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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Time to celebrate Knappa, Astoria dynasties
I
f the outcomes of sports events were
inevitable, they wouldn’t bother to
play the games or run the races.
So, as the public school year comes
to an end with graduations and the pros-
pect of busy summer vacations, it’s fit-
ting to take a moment to salute some
significant achievements on the dia-
mond and the track.
The Astoria High School girls’ track
team was on the podium in Eugene
again, just missing out on a fourth con-
secutive state championship.
Last year, the Lady Fishermen went
back and forth with Phoenix for the
lead, but ended the state meet atop the
podium to make it an astonishing three
in a row.
This year, the girls placed second
behind Marshfield — by only 5 points
— a tremendous achievement that
demonstrates consistency in the pro-
gram and is a credit to the athletes and
coaches. They were spurred by senior
Darian Hageman’s heroics in three
jumping finals, an impressive contribu-
tion from Sophie Long in the 800, and
field athletes like Kes Sandstrom, who
won the discus.
Casual observers might suggest that
track highlights individual achieve-
ments, but anyone who is close to the
program knows it is entirely a team
sport. And that does not just mean the
accumulation of points. As Sandstrom
said, “We had people moving around
cheering for each other all day, and I
definitely felt my team there for me
today.”
Knappa repeats
There is a similar ethos in east-
ern Clatsop County, and it has existed
David Ball/For The Daily Astorian
Astoria coaches place the first-place medal around Kes Sandstrom’s neck after her
state win in the discus, while Seaside’s Gretchen Hoekstre finished second.
for some time. That’s why it is also a
delight to cue some significant applause
for the Knappa High School baseball
team.
Coach Jeff Miller and his boys have
done it again, winning the 2A/1A trophy
with a comfortable win over Pilot Rock.
It is their third state champion-
ship in four consecutive years at the
finals. They were the favorites and have
chalked up back-to-back title wins, just
like their basketball team did back in
1999.
But did we say “comfortable?” Not,
exactly. The talented young athletes still
had to win — and they gave up a run
early in the contest to put themselves
under some pressure.
Gary Henley’s reporting of
postseason high school athletics
always captures the drama and reveals
the subplots.
The biggest theme in this story is the
classy manner in which Knappa’s repre-
sentatives perform.
The boys never brag (though they
could be forgiven if they did).
The boys support each other (they
serve as a role model for any group
striving for success).
The boys do what is asked of them.
Every one.
Even when their individual seasons
end prematurely, they stay in the fight.
Senior Reuben Cruz was crushed when
an accidental postgame shoulder injury
ruined his final opportunity to play in
a Knappa sports uniform. Yet he sup-
ported his teammates from the bench,
taking almost an assistant coach role to
exhort them to victory.
Knappa’s drive for success permeates
the entire school district. Walk down the
corridors and peer into the classrooms
any day of the week and you’ll see a
whole lot of learning going on.
Some lessons are learned on the
field. The best example of this class
act is coach Miller. He never takes
any of Knappa’s success for granted,
“Baseball’s a scary sport sometimes,
and all it takes is one swing.” he says,
with obvious intensity.
Even as his guys progressed through
the quarterfinals and semifinals, he
praised the other coaches, commended
the other teams and didn’t get too
excited.
The only bad news here is that nine
Logger seniors will graduate. The good
news is that’s OK — because there
are many younger players who have
already proved their mettle.
As Henley added, in the punchline to
his championship report, “This dynasty
is just warming up.”
Another dynasty in progress
While this editorial is about spring
sports, we would be remiss not to point
out that another dynasty is in progress
in South County.
The Seaside boys basketball team
won its second straight 4A state cham-
pionship in March. It was their third
straight year competing in the title
game.
Four of their five starters return next
season, and they have one of the best
youth programs in the state.
“We’re going to be better than ever
next year,” said junior Chase Januik, a
second team all-state selection. “We’ll
be looking for a three-peat.”
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Parking, the hottest summer topic
I
t seems like conversations about
parking in Cannon Beach always
start too late.
“There is nothing happening at this
point,” City Councilor George Vetter
said. “The last time I brought this up,
other councilors wanted to wait for some
kind of initiative from the public and
business community.”
Nothing is in the works, Police Chief
Jason Schermerhorn added. There will
be no changes in enforcement and police
are not adding any parking limits or sig-
nage for the summer.
Former Mayor Mike
Morgan presented timed
parking to discourage
all-day parking down-
town as an option in
2008, during his elec-
tion campaign.
Shuttle service got
R.J. MARX a trial in 2011 and
2012, but it wasn’t
cost-effective.
At a charge to the city of $47 an hour,
“you could take a taxi to the Portland air-
port for less money,” Morgan said at the
time.
Study commissioned
Last summer, after impassioned argu-
ments from the community, city coun-
cilors voted to table any discussion
of timed parking or any other park-
ing solutions until after the summer, the
Gazette’s Brenna Visser reported.
This after Brian Davis from Lancaster
Street Lab presented a parking study
driving the timed parking experiment.
The study divided the city into three
parking areas — crossroads or major
downtown streets, outskirts and lots, and
stall counts and types. Almost 400 spaces
were not timed. Drivers stayed an aver-
age of 3 hours, 13 minutes. Downtown
areas were 85 percent full by 10 a.m. on
spring break Friday, while lots at more
than 90 percent by 2 p.m.
Numbers for a “sunny April Satur-
day” were roughly comparable, accord-
ing to the study.
Three-hour parking limit signs on
some downtown streets were suggested
by City Council last year as a pilot pro-
gram to see whether timed parking
increases turnover as a way to help the
city reach the goal of creating 50 new
spots by the end of 2018.
But business owners and commu-
nity members rejected the idea that timed
parking would increase business. More
than 100 residents and business owners
signed a petition against proposed park-
ing time limits.
“The city MUST offer additional
parking NOT limit parking areas!” busi-
ness owner Mary Ann Oyala wrote in a
letter to the city.
Timed parking is “against the grain
of our naturally family friendly commu-
nity,” jeweler Sharon Amber said.
Alaina and Marty Giguiere proposed
eliminating RV parking in downtown and
midtown and building a parking garage
by the recycling area with free parking
for merchants and their employees.
‘The back burner’
Greg Swedenborg, this year’s Can-
non Beach Chamber of Commerce presi-
dent and general manager of The Waves,
addressed the City Council early this
year, after the council announced its
2018-19 top initiatives.
“Parking was not on the list,” he
said. “When I spoke I asked that as a
concerned citizen and business owner
that they make time this year for the
discussion.”
After the tabling of the two-hour
limit, the council “just put the topic on
the back burner.”
Their decision frustrated Sweden-
borg. “They just took the parking engi-
neering report they paid for and put it on
a shelf,” he said.
So he offered his own ideas, includ-
ing the suggestion that Cannon Beach
implement a fee-based parking program.
“Nobody wants to damage the ‘char-
acter of Cannon Beach’ with the idea of
parking meters, increased signage, bur-
den on the locals, but the reality is that
for about six months of the year, and
probably 80 percent of the weekends we
have a parking problem,” he said.
Swedenborg took the city’s 2017
report to a company called Passport Inc.,
which has a software-based solution and
doesn’t require meters or coins.
Using a mobile application, users can
be on the beach and repay if time runs
out.
In lots, a fee-based parking kiosk pro-
gram could be rolled out seasonally, lim-
ited to summer or prime tourist dates,
and locals can be given a sticker that
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Nick Hansen, Dalton Smith and Keanu Yokoyama, of Cannon Beach police
parking enforcement.
allows them to park for free. Prices could
be set at variable rates depending on the
time of year, and could be enforced with
tickets or warnings.
Swedenborg provided examples of
communities similar to Cannon Beach
that have successfully implemented the
kiosk program — Carmel, California,
Breckenridge, Colorado and Ocean City,
Maryland, among others. He estimates
the city could implement this solution on
city lots and generate about $400,000 to
$600,000 a year in parking revenue —
more if they include city streets and the
Tolovana Wayside.
Swedenborg touts the projected rev-
enue opportunity “that pays for itself”
with almost zero capital investment
instead of “just putting our head in the
sand.”
If he gets sufficient backing, he plans
on going to the City Council again to
share the idea and suggest that they
make this issue a priority, he said.
Strategies from Bend
Maybe Cannon Beach can learn some
lessons from Oregon’s fastest-growing
city, Bend — the fourth-fastest growing
city in the country.
The city met the problem by hiring
a dedicated staffer, David Dietrich, as
parking demand manager to handle traf-
fic concerns. The downtown parking dis-
trict maintains a two-hour parking limit.
“We want to have high circulation,”
Dietrich said. “Obviously the more cir-
culation, the more customers and vis-
itors who can go, spend and enjoy
downtown.”
Police mark license plates using a
hand-held device, with a requirement
that cars move at least 750 feet after
two hours. A permit program designates
certain lots in the downtown area for
employee parking.
“The idea is that we maximize
on-street and certain areas for visitors
and customers,” Dietrich said.
Permit revenue from paid parking
pays for infrastructure — painting, strip-
ing, lighting and capital improvements.
Enforcement pays for itself, he said.
For officials in Bend, the plan is in
place to “enhance the customer experi-
ence here.” To handle future congestions,
options would be adjusting time limits
based on zones, expanding paid hourly
lots, enhancing connectivity and wayfin-
ding, Dietrich said.
“Say you’re coming into down-
town Bend and a visitor, you’re proba-
bly going to the first spot you see. If you
have wayfinding, we can steer you to the
longer, more cost-effective parking. It’s
like water — we want people to flow to
the right places.”
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South
County reporter and editor of the Seaside
Signal and Cannon Beach Gazette.