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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2018)
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2018 145TH YEAR, NO. 138 Former Astoria wrestling coach found guilty of sex crimes ONE DOLLAR Cannon Beach rejects tax deal with Airbnb Medina also served in the Coast Guard By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian A former Astoria High School wrestling coach and Coast Guard officer was found guilty Wednesday of multiple sex crimes in 2005. Gary Medina inappropriately touched a 17-year-old girl who was living in his home and also had sex with her friend — a 15-year-old girl. Circuit Court Judge Dawn McIntosh delivered the verdict following a two-day, nonjury trial. Medina was convicted of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, which carries a minimum sentence of more than eight years in prison, as well as first-degree sexual abuse — a more than six-year minimum. He also was convicted of third-degree rape for the encounter with the 15-year-old. A sentenc- ing hearing has been scheduled for February. See GUILTY, Page 5A Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Vacation rentals, including many listed on Airbnb, are common in Cannon Beach. City concerned about transparency By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian Damian Mulinix/For The Daily Astorian Gary Medina, right, at a court appear- ance last year. Astoria will take a deep dive into parking Pedestrian safety among the concerns By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Astoria is planning a deep dive into park- ing downtown. City staff and the Astoria Downtown His- toric District Association are in the prelimi- nary stages of a more in-depth study of what parking is available and where more park- ing could be opened up, as well as identify- ing potentially dangerous intersections and pedestrian safety concerns. City Manager Brett Estes, Public Works Director Jeff Harrington and Sarah Lu Heath, executive director for the downtown associ- ation, hope to present a scope of work to the City Council in February. Such a study was already a council goal for the year but took on more urgency for councilors after a woman spoke to the city’s Traffic Safety Advisory Committee in Octo- ber, warning them that Astoria was out of compliance with a state rule that requires C ANNON BEACH — Bucking a growing trend, the City Council has decided not to pursue a vol- untary tax agreement with Airbnb where the vacation rental giant would have paid the city a quarterly lump sum of lodging taxes. The responsibility for paying the tax is with the property manager of a vaca- tion rental. With more and more transac- tions happening online, cities often have difficulty keeping track of whether rent- als that use Airbnb are registered and pay- ing their fair share. To help address that concern, Airbnb has contracted with more than 360 juris- dictions around the world in voluntary tax agreements, which promise to pay cit- ies 100 percent of the lodging tax owed, including from vacation rentals not reg- istered with the city, under the condition that the vacation rental owners remain anonymous. If the agreement were in place last year, 150 rentals the company has on record would have paid $110,000 to Cannon Beach. Unlike other lodging intermediar- ies like Travelocity or Expedia, Airbnb only pays lodging taxes directly to cit- ies through these voluntary agreements. Seaside entered into an agreement with Airbnb last summer, joining more than 20 other cities and counties in Oregon. While the possibility of receiving pre- viously untapped revenue was attractive, city councilors ultimately took issue with the lack of transparency, which would Molly Edison has called Cannon Beach home for decades and says she has been an outspoken opponent of the proposed deal between the community and Airbnb. make it impossible for the city’s finance director Laurie Sawrey to track whether Airbnb is accurately reporting all of its revenue. Sawrey said the agreement would also restrict her ability to audit Airbnb to only once every four years, impeding the city from enforcing other codes related to safety. “In Cannon Beach, auditing is a prac- tice we’ve always employed. Our last audit showed inconsistencies with gross rents, and we were able to change an ordi- nance to address it,” Sawrey said. “The ability to audit is also a council priority.” Airbnb spokeswoman Laura Rillos said these agreements make it easier for hosts to comply with local tax laws, help create an even playing field for short- term rentals and hotels and streamline the tax collection process while allowing for audits. “We remain willing to discuss the pos- sibility of an agreement with the city of Cannon Beach, so the city can receive the full economic benefits of short-term rent- als,” Rillos said. See AIRBNB, Page 7A ‘WE REMAIN WILLING TO DISCUSS THE POSSIBILITY OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF CANNON BEACH.’ Laura Rillos | Airbnb spokeswoman See PARKING, Page 5A Warrenton may float bonds to move schools Students in tsunami zone By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian A facilities planning committee has recommended us- ing several bond measures to relocate Warrenton High School, top, and Warrenton Grade School out of the tsu- nami inundation zone. WARRENTON — A facilities planning committee has recommended a series of three bond measures over the next 14 years to relo- cate the quickly growing Warrenton-Hammond School District out of the tsunami inundation zone. The recommendation calls for a $32.4 mil- lion bond measure in the November election to buy a new 70- to 80-acre master campus and build a middle school. Warrenton High School would be relocated with a bond measure in May 2022. The rest of the preschool and elemen- tary grades would be relocated from Warrenton Grade School in a May 2032 bond measure. Schools consultant Scott Rose, hired by the district to assess facilities in advance of a poten- tial bond, outlined to the Warrenton-Hammond School Board Wednesday why building in tsu- nami zones isn’t financially prudent. “For any renovations, additions that you do, you must upgrade to tsunami impact resis- tance,” Rose said. “This is a very stout struc- tural code. So if you start to renovate too much of your existing facility, you have to bring the entire existing facility up to that code.” Both of Warrenton’s campuses are expected by June to be in a no-build zone for essential services established by state law, Rose said. The law was passed in the mid-1990s to restrict con- struction of essential facilities such as schools, fire, police and hospitals in tsunami inundation zones. “Once that occurs, then you’re not allowed to do any additions there, or even replacement buildings,” Rose said. See WARRENTON, Page 7A