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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 2018)
145TH YEAR, NO. 244 ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // WALK TOWARD THE FUTURE Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian The Astoria High School Class of 2018 took a traditional walk downtown on Thursday with stops at the Flavel House and the Liberty Theatre. The graduation ceremony is Saturday. Astoria Co-op gets green light New building in Mill Pond trict underwent a thorough search and vetting process before deciding on Phillips. “I think people deserve the opportunity to learn from mistakes and know By EDWARD that they’re not going to STRATTON make them again,” she said. The Daily Astorian “And I’m very confident that that’s not a mistake Mr. Phil- JEWELL — A pro- lips will make in the future. spective new hire by Jew- “Steve has an exten- ell School District is turn- sive amount of experience ing some heads because of a to bring to the district, and past social media post. I think we’re lucky to get a Stephen Phillips, who candidate of his quality.” Phillips spent two years at is finalizing a contract to be a new executive admin- Beaverton as deputy super- istrator in Jewell, comes intendent. He was recruited from Beaverton School Dis- there from the Malheur Edu- trict, where he resigned cational Service District in Eastern Oregon, as deputy super- intendent in April where he was super- intendent for four after retweeting a years and director of claim that undocu- mented immigrants secondary education for four years prior. are more danger- ous than assault He spent five years as a middle rifles and should school vice prin- be banned from the Stephen cipal and two as United States. Phillips a math teacher The retweet caused the school district to in Nyssa near the Ore- apologize and some in the gon-Idaho border. His first community to form a peti- teaching job was in the tion calling for Phillips’ dis- Burnt River School District, missal. He later apologized which he said served about and announced his resigna- 100 students during his time tion in a letter to Beaverton there. Jewell, located in rural Superintendent Don Grot- ting, calling the retweet a southeast Clatsop County, mistake that does not define averages around 150 stu- dents K-12. him as a person. Members of the Jew- Phillips said he is hop- ing to prove himself anew at ell Education Association had opposed Phillips’ hir- Jewell. “Long story short, it’s ing after learning of his past. going to take time,” he said. Don Anderson, an English “It’s going to take people teacher and co-president of getting to know me, and the association, said 13 out realizing I’m an educator of 14 teachers responding that cares about kids and to a survey did not support wants what’s best for kids his hiring. The association includes about 20 members. — that’s all kids.” One teacher resigned More than 20 candi- dates applied for the exec- over Phillips’ hiring, Ander- utive administrator posi- son said. tion. Jewell Superintendent See PHILLIPS, Page 9A Alice Hunsaker said the dis- Resigned over controversial retweet By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian The Astoria Co-op cleared its last major hurdle with the city Thursday night, landing an approval to build a larger store east of downtown. The city’s Design Review Committee voted 4-1 to approve the organic and natu- ral food store’s application to build on property in the Mill Pond neighborhood. Unless someone appeals the com- mittee’s decision, this marks the last public hearing for the co-op’s application. Committee member Hila- rie Phelps was the sole “no” vote, and Sarah Jane Bardy gave her “yes” with reluc- tance. She was conflicted about the grocery store’s application, especially the way the building was situated on the property, but agreed the application met the city’s criteria. Educator hopes to rebound in Jewell Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian The Astoria Co-op Grocery plans an expanded store in the Mill Pond neighborhood. “We have worked really hard to try to meet that criteria and we’ve done that and they were able to recognize that,” Matt Stanley, general manager for the co-op, said afterward. When asked how soon the co-op needs to break ground to stay on track, Stanley said: “Really the sooner the better.” The co-op is tapping into the federal new markets tax credit to help cover the costs of the expansion, estimated to cost $8 million total. “The funds are condition- ally approved for the co-op, but they don’t stick around forever,” Stanley said. The co-op faced a set- back in May when the Design Review Committee asked the grocery to adjust aspects of its proposal and decided to con- tinue the hearing into June. Committee members wor- ried about how the build- ing was situated, pedestrian See CO-OP, Page 9A Price will run for mayor City councilor seeks top post By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Astoria City Councilor Cindy Price will run for mayor in the November election. “The magic of Astoria is real,” she said in a statement. “But we’ve been discovered. There are opportunities, and there are challenges. Astoria must avoid becoming a combi- nation of Lincoln City and the worst parts of Portland.” Her challenger so far is Dul- cye Taylor, the owner of Old Town Framing Co. and presi- dent of the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association. Taylor and Price, who rep- resents the downtown Ward 3 district, have collaborated on causes and projects in the past, most recently on efforts to bring the historic Astoria ferry — Tourist No. 2 — back to the city. They are co-presidents of the ferry group’s board of directors. Mayor Arline LaMear chose not to run for re-elec- tion, creating an opening for the city’s top post. See PRICE, Page 9A Astoria City Councilor Cin- dy Price was elected in 2014.
