DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 67
ONE DOLLAR
Woman in fatal
Seaside crash
charged with
manslaughter
to injured persons and driv-
ing under the influence of
intoxicants.
Officials also publicly
By JACK HEFFERNAN identified two victims of the
The Daily Astorian
crash. Robert Miles, 42, of
Hammond, died at the scene.
A Seaside woman is fac- Abdirisak Mohamed, 41, of
Longview, Washing-
ing
manslaughter
ton, was critically
and several other fel-
ony charges in con-
injured. Mohamed
is being treated at a
nection with a fatal
Portland hospital.
crash Saturday night
Prior to the crash,
in which an SUV hit
Seaside
Police
a bus stop shelter.
responded to a report
Corrissa Barnett,
of a female being
38, was arraigned in
Corrissa
assaulted at a res-
Circuit Court Mon-
Barnett
idence.
Barnett
day afternoon on
allegedly assaulted
charges of first-de-
gree manslaughter, sec- the woman in front of her child
ond-degree assault, third-de- as well as Barnett’s child, lead-
gree assault, strangulation, ing to the strangulation charge.
two counts of failure to per-
form the duties of a driver
See BARNETT, Page 4A
Man killed at
bus stop shelter
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Signs in regards to Measure 4-188 dot U.S. Highway 101 in Gearhart.
Gearhart’s vacation rental
rules headed to voters
Sharp divide over
new regulations
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian
One person was killed after a Dodge Durango drove into
a bus stop shelter in Seaside Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS MASSACRE
‘I’ve never felt
fear like that’
Astoria couple
in Las Vegas
during horror
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
A former Medix para-
medic and volunteer fire-
fighter in Astoria and
Olney-Walluski,
Norm
Stutznegger knows what an
emergency sounds like. He
even downloaded a smart-
phone app that allows him to
listen to police scanners.
Stutznegger found him-
self listening to the scanner
once again late Sunday night
in his hotel room at the Excal-
ibur Hotel and Casino on the
Las Vegas Strip. He heard the
deadliest mass shooting in
modern U.S. history unfold a
block away.
A gunman on the 32nd
floor of the Mandalay Bay
Resort and Casino was
MORE INSIDE
Shooter had interest in guns,
video poker, real estate
Page 9A
unloading hundreds of rounds
of ammunition from auto-
matic rifles into a crowd of
22,000 people at a country
music concert below. At least
59 people were killed and
more than 500 wounded. “It
was quite a surreal experience
after growing up in Astoria
my whole life,” Stutznegger
said. “I’ve never felt fear like
that.”
Stutznegger and his wife,
Catherine, both 48, flew down
to Las Vegas for a two-day get-
away. The trip was his fifth
to Sin City. The couple spent
their time seeing shows and
simply people-watching as
they strolled along the strip.
They had to decide
between two entertainment
G
EARHART — Just whose
rights are at issue in Gearhart
as voters consider repealing
vacation rental rules in November?
Supporters of Measure 4-188
want to repeal and replace rules
enacted last fall related to off-street
parking, appearance, garbage ser-
vice, septic inspections and cesspool
prohibitions. The measure would
require home inspections and make
owners responsible for self-report-
ing issues.
More than 200 voters signed a
petition in support of the measure,
short-term rental owner Jim Whitte-
more said.
Meanwhile, Gearhart is heavily
dotted with “Vote No” lawn signs in
a campaign led by a coalition of res-
idents, including Mayor Matt Brown
and former Mayor Dianne Widdop.
A “no” vote will continue a bal-
anced and responsible cap on rental
properties, Brown said, and safety
inspections keep visitors safe.
“I was elected to protect our cit-
izens’ rights,” Brown said. “Our
quality of life shouldn’t be compro-
mised for the sake of profit.”
Septic regulations will “protect
neighbors from high commercial
use,” he added.
Both sides say property rights are
at risk.
Whittemore said the flaw in
the current law “is that it takes
away property rights from all
homeowners.”
Measure opponent Jeanne Mark
said “common-sense” caps to short-
term rentals and safety rules protect
residential private property rights.
Unintended consequences
According to the ballot summary
by David Townsend, Brian and Joy
Sigler and County Commissioner
Sarah Nebeker, the measure would
repeal special regulations on vaca-
tion rentals not required of other
residents.
Nebeker, a Gearhart resident,
spoke in opposition to the city’s
short-term rental ordinance in April,
when she said the ordinance was too
harsh and with modifications could
be made more equitable.
“Ordinances and laws are only as
good as the ability to enforce them,”
measure supporter Katherine Schro-
eder said in a letter to The Daily
Astorian.
The city has failed to regularly
and consistently enforce ordinances
which already regulate garbage, sep-
tic, parking and appearance of prop-
erties, she said.
According to Schroeder, an
overly restrictive vacation rental
ordinance will force rental home-
owners underground.
“A likely unintended conse-
quence of the City Council’s ordi-
nance is just this: unpermitted, unin-
spected and possibly unsafe homes,”
she wrote.
As of the end of September, 81
vacation rental dwelling permits
have been issued, 57 of which are
complete and processed, six pend-
ing parking plans, 15 working on
upgrades after inspection and three
awaiting initial inspection, City
Administrator Chad Sweet said.
Whittemore said in addition to
lodging taxes and fees, short-term
rental homeowners pay more than
$300,000 per year in property taxes.
“That is a total of a half-million
dollars per year paid by 84 home-
owners in the vacation rental pro-
gram … all to local government.”
See GEARHART, Page 4A
Supporters of Measure 4-188 want to repeal and replace rules enacted last fall in Gearhart that regulate
short-term rental properties.
See COUPLE, Page 4A
Maritime museum deputy leaves for World of Speed
Pearson also served on
Planning Commission
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
After 22 years with the Columbia River Mar-
itime Museum, Deputy Director Dave Pearson
is leaving later this month to take over as exec-
utive director at World of Speed, a motor sports
museum in Wilsonville.
“One of my great honors here has been
working with the people who work here, the
team,” Pearson said of the maritime museum.
“I think they really are exceptional.”
Pearson joined the maritime museum in
1995 as a collections manager in the curatorial
department, shortly after finishing a master’s in
historic preservation and conservation from the
Savannah College of Art and Design in Geor-
gia. He became the museum’s curator in 2000
and served as acting director of the museum in
2008 after Jerry Ostermiller’s retirement and
before Sam Johnson took over. From 2009,
Pearson was the museum’s deputy director.
Pearson served 16 years on the Astoria His-
toric Landmarks Commission until 2012, when
he joined the Planning Commission. He has
been president of the Planning Commission
since 2015. Mayor Arline LaMear will appoint
his replacement.
“While we will miss Dave extraordinarily,
we wish him the best in his new venture,” John-
son said. “He has been a mainstay of this insti-
tution. We know that he will do an exceptional
job in his new venue.”
Johnson said the museum will analyze Pear-
son’s duties before deciding whether to replace
his position or outsource to other managers.
See PEARSON, Page 4A
The Daily Astorian
Dave Pearson, the deputy director of the Columbia River
Maritime Museum, has been hired as executive director of
the motor sports museum World of Speed in Wilsonville.