4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017
Building: 2015 lawsuit hangs over Trabucco and Orr’s operation
ing rooms into additional seat-
ing, install a bar and extend
a deck facing the mooring
basin, adding about 50 seats.
Continued from Page 1A
utilities, a broken elevator, pre-
vious roof damage and several
thousand square feet of unfin-
ished space upstairs.
“The collateral for the loan
consisted only of the personal
property of Marina Village,”
the Port staff report said. “This
was deemed too small in value
to secure the size of the loan
being contemplated. What was
needed was a lien on the build-
ing itself.”
Should the Marina Village
seek a loan, staff said, the Port
Commission would have to
decide whether to allow the
lender to take out a lien pro-
viding the lender interest in
the Chinook Building. The
Port has used a similar strat-
egy with Bornstein Seafoods,
whose former processing
space in downtown Astoria
was used as collateral on a
loan to build a new plant on
the central waterfront.
Trabucco said Marina Vil-
lage has not used financing
on the hotel but would like to
have such an option available
for the Chinook Building.
Proven operators
While the Port faced
numerous issues with for-
mer Riverwalk Inn operator
Brad Smithart and sued him
several times over nonpay-
ment of rent, Port staff and
Legal uncertainty
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Developer Chester Trabucco stands on the balcony of one of the remodeled rooms at the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, which
overlooks the West Mooring Basin at the Port of Astoria.
commissioners have largely
lauded the job done by Orr
and Trabucco. Last summer,
the Port Commission granted
the pair’s company — Astoria
Hospitality Ventures — a two-
year extension on its lease of
the hotel, which goes through
October 2018.
Orr, an Astoria native, is an
attorney and seafood process-
Warming center: ‘I
think we’re very close
to what it needs to be’
Continued from Page 1A
Mediator Anne Odom,
who also works for Asto-
ria Library, helped guide a
discussion of the center’s
draft agreement Wednesday
and will be present again
tonight.
“I think we’re very close
to what it needs to be,” said
Dulcye Taylor, president of
the Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association,
about the draft agreement.
She expects many of the
issues raised Wednesday
night could be covered in a
second, more detailed draft.
While few who testified
at a Planning Commission
hearing in July were against
the existence of a warming
center, some neighbors and
business owners are con-
cerned about its location in a
residential area. The warm-
ing center board sought to
address these concerns in a
draft good-neighbor agree-
ment provided Wednesday
night.
The
volunteer-run,
low-barrier center oper-
ates out of the basement of
the First United Methodist
Church on the corner of 11th
Street and Franklin Ave-
nue and provides a meal and
beds for up to 30 homeless
people a night during severe
winter weather.
Dan Parkison, the pres-
ident of the warming cen-
ter’s board, said the center
outlined nine major changes
to its operation this coming
winter in application mate-
rials submitted to the Plan-
ning Commission. After dis-
cussions with neighbors and
the downtown association,
that number increased to 15
in the draft good-neighbor
agreement. These changes
include the addition of reg-
ular litter patrols, enforce-
ment of a no-camping pol-
icy in the church’s parking
lot after a bed and break-
fast owner said this had
been a major issue last year,
and regular neighborhood
meetings.
Some requests are impos-
sible for the warming center
to address or fall beyond its
authority, Parkison said.. The
center can only be responsi-
ble for what happens on the
church’s property during the
time the center is operat-
ing. Of the estimated 1,000
homeless people living in
Clatsop County at any given
time, the warming center
caps at 30 a night during its
90-day-operation period.
However, “The closer
people live to the warming
center, the more impacted
they are by our operation
and the more we have a
responsibility to listen to
their concerns,” he said after
the meeting ended.
The discussion Wednes-
day also delved into ongoing
concerns with how warming
center staff will deal with
disruptive and dangerous
behavior and address trash,
noise and security issues.
Taylor and downtown asso-
ciation director Sarah Lu
Heath wanted to know how
and when warming cen-
ter volunteers and board
members decide someone
is kicked out of the cen-
ter for breaking rules or for
criminal actions in town,
and when that exclusion is
permanent.
Sean Fitzpatrick, a mem-
ber of the Planning Commis-
sion and owner of the Illahee
Apartments across the street
from the First United Meth-
odist Church, is not opposed
to the warming center itself,
but says the Franklin Ave-
nue neighborhood is not the
right location. He contin-
ues to have concerns about
some of the center’s poli-
cies but believes the groups
could reach a good-neighbor
agreement.
“I think it’s going to take
more than just this evening,”
he said, “but the input was
hopefully helpful for both
sides.”
ing executive in Seattle. Tra-
bucco, a developer, previously
renovated Astoria’s Hotel
Elliott and other buildings and
owned the No. 10 Sixth Street
building, a commercial water-
front complex that burned
down in 2010.
Since taking over the Riv-
erwalk Inn, the duo have
brought 25 additional rooms
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
As part of the recent pitch
to lease the Chinook Build-
ing, Trabucco, Orr and their
interior architect Karen Niemi
presented the company’s plan
to expand the hotel’s dining
area, currently a thin corridor
behind the lobby where hun-
dreds of guests can vie for
fewer than 30 seats. Niemi
said the plan is turn two exist-
Spalding: Plans to get involved in the community
Continued from Page 1A
Spalding will work for a
monthly salary of $8,639,
or $103,668 annually, along
with a housing stipend. Spald-
ing likely will lead the police
department for at least six
months. His arrival marks
the first step in a leader-
ship transition process for the
department.
Former Chief Brad John-
ston retired suddenly earlier
this month after an indepen-
dent assessment documented
leadership failures, staff short-
ages, politics and conflict.
The strife drained employee
morale and left the department
nearing a crisis.
Deputy Chief Eric Halver-
son, singled out in the report
as a well-respected leader,
assumed Johnston’s duties the
past few weeks. During that
time, Akin Blitz, the Portland
labor attorney who directed
the assessment, called Spald-
ing to gauge his interest.
Spalding had applied for
the police chief position in
Astoria a decade ago, but
he pulled out of the running
before accepting the Beaver-
ton job. This time, he and his
wife decided to give the North
Coast a shot.
“We knew logistically it
might be a little difficult, but
we figured we’d figure it all
out,” Spalding said. “Things
come around full circle
sometimes.”
Experienced hand
Spalding earned a criminal
justice degree from California
State University, Fullerton, as
well as a master’s degree in
emergency management from
CSU Long Beach.
After a 32-year career with
the Fullerton Police Depart-
ment, Spalding moved to Bea-
verton in 2009. In his seven
years there, he supervised
177 officers in the state’s
sixth-largest city. He guided
the force through up to half a
dozen officer-involved shoot-
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Interim Police Chief Geoff Spalding comes to the position with nearly 40 years of
law enforcement experience.
ings and created its first bilin-
gual outreach coordinator
position.
Spalding is familiar with
some area law enforcement
officials and city employees
after applying for the Asto-
ria job. He also has made con-
nections through the Oregon
Association Chiefs of Police,
where he serves on the exec-
utive board and was the pres-
ident for a year.
“I’m very impressed with
the quality of people here,”
Spalding said. “They’ve some-
how been able to keep that
positive face in the commu-
nity. That I really respect.”
He has read the assessment
that preceded Johnston’s retire-
ment, but still wants to meet
with all employees to assess
their concerns and the depart-
ment’s overall culture. From
those conversations, he hopes
to initiate a strategy to avoid
the burnout and morale issues
employees have expressed.
“This really isn’t a depart-
ment that’s broken by any
stretch,” he said. “It’s just,
hopefully, maybe, stabilizing
things a little bit — if that’s
the right word — and setting
things up so that the next per-
son that replaces me will be
successful and they’re not
going to have to deal with a lot
of issues.”
He also pointed to a lack of
available funding — a com-
mon complaint from his prede-
cessor — and the time it takes
to hire new officers — at least
a year once the process begins
— as limitations in terms of
the major improvements the
department may need.
“I would like to believe we
are a priority department, but,
again, there are lots of import-
ant things the city needs to do,
too,” Spalding said.
Spalding’s impression so
far is that the city manager
and city councilors will not
attempt to micromanage the
police department.
“That, to me, would be a
challenge I don’t know that I’d
really want to work with,” he
said.
Call volume
One of the more immediate
issues Spalding will look to
tackle is an increased number
of dispatch calls. Factors such
as increased tourism and an
uptick in the homeless popula-
tion have worn out police and
dispatch staffs that are already
short-handed.
“It’s just busier. It’s not just
anecdotal,” he said. “People
know that we’re going to more
calls.”
The police department may
look into an online report-
ing system, rather than requir-
ing that dispatchers handle all
calls. The system could allow
more reports to be resolved
without officer response, or
at least prioritize which ones
need immediate attention.
The department also may
seek to sign a contract with
Clatsop County Animal Con-
trol to handle dog and animal
complaints.
The key is balancing staff
safety and fatigue levels with
the obligation to protect the
public, Spalding said.
“I’m not going to act like
an interim chief,” he said.
“I’m going to be the chief
until I’m no longer here, and
I plan to get involved in the
community.”
Police: ‘There wasn’t this kind of fear before’
Continued from Page 1A
Volunteers hand out soup and coffee at the Astoria Warm-
ing Center at First United Methodist Church in 2015.
into use, remodeled 15 others,
added amenities such as fire
pits and made other upgrades
throughout the hotel. Tra-
bucco credited Smithart with
handing them a well-function-
ing hotel two years ago.
“Brad put the new carbu-
retor and transmission in the
car,” he said. “When we got it,
all we had to do was paint it.”
Hanging over Trabucco
and Orr’s operation of the
hotel is a lawsuit filed in 2015
against the Port by Param
Hotel Corp., which had com-
peted to take over Smithart’s
lease. Param claims the Port
violated a previous agree-
ment and showed favoritism
toward Orr, whose brother-
in-law, Stephen Fulton, was
a Port commissioner when
Astoria Hospitality Ventures
took over.
Orr and Trabucco were
removed as co-defendants in
the lawsuit, which is sched-
uled for trial in October. But if
Param prevails, the Port could
be forced to give the Portland
company operation of the hotel.
In a perfect world, Tra-
bucco said, the issue would
be settled, although the Port
seems confident in its case.
Marina Village could be inter-
ested in leasing the Chinook
Building regardless of how
the lawsuit on the hotel goes.
The intent is for Astoria
Hospitality Ventures to fin-
ish the dining room expan-
sion in the near future, but
that “we’ve pretty much done
what we intend to do before
the lawsuit is over,” he said.
President Donald Trump
has made immigration enforce-
ment a priority. The U.S.
Department of Justice has been
critical of states and cities that
have not fully cooperated with
federal agents on immigration,
but Sheriff Johnson insists fed-
eral agents also ought to let
local law enforcement know
about their activities.
Stephanie Serrano, of
South Bend, said she wanted
to speak up for those being
targeted by ICE’s “cloak-and-
dagger” operations after seeing
families of friends and neigh-
bors torn apart by immigration
arrests and deportations.
“They’re being watched,
stalked is the right word,” she
said. “Several oyster pickers
have been followed. … Most
(of those who’ve been arrested)
are hardworking people.”
Erin Glenn, a Spanish
teacher at Ilwaco High School,
said a father with five young
children was arrested Wednes-
day morning. Sheriff Johnson
said he wasn’t made aware of
any arrests, but ICE did notify
the sheriff’s office that it was
in the area.
“We aren’t required to, but
out of consideration for offi-
cer and operational safety, we
generally alert the primary
local law enforcement agency
in a jurisdiction immediately
beforehand if we’re going
to be conducting an enforce-
ment action in their area,” ICE
spokeswoman Virginia Kice
said in an email.
The Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement office in
Seattle handles Washington
state, Oregon and Alaska but
does not have arrest and depor-
tation numbers by county read-
ily available, Kice said.
Earlier this month, Serrano
spoke out against the immi-
grant arrests and deportations
at a rally outside the Northwest
Detention Center in Tacoma.
She helped organize a trip to
the private immigration prison
for about 20 protesters from
Pacific County. They came
to the Aug. 12 demonstration
with granola, dried fruits, col-
oring books and crayons to
give to those traveling to visit
loved ones in lockup.
The volunteers continue to
work with advocacy groups,
such as Willapa Bay Resis-
tance, Long Beach Indivisible
and Living Liberally to sup-
port immigrant rights, Serrano
said.
“ICE is a real threat,” she
said. “It’s changed the atmo-
sphere in our community.
There wasn’t this kind of fear
before.”