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DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2018
146TH YEAR, NO. 43
PAGES 9A-10A
ONE DOLLAR
ELECTION 2018
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Astoria City Councilor Bruce Jones, left, talks with Chuck Bollong as he teach-
es a class at the Columbia River Maritime Museum.
Dulcye Taylor, president of the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association,
arranges cards in her downtown frame shop.
Housing, homelessness and the
economy shape mayor’s race
Three contenders
in November
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
W
orkforce housing, homelessness
and economic diversity will be
dominant issues in the Astoria
mayor’s race in November, as voters get
a chance to set the direction at City Hall.
Three contenders emerged after
Mayor Arline LaMear chose not to run
for re-election and City Councilor Cindy
Price withdrew her campaign.
City Councilor Bruce Jones, Dul-
cye Taylor, the president of the Asto-
ria Downtown Historic District Associa-
tion, and Michael Miller, an activist, want
to replace LaMear, and leadership ability
will likely be a subtext of the election.
While the city manager runs day-to-
day operations, the mayor has an import-
ant role in setting the policy agenda for
the City Council, making appointments to
boards and commissions and often serv-
ing as the voice of the city.
Jones, a retired Coast Guard com-
mander, was elected to represent the east
side on the City Council in 2016 and
works as deputy director of the Columbia
River Maritime Museum. He believes in
the goals city councilors adopted earlier
this year, which focus on projects ranging
from economic development and hous-
ing to disaster preparedness and the pub-
lic library renovation.
“I really feel that the goals the council
established collaboratively are the right
goals for the community,” Jones said.
Still, Jones would like a greater
emphasis on an overall vision for the city
so that Astoria retains its “authentic feel”
and economy amid many changes. He
would also like to see public safety and
other important city facilities placed out-
side the tsunami inundation zone, echoing
a request by former Fire Chief Ted Ames.
Taylor supports a number of ongoing
city initiatives, including an effort to final-
ize the Urban Core, the downtown por-
tion of the city’s Riverfront Vision Plan
that guides future development along the
Columbia River. But she believes the city
could do more to create housing.
She would like zoning loosened in cer-
tain areas to free up vacant buildings that
could be modified for housing. She points
to the dilapidated Waldorf Hotel next to
City Hall, which the Portland-based non-
profit Innovative Housing purchased and
plans to turn into affordable apartments.
See MAYORAL RACE, Page 3A
Katie Frankowicz/The Daily Astorian
Michael Miller, an activist, wants As-
toria to do more to address home-
lessness and mental health.
Former chamber director to run for City Council
Rocka seeks
west side seat
MORE INSIDE
Hammond man to run
for Warrenton mayor
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Roger Rocka will run for the west
side seat on the Astoria City Council.
When he heard Astoria City Councilor
Zetty Nemlowill had officially decided
not to run for re-election, Roger Rocka
hurried to turn in his paperwork.
Rocka, the former director of the Asto-
ria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Com-
merce, will face hairdresser David Drafall
in November for the Ward 1 seat covering
the west side.
Though Rocka has been involved in
many aspects of the city’s development
Page 4A
since moving here more than 20 years
ago, this will be his first time running for
public office.
City Councilor Cindy Price’s
announcement this month that she was
going to withdraw from the mayor’s race
also influenced Rocka’s decision.
“Between the two of them, it was just
not wanting to lose that voice on the coun-
cil,” Rocka said. “I just wanted to make
sure some of the values they have that I
share continue to be expressed on the
council.”
He describes these values as “making
sure that Astoria is what the people who
live in Astoria want it be and we don’t
get pulled sideways by outside interests,
by people other than the people who live
here.”
His other priorities if elected include
finding housing solutions, working to help
the homeless and alleviating summer traf-
fic issues.
“We’ve had too much of a good thing
at this point,” he said of tourism.
Rocka also wants to ensure a level
playing field when it comes to businesses
See COUNCIL SEAT, Page 4A
County outlines plan to promote jail bond
One of several
bonds voters will
see on the ballot
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Election season has begun in
Clatsop County.
Nearly 20 races have been
solidified after Tuesday’s fil-
ing deadline. With 10 weeks left
before the Nov. 6 election, an
influx of campaign signs, adver-
tisements and stump speeches are
coming.
“In the summer, your vot-
ers check out. They’re just not
invested in information that
MORE INSIDE
A list of top races and ballot
measures for upcoming election
Page 4A
much compared to what they’re
going to be come, you know,
the fall,” Justin Stranzl, a senior
associate at Portland-based
architecture firm DLR Group,
told Clatsop County commis-
sioners at a work session last
spring.
Stranzl discussed how to best
promote a $20 million bond to
move the county jail from Astoria
to the former North Coast Youth
Correctional Facility in Warren-
ton. DLR Group has designed
the potential new jail, and Stranzl
has advised several local govern-
ments on bond measures.
Stranzl spoke about the need
to expose voters to the jail, pro-
vide accessible and digestible
information, highlight why it is
needed and the consequences of
failure, hold regular community
discussions, expand outside of
cities and begin campaigning in
late August or early September.
One key component he stressed
several times was that elected
county officials must drive the
bond.
“This is your bond measure.
Ultimately, the story has to be
yours,” Stranzl said.
See JAIL BOND, Page 4A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County wants to relocate the
jail from Astoria to the former North
Coast Youth Correctional Facility in
Warrenton.