DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 93
Astoria
pursues
judgment
against
Smithart
ANXIETY, RELIEF MARK
ELECTION DAY
More than 60 percent
of county voters cast
their ballots early
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
For The Daily Astorian
E
very election, offi cials see several types of voters:
The ones who get their ballots in early and the ones
who rush their ballots in at the last minute.
In Clatsop County, with more early ballot
returns this election than in the last two presidential
elections, there is a third category.
“We heard from several early
voters that they ‘just wanted to
get it over with,’” said County
Clerk Valerie Crafard.
In fact, across the state, the
contentious race between Demo-
cratic presidential candidate Hil-
lary Clinton and Republican can-
didate Donald Trump seems to
have prompted a wave of early
voting.
Early ballot returns in Oregon
Valerie
exceeded 1 million, according to
Crafard
the Secretary of State’s Offi ce .
This number — 1.29 million —
accounts for roughly half of
Oregonians eligible to vote .
At this same point in the
2012 presidential election,
1.1 million — or 50.6 per-
cent — of Oregon voters had
cast their ballots.
In Clatsop County, the Elec-
tions Division had received 15,135
ballots as of Monday, representing just over 60 percent
of c ounty voters.
“Now the push is on to process all those ballots,”
said Crafard.
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The city has lost patience with Brad
Smithart.
The former operator of the Astoria Riv-
erwalk Inn agreed in June to a payment plan
on nearly $120,000
in back hotel-room
taxes. But Smithart has
fallen behind on the
installments and has
not returned the city’s
calls.
The City Council
voted Monday night to
authorize City Attor-
ney Blair Hennings-
gaard to seek a judg-
Brad
ment against Smithart
Smithart
in Circuit Court.
“It’s been going on for so long, and
we can’t even reach him now. Numerous
attempts have been made to talk with him,”
Mayor Arline LaMear said after the vote.
“We bent over backward to give him terms
that we felt he could handle, and he agreed to
that when we did it.
“So he’s just, at this point, ignoring
the City Council and that sets a very bad
precedent.”
See SMITHART, Page 7A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Sheryl Holcom, Clatsop County elections technician , prepares to scan bal-
lots for counting at the county Elections Office Monday in downtown Astoria.
HOW TO VOTE
Swim club shocked
by lane charges
• Clatsop County Clerk’s Office,
820 Exchange St., Astoria
The Astoria City Council on Monday
night sank a plan to enforce lane rental fees
at the Astoria Aquatic Center after the North
Coast Swim Club warned that it might have
to fold or scale back lap time for young
swimmers.
The Aquatic Center is supposed to charge
$25 an hour per lane, but the swim club and
Astoria High School have not been paying
rental fees under arrangements with previ-
ous parks administrators. Angela Cosby, the
director of the Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment, recommended that the swim club pay
$5 an hour per lane effective today and $10
an hour per lane starting in November 2017.
The youth discount did not go over well
with the swim club, which estimated that the
rental fees would cost an extra $9,000 this
fi scal year and $18,000 next year. The non-
profi t’s annual expenses are around $30,000.
“We were shocked,” Patrick Wingard, the
swim club’s president, told the City Council.
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive ballots
• 24-hour drive-up dropbox,
outside 820 Exchange St., Astoria
Catching up
Up to 8 p.m. to receive ballots
See ELECTION, Page 7A
• Warrenton City Hall, 225 S.
Main Ave.
• Cannon Beach City Hall, 163
E. Gower
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive ballots
• Gearhart City Hall, 698 Pacific
Way
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive ballots
(closed noon-1 p.m. for lunch)
• Seaside City Hall, 989 Broad-
way
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive ballots
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard
A visitor to the Lane County Election of-
fices in Eugenehelps herself to a “I voted”
sticker after casting her ballot Monday.
Pool fees
sink after
complaints
All ballots must be turned in by 8
tonight. It is too late to mail them .
Clatsop County voters should
instead turn completed ballots
in at the Elections Division or
drop them off at designated drop
boxes. These are located in the
following areas:
Early turnout and high numbers of voters in gen-
eral are to be expected during a presidential race, elec-
tion offi cials said.
In the fi rst four days after Clatsop County voters
received ballots, residents turned in more than 5,000
ballots, representing 20 percent of the county’s eligi-
ble voters . At this same time in the past two presiden-
tial elections — in 2008 and 2012 — the offi ce hadn’t
even hit the 1,000 ballot mark yet.
The sheer number of early returns was not com-
pletely unexpected, but still came as a surprise to
GO TO DAILYASTORIAN.COM
FOR COMPLETE
ELECTION COVERAGE
ONE DOLLAR
8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive
ballots
• Knappa High School, 41535
Old Highway 30
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive ballots
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
See POOL, Page 7A
Bond Street to reopen to two-way traffi c
Street limited
after 2007 slide
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Bond Street, limited to one
westbound lane after a 2007
landslide near Uniontown, will
open to two-way traffi c again
by next September.
The narrow street will be
widened and a retaining wall
will help stabilize the hillside.
The project, which will restore
an alternative east-west route
through the city, is one of sev-
eral as the city expands the Astor
West Urban Renewal Area.
The city intends to fold 12
acres and 43 tax lots into the
redevelopment zone. The city
will make money available
for redevelopment assistance,
affordable housing, storefront
improvements and the retain-
ing wall.
A conference center, which
was a key element of the urban
renewal plan for Uniontown
when it was fi rst adopted by the
city in 2002, will drop out of the
plan. A task force recommended
a decade ago that the idea be
scrapped.
Kevin Cronin, the city’s
community development direc-
tor, said Bond Street should be
ready for two-way traffi c again
by next September.
He said the street will be
widened in the area of the land-
slide near Hume Avenue from
about 12 feet to about 20 feet,
still narrow but wide enough for
two-way traffi c.
The City Council gave ini-
tial approval Monday night to
expand the Astor West Urban
Renewal Area. A fi nal vote is
expected later this month.
“I think that the reopening of
Bond Street to two-way traffi c
is very important, not only from
a livability standpoint, but also
as an alternate route in emer-
gencies or times of high con-
gestion,” City Councilor Zetty
Nemlowill said. “Expanding the
urban renewal district boundar-
ies to improve housing in Asto-
ria is also an added benefi t.”
Alex Pajunas/The Daily Astorian
Mud trickles onto Bond Street from the landslide that oc-
curred in 2007. The city hopes to open the street to two-
way traffic again by next September.