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BUOY BEER HAS A CAN-DO ATTITUDE 145TH YEAR, NO. 5 COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL • INSIDE ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2017 County preps assistant manager for top job Steele is also the budget and fi nance director By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Manager Cam- eron Moore held one of his regular check-in meetings with Budget and Finance Director Monica Steele last summer. Moore usually asks employ- ees at these one-on-one talks about their future plans and goals. At this meeting, though, he was specifi cally curious about Steele’s interest in one position: his own. “Have you ever thought about a job like this?” he asked her. Steele answered quickly. “Yeah, someday I’d like to have your job,” she said. Steele may have taken a step closer to that goal this week when she began her new duties as assis- tant county manager. She will con- tinue in her role as budget and fi nance director while helping Moore conduct administrative tasks. While Moore and Steele view the move as an immediate improve- ment, as well as a necessary step in succession planning, some county elected offi cials have raised concerns. Monica Steele, pic- tured here speaking at a recent meeting of the Clatsop County Board of Commis- sioners, is the new assistant county man- ager. Steele will also continue in her role as the county’s budget and finance director . Colin Murphey The Daily Astorian See COUNTY, Page 7A Trail of discover y Green light, go! Transportation deal heads to governor By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — A $5.3 billion statewide transportation package is headed to Gov. Kate Brown for a signature after the state Senate passed the bill 22 -7 Thursday. MORE “This is a critical and most important piece of leg- INSIDE islation. This is the piece of More news legislation … the 2017 ses- from the sion will be known for 20, Legislature’s 30, 40 years from now,” final push said state Sen. Rod. Mon- Pages 6A-7A roe, D-Portland, one of 14 lawmakers who crafted the plan. The House of Representatives passed the bill 39- 20 Wednesday. 10-year plan Due to tax hikes and new taxes, the bill required a three-fi fths majority vote in each chamber, according to the Oregon Constitution. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Tanya Gephart begins her trek on the Oregon Coast Trail near Seaside. She is among dozens of backpackers hiking the trail, some of whom have abandoned the Pacific Crest Trail to escape snow and high water. See TRANSPORTATION, Page 7A Hikers are hopping from the famous Pacifi c Crest Trail to the Oregon Coast Trail By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian t the end of June, a woman picked up three young back- packers walking along the highway near Gearhart. They had been hiking the Pacifi c Crest Trail — a 2,650-mile-long path that twists up the West Coast from the Mex- ico border to Canada — but heavy snow- a fall in the Sierra Nevada mountain range stopped them 700 miles in. Rather than stop hiking, they decided to hop over to the lesser -known Oregon Coast Trail. And they aren’t alone. “Everyone is coming here,” they told their driver. This spring, dozens of hikers snowed out of California’s mountains or, as the snow melts, faced with dangerous river crossings, have abandoned the Pacifi c Crest Trail and jumped over to the Ore- gon Coast Trail. But the trail isn’t ready for them. ‘PCT refugees’ As he stretches next to a sign pointing back toward Arch Cape, Ryley Delgado has just been voted his group’s sweat- iest hiker. Again. He shrugs. The hikers See TRAIL, Page 8A AP Photo/Don Ryan Cars travel Interstate 5 on the morn- ing commute heading into Portland in December. The Oregon Senate on Thursday approved a $5.3 billion trans- portation package. It now goes to the governor for her signature. Repeal of Gearhart vacation rental rules heads to voters Opponents clear hurdle for November By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Vacasa rental sign on a Gearhart home. GEARHART — Voters in November will get to decide the fate of Gearhart’s vacation rental rules. The bid to repeal and replace the regulations issued last fall gathered enough valid signatures to put the measure on the ballot . The initiative was pre- sented to the City Council Wednesday night. City c oun- cilors had three options: pass ThursdaY , August 3 $ 25 P RESALE $ 30 D AY OF S HOW $ 20 Military & First Responders F OR T ICKETS AND I NFO GO TO : C LATSOP C O F AIR E XPO . COM the repeal and replace ordi- nance; reject the ordinance and allow voters to decide in November; or reject the ordi- nance and come up with a competing alternative . The council unanimously voted to reject the ordinance and put it on the ballot. “We fully expected the City Council to reject our ordi- nance,” Jim Whittemore, who owns a short-term rental prop- erty, said Thursday. “Now it is on the ballot. We submit- ted 242 signatures, which is signifi cant.” According to the revised summary, submitted by David Townsend, Brian and Joy Sigler and Sarah Nebeker, the ballot measure would repeal the special regulations on vacation rentals related to off-street parking, residential appearance, garbage service, septic-sewer capacity inspec- tions and cesspool require- ments not required of other city residents. “Our message will show that we care as much about Gearhart as full-time residents do,” Whittemore said. “We always have. I think that once residents see how much 82 vacation home owners pay in property taxes and that we will pay close to $50,000 a year for police and fi re services, which equates to $500,000 over the next 10 years — that our See GEARHART, Page 7A Life is A ugust Fair 1-5
