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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018
Mitchell wins state House race
Campaign to
replace Boone
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Tiffiny Mitchell kept state
House District 32 in Dem-
ocratic hands on Tuesday,
defeating Republican Vineeta
Lower to replace the retiring
state Rep. Deborah Boone.
“I ran my race the old-fash-
ioned way, on voters’ door-
steps, talking to them about
the things that most impact
their lives,” Mitchell said in a
statement after winning 49.4
percent to Lower’s 43 per-
cent. “Volunteers for my cam-
paign knocked on more than
15,000 doors, and I person-
ally knocked over 7,000. I plan
to bring that same neighborly
work ethic to Salem to tackle
the biggest issues that our
community faces.”
Mitchell, a state social ser-
vices worker, scored an upset
victory in May in a tight Dem-
ocratic primary against Tim
Josi, a Tillamook County com-
missioner and former state rep-
resentative backed by regional
industries and incumbents,
including Boone, D-Cannon
Beach, and state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, D-Scappoose. Josi
came in third after John Orr, a
local attorney and employee of
Trails End Recovery.
Lower, a teacher, faced
no challengers in the Repub-
lican primary. Josi crossed
the political aisle after losing
in the primary and endorsed
Lower, who eventually picked
up many of his backers in
local industry, along with state
Republicans.
“Even though the results
tonight weren’t what we were
hoping for, I will always
remain committed to serv-
ing our community,” Lower
said in a statement. “I’d like
to congratulate Tiffiny on her
victory and hope that she will
be committed to representing
the unique and diverse inter-
ests of our district. Lastly, I
would like to thank everyone
that helped our campaign. I’ll
always be thankful for their
support.”
Independent Brian Hal-
vorsen and Libertarian Ran-
dell Carlson were a distant
third and fourth.
While Lower’s campaign
was backed largely by busi-
ness interests, Mitchell’s sup-
port came primarily from labor
unions, along with environ-
mental and women’s groups.
The Service Employees Inter-
national Union — Mitchell’s
union — provided her largest
donations. Nearly half of her
financial support came in the
form of in-kind contributions
from groups campaigning on
her behalf.
Mitchell focused her cam-
paign on popular progressive
social issues such as making
health care and housing more
affordable, while raising taxes
on the wealthy and corpora-
tions to provide more revenue.
Lower centered her cam-
paign on improving infrastruc-
ture and education, but pro-
vided few policy specifics.
Boone’s decision not to run
for re-election after 14 years
in office created a competitive
campaign for the open seat.
The House District 32 race
attracted more cash contribu-
tions than the $272,000 com-
bined over the past three elec-
tion cycles, according to the
National Institute on Money
in Politics, a nonprofit tracking
campaign finance.
Mitchell took in about
$260,000 worth of cash dona-
tions as of Tuesday, along with
$240,000 worth of in-kind
contributions. Lower gathered
$118,500 in cash to go with
$64,500 worth of in-kind con-
tributions. Josi had gathered
Tiffiny Mitchell
more than $113,000 in cash
in the primary, while Orr’s
campaign took in less than
$20,000.
Neither
Halvorsen
nor Randell recorded any
contributions.
Johnson, meanwhile, sailed
to re-election Tuesday against
Constitution Party candidate
Ray Biggs from Columbia
City in state Senate District 16.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Roger Rocka is a former director of the Astoria-Warren-
ton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Planning Commissioner Joan Herman, left, smiles as election results are displayed on a screen behind her at
a watch party.
Herman tops Zilli for Astoria City Council
Race for Ward 3
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Astoria Planning Commis-
sioner Joan Herman on Tues-
day won the race to represent
downtown on the City Coun-
cil, defeating state forester Ron
Zilli.
Herman will replace City
Councilor Cindy Price, who
had originally planned to run
for mayor but withdrew for
family reasons. Price supported
Herman in the radio program-
mer’s bid for the Ward 3 seat,
contributing to her campaign.
“I really thank the voters for
putting their trust in me,” Her-
man said after winning with
a 66.7 percent to 33.1 percent
margin. She also thanked Zilli
for running a good campaign.
“If I had not won, he would
have made an excellent coun-
cilor,” she said, adding, “It
reflects well on our community
that there’s enough engagement
that people want to serve. It’s
not an easy thing to take on or
undertake lightly.”
Housing remains her top
priority as she moves away
from the campaign and begins
contemplating the council seat.
Preliminary results of a county-
wide housing study are now
available, containing data Asto-
ria leaders can begin to exam-
ine, Herman said.
Zilli said the race was a
good experience overall and
wished Herman luck.
“For never having done this
before, I learned a lot,” he said.
“I feel better connected to the
city for having gone through it.”
They both felt it was import-
ant for Astorians to have a vari-
ety of candidates to choose
from in city races.
The campaign was Her-
man’s first time running for pub-
lic office, though both she and
Zilli applied for an open seat
on the Planning Commission
after Commissioner Dave Pear-
son announced he was stepping
down to take a new job out-
side of Clatsop County. Mayor
Arline LaMear appointed Her-
man to the position.
Both Herman and Zilli are
longtime residents and say
managing future development,
especially in the dense down-
town area, is key.
Zilli, in his role with the
Oregon Department of For-
estry, noted his deep under-
standing of state and local gov-
ernmental processes, while
Herman has worked as reporter
in Astoria and hosts a public
affairs show that takes a deep
dive into local politics. She
has long been a familiar face at
many city meetings.
For both candidates, many
of the city’s concerns come
back to housing. Zilli saw a
solution through careful devel-
opment to the east, while Her-
man wanted the City Council
and city staff to look at vacant
or underutilized parcels where,
in some cases, developers have
considered building hotels.
They also hoped to address
“the hole” at Heritage Square
near City Hall, where a portion
of the city block caved in after
heavy rains in 2010.
Herman will be the sole
woman on the City Council
next year. LaMear, Price and
City Councilor Zetty Nem-
lowill gave women a major-
ity on the council for the first
time after the 2014 election, but
opted not to run for re-election.
Wev claims county commission race
Edges Roscoe
for District 3 seat
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Pamela Wev, a land use
consultant, defeated Peter
Roscoe, founder of Fulio’s
Pastaria, in the race for county
commission District 3.
Wev will become the sec-
ond newcomer next year
on the five-member board,
replacing Commissioner Lisa
Clement. Former Warren-
ton Mayor Mark Kujala won
District 1 in the May primary
and will replace Commis-
sioner Scott Lee, the board’s
chairman.
Wev edged Roscoe 52.7
percent to 47 percent.
During the May pri-
mary that also featured Doug
Thompson, a property man-
ager, Wev picked up the most
votes. She earned less than the
majority, however, leading to
the first runoff for a commis-
sion seat in 10 years.
District 3 covers parts
of Astoria, Miles Crossing,
Jeffers Garden, Lewis and
Clark, Youngs River, Olney,
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Pamela Wev is a land use
consultant.
Green Mountain and parts of
Walluski.
“I am humbled that the
people of the third district
have placed their trust in me to
represent them,” Wev said in a
statement. “My thanks to Peter
Roscoe for his campaign. I
will represent all people of
the district and I look for-
ward to speaking with Peter on
the issues that resonated with
those who supported him.”
Roscoe conceded early that
Wev was likely going to win.
“What can I say?” Roscoe
said. “She won and I didn’t.
That’s my reaction.”
For nearly two years, the
board — like Wev and Roscoe
— has been split on the role
of commissioners versus the
county manager in terms of
staff oversight, leading to sev-
eral public and private clashes.
Wev’s election gives a new
majority to those who believe
commissioners have not been
given enough opportunity to
monitor staff more closely.
The new commission will also
lead the search for a new man-
ager after County Manager
Cameron Moore’s retirement
early next year.
“(Residents) told me during
the campaign that they want to
see a commission focused on
collaboration, connectedness
and civility, and I will keep
those goals in mind as I con-
duct myself as their commis-
sioner,” Wev said.
Wev hopes infighting will
no longer be a factor on the
commission, she said.
“The dynamics of every
group changes depending on
who’s there,” she said. “I think
that remains to be seen.”
While not disagreeing
with each other, the most
clear issue-based difference in
the campaign came during a
debate discussion on forestry.
Roscoe said timber companies
are more environmentally con-
scious than people think, while
Wev focused much of her
answer on the need for super-
vision of the industry.
But experience, rather than
specific issues, was the divid-
ing line in the campaign.
Roscoe, a former Asto-
ria city councilor who has
served on several local boards,
touted his lengthy local back-
ground. Wev, who served in
former Portland Mayor Vera
Katz’s administration, stressed
her range of government
involvement.
“One of the things I heard
a lot on the trail, as they call it,
is that people like new ideas,”
Wev said. “I’ve heard peo-
ple say a lot that they like my
resume and experience outside
of Clatsop County.”
Roscoe, who identifies as
a moderate Democrat, said
he was hopeful that unaffili-
ated voters would push him to
a win over Wev, the vice chair
of the Clatsop County Demo-
cratic Central Committee.
“I felt my only real chance
was for unaffiliated voters to
turn out in numbers,” Roscoe
said.
Rocka holds off Drafall
for Astoria City Council
Race for Ward 1
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Roger Rocka held off
David Drafall on Tues-
day night in the race for the
Astoria City Council Ward 1
seat.
Rocka, a former direc-
tor for the Astoria-Warren-
ton Area Chamber of Com-
merce, will replace City
Councilor Zetty Nemlowill,
representing the city’s west
side.
“Now my job is to do a
good enough job so that peo-
ple who voted for me won’t
think they made a mistake,”
Rocka said after taking 55
percent of the vote to Dra-
fall’s 44.3 percent.
Learning will be his top
priority, he added, a pro-
cess he will jump right into
on Wednesday when the city
will kick off public vetting
of its Uniontown Reborn
project, seeking community
input on everything from
traffic configurations to land
use planning in the historic
neighborhood.
Rocka will join the City
Council at a time when
questions about the future
of Uniontown are front and
center.
“I’m standing behind him
fully,” Drafall, a hairdresser
and longtime volunteer, said
after seeing Rocka’s lead.
Drafall still hopes to be
involved with the city in
some capacity and plans to
talk to Mayor-elect Bruce
Jones about other city boards
he could serve on.
The two men expressed
their admiration for each
other throughout the cam-
paign and Rocka hopes Dra-
fall will stay involved in city
work.
“Four years from now,
maybe he’ll run again,”
Rocka said.
Both men ran for simi-
lar reasons. They saw bur-
geoning development inter-
est along the waterfront in
Uniontown and worried
about how the city would
manage future growth.
Drafall, in particular, felt
Uniontown had been largely
ignored when it came to
efforts to revitalize the city,
with much of the focus
going to downtown instead.
David Drafall is a hair-
dresser and longtime vol-
unteer.
It was Rocka and Dra-
fall’s first time running for
public office.
Drafall was the first to
announce his bid for the seat.
Nemlowill, elected in 2014,
had not yet decided if she
would run for a second term.
She officially decided not to
run at the end of August.
Rocka filed after he heard
Nemlowill would not run
again. He wanted to preserve
the values and knowledge
she brought to the council,
he said.
Throughout the race,
Rocka pointed to his long
experience with the city
and contributions such as
his work in fighting against
a proposed liquefied natu-
ral gas terminal and help-
ing develop the Astoria
Riverwalk.
Drafall, however, noted
that, as a younger man, he
would be able to have more
longevity with the council.
Rocka has said he would
only serve for a single four-
year term.
“This election has been
really easy for me,” Nem-
lowill said at a City Council
meeting Monday. “All I had
to do was vote.”
All the candidates run-
ning for City Council were at
the meeting and she thanked
them for running for public
office.
“It’s not easy. It’s a real
big sacrifice,” she said.
But she was pleased to see
good competition and solid
candidates.
“Competition is proba-
bly causing the candidates
a lot of anxiety right now
but it pushes people,” she
said. “It makes us stronger
and I believe that it makes
our democracy stronger as
well.”