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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2017
Airbnb: Inn
owners object
Continued from Page 1A
Collection would be aided
by a short-term rental soft-
ware program that would
“help make sure Seaside is
properly collecting lodging
tax from those renting any
housing unit as a short-term
rental,” according to Rahl in a
May staff report.
There are no costs for the
agreement, Winstanley said.
If short-term rental-tracking
software is purchased, first-
year setup would be $8,000
with a cost of $5,000 per year
the following year.
“I believe the agreement
with the city is OK,” City
Attorney Dan Thiel said.
“There’s money out there, a
revenue stream, and I want
this community to take advan-
tage of it.”
Van Thiel said the city
could opt out of the agree-
ment by providing 90 days
notice.
Terms questioned
At a public hearing in
May, Cynthia and Stephen
Malkowski, husband-and-
wife owners of the Arch Cape
Inn and Retreat, called the
Airbnb voluntary agreement
a “red herring” that will give
the company an unfair advan-
tage over other hotel owners,
and ultimately drain afford-
able long-term housing units
to the vacation rental market.
The couple’s concerns led
to a tabling of the discussion
until Monday night’s reopen-
ing of the public hearing.
Terry Bichsel, owner of
the Seaside Best Western
Ocean View Resort and Riv-
ertide Suites and a member of
the Best Western International
Board of Directors, urged
councilors to delay a decision
on the agreement.
“They (Airbnb) operate
illegally in most jurisdictions
and where they’ve been reg-
ulated is where they begin
operating legally,” Bichsel
said. “It’s a $30 billion com-
pany. It’s bigger than Hilton.
It’s bigger than Marriott. It’s
huge. This is not some little
mom-and-pop organization.”
Bichsel objected to terms
of the agreement that would
limit the city’s ability to audit
Airbnb’s reporting for only
one year out of four.
“That doesn’t make sense
to me,” he said.
Bichsel said all rental
properties — whether man-
aged by Airbnb or others —
should be required to regis-
ter with the city in the same
way as hotels, with the same
degree of oversight and
responsibility.
“I would just ask that we
have a level playing field
and make sure that Airbnb is
treated the same way as the
hotel requirements, whether
it’s requirements for safety,
accessibility or collection of
rents,” Bichsel said.
He asked councilors to
look at things “long term, not
short term.”
“I’d encourage you not
to sign this tonight,” Bich-
sel said. “Spend a little more
time to get it right.”
Split council
City Councilor Tom Horn-
ing said the issue could pro-
vide an opportunity to lay out
goals for affordable housing
and the impacts of Airbnb and
other vacation rental compa-
nies. According to one study,
in Venice, California, rents
rose 12 percent due to a short-
age of housing caused by a
surge of Airbnb rentals, Horn-
ing said.
“It expels a lot of people
from their homes,” he said.
“People are choosing to evict
in exchange for higher-pay-
ing vacation rentals. I think
we need to explore this and
see where this trend is going.”
Along with Horning,
Councilor Tita Montero urged
postponement of the decision
until more data on the impacts
of rentals can be collected.
“I think there a lot of policy
considerations that we need
to talk out,” Montero said.
“What all will they find in
the community that we don’t
know about?”
But postponing the vote
could lead to lost revenue,
Councilor Steve Wright said.
The ability to terminate
the contract within 90 days
swayed Councilors Randy
Frank and Dana Phillips to
vote for the agreement. They
were joined by Wright and
Mayor Jay Barber in the 4-2
adoption.
Collections begin in July.
Airbnb will not be liable or
required to produce any per-
sonally identifiable informa-
tion relating to any host or
guest regarding any booking
transaction. As discussed by
councilors, Seaside or Airbnb
may provide 90 days written
notification for termination of
the agreement.
“I am frankly stunned by
the actions of the Seaside
City Council in voting to sign
a contract with Airbnb that
creates a double preferential
standard for Airbnb, one that
greatly discriminates against
local law-abiding businesses
and continues to exacerbate
our housing crisis,” Cynthia
Malkowski said in a state-
ment after the meeting.
Airbnb hosts
Laura Spanjian, Airbnb
public policy director for the
Northwest, said 140 active
Airbnb hosts in Seaside wel-
comed 14,000 guests over the
past year, with the typical host
renting their home for two
nights a month.
In Cannon Beach, 30
active hosts welcomed 6,000
guests over the past year, with
the typical host renting their
home for fewer than 30 nights
a year. In Astoria, 50 active
hosts welcomed 6,000 guests
over the past year, with 80
percent of hosts renting their
home for fewer than 90 nights
a year, Spanjian said.
Portland and Lane County
have signed similar lodg-
ing tax collection agreements
with Airbnb.
Jeff Ter Har/For The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Class of 2017 boasts 90 graduates, of which five are valedictorians and 22 are in the National Honor Society.
Graduates: Urged to break stereotypes
Continued from Page 1A
Caroline Kotson’s goal
for her fellow classmates is
to break away from their gen-
eration’s stereotype as enti-
tled. Kotson said no mat-
ter what each student’s future
will look like, “go out and
change the perception of our
generation.”
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Continued from Page 1A
fished out of Astoria’s East
Mooring Basin last Wednes-
day, were convinced they had
caught sturgeon well above the
legal size limit.
“These are way too big,”
Fackerell thought.
Then they measured the
fish. The sturgeon weren’t
over the limit — the fishermen
had just forgotten how big they
could get. They’d gotten used
to catch-and-release.
Hull hoisted up one of
the fish when they got back
to land. The tip of its shov-
el-like snout hit him just below
the shoulders, the long body
stretched down and the tips
of the sturgeon’s forked tail
brushed the toes of his Xtratuf
boots. A 50- to 60-pound fish,
Fackerell guessed.
‘A chance’
Port of Astoria staff set up
the parking lots at the East
Mooring Basin like they do in
August for the popular Buoy
10 recreational salmon fish-
ery, which can bring in several
dozen to several hundred fish-
ermen each day of the month.
They blocked off the entrance
into the paved lot at the base
of 36th Street that ends in the
basin’s sea lion-plagued docks
and directed trucks hauling
boat trailers toward a gravel
lot at the base of 37th Street.
Both lots were packed each
day sturgeon-retention fishing
was open.
Oregon Fish and Wild-
life employee Brooks Vande-
velder was down at the East
Mooring Basin all last week,
tracking what had been caught
and released and collecting pit
tags. The retention fishery is
one easy way fishery manag-
ers can collect an array of data
on the sturgeon population,
Roler said.
Vandevelder said this stur-
geon-retention fishery is very
different from ones he has
worked in the past. There
weren’t the time constraints,
for one, he said. Now, fisher-
men are rushing to get their
catch back in before 2 p.m. On
Monday, half a dozen boats
bobbed in a line at the East
Mooring Basin boat ramp at
noon, waiting their turn to get
pulled out of the water.
“A lot of people go elk
hunting, but your chances of
getting an elk are not great,”
Roler said. “But people still
go. I wanted to have fishery
where the chances of getting a
fish is not great, but there’s a
chance.”
“They’re a fighting fish,”
said Dave Astle, a fisherman
who went out with Oregon
guide Brad Hadfield of Guide
Service Northwest last week.
Lawsuit: Venue change sought
Continued from Page 1A
transferred to Clatsop County.
Magley’s lawyers filed the
case in Multnomah County
because West and Oei’s com-
panies have representatives in
Portland. But Delphia’s law-
yers argue that Clatsop County
is where all the actions giving
rise to the lawsuit occurred and
is the proper venue.
Oei and West were both
indicted by Clatsop County
District Attorney Josh Marquis
last month on charges of fel-
ony assault and misdemeanor
reckless endangerment. Mag-
ley’s lawsuit claims the two
were making and consuming
Seaside High going through the
motions in fear of what others
might think of him for standing
out too much. However, at the
beginning of his senior year,
his father challenged him to try
new things.
Schulte joined choir and
other activities where he found
a great support system. “If you
have a dream, go out and chase
it until you can’t chase it any
longer,” he said.
The final valedictorian
address, given by Elizabeth
Barnes, encompassed that peo-
ple are unique and special in
their own ways. “Don’t let any-
one tell you you don’t matter,”
Barnes said. “Never stop being
who you are and seeking what
you want.”
Sturgeon: Fishery will open again on Wednesday
‘Fighting fish’
City Manager Mark Winstanley and City Attorney Dan
Van Thiel at Monday’s discussion of Airbnb’s voluntary
tax collection agreement.
After three valedictorian
addresses, a slideshow of the
graduates played. Students’
baby pictures and senior pic-
tures along with group photos
were shown.
Once the slide presentation
completed, the fourth valedic-
torian gave his speech.
Carson Schulte said he
spent his first three years at
butane hash oil at the time of
the explosion.
Also included in as a defen-
dant is Sweet Relief Natu-
ral Medicine, an Astoria mar-
ijuana store, and its parent
company G.O. Enterprises.
The company operated a Sweet
Relief outlet in Delphia’s
building.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jake Erickson Jr. mans a pole while fishing for sturgeon
last week on the Columbia River in Astoria.
“They have lots of power.”
They’ll start out with feath-
er-light bites at bait, Astle
said, and then: “Hang on to
your pole!” Sturgeon will leap
out of the water when they’re
hooked, a kind of dragon
or dinosaur caught between
water and sky.
Fishermen first learned
that the fishery was opening
on May 31, giving guides like
Hadfield just a few days to
schedule outings with clients.
Normally Hadfield would take
six fishermen out at a time, but,
because of the short notice, he
had only four clients last Mon-
day and Wednesday. By the
middle of last week, however,
he was fully booked for this
week.
As Hadfield smoothly
sliced away at the 40-pound
sturgeon on the table at the
East Mooring Basin’s fish
cleaning station last Wednes-
day, he described the meat as
dense, almost like chicken.
“A lot of people that don’t
like fish will eat sturgeon,” he
said.
His clients hit their lim-
its early last week, but stayed
out to indulge in some catch-
and-release fishing. Hadfield
said the number of sturgeon in
the river appears to be typical
for June, and fishing has been
slow and scattered overall. In
recent years the catch-and-re-
lease fishing that occurs later
in the season has been “phe-
nomenal,” Hadfield said. But,
of course, his clients didn’t get
to eat those fish.
The sturgeon retention
fishery will be open again on
Wednesday until 2 p.m.