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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 26, 2017)
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2017 145TH YEAR, NO. 126 ONE DOLLAR Helping those in need ‘We’re blessed to be able to give’ By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Steve Smith prepares to drive a bus route within the Sunset Empire Transportation District. Bus provider looks toward a prosperous new year New infusion of cash on the way ‘REACHING OUT TO OTHER PEOPLE WHOSE STORY WE DON’T KNOW IS SO IMPORTANT.’ Marilyn Falker | longtime member of the American Legion Auxiliary service group By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian D irector Jeff Hazen has a fairly sizable list of New Year’s resolutions for the Sunset Empire Transportation District — track buses online, pay fares electronically, add week- end service in Astoria and improve con- nections with Clatsop County’s neighbors. And with a huge infusion of money on the way starting next year from the state, the bus agency looks poised to reach many of its goals as it continues to recover from the financial disaster of several years ago. First up for Hazen is taking a pro- posal before Sunset Empire’s seven-mem- ber board of directors next month to add online bus tracking for passengers through an app called Swiftly. Doug Pilant, general manager of the Tillamook County Transportation District, said the agency receives 90 percent fewer calls from customers wondering where the bus is. “The technology collects and stores actual route times in a database,” Pilant said. “We used the Swiftly technology to update our route schedules on a stop-by- stop basis in an effort to improve on-time performance.” Sunset Empire is looking at a program called TouchPass for electronic fares, tak- ing the lead for the rural agencies in the Northwest Oregon Transit Alliance. The program is already in use by the Rogue Valley Transportation District. “I would like that to be in place by the end of June, ideally, if I can pull it off,” Hazen said. Hazen joined Sunset Empire in 2014 after retiring from Costco, where he said the motto is to see how little a product can be sold for. SEASIDE — When community members started trickling slowly in for Christmas dinner at the Seaside American Legion Post 99, they passed a table filled with knitted hats and fleece gloves. “How much?” one person asked. “Are these for me?” another inquired. Behind the table fielding the ques- tions was Marilyn Falker, a longtime member of the American Legion Aux- iliary service group. To fight drop- ping temperatures, fellow volunteers knitted a variety of hats for free. Ear- lier Saturday morning, she swung by a thrift store and bought the pile of gloves to accompany them. Monique Gaudry and Christian Chiappetta ride a Sunset Empire bus in Astoria. ‘I’M EXCITED ABOUT THE CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY OF THIS NEW FUNDING SOURCE.’ Jeff Hazen | director of the Sunset Empire Transportation District In that vein, Hazen said, he is trying to lower the fare cost — fares make up about 15 percent of the transit district’s funding — and move people toward buying bus passes instead of individual tickets. “Ideally, I’ll do this in conjunction with the e-fares,” he said. “People can buy passes at the transit center or through an app, so bus drivers can focus on driving people.” Buying passes on the bus “really slows down the movement of buses, especially around the first of the month.” The $5.3 billion transportation pack- age recently passed by the state Legisla- ture included an estimated $1 billion for public transit through a 0.1 percent payroll tax starting next year. The state’s Legisla- tive Revenue Office projected more than $695,000 would be collected in the first six months of the new tax in Sunset Empire’s district by 2019, when the money would be available. The tax, known as the State Transporta- tion Improvement Fund, is estimated to add about $8 million over the next 10 years, a sizable bump to Sunset Empire’s $3.5 mil- lion annual budget. “It has to be used for improvement of service,” Hazen said of the state’s cash infu- sion. “They want to see improvements in service to the riders.” “Take whatever makes you smile,” she said. Each year, the Legion hosts a Christmas dinner, where volunteers serve hot plates of turkey and pota- toes, all free and open to anyone who walks through the doors. While the primary focus of the Legion is to serve veterans, on days like this their goal is to help who- ever needs it, events coordinator Bud Thompson said. It’s a goal the Legion keeps in mind throughout the year, even after the holiday lights are taken down and Christmas music recedes from the radio airwaves. Falker is a volunteer who has made the goal a lifestyle. When she’s not handing out hats and gloves, she’s judiciously restock- ing and checking the charity box the Legion maintains for the homeless with items like toothpaste, deodorant and coupons. About four times a year, she crochets lap robes for veterans. The auxiliary’s goal is to work on overcoming the hurdle of how to let those in need know that these resources are available to them, she said. “It’s about choice, empowering people to take what they need,” Falker said. “But we have a hard time know- ing how many veterans are around who need this help.” Falker’s passion for the Legion started about 20 years ago after her husband, an Army veteran, died sud- denly. She went all over town to See BUS PROVIDER, Page 4A See DINNER, Page 4A New Warrenton Grade School vice principal helps kids in transition Entire family spends days at the school By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Sean O’Malley, who recently relocated from Brook- ings to take the job of vice principal of Warrenton Grade School, was his own worst nightmare as an adolescent. “A lot of people go into education because they really enjoyed school, and we tend OUR NEW NEIGHBORS HIGHLIGHTING PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE COMMUNITY to gravitate toward what we love,” he said. “I did not enjoy school, was not successful, especially in middle school.” But certain teachers took him under their wing, found outlets in theater for his energy and eventually inspired him to be an educator. “I wanted to be that pos- itive influence for some kids that were going through those hard times,” he said. A native of Vancouver, Washington, O’Malley gradu- ated from Hudson’s Bay High School before earning a bach- elor’s degree in advertising at See NEIGHBORS, Page 4A Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian The entire O’Malley family attends Warrenton Grade School, including, from left, first-grader Emmett, Vice Principal Sean, Educational Assistant Tessa and preschooler Nora.