The daily Astorian., February 10, 2017, WEEKEND EDITION, Image 1

144TH YEAR, NO. 161
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
Brown wants commission to nix gillnet OK
Governor calls deal
‘not acceptable’
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown
Thursday expressed displeasure with
the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Com-
mission regarding its decision last
month to diverge from an agreement
with Washington state to phase out
the use of gillnets along the L ower
Columbia River.
And the governor expects a rever-
sal by April 3.
Longtime confl ict
There is a longstanding confl ict
between recreational anglers and
commercial fi shermen over who gets
to nab how much seasonal salmon
in the area, and whether commercial
fi shermen can use gillnets, devices
that trap fi sh by the gills and can
yield large hauls.
The state’s sporting anglers gen-
erally oppose the practice, as have
environmental groups, saying it
doesn’t distinguish between wild
and hatchery fi sh and urging the
commission to limit gillnetting to
the river’s side channels. Commer-
cial fi shermen on the North C oast
have argued that disallowing gillnet-
ting in the river is a threat to their
livelihoods.
The commission decided by a
4-3 vote in January to adopt an alter-
native plan that, rather than ban-
ning gillnetting altogether, would
allow recreational anglers to cap-
ture 80 percent of spring and sum-
mer Chinook, which is protected by
the Endangered Species Act. Com-
mercial fi shermen would be able to
capture the remaining 20 percent and
fi sh the main stem with tangle nets.
Recreational fi shermen could
harvest 66 percent of fall Chinook,
and commercial fi shermen 34 per-
cent; for the fall Chinook, gillnet-
ting would be permitted in Zones 4
and 5 and tangle nets in Zones 1, 2,
and 3.
Brown called those rules “not
acceptable.”
See GILLNETTING, Page 7A
Fulton
ramps up
fl ak at Port
leadership
Letter alleges several
violations of bylaws
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The city of Astoria purchased a
new ladder truck for the Astoria Fire
Department last month for $904,777 — in
cash. The vehicle — a 2016-model chassis from
Pierce Manufacturing — replaces the nearly 30-year-old
ladder truck featured in “Kindergarten Cop.” The previous
vehicle, a 1988 Simon Duplex, had a single rear axle and a 75-foot
ladder; the new one has a dual rear axle and a ladder length of 105 feet.
Astoria’s new ladder truck a step up
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
T
he new truck’s longer ladder allows
fi re crews to park farther away from
a building while still allowing per-
sonnel to reach upper fl oors. Shorter lad-
ders require fi refi ghters to park right next to
a building and negotiate a steeper climbing
angle, which is “more dangerous for folks
going up or coming down,” Astoria Fire
Chief Ted Ames said.
Though the Astoria Fire Department
had the “Kindergarten Cop” vehicle for
almost three decades, “I’m not going to say
that it lasted that long,” Ames said. “It did
last that long with a tremendous amount
of tender loving care, and a lot of money
thrown at it.”
The department — which also got a new
pumper truck in October 2015 — deployed
the “Kindergarten Cop” truck, for fi res in
town or mutual aid calls to neighboring
agencies, about eight to 10 times a year,
Ames said. So he doesn’t anticipate hav-
ing to use the new ladder truck every day or
every other day “like a Portland or Seattle
would,” he said.
Once the new ladder truck goes into ser-
vice, the city will likely declare the existing
one surplus and sell it.
“I would imagine that Astoria will be
married to this specifi c truck ... for a min-
imum of 25 years,” Ames said.
Photo by Danny Miller, Illustration by Alan Kenaga/
EO Media Group
Bylaw violations
month or two, after which the state
and Astoria Marine would fi nalize
the consent judgment .
Williams estimates permit-
ting for the cleanup, which Asto-
ria Marine has already begun, could
take a year or more, with the physi-
cal cleanup taking one to two years.
“You could say about three years for
cleanup.”
At a meeting last month, Fulton accused
Mushen of malfeasance and violating Port
bylaws for not getting Port Commission
signoff to nominate Knight for the Special
Districts Association of Oregon’s Outstand-
ing Manager of the Year Award. Mushen
apologized for any misunderstanding but
denied having committed malfeasance.
“I wanted to surprise Jim Knight with
something good instead of a punch in the
nose,” Mushen said Thursday of why his
nomination was kept secret.
Mushen said the accusation by Fulton is
comical, but that he will likely continue his
push at the Port’s next meeting to have his
nomination of Knight formally OK’ d by a
commission vote, likely following the same
3-2 pattern.
“I hate 3-2 votes,” Mushen said. “That’s
not the way I want things to be. But it seems
to be a necessity.”
At the meeting last month, Hunsinger
continued needling Mushen during his com-
mission reports over supposed falsehoods
in his letter nominating Knight. Mushen
abruptly ended the meeting before the end
See SHIPYARD, Page 7A
See PORT, Page 7A
Courtesy of Clatsop County Historical Society
A 1909 photo shows the Astoria Fire Department’s
horse-drawn No. 3 ladder truck.
Troubled shipyard approaches end game
Astoria Marine
still struggling
despite reprieve
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Local leaders rejoiced in Sep-
tember when Astoria Marine Con-
struction Co. was offered a fi ve-
year reprieve from a state-mandated
cleanup expected to close the
93-year-old shipyard , giving the
community several years to fi nd a
new location.
But Astoria Marine owner Tim
Fastabend, waiting for a record of
decision that will initiate the fi ve-
year deadline , said his company is
operating on a day-to-day basis.
He said that how long Asto-
ria Marine stays open depends on
Ramping up his criticism of the Port of
Astoria’s leadership and management, Com-
missioner Stephen Fulton has outlined sev-
eral alleged violations of the Port’s bylaws.
The Port Commission voted Tuesday to
table a motion by Chairman Robert Mushen
on whether Mushen
should be exonerated
of Fulton’s accusa-
tions of malfeasance
because commission-
ers wanted time to read
Fulton’s new letter.
The letter, obtained
by The Daily Asto-
rian through a public
records request, targets
Stephen
Mushen and Executive
Fulton
Director Jim Knight
over largely proce-
dural matters. The allegations continue a
row on the Port Commission, with Fulton
and Bill Hunsinger claiming wrongdoing by
Mushen and Knight, while Mushen, James
Campbell and John Raichl vote down many
of the pair’s efforts.
whether there are any major break-
downs or other expenses, which he
would be reluctant to make know-
ing the boatyard will eventually
close. “The best case scenario is
we’re here another year, a year and
a half.”
Bob Williams, Astoria Marine
project manager for the state Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality,
said he hopes to have a decision on
Astoria Marine’s cleanup in the next
New art program helps students create themselves
By DAMIAN MULINIX
For EO Media Group
LWACO, Wash. — As the stu-
dents slowly drifted into Cheri
Lloyd’s Hilltop Middle School
art classroom in January, they
moved their chairs into a cir-
cle and turned their attention to Dean
of Students Sean Bresnahan, who was
holding the “Talking Stick.”
The brand-new Art, Identity and
Mindfulness class is much different —
and much more ambitious — than a tra-
A piece
of art
created
on one of
the first
days of
the new
AIM art
class at
Hilltop.
ditional middle school art class. Lloyd
and Bresnahan designed AIM to help
at-risk Hilltop students learn healthy
ways of coping with the challenges in
their lives. During a typical two-hour
session — they meet fi rst and sec-
ond period every day — the students
spend the fi rst half of the class talking
about the social, school and personal
issues they’re dealing with. During
the second half, Lloyd teaches them
how to channel the thoughts and
See ART PROGRAM, Page 7A
p
Damian Mulinix/For EO Media Grou