lift up my arms any- more and I just rolled off my board in six inches of water and people came from all over.” Directing care Tanner, a critical care nurse at Legacy Emmanuel Hospi- tal’s intensive care unit, imme- diately began telling his rescu- ers what to do. He directed them to make a tourniquet from a T-shirt and, when that wasn’t tight enough, he told them to make another out of the leash from his board. Six people used a surf- board like a backboard and carried him up a steep slope and over rocky ground to the parking lot above. While they waited for help, Tanner had them call the ambulance and provide his blood type in case he needed a transfusion. He also told them to cut off his wetsuit so paramedics could start an IV when they arrived. All the while, Tanner could feel himself getting weaker, he recalled. “I started getting light- headed and that freaked me out because I know that’s the first sign of shock,” Tanner said. When paramedics arrived, Tanner insisted that the rescue helicopter fly him to Legacy Emmanuel, where he knows the trauma staff. “I remember being in the trauma bay and two of my co-workers were on either side of me. They were in drapes and lights and they literally looked angelic. It was like a breath of relief to see these familiar faces,” Tanner said. He required three surgeries and will need physical ther- apy, but the shark missed his bone and key nerves. No one got a good look at the shark, but Tanner said he’s been told by several experts that it was likely a great white, based on the jaw mark on his leg. As he recovers, Tanner hopes other surfers can learn from his experience. All surfers should know how to tie a tourniquet and know their blood type — and a thick wetsuit doesn’t hurt, he added. “I wore the thickest wetsuit that they sell,” he said. “That wetsuit quite possibly saved my life.” PAM ACKLEY Experience and Community Involvement Committed to Warrenton’s Future Warrenton Commission Position 1 Thorough investigation on development rights of the public Work to solve housing issues & living wage jobs Support building, fi shing & forestry industries Work to solve juvenile substance abuse in our community Endorsed By: • Clatsop Association of Realtors • David Hoggard, Owner REMAX River & Sea • • • • Trina Hoggard, Owner Seaside Temps, LLC Chris & Jeanette Hayward Robert & Cheryl Fulton Doris Warren • Darlene Warren & Family • Greg Peterson & Sydney Van Dusen • Charlie & Rinda Shea • Dale Barrett • Frank & Jodi Orrell • Diane Collier ackleycompaign@gmail.com C OMMUNITY I NVOLVEMENT Warrenton City Commission Position 1 • Co-Director: Warrenton-Hammond Healthy Kids, Inc. • Windermere Foundation: Representative 2010 to current • Way to Wellville: City Representative - Economic Development • Liaison for the City: Hammond Marina Task Force 503-717-3796
