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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017 Port: Commission president position comes up for a vote in July Continued from Page 1A of commissioner reports and a second period of public comment. Fulton’s letter Tuesday said Mushen violated rules of order “by not formally ending the item of debate on the floor, and not receiving a motion to adjourn the meeting before slamming the gavel down and leaving the room.” Mushen said Thursday that his early gaveling of the meet- ing, which took place amid gale-force winds, was more about getting home in the foul weather than how the meeting was devolving into an emo- tional squabble. Fulton further claimed in his letter that Mushen has pre- vented certain commission- er-requested agenda items from being added to meetings, which he referred to as “discrimina- tory censorship” and in viola- tion of bylaws. Mushen said he allows items to be put on the agenda by any commissioner, but with limits. “Just because the vote on the discussion doesn’t go your way doesn’t mean you can put it on the agenda 30 times,” he said. In his letter, Fulton fur- ther claims Knight has vio- lated a previous Port Commis- sion directive by not providing the governing body weekly updates. Legal memo At the Port Commission meeting Tuesday, Mushen said Port Property Manager Shane Jensen, who is in training to become a lawyer, had a com- plaint filed against him with the Oregon State Bar. He asked whether any of the commis- sioners had filed the complaint. Each commissioner denied any involvement. Mushen said Thursday that Jensen had researched and dis- covered the Port should not have alternates on the Port Bud- get Committee, and he said Port attorney Tim Ramis later con- firmed the finding verbally and in writing. Jensen produced an interoffice memo on the mat- ter, which Mushen said Fulton got a hold of from former bud- get committee Chairman John Lansing after Lansing walked out of a November meeting. Lansing had walked out and quit the budget committee after Fulton called him a stooge. Fulton’s letter Tuesday said the commission needs to dis- cuss who authorized the legal memo, why it was only pro- vided to certain budget com- mittee members and why bud- get committee alternates were not placed on the Port Commis- sion’s agenda for discussion. Mushen said the memo was only meant for staff, and that he will bring a vote next meeting to eliminate alternates from the budget committee. Asked what he thinks is behind such seemingly petty maneuvers by Fulton and Hunsinger, Mushen said he knows “those two commission- ers would like to be (Port Com- mission) president,” which he added comes up for a vote in July. Fulton has declined to com- ment to the newspaper on the strife at the Port Commission, which has had a history of infighting that has contributed to management turnover. Art program: ‘This class is really getting away from Common Core’ Continued from Page 1A emotions they may have stirred up into art. “I think it’s really good how you can have a class and touch base and actually get out your emotions and feelings,” said student Kaiden Agee. The big stick As “Mr. B” spoke, he held a large stick, on which all of the members of the inaugural AIM class had burned their names. When he finished, he passed it to the student next to him. In turn, the 26 students passed the stick around. Some chose to talk about the topic of the day — whether social media is actually “anti-social” — while others just passed the stick and listened. Lloyd, who began work at the school in the fall, said she was inspired to try something new after really getting to know some of her students. “My first few weeks here were very difficult,” she explained. “The kids didn’t seem to have any ownership in their materials, their classroom, their learning.” But she said it soon became clear that kids who had behav- ioral issues were often faced with problems that were not being addressed. “I couldn’t, as an adult, come to work every day and look the kids in the face and say ‘Sit down and do this artwork right now,’ when they can’t focus on that,” said Lloyd. She and Bresnahan hatched an idea for a class where stu- dents could talk safely and openly, and then use art as a way to synthesize the things they’d talked about. “Before, we were doing nothing. We don’t have a coun- selor (at the school),” Lloyd explained. “You’re talking Damian Mulinix/For EO Media Group Cheri Lloyd, who began teaching art at Hilltop Middle School in the fall has teamed up with Dean of Students Sean Bresnahan to offer the new Arts, Identity and Mindfulness class. about super-highly impacted kids at a very vulnerable time in their lives who don’t have a time to talk to somebody who can help them work things out.” The tribe Bresnahan said many ele- ments of Art, Identity and Mindfulness are designed to help the kids develop a much- needed sense of belonging that isn’t always present in tradi- tional classrooms. The talking stick is just a way for the kids to feel like they’re part of the same “tribe,” he said. “There’s this assumed hier- archy in a school where the teachers are working from the position of authority, and the students are subjected to that authority. There’s not a lot of bridge-building, as far as us being equal with them,” said Bresnahan, who also acts as the school’s intervention spe- cialist. “That’s why we all cir- cle up and try to get on the same level. It creates an equity, and a voice. They’re not speaking from a position of a student any longer, but an equal. And while we’re still teachers, our inten- tion, really, is to (be a) guide.” Lloyd said the first half of the semester they will talk about things related to iden- tity, and the idea that people wear “masks” in life, and then creating projects based on that. She gives the kids freedom to interpret the assignments in a way that is personally mean- ingful. While some will choose to make masks, others will express their ideas about iden- tity through other mediums, like photography. She hopes that the art component of the class will give kids a new way to ‘talk’ about things they might otherwise keep bottled up. “They often don’t have that voice,” Lloyd said. “I’m just drawing a mask and then mixing it between my sadness and happiness. So, it’s like a meaning behind it,” eighth-grader Miranda Mason- holder said. Agee said he also chose to draw an image of a mask. “Mine’s got words like ‘greed’ and ‘hope,’ stuff like that. And there’s an X across the face. Because people can be greedy and mischievous. I’ll just put those words onto a mask and put an X over them. And on the X is ‘Hope,’” he explained. Out of thin air Lloyd and Bresnahan put a lot of thought into recruiting the students for the first AIM class. “They’re all hand-picked,” Bresnahan said. “A blend of kids from different back- grounds, different needs, dif- ferent interests. Some of these kids are high academic-achiev- ing kids. Others could give a rip less about school. As the dean of students, I know what a lot of their issues are.” Lloyd said they’re hoping that having a new outlet will also result in fewer behavioral referrals and suspensions for the students who are struggling. “We also want them to be able to go on to high school and stick with it. We also under- stand though that, like the alter- native school, sometimes you need an alternate setting, and we didn’t have anything here,” Lloyd said. The circle and the stick Kids weren’t sure what to make of the new class during the first week. “I think they were really skeptical at first,” Lloyd said. “Like, ‘Why am I in this cir- cle right now?’ ‘This feels like therapy.’ But you wouldn’t believe how much they’re contributing.” By the end of the week, the students seemed to be coming around. Agee and Masonholder said they really like the new format. “I think it’s actually really awesome because you know you can talk about what- ever and no one can really say anything against you,” said Masonholder. Agee said the conversa- tion period feels like “a break from reality,” because he can talk about things that he doesn’t often get to discuss in other settings. “This class is really get- ting away from Common Core and just giving school kind of a break.” Bresnahan said not all of the students are comfortable speak- ing in class yet, but they seem willing to give it a chance. “Because it doesn’t really feel like school,” Bresnahan said. “They’re not looking for excuses to leave. In other classes, they’re arm wrestling for the bathroom pass.” Lloyd thinks it feels rele- vant to them, because they are invited to talk about what’s actually happening in their lives. “So what do you want? What do you need?’ I think when you start doing that, I think there’s that mutual respect,” Lloyd said. “The whole idea is for them to trans- fer that to their other classes as well.” Bresnahan said he’s look- ing forward to the next unit of the class, mindfulness, because he’s hoping the students will gain valuable insights about themselves. “How can you be mindful, if you don’t have the slightest idea of who you are yet?” he asked. Shipyard: Repairs many shipping vessels Continued from Page 1A The approved cleanup plan would cap and remove con- taminated soil at the Lewis and Clark River shipyard at an esti- mated cost of more than $2 million. Astoria Marine repre- sentatives have said the plan will result in the closure of the shipyard, which repairs many of the region’s fishing vessels. Finding a new home The Port of Astoria, Clat- sop Economic Development Resources and other local groups have been trying to find a solution to relocate Astoria Marine, or at least similar ser- vices provided by the compa- ny’s specialty shipwrights. Jim Knight, the Port’s executive director, said he and other local leaders met with Fastabend about his future a month ago at Englund Marine and Industrial Supply Co. “I don’t have a sense that (Astoria Marine) is going to be staying in business very much longer,” Knight said of the meeting. “The cleanup process has taken a lot of his resources and time, and he’s close to retirement.” “We’re looking at where we can produce the boatyard in the fastest time, and that’s (North) Tongue Point,” Knight said. North Tongue Point includes at least 30 acres of tarmac and a former seaplane ramp used by existing ship- wright companies J&H Boat- works and WCT Marine to haul large boats out of the water. The two companies operate in large, World War II-era hangars big enough to fit large fishing vessels, but Knight said there’s unlikely to be any vacancies in the near future. Pacific Coast Seafood, which lost its processing plant in Warrenton to a fire in 2013 and relocated to another han- gar at North Tongue Point, is rebuilding in Warrenton and expects to return by spring. But Knight said the company has talked about wanting to operate at both Warrenton and North Tongue Point. The Port is also determin- ing whether it needs to pay for a new system to pump sewage over a hill from North Tongue Point to the Astoria lagoons. Knight said the U.S. Depart- ment of Commerce, which owns a northern portion of the property for Tongue Point Job Corps Center, is looking to replace its sewage system and disconnect from the Port. The Port has leased a south- ern portion of North Tongue Point from Montana-based Washington Development Group since 2009. Before the Port makes any signifi- cant investments there, Knight said, the agency needs to finish negotiating the purchase of the facility before the lease comes up in 2019, a goal of the Port Commission. “I hope that we can get this wrapped up in the next few (months), figuring out the purchase price,” he said. Gillnetting: Commission meets today Continued from Page 1A State policy In a letter Thursday to Com- mission Chairman Michael Finley, Brown asked the com- mission to comply with state policy and with an agreement in Washington state, which voted in January to end gillnet- ting in the main channel in two years and increase recreational fishers’ portion of Chinook. “Non-concurrence between the two states is unaccept- able,” Brown wrote. “It will make enforcement compli- cated, confusing and unten- able, and put at risk ongoing funding and bi-state coop- eration necessary for fishery reforms.” Brown said she expected the commission to adopt per- manent rules in line with the previous bi-state agreement, which was initiated by former Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2012, by April 3. Steve Fick, the owner of Fishhawk Fisheries, a fish processor in Astoria, called the governor’s position “ridiculous.” “It appears she’s just totally wimping out to the sports interests,” Fick said. “She’s going against — clearly — what the law says.” The commission meets today in Tigard. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. We Want to Know! Healthcare is a deeply personal experience. Please consider sharing your perspective as part of our Patient & Family Advisory Council (PFAC). This group of communi- ty members is passionate about helping Columbia Memorial Hospital be the best it can be. Join us by calling 503-338-7505. 2111 Exchange St., Astoria, Oregon • 503-325-4321 www.columbiamemorial.org • A Planetree-Designated Hospital
