144TH YEAR, NO. 216
ONE DOLLAR
WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017
Collect
the debt
Gov. Brown wants to
step up state’s debt
collection efforts
FOR HORSES AND CATTLE,
A HEALING HAND
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — In an effort to address
the “overhead costs” of state govern-
ment, Gov. Kate Brown announced plans
Thursday to direct state agencies to step
up their debt collection efforts.
At the end of the last fiscal year in
June, the state was owed about $3.3 bil-
lion for things such as unpaid fees, fines
and taxes, accord-
ing to ananalysis
by the nonpartisan
Legislative Fiscal
Office.
Brown, a former
secretary of state
who oversaw audits
of the state’s rev-
enue department,
says about $600
million to $800
Gov.
million is owed to
Kate Brown
the state’s general
fund. About 95 percent of that amount,
she said Thursday, is related to unpaid
taxes.
Through the executive order, Brown
plans to direct state agencies to deter-
mine if a contractor has debt with the
state before issuing or renewing state
contracts, and to report outstanding debt
and the amount they think is collectible
to the state’s chief operating officer by
June 1.
The order also asks the Department of
Revenue to “evaluate” making a trans-
parency website that lists “legally appro-
priate information about (the state’s)
debtors.” The state’s open data portal,
using datasets from the state revenue
department, already publishes a list of
the top 50 delinquent debtors in both per-
sonal income and business taxes.
“I think it’s critically important that
we be more aggressive and more com-
prehensive in our approach to debt col-
lection,” Brown said in response to ques-
tions from reporters.
Costs to collecting
Asked about the possible expense of
her debt collection proposal, Brown said
the state gets “big bang for our buck”
when hiring additional full-time equiv-
alent employees at the Department of
Revenue. Noting the state’s hiring freeze,
she said that “what’s key about this is the
comprehensive, coordinated and aggres-
sive nature that we’re undertaking to col-
lect those dollars owed to the state.”
The details of Brown’s plan won’t be
available until she signs the order next
week, so it’s unclear how they will differ
from the state’s current collection efforts.
It’s also unclear how much of the out-
standing debt can be collected.
The amount of money owed to the
state is constantly in flux, and there is a
finite amount that is actually collectible,
according to Bob Estabrook, a spokes-
man for the Department of Revenue.
“Unfortunately, not all debt is created
equal,” Estabrook said.
For example, income tax debt usually
indicates that at one point the debtor was
making money, Estabrook said. Court-or-
dered fines and judgments, on the other
hand, can occur regardless of the debtor’s
financial circumstance or job status.
Port to
appeal
DEQ
penalty
Stormwater treatment
ran behind schedule
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian
Russel Hunter, a large-animal doctor with a practice in Knappa, listens to the heartbeat
of one of his patients at a Brownsmead homestead.
Large-animal doctor makes house calls
named “Patches” to have her reproductive
organs examined so they can breed her artifi-
cially. Another horse, sickly and losing weight,
NAPPA — In Clatsop County, a rural
arrived later; Hunter saw to the steed while his
region with farm animals aplenty, Dr. Rus-
assistants castrated and trimmed the horns of a
sel Hunter is a household name.
pygmy goat from Scappoose.
Out of a converted dairy
Then they make house calls,
farm in Knappa, Hunter runs
driving to outlying areas. At
the county’s only large-ani- ‘He’s famous a homestead in Brownsmead,
mal veterinary practice, whose
Hunter took blood samples
around here. from a pair of horses and vac-
reach extends into neigh-
boring counties, and whose
cinated them.
patients — the ridable and the He’s the best
Hunter is the primary care
edible — number in the thou-
physician
for these animals,
vet ever for and as daylight
sands: mainly horses and cattle,
hours lengthen,
but also sheep, goats, lamas, a community so do his hours of operation.
alpacas and pigs. Occasion-
Now and then, urgencies
like this.’
ally, he dabbles in diagnosing
and emergencies arise: a calv-
afflicted poultry populations.
ing or foaling, a critical illness
Mark Standley
He isn’t licensed in Wash-
or injury, sometimes a need
Clatskanie resident, who,
ington state, so animal owners
for euthanasia — for example,
with his wife, Jan, have been
from across the river bring their
after an animal gets struck by a
taking their animals to Hunter
livestock to him.
car. Hunter’s repertoire touches
for about 20 years
“He’s famous around here,”
all stages in the large-animal
said Mark Standley, of Clats-
life cycle.
kanie, who, with his wife, Jan, have been taking
their animals to Hunter for about 20 years. “He’s
‘Endangered species’
the best vet ever for a community like this.”
A graduate of the University of California at
Davis, Hunter came to Clatsop County with his
Typical day
wife, Molly, in 1973 and moved into their cur-
rent location in 1977.
On a typical morning, Hunter and his team
Five years ago, Hunter hired Stephanie
do lab work, arrange prescriptions and take
Ramsey, his associate veterinarian and protégé.
appointments at his clinic, which doubles as his
In general, speculative terms, the pair have
home. Throughout the day, he and his crew com-
municate with clients.
See HUNTER, Page 7A
The Standleys recently brought in a mare
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
K
The Port of Astoria has appealed its
most recent fines from the state Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality for
lackluster stormwater monitoring and
treatment.
The Port was fined $46,750 last
month for failing to meet stormwater
monitoring requirements on the central
waterfront and at North Tongue Point
in the 2015-16 monitoring year. The
agency was fined another $22,569 for
not finishing stormwater treatment sys-
tems at the central waterfront and North
Tongue Point as required by the state by
July.
Jim Knight, the Port’s executive
director, had previously announced he
would appeal the
fines. The Port has
requested a hearing
with the Depart-
ment of Environ-
mental Quality.
Knight has been
criticized by Port
Commissioners
Bill Hunsinger and
Stephen
Fulton,
along with Port
Jim
Commission can-
Knight
didates Dick Hell-
berg and Pat O’Grady, for not reveal-
ing the stormwater fines before a story
appeared in The Daily Astorian.
Late on stormwater
In August 2014, the Department
of Environmental Quality notified the
Port that by July, it would need to
make operational stormwater treatment
systems on the central waterfront and
North Tongue Point to lessen the amount
of copper entering the Columbia River
and harming salmon and other aquatic
life.
The Port planned a series of set-
tling ponds and a vegetated bioswale to
treat stormwater being pumped in from
throughout much of the central water-
front. Conway Construction Co. from
Ridgefield, Washington, was chosen as
the general contractor on the system.
Construction started over the sum-
mer and was largely completed in
November, about four months after
schedule. But heavy rains and cold
weather prevented seeding from tak-
ing hold and washed out berms holding
in stormwater and compacted soil, pre-
venting the Port from making the system
operational.
Jeff Bachman, an environmental law
specialist with the DEQ’s Office of Com-
pliance and Enforcement, confirmed that
the Port is not being fined for delays
after November. Knight estimated two
more months to make the stormwater
system on Pier 3 operational, depending
on weather.
See PORT, Page 7A
See DEBT, Page 7A
Wily coyote decoys take on elk at golf course
Encroaching
herd draws
innovative
response
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — Grounds
crews are awaiting a shipment
of coyote urine at the Gearhart
Golf Links.
They’ll be using that to sprin-
kle on the eight plastic coyotes
they’ll strategically place on
the perimeter of the 100-acre
18-hole golf course — the old-
est golf course in Oregon and
one of several area courses fac-
ing a horde of elk.
The faux coyotes are part of
a plan to disperse the growing
herd of elk roaming Gearhart.
“It’s extremely frustrat-
ing,” Forrest Goodling, grounds
superintendent, said. “We’ll
prep for a tournament and it will
take us three hours to repair the
elk tracks before we can mow
the greens for play.”
“I’ve been here six years,”
General Manager Jason Bangild
said. “When I first got here, the
herd was 20 or 30 head. Now
we’ve counted over 100 of them
See DECOYS, Page 6A
KEEP A SAFE
DISTANCE
Gearhart residents received
a public safety notice this
week that fake plastic
coyotes have been placed
around the course and not
to “be alarmed.”
In his role as mayor, Matt
Brown offered a safety
advisory, urging visitors to
keep a safe distance from
the elk herd.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Gearhart Golf Links Course Manager Jason Bangild sets
up a coyote decoy in hopes it might ward off a herd of elk
that have been causing damage to the course and posing
a public health hazard for years.
“Public safety is always the
city’s No. 1 priority,” he said.
“Many folks enjoy viewing
the elk. We just have to
make sure they understand
they are wild animals, so
please stay a safe distance.”