DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 204
ONE DOLLAR
Port director, commissioners trade barbs
Letters reveal
war of words
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
A fl urry of letters has underscored
the acrimony at the Port of Asto-
ria between Executive Director Jim
Knight and C ommissioners Stephen
Fulton and Bill Hunsinger.
In a letter Friday, Knight called
out Fulton and Hunsinger for unfairly
attacking staff. In separate letters
Monday, Fulton and Hunsinger each
admonished Knight for not inform-
ing the commission earlier of recent
stormwater violations and delays.
“For too long now certain com-
missioners have used their position
and the associated media attention to
Coastal
cities join
inclusivity
movement
Warrenton, Cannon
Beach latest to sign on
attack the credibility and competence
of the staff,” Knight wrote in a letter to
the Port Commission . “Such attacks
severely interfere with the mission of
the Port in several ways.”
Knight said the attacks divert
staff from more productive busi-
ness pursuits, undermine public con-
fi dence in the Port and often bring
about motions toward commercially
ill-advised,
unreasonable
and
perplexing decisions.
“The current staff is fully com-
mitted and fully competent to fulfi ll
the mission of the Port,” Knight said.
“We will continue to actively pursue
the success of the Port regardless of
behavior by certain commissioners
that demand a response like this one.”
Knight had previously admon-
ished Fulton and Hunsinger for cre-
ating a stressful environment that he
THEY’RE
BACK!
BY-THE-WIND SAILORS
MAKE LANDFALL AGAIN
Law enforcement
Under Oregon law, state and local
police cannot use public money to arrest
people whose only violation is that they
are in the United
States
illegally.
Gov. Kate Brown,
in defi ance of
Trump, issued an
executive order in
February expand-
ing the law to cover
state agencies and
employees.
Law enforce-
ment agencies can,
Jason
however, exchange
Schermerhorn
information with
federal immigration agents, verify the
immigration status of people arrested for
crimes, make arrests for criminal viola-
tions of federal immigration law and exe-
cute federal arrest warrants.
Sanctuary cities, like Portland, have
vowed not to cooperate with the federal
Stormwater overruns
Knight’s letter was largely in
response to another from Fulton ear-
lier accusing Port staff of covering
See PORT, Page 5A
Henry
Balensifer
Rick
Newton
Public can
weigh in on
Warrenton
mayor pick
By DERRICK DePLEDGE and
BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
Warrenton on Tuesday night became
the latest city on the North Coast to
adopt an inclusivity resolution recogniz-
ing immigrants, a heartfelt, if symbolic,
expression of solidarity during President
Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal
immigration.
The resolutions celebrate immigrant
contributions to the community but do
not go as far as declaring a sanctuary city.
Astoria adopted an inclusivity resolution
in March in partnership with the Lower
Columbia Hispanic Council, and Seaside
and Cannon Beach are considering simi-
lar resolutions. Gearhart declared itself a
“welcoming city” in March.
“I have sympathy for the people. But I
also cannot justify a sanctuary city,” War-
renton City Commissioner Rick Newton
said.
The City Commission voted 3-1 for
Newton’s resolution. Commissioner
Tom Dyer, a retired Oregon State Police
trooper, was opposed. “I don’t think we
should go out looking for people and
hunt them down or anything like that,” he
said. “But I have a tough time supporting
something that doesn’t support the laws of
the land.”
said contributed to Commission Pres-
ident Robert Mushen’s hospitaliza-
tion after he left a meeting earlier this
month.
Balensifer, Newton
want the appointment
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Velella vellelas, a phenomenon in coastal Oregon.
The Daily Astorian
EWPORT— The Oregon coastline
is again experiencing a “blue tide,”
when beaches are strewn with an
aquamarine layer of jelly-like organisms.
Each spring, there are innumerable bodies
of by-the-wind sailors or Velella velella,
and their strandings are a regular, but still
fascinating phenomenon on the coast, the
Oregon Coast Aquarium said.
Ranging in size from a few millimeters
across to 7 centimeters, these brilliant blue
and purple animals sometimes wash up
on the beaches in alarming quantities, this
“blue tide” poses far less of a risk to ani-
mals and people than the red variety.
The common name of these creatures
— by-the-wind sailor — refers to the
clear, triangular sail at the top of the ani-
mal’s body that catches the wind and pro-
pels it across the surface. Short tentacles
hang from the underside of the sail. Found
in all the oceans, these animals have no
independent movement and will drift on
N
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Velella vellelas, the so-called “blue
tide,” are less of a threat to animals
and people than the red variety.
the whim of the breeze.
Despite Velella’s simple yet effective
sail, heavier winds during the spring and
summer months may nevertheless cause
mass strandings. During such conditions,
it isn’t uncommon to see miles and miles
of Oregon beach carpeted with stinking
heaps of Velella, which quickly die and
decay on shore, turning from a metallic
blue to a lifeless white.
See MOVEMENT, Page 7A
WARRENTON — The City Commission
will hear from the public before naming a new
mayor.
Acting Mayor Henry Balensifer and
Commissioner Rick Newton will take
questions at a public hearing on April 25 at City
Hall about why they want the appointment.
Mark Kujala’s decision in March to step
down as mayor to spend more time with his
family and business created a vacancy for
the remainder of his four-year term, which
expires in 2018.
“I think it would be bad not to let the pub-
lic make comments,” Commissioner Tom
Dyer said.
Dyer and Commissioner Pam Ack-
ley asked for public input given that Kujala
was the city’s fi rst elected mayor. Prior
to 2014, mayors were chosen among city
commissioners.
The new mayor, Ackley said, has “some
huge shoes to fi ll.”
See WARRENTON, Page 7A
Roadkill bill
cruises through
Oregon Senate
Urban deer proposal
also moves to House
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Velella vellelas are making their appearance on Oregon beaches.
PENDLETON — Oregonians may soon
be able to salvage the meat from roadkill
deer and elk .
Senate Bill 372, sponsored by state Sen.
Bill Hansell (R-Athena) and Rep. Greg Bar-
reto (R-Cove), would allow the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue sal-
vage permits for deer and elk that are acci-
dentally killed in a vehicle collision. The bill
passed the Senate on Thursday by a vote of
29-0.
Approximately 20 other states have a
similar law on the books, including neigh-
boring Washington state and Idaho. Wash-
ington enacted its roadkill salvage program
on in July issuing 1,100 permits over the fi rst
six months, according to Hansell.
That’s 1,100 animals that were salvaged
in one degree or another, Hansell said, rather
than simply being left to rot on the side of
the road.
“Those accidents are very unfortunate,”
he said. “It seemed there’s just got to be a
better way to take care of that.”
See ROADKILL, Page 7A