DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 132
ONE DOLLAR
Whales
head south
Ecola State Park is a
good place to watch
By ZACH URNESS
Statesman Journal
CLATSOP COUNTY
MANAGER
CAMERON MOORE
ASTORIA MAYOR
ARLINE LaMEAR
WARRENTON MAYOR
MARK KUJALA
County, city leaders
look to the new year
The exodus of gray whales heading south
along the Oregon Coast is beginning.
Each year, from mid-December to
mid-January, around 20,000 whales swim
from the cold Alaskan seas to the warm
lagoons of Baja Mexico.
The mass migration creates the poten-
tial for one of nature’s most dramatic
views.
“On the right day, and at the right loca-
tion, you can see up to 40 whales per hour,”
said Luke Parsons, park ranger at the Depoe
Bay Whale Watching Center. “It’s pretty
amazing when that happens.”
While much of the success in whale
watching is patience — the willingness to
keep your binoculars focused on the ocean
— there are a few places and tips that can
help improve odds, Parsons said.
See WHALES, Page 7A
The Daily Astorian
For 2017, The Daily Astorian reporters asked the county manager and cities’
mayors what the biggest challenge facing their areas will be in the coming year.
Clatsop County Manager
Cameron Moore
Some of the challenges of the coming year
are as yet unknown, Clatsop County Manager
Cameron Moore said. “It’s quite possible the
biggest challenge we don’t know yet. Things
happen during the course of the year.”
Internally, a new compensation system is
on the county road map.
“We have been working for a couple years
on revamping our compensation system for
county employees, so we’re anticipating that
2017 will be the year that we implement that
new structure, which again, doesn’t affect the
taxpayers or anything,” he said. “But anytime
you make significant changes to your com-
pensation structure, there’s a few challenges
that go along with that.
Externally, there are two challenges on the
horizon. “One is, in 2017, we will be doing
a review of the county charter, which is the
county government. It opens up county gov-
ernment to potentially discuss either small or
significant changes to the structure of county
government,” Moore said. “We don’t know
where that’s going to go yet, but obviously
that’s very important. It’s something we only
do once every 10 years. I would say that,
probably, you know, certainly is very import-
ant. How challenging it will be, we don’t
know yet.”
Secondly, the commissioners need to
make a decision on the Linn County timber
lawsuit. “But regardless of which decision
they make, we are anticipating that 2017 —
maybe all year, I don’t know — but this will
be the discovery part of that trial,” Moore
said. “What that means for us is, is whether
we’re in the lawsuit or whether we’re out of
the lawsuit, we’re probably going to have to
commit significant county staff time and sig-
nificant resources to responding to requests
for years of data about timber sales and tim-
ber revenues. And we don’t know how much
demand that will place on county resources,
but it could be significant.”
Astoria Mayor
Arline LaMear
Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear said that one
of the biggest challenges for the city of Astoria
in 2017 will be replacing the aging waterfront
bridges at the ends of Sixth through 11th streets.
The wooden foundations beneath the six
bridges can no longer safely support heavy
truckloads, according to the city. Construc-
tion along the waterfront may cause disrup-
tions, from temporarily shutting down the
Astoria Riverfront Trolley to making it diffi-
cult for people to access establishments along
that stretch of pier.
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Volunteer Jim Border, center, points out
toward a plume from a whale during a
whale watching session at Ecola State
Park last year.
Farmers look
ahead to a year
of unknowns
Water, workers, trade,
Trump among issues
By ERIC MORTENSON
EO Media Group
See LEADERS, Page 7A
More water but maybe less regulation.
Expanding yields and shrinking labor pools.
Big Ag and Big Data taking root amid the
blossoming of small farms. A political cli-
mate in which some want to drain the
swamp while others clamor to conserve the
watershed.
Got a crystal ball? Or, more in step with
the times, a prognosticating drone? The agri-
cultural outlook for 2017 is cloudy.
“I think we’re going into a very uncer-
tain period for producers and the food sys-
tem, because the new administration coming
in will be a little less predictable, perhaps,”
said Rose Hayden-Smith, a former county
extension agent who edits the University of
California’s “Food Observer” blog.
Trump and trade
SEASIDE MAYOR
JAY BARBER
GEARHART MAYOR
MATT BROWN
CANNON BEACH
MAYOR
SAM STEIDEL
Didn’t take long to get to President-elect
Trump, did it? But no matter how you voted,
the incoming administration poses a conun-
drum for some producers. Many of them
supported him — Trump took up to 80 per-
cent of the vote in many rural counties — but
disagree with some of his espoused policies.
See UNKNOWNS, Page 7A
Marketer takes the plunge at Pier 39
N
early four years ago,
Bethany Bell stopped
into Floyd Holcom’s Asto-
ria Scuba on Pier 39 to buy
a replacement mask before a
trip to Hawaii. Bell said the
two struck up a conversation
about the Roddenberry Dive
Team, created by original Star
Trek producer Gene Rodden-
berry. Then, she said, Holcom
pointed over his shoulder at
an embroidered parka patch
from the team mounted on the
wall.
“He didn’t know it, but I’m
the one who made that patch,”
Bell said.
Bell, with her background
in marketing for large publish-
ers, was recently hired as mar-
keting director for Holcom’s
Pier 39, the former home of
Bumble Bee Cannery that he
refurbished into a waterfront
commercial complex.
Her new role with Pier 39
is to build the buzz around
Astoria’s largest water-
front building. The complex
includes a walk-through can-
nery museum, Rogue Ales
Public House, Coffee Girl,
Astoria Scuba, Four Winds
Canvas Works, the Fisherman
Suites hotel and Hanthorn
Crab Co., along with office,
retail and meeting spaces for
rent.
“Bethany adds a level of
marketing that will bring the
pier to a new plateau,” Hol-
com said
Bell worked for Prime-
dia, which publishes “Motor
Trend,” “Hot Rod” and other Inc., Microsoft Corp., Nin-
auto-related titles. She also tendo Co., Warner Bros. and
worked for a pub-
Sony Corp. At Pier
lisher
specializ-
39, Bell will try to
ing in video game
entice more visitors
and pop culture
out over the water.
entertainment.
“Some might
“As the direc-
see our buildings
tor of advertising,
in the distance but
I created compre-
not realize they are
hensive print and
not only welcome,
online media plans
but encouraged, to
and proposals for
cross our bridge
my clients and their
and spend a while
Bethany Bell
advertising agen-
exploring. Pier 39
cies, encompassing
is the only place
both product promotion and still standing that provides an
general branding,” she said.
historic walk back in time to
Her clients included such Astoria’s cannery past.”
large companies as Honda,
Toyota Motor Corp., eBay
See BELL, Page 7A