DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018
146TH YEAR, NO. 72
ONE DOLLAR
Housing
authority:
Employee’s
claims are
baseless
Dueling complaints
disrupt agency
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Investigators hired by the Northwest Ore-
gon Housing Authority to look into the dep-
uty director’s complaints against the agen-
cy’s director say the allegations are baseless.
Their report informed a response sent to
the state Bureau of Labor and Industries to
refute a complaint Teresa Sims, the deputy
director, filed in August. Sims has been on
paid leave since May pending the results of a
separate investigation by the housing author-
ity into her conduct.
The state is reviewing both Sims’ com-
plaint and the agency’s response. There is no
timeline for a determination.
Last week, the housing authority’s board
was given a summary of the investigation
into the accusations Sims had leveled against
Todd Johnston, the director.
Sims detailed a long list of issues, paint-
ing a picture of an agency in disarray where
people feared retaliation if they spoke out.
In their summary, the agency’s investiga-
tors refuted — among other claims — alle-
gations that Johnston promoted an employee
who wasn’t qualified for the position,
obscured information or that he and Helping
See CLAIMS, Page 7A
Astoria
could move
forward on
camping ban
City sensitive to
plight of homeless
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear thinks she
is ready to update an ordinance that would
make it illegal to camp on city-owned
forestland.
The mayor had urged the City Council to
hold off on a vote at a meeting last week. She
wanted to hear from the homelessness solu-
tions task force she leads with Police Chief
Geoff Spalding about ways to humanely
address the many homeless people camping
in the woods.
When the task force met Monday, they
had few if any solutions to offer. But LaMear
said afterwards it is clear to her that police
need a law on the books that allows them to
remove someone from the woods if neces-
sary. A smaller group of task force members
plan to discuss how to help homeless people
better access resources.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Several locations in Astoria are being considered for large development projects.
Astoria not alone in struggle
to find development director
Position unfilled
for a year
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
storia has been without a com-
munity development director
for a year —a time when major
projects and discussions about the city’s
future loom large.
Since Kevin Cronin, the former direc-
tor, left last October, City Manager Brett
Estes has posted the job several times
without success.
Astoria isn’t alone. A number of
coastal communities have struggled to
fill similar positions. Unemployment is
low and the job market favors job seek-
ers, Estes says. Other factors come into
play as well.
Housing on the coast is hard to come
by, as are jobs in a variety of professions.
Someone who lands a planning job in
Astoria might have a spouse or partner
who will have a harder time finding work
in their field. There’s also the question of
pay.
“Salaries on the coast are competitive,
but just barely so,” said Mark Barnes, the
city planner for Cannon Beach.
Barnes planned to retire this month,
but he will stay on through November to
help ease the transition with his replace-
ment. He told his boss about his retire-
ment plans last December after conversa-
tions with other planning directors in the
region revealed just how difficult it might
be to fill his position. He wanted to give
the city as much time as possible.
A
Mike Morgan looks over construction plans for a new home at City Hall in Astoria.
‘SALARIES ON THE COAST ARE
COMPETITIVE, BUT JUST BARELY SO.’
Mark Barnes | city planner for Cannon Beach
“I had no reason to believe we would
be any different than all the other job
search situations out there,” Barnes said.
Public planning jobs also can demand
more than the private sector, asking plan-
ners to juggle a variety of responsibilities
and attend numerous public meetings.
City and county planners perform a dif-
ferent kind of balancing act, as requests
from elected officials or citizen groups
shift priorities or projects.
Still: “It’s actually been a bit perplex-
ing,” said Lisa Phipps, with the Oregon
Department of Land Conservation and
Development.
“Certainly the communities that
are putting these jobs out there right
now are desirable places to be, a lot of
See ASTORIA, Page 7A
See CAMPING, Page 7A
Roll & Bowl brings
sushi and ramen to
11th Street in Astoria
New food cart
downtown
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Bryan Tiller, left, and BraeAnn Bartlett run Roll & Bowl, a new food cart addition to the
11th Street pod in Astoria.
Bryan Tiller does sushi.
BraeAnn Bartlett does ramen.
Together, the two run the
Japanese-themed Roll &
Bowl, which recently opened
in the food cart pod along 11th
Street in Astoria.
IF YOU GO
Roll & Bowl opens from 11
a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays and
Tuesdays; and 4 to 9 p.m.
Friday through Sunday.
“We want to be traditional
as possible,” Bartlett said of
the cart’s concept.
The cart offers two egg
noodle ramens: a chicken and
See FOOD CART, Page 5A