3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018
Halverson recognized for his
a
leadership at Astoria police PROFESSIONAL
Deputy chief
Consult
was the ‘glue’
during shake-up
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
City leaders and police
officers gave Astoria Deputy
Chief Eric Halverson a stand-
ing ovation Monday night in
recognition of how he led the
department through a difficult
transition last summer after the
former police chief abruptly
retired.
Halverson stepped up as
interim chief last August,
working as both the chief and
deputy chief until Police Chief
Geoff Spalding came on board
later that month. At the time,
an independent assessment of
the police department under
former chief Brad Johnston’s
leadership documented low
morale, staff shortages and
conflict within the department,
but singled out Halverson as a
well-respected leader.
Spalding called Halver-
son the “glue that has held the
department together in some
challenging times.”
On
Monday,
Spald-
ing presented Halverson
with a distinguished service
commendation.
“This is the highest honor
that we can recognize some-
one in this organization with-
out some form of a heroic act
— which he came pretty close
to, I think, in what he had to do
here,” Spalding said.
“One of the things that
makes this honor, to me, more
significant is the fact it’s a rec-
Astoria Deputy Chief Eric Halverson
‘It was the members of
the department that kept
the department together.’
Eric Halverson
Astoria deputy chief
ognition from his peers,” he
added.
City Manager Brett Estes
echoed the police chief’s
praise. “It was an honor to
work along side you,” he told
Halverson. “I appreciate all the
effort that you made and all of
the challenges that you took on
during that time of transition.”
Halverson hadn’t been told
he was receiving the honor. He
was there to watch the swear-
ing in of the department’s
newest police officer, Alex
Whitney.
“I don’t have a whole lot to
say other than the fact that it
was the members of the depart-
ment that kept the department
together,” Halverson said. “I
was just fortunate enough to
be there and have people stand
behind me and help me. This
is really for all of our staff that
hung in there.”
Halverson joined the
department in 1993 as a police
cadet and became a police
officer in 1998. He was pro-
moted to sergeant in 2008.
He was promoted to deputy
chief in 2015 when Johnston
was police chief. He acted as
interim chief for most of last
August before Spalding took
over. Spalding was hired per-
manently in January.
The department is on firmer
ground going into this summer.
Spalding submitted a quar-
terly report Monday in which
he reported the past few
months had been “relatively
quiet with minimal high-pro-
file incidents.”
Whitney’s
swearing-in
brought sworn staff up to
17 officers, Spalding wrote,
but staffing continues to be a
challenge for both the police
department and the 911 dis-
patch center.
As staffing levels increase,
and as two other new officers
get ready to patrol on their
own, Spalding is looking at
gaps in service. He is contem-
plating filling a second detec-
tive position and is also evalu-
ating what it would take to be
able to participate in the inter-
agency drug task force and
restore the school resource
officer position — two prior-
ities that came up during city
budget discussions this spring.
Q: What are my
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replacing a missing
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options exist to address
A: Many
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DMD, FAGD
503/325-0310
1414 MARINE DRIVE,
ASTORIA
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are the
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The Daily Astorian
Seasonally adjusted unem-
ployment dipped below
4 percent in Clatsop County
in May, according to state
statistics.
Seasonally adjusted figures
compare expected with actual
employment.
Clatsop County’s season-
ally adjusted unemployment
was at 3.9 percent in May, a
slight drop from the previ-
ous month and year. The rate
was 4.9 percent in Colum-
bia County, 4.2 percent in
Tillamook County, 4.1 per-
cent statewide and 3.8 percent
nationwide.
Clatsop
County
was
expected to gain 290 jobs
in May but only added 170.
Nonfarm payroll employment
was 18,620, 310 higher than
the year prior. Over the past
year, construction has added
130 positions, and hospital-
ity another 80. Retail trade has
gone down 80 positions over
the past year.
Clatsop County was tied
with Morrow and Wasco
counties for the 10th-lowest
unemployment rate in the state
in May. The statewide unem-
ployment rate was 4.1 per-
cent, and the national rate 3.8
percent.
real doctors?
like all other doctors,
A: Yes,
we undergo four years of
Barry Sears, D.C.
Area
Clatsop
May April 1-yr.
2018 2018 ago
3.9
4.1
4
Columbia
4.9
5
5
Tillamook
4.2
4.3
4.2
Oregon
4.1
4.1
4.1
U.S.
3.8
3.9
4.3
*Preliminary, seasonaly adjusted rates.
Source: Oregon Employment Department
Daily Astorian graphic
Port director hopes for citywide enterprise zone
Designation on
the waterfront
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Jim Knight, the executive
director of the Port of Astoria, is
hoping the Astoria City Council
will designate the entire water-
front an enterprise zone.
Enterprise zones provide
a state property tax break for
three to five years for manu-
facturers, processors, shippers,
call centers and headquarters.
Hotel and resort businesses are
also eligible in some enterprise
zones.
Clatsop County, Warrenton
and the Port in 2015 partnered
to create the Clatsop Enter-
prise Zone covering clusters
of industrial and commercial
properties around Warrenton,
Hammond, Miles Crossing,
Jeffers Garden, the Astoria
Regional Airport and Knappa.
The Astoria City Coun-
cil rejected involvement in the
enterprise zone over mistrust of
the Port, preventing properties
along the waterfront from tak-
ing advantage of potential tax
breaks.
Hyak Maritime recently
purchased North Tongue
Point, an industrial dock on
the eastern edge of Astoria,
and replaced the Port as oper-
ator, hoping to create a marine
fabrication and repair facility.
The City Council has expressed
interest in expanding the enter-
prise zone to help the develop-
ment. The expansion needs to
be approved by the state.
“I have heard clearly that
there is an intention of Tongue
Point, and perhaps even our
East Mooring Basin,” Knight
said of the city’s deliberations.
“But I just think our commu-
nity would be remiss not to
take advantage of the rest of the
waterfront.”
Knight has pushed for more
public-private
partnerships
to refurbish the Port’s aging,
crumbling properties. He suc-
cessfully campaigned for east-
ern Astoria to be one of the
86 census tracts designated as
opportunity zones by the state.
The federal designation could
lead to an infusion of money by
investors hoping to lower their
capital gains tax burden.
Knight said he plans to
speak with Astoria’s city man-
ager about further expanding
the enterprise zone and poten-
tially enlist Port commissioners
to help sway the city.
Frank Spence, president of
the Port Commission, said he is
pleased to see the city revisiting
enterprise zones, considering
how many properties in War-
renton are already taking part.
The Port Commission on
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Tuesday approved a $12 mil-
lion operating budget, includ-
ing nearly $3 million in per-
sonnel services, $2.3 million
in capital investments, $1.6
million in debt service pay-
ments and nearly $4.4 million
in materials and services. Most
of the Port’s revenue comes
from operations and grants, but
a small portion will come from
countywide property taxes
of 12.56 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value also approved
by the Port Commission.
Not included was up to
$70,000 the Port’s budget com-
mittee had considered for a
feasibility study by Colum-
bia River Estuary Study Task-
force to turn much of the Ski-
panon Peninsula into a wetland
mitigation bank. Knight said he
wants to hash out any poten-
tially volatile issues around the
project with members of the
task force, made up of a council
of local government represen-
tatives, before proceeding with
the project.
Fort Stevens Park and Friends of Old Fort Stevens
O BSERVE THE
76 th A NNIVERSARY OF THE
J UNE 21, 1942
J APANESE S UBMARINE A TTACK
ON THE F ORT
503-325-3311
2935 Marine Drive
Astoria, Oregon
those who die without family
or means to care for their final
expenses?
John R. Alcantara - Funeral Director
Sponsored by The Friends of Old Fort
Stevens and Fort Stevens State Park
503-861-2000 • visitfortstevens.com
a State handles “indigent deaths”
A: How
is specific to statutes of that State’s
legislation. The State of Oregon does not have
any public burial/cremation societies (as they
used to exist historically in Europe or the early
parts of the settling of the New World). Instead,
our State has a special program that involves
specific criteria which each funeral provider
must investigate thoroughly before the state will
qualify a decedent as indigent. Those funeral
establishments who participate in the program
truly live up to William Gladstone’s quote:
“Show me the manner in which a nation
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Merle Fenton
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1775 S. Roosevelt
Unit C, Seaside
planning a
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is it too late
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A: I prefer three weeks
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with a budget at low to noth-
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Q: I just received my
Thursday, June 21
Noon-4 pm
June 21, 1992: The 50th Anniversary of the Japanese attack.
Over 150 Fort Stevens veterans gathered at Battery Russell to
remember the event and to dedicate the Pacific Rim Peace Memorial.
graduate school including two
years of life science and 2 years
of clinical sciences with an
internship. The degree conferred
after successful completion of
schooling is a D.C. or DOCTOR
OF CHIROPRACTIC. We are
also called chiropractic
physicians. Yearly continuing
education is required to keep
skills up. Our approach is to find
the simplest solution with the
fewest tests. We are happy to
accept new patients.
there any public burial/
Q: Are
cremation societies to care for
fenton.merle@gmail.com
On the date of the attack, an interpreter
will be at Battery Russell and the
Pacific Rim Peace Memorial with displays
and information about the attack.
to your computer is another way to
increase your computer’s speed. Most
computers can utilize twice as much
memory as was installed at the factory.
Q: Are chiropractors
CHIROPRACTIC
Jobless rates
for May *
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Astorias
hard drive, that comes with
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ASTORIA
Unemployment falls below
4 percent in Clatsop County
determine the best option are patient
interest, position of tooth, position
of gum level, height and width of the
bone, esthetic concerns and challenges,
condition of adjacent teeth, and patient
expectations. Available options to
consider and discuss are doing nothing,
fabrication of an economical removable
“flipper”, construction of a fixed bridge,
and placement of a dental implant
supporting an implant crown. The bridge
and implant options are the most durable,
esthetic and pleasing options to consider.
new Medicare ID
card, do I need to
do anything?
A: It depends. If you have a
Medicare Supplement Policy
you need to call the customer ser-
Medicare Products vice number on the back of your
insurance card and give them your
new number. Advantage Plan and
503-440-1076 Part D Prescription Plan members
do not need to. Medicare Services
Licensed in Oregon
(CMS) will do that for you. Remem-
and Washington
ber, never give out your info to an
incoming caller.
putmanagency@gmail.com
Steve Putman