County budget
increased for
third straight year
Commissioners
back $70.1M
spending plan
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County’s bud-
get for the upcoming fiscal
year has been set at $70.1
million.
County commissioners
voted unanimously Wednes-
day to adopt the spend-
ing plan for the fiscal year,
which begins Sunday. The
budget represents a 34 per-
cent increase over the past
three years.
A large chunk of that
money comes from funds
that were saved and have
rolled over into the cur-
rent fiscal year. Contin-
gency funds accounted for
$18.4 million of the budget
last year and will total $21.8
million this year.
“It looks like your budget
is increasing, but some of
that is just contingencies,”
Budget and Finance Direc-
tor Monica Steele said.
For county employ-
ees, a rise in the cost of liv-
ing adjustment, health ben-
efits and the state Public
Employees Retirement Sys-
tem have also driven the
increase, Steele said. The
budget includes room for
nine new full-time employ-
ees, bringing the capac-
ity of the county govern-
ment workforce to 222. The
county hopes to hire a land
use code compliance officer,
building inspector and sev-
eral Public Works Depart-
ment employees.
Included in the budget is
$20,000 in additional funds
available for the county
to give to outside agen-
cies. The allotment for out-
side agencies — typically
nonprofit organizations —
was slashed in half during
an economic downturn to
$15,000.
Commissioners
had discussed increasing the
amount at previous meet-
ings, and the county Human
Services Advisory Council
has recommended a bump.
“We certainly do know
that we have these prob-
lems in our community —
higher than a lot of the other
rural counties — and I don’t
know how we would assess
all of this,” Commissioner
Sarah Nebeker said. “But
that’s why these early inter-
vention programs are so
essential, because down the
road, it will help alleviate
some of those more expen-
sive later problems into ado-
lescence and adulthood.”
County finalizes
jail ballot measure
Will ask
taxpayers for
$20 million
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Taxpayers will be asked
in November to approve up
to $20 million in general
obligation bonds for the pro-
posed Clatsop County Jail
relocation.
County commissioners
gave a nod in March to place
the plan on the general elec-
tion ballot at a $23.8 mil-
lion price tag. County offi-
cials have said some of the
money for the project could
come from a special proj-
ect fund and cash reserves.
The bonds would cost tax-
payers about 21 cents per
$1,000 in assessed prop-
erty value, or about $42 per
year for $200,000 in property
value, according to the sher-
iff’s office.
If voters approve the bond,
the jail will be relocated from
Duane Street in Astoria to the
former North Coast Youth
Correctional Facility in War-
renton. Capacity would rise
from 60 inmates to 148 with
room for future expansion.
Due to overcrowding,
several inmates are released
each week before their court
cases are resolved without
posting bail.
Officials say that with-
out a new jail, the county
will have to rent beds from
other jails outside of the area.
Remodeling the now-defunct
youth correctional facility is
estimated to cost about half
as much as building a new
facility.
In other business Wednes-
day, commissioners:
• Approved a three-year
collective bargaining agree-
ment with county employees.
The agreement specifies that
yearly wage adjustments will
range from 2.5 percent to 4.5
percent.
Federal agents make arrests
at Portland ICE building
By JIM RYAN
The Oregonian
At least nine protesters were
arrested as authorities broke
up part of the protest camp
surrounding southwest Port-
land’s Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement headquar-
ters early this morning.
Federal authorities issued a
brief statement saying, in part,
that “federal law enforcement
officers initiated a law enforce-
ment action to reopen” the
building, which is on South-
west Macadam Avenue.
Shortly after 6 a.m., dozens
of officers, some in riot gear,
were lined up on the streets and
outside the building entrance.
Macadam had been blocked by
police vehicles.
By 7:30 a.m., the camp
immediately
surrounding
the headquarters had been
torn down. But much of the
camp on adjacent properties
remained.
Dozens of protesters contin-
ued to mill around Southwest
Bancroft Street and Moody
Avenue. They heckled offi-
cers a line of officers blocking
access to the headquarters, but
no clashes were reported.
Also about 7:30 a.m., vehi-
cles were seen entering the
driveway to the building,
which had been blocked by
protesters for more than week.
Roughly 20 minutes later, traf-
fic began to flow on Southwest
Macadam Avenue and Moody
avenues as well as Ban-
croft Street, though the street
directly in front of the head-
Anna Spoerre/The Oregonian
A protester is arrested as authorities broke up part of the protest camp surrounding
southwest Portland’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters.
quarters remained blocked.
Protesters had torn down
at least one wooden wall that
had been erected at the camp
and were taking down a second
wall, parallel to Bancroft.
ICE officials raised the flag
above the headquarters about
9:30 p.m., drawing jeers from
the crowd.
Protesters have been posted
up outside the building in a
round-the-clock occupation for
well more than a week.
Robert Sperling, Federal
Protective Service spokes-
man, said U.S. Department of
Homeland Security agents in
riot gear were on scene clearing
federal property to facilitate the
reopening of the building.
Oregon voters will likely
have a chance this November
to decide whether they want to
make it harder for politicians
to curtail current tax breaks
and raise fees.
Currently the state’s con-
stitution requires the Legis-
lature to have a supermajor-
ity, or three-fifths vote, to raise
taxes. That’s been interpreted
as applying only to passing
new taxes.
But proponents of Initiative
31 believe the supermajority
vote should also apply to scal-
ing back current tax breaks and
raising fees, both of which also
raise revenue for the state.
“Voters in Oregon more
than 20 years ago gave a direc-
tive to the politicians and
bureaucrats that they wanted
a supermajority to raise taxes
in Salem and … [politicians]
have found loopholes to get
around the will of the voters,”
said Derrick DeGroot, one of
the measure’s chief petitioners
and the chair of the Klamath
County Commission.
The coalition of groups
backing the measure, includ-
ing the Oregon Association
of Realtors and the Oregon
Home Builders Association,
have until July 6 to submit
117,578 valid signatures.
As of Wednesday, they had
submitted 174,006.
They measure has raised
more than $1 million, with
realtors being the measure’s
biggest financial backer.
Proponents of the measure
have been galvanized in recent
years by votes they believe
should have required a super-
majority but instead fell along
party lines.
During the 2017 legislative
session, the majority of House
Democrats voted to curtail a tax
break by around $100 million
eral Protective Services said
the goal of today’s action
was to provide access to the
ICE building. Once that was
accomplished, he said there
were no plans to completely
clear the encampment from the
surrounding area.
When asked what would
happen if protesters move back
onto the property, Sperling
replied: “We will be here for as
long as we need to be.”
Roberta Altstadttat, spokes-
woman for TriMet, which
owns and leases out much
of the property near the ICE
headquarters, said the agency
is “checking with property
partners” after this morning’s
action.
Massive baby boom helping starfish recovery
By CASSANDRA
PROFITA
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Scientists say starfish
populations are recover-
ing from a devastating die-
off with help from a massive
baby boom.
A wasting disease in 2014
took an unprecedented toll
on sea stars up and down the
West Coast.
It nearly wiped out the
populations of starfish ecol-
ogist Bruce Menge has stud-
ied for decades with Oregon
State University.
Then the babies started
coming.
“To find one of these tiny
sea stars was always sort of
an exciting event because it
was so rare,” Menge said.
“But in the spring and sum-
mer of 2015, most sites had
lots of tiny little sea stars.”
At one site, he counted
hundreds of baby starfish in
an area no bigger than his
handprint. Now, those babies
are getting bigger.
“The babies have grown
into juveniles and continue
to grow at actually a pretty
fast rate,” he said. “When the
animals mature to adulthood,
chances are the numbers will
actually be higher than they
were before the disease.”
Menge said he still sees
signs of the wasting dis-
ease in adult starfish, but
it’s much less common than
before.
New research suggests
the new sea star populations
may be evolving to promote
genetic resistance to the virus
causing the wasting disease.
“Most of the babies seem
to have survived, so maybe
there was selection at the
stage of the larvae,” Menge
said. “The ones that settled
and survived were the ones
that were resistant.”
Oregon voters could rein in Legislature on taxes, fees
By LAUREN DAKE
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Sperling said about 5:30
p.m. authorities warned pro-
testers it was time to move off
of the federal facility. He said
officers then moved onto the
property and cleared the part of
the camp on federal property.
He said officers were hold-
ing the line between federal
property and private property.
He said officers would be there
“for a while, and continue to
maintain the security of this
facility.”
He said there were no vio-
lent confrontations and that the
action was “very calm.”
Sperling said he didn’t
know the specific charges
those who were arrested face.
A spokesman for Fed-
a year. Democrats argued that
the tax cut primarily benefited
well-off professionals and they
were eager to trim the break.
House Democrats passed it on
a simple majority despite cries
from Republicans that it war-
ranted a supermajority.
Oregon Republican Sen.
Brian Boquist, of Dallas,
will be watching the measure
carefully.
The state senator is suing
the governor and legislative
leaders over another mea-
In honor of July 4th,
The Daily Astorian’s offices in
Astoria and Seaside will be
CLOSED
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4
PAPER DELIVERY WILL PROCEED AS USUAL
Have a safe holiday!
CLASSIFIED DEADLINES:
Tuesday, July 3 rd , 11 am for
Wednesday, July 4 th
Tuesday, July 3 rd , 1 pm for
Thursday, July 5 th
DISPLAY AD DEADLINES:
Thursday, June 28 th , 5 pm for
Wednesday, July 4 th
Friday, June 29 th , 5 pm for
Thursday, July 5 th
Place classified ads or subscribe 24/7
www.dailyastorian.com
sure he believed warranted a
three-fifths vote but passed
along party lines. Senate Bill
1528, which disconnected the
state from federal tax changes,
didn’t technically increase
taxes but it did result in busi-
nesses not receiving tax breaks.
Researchers still can’t
explain exactly what caused
the massive die-off, though
they think it could be linked
to climate change.
“These are things we’ve
never seen in multiple
decades of research,” Menge
said. “This recovery we think
we’re seeing is very help-
ful, but you’re always a lit-
tle worried because suddenly
the system seems much more
variable than it was before.”
WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
ARE YOU A PEOPLE PERSON?
DO YOU LOVE MUSIC?
INVESTED IN LOCAL ISSUES?
There’s a place for you
at Coast Community
Radio!
• L earn what gives
local radio a sense of
community.
• Help provide
information for guests
and callers at the KMUN
front desk.
• Stop by the Tillicum House at
14 45 Exchange Street to fill
out an application.
Email logan@coastradio.org for
more information.
coastradio.org
Leinassar Dental Excellence
Trusted, Caring and Affordable Dental Care
Hear what loyal and new patients alike are saying...
I am never comfortable visiting a Dental
office. Your staff members made me feel
at ease. Excellent care! I felt like I was
given choices . Nice to know I have some
say about treatment options.
Just sorry I waited so long to
visit your practice.
- Gary
503 325-0310 • 1414 Marine Drive, Astoria
www.smileastoria.com
JEFFERY M. LEINASSAR
DMD, FAGD