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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018
Jail: ‘We did our due diligence the past two years’
Continued from Page 1A
firm presented plans that ranged
from a $12 million option with
capacity for 140 inmates to $28
million with 200 inmates.
Citing relatively inexpen-
sive operating costs, the county
commission settled on a design
that calls for 148 beds with
room for future expansion.
The 38-year-old jail on
Duane Street can hold 60
inmates. Several inmates each
week are released from the
jail while their court cases
are ongoing because of
overcrowding.
Local law enforcement
leaders cited several studies
that reveal the need for a new
jail. The 2017 Oregon Uni-
form Crime Report, for exam-
ple, ranked the county first in
behavioral crimes and crimes
against people and fifth in prop-
erty crimes.
Some, though, questioned
how the jail bond would fare,
considering that school bonds
in Astoria and Warrenton and
another measure to expand the
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District’s fitness and
aquatic centers were also on the
ballot.
“I was cautiously opti-
mistic, to put it lightly,”
Bergin said.
Warrenton Mayor Henry
Balensifer and the City Com-
mission took no position on the
jail bond. The mayor said that
while he saw the need for a new
jail, he was hesitant to ask resi-
dents for more money with the
Warrenton-Hammond School
District’s $38.5 million bond
also on the ballot.
“This bond takes unique
advantage of the still ‘fresh’
bones of the (Oregon Youth
Authority) facility, without
which the project could have
cost the taxpayers double,”
District Attorney Josh Marquis
said in an email. “Yet some, like
Warrenton Mayor Henry Bal-
ensifer, refused to take a posi-
tion, like many I guess, hop-
ing that we could just whistle
through stats showing the high-
est violent crime rates reported
by the Oregon Criminal Justice
System.”
Bergin said the difference in
this year’s bond measure was
that officials had a more estab-
lished plan that was meant to
keep costs down.
“I know we did our due dil-
igence the past two years,” he
said.
Bergin has said a new
jail would offer better men-
tal health treatment options.
While Amy Baker, the execu-
tive director of Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, decried the
tendency to fund incarceration
over mental health services, she
supported the bond. Baker said
the current jail is “inhumane”
and that a new one could offer
more opportunities to provide
treatment.
To pay for increased jail
operating costs, the county
passed a 1 percent lodging
tax. Bergin said the tax was
fair since a large share of peo-
ple arrested in the county come
from other areas. Local hote-
liers, however, vehemently
opposed the tax.
Bergin said the next step is
for architects and county offi-
cials to discuss a timeline for
construction in Warrenton.
“I’m sure it’ll take a few
months to get that all sorted out
and move forward,” he said.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A $20 million bond will support a new jail at the former North Coast Youth Correctional
Facility in Warrenton.
Mayor: Jones will lead the council at a time of major turnover
Continued from Page 1A
Jones will step into the
role at a time when the city is
grappling with how to provide
more affordable and work-
force housing, how to address
riverfront and economic devel-
opment and what to do about a
growing homeless population.
Jones will lead the City
Council at a time of major
turnover. Three of the five sit-
ting councilors will wrap up
their terms this December. It
will be important to establish
council goals in January, and,
as a team, prioritize the goals,
Jones said.
“I’m pretty comfortable
that we all agree that housing,
jobs and earthquake prepared-
ness are among the top five
things,” he said.
Jones’ move to mayor will
leave the east side’s Ward
4 council seat vacant. The
incoming City Council will
need to decide in January if
they want to appoint a new
councilor or hold an election.
“I have learned so much
in this whole process,” Tay-
lor said. “Actually I’m very
excited about (the) next steps.
There are many opportunities
to do good.”
Her term as president of the
downtown association ends in
December and she plans to let
it expire. But she will remain
involved in city issues. She
Dulcye Taylor
Michael Miller
said she has started to set up
meetings with people to talk
about homelessness and hous-
ing and how people can work
together to solve these issues.
Miller said he plans to con-
tinue to be engaged in city
issues in some way, too.
“But I’m trying to figure
out the most effective manner
of doing that,” he said. “I’m
just a little guy, so to speak, but
I’m very angry about where
our nation’s going and I want
to have a voice in that.”
He thanked LaMear for her
service as mayor and wished
Jones luck.
The three candidates all
identified similar issues during
the campaign that they believe
the city faces, from a lack
of affordable and workforce
housing to rapid development
and a rise in homelessness.
The city is in the middle
of several large-scale plan-
ning processes to craft code
that will guide future devel-
opment. Planners are working
on land use guidelines for the
Urban Core downtown — the
last portion of the Riverfront
Vision Plan — as well as in
Uniontown, a historic neigh-
borhood that forms the city’s
western gateway.
The city also recently
amended a controversial “no
camping” ordinance to include
forestland where dozens of
homeless people have been
living.
Jones said he will con-
tinue the work of a home-
lessness solutions task force
formed by LaMear. The group
includes representatives from
social service organizations,
downtown businesses and the
larger community.
The candidates differed
slightly in how they planned to
address all these issues. Tay-
lor and Miller advocated for
“crazy ideas” and “outside
of the box” thinking, while
Jones was more apt to point to
strides the city and city coun-
cilors were already making to
map out issues and develop
strategies.
Both Jones and Tay-
lor voiced a desire to look
at how properties are zoned.
Some lots could be changed
to accommodate higher-den-
sity housing, Jones suggested,
while Taylor was interested
in the idea of going through
the city’s inventory of vacant
buildings to see what could be
redeveloped.
Both pointed to the example
of the former Waldorf Hotel, a
dilapidated and unused build-
ing next to City Hall, which
was acquired by a nonprofit
affordable housing developer.
Jones pointed to his lead-
ership experience as a Coast
Guard commander, in charge
of complex operations and
familiar with navigating
bureaucracy, as well as his
familiarity as a city coun-
cilor with city discussions and
projects.
Taylor noted the skills she
gained in her leadership of the
downtown association and the
work she has done to help revi-
talize downtown would apply
broadly to the rest of Astoria.
Miller believed his lack of
political background could be
an asset.
LaMear announced in Jan-
uary that she did not intend
to run for a second term as
mayor. Taylor and City Coun-
cilor Cindy Price announced
early their intentions to run for
mayor, followed by Miller in
mid-June.
Price and Taylor had been
allies on city issues and efforts
like the restoration of the Tour-
ist No. 2 ferry, but the mayor’s
race created a divide between
them and left some in their
shared social circles distressed
about who to support.
Price dropped out of the
mayor’s race in August, with-
drawing for family reasons.
The next day, Jones publicly
announced his intention to run.
Jones, who is one year into
his new job as deputy director
of the museum, had said ear-
lier in the year that he didn’t
plan to run for mayor but
changed his mind. He gained
the support of several prom-
inent Astorians, as well as a
campaign contribution and
endorsement from Price.
Taylor,
meanwhile,
received contributions from
Van Dusen Family Inc., and a
beverage company owned and
operated by the former mayor.
I have the power to
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Bonds: Districts receive $4 million each
in matching grant money from the state
Continued from Page 1A
the election results are a vic-
tory for the entire community.
The bond passed with 62.5
percent of the vote.
“My whole professional
life … I’ve been in commu-
nity economic development,”
Oser said. “You are not going
to have a strong, healthy com-
munity without strong, healthy
schools. It’s a victory for the
community. It’s a victory
even for the people who voted
against the bond. This will
keep our community strong
and vibrant.”
Wa r r e n t o n - H a m m o n d
School District’s bond will
purchase a master campus,
build a new middle school and
kick-start a multidecade pro-
cess of relocating the entire
school district out of the tsu-
nami inundation zone. The
bond passed with 59.3 percent
of the vote.
Mark Jeffery, the schools
superintendent in Warren-
ton, said the results are a tes-
tament to the work the district
did in identifying its needs and
presenting a solid plan to the
community.
“I just want to thank the
community for putting their
trust in us and to let them
know we’re not going to let
them down,” Jeffery said.
The school districts receive
$4 million each in matching
grant money from the state
with the passage of the bonds.
The centerpiece of Astoria’s
$75 million school improve-
ment plan is a $45 million
modernization of Astoria Mid-
dle School, built in 1968 and
largely untouched by previous
bonds. The classroom wing at
the middle school, filled with
triangular, undersized class-
rooms that often lack natural
light and proper ventilation,
would be razed and replaced
with a three-story tower hous-
ing an equal number of identi-
cal learning communities.
Astoria High School would
receive nearly $20 million in
security improvements and
modernization, including the
enclosure of the main cam-
pus. John Jacob Astor would
receive $9 million, includ-
ing a modernization of an
old gym into a multipur-
pose cafeteria, kitchen and
activity space. Every school
would add secured vestibules
through which visitors would
be approved for entry onto
campus.
District voters last approved
$21.4 million worth of bonds
in 2000 to build Lewis and
Clark Elementary School,
along with other improve-
ments. The new bonds would
begin after those expire, rais-
ing taxes for district voters to
$2.83 per $1,000 of assessed
property value — $1 over cur-
rent levels.
Warrenton’s bond would
buy a master campus on Dol-
phin Road from local company
Warrenton Fiber and build a
new middle school to relieve
overcrowding at Warrenton
Grade School. The school dis-
trict hopes to float a 2022 bond
to move the high school, and
another in 2032 to move the
elementary school.
The grade school, serving
kindergarten through eighth
grade, was meant to house
540 students but has grown
to more than 800, said Tom
Rogozinski, the school’s prin-
cipal. The district has maxed
out classroom and office space
on the campus and installed
six portable classrooms to
house students.
Enrollment in Warrenton,
the region’s primary location
for new housing, has grown
by 20 percent over the past
decade. The district recently
surpassed 1,000 students and
is estimated to peak at 1,159
by the 2024-25 school year.
Warrenton’s
bond
is
expected to raise property
taxes by $2.03 per $1,000
of assessed value. The over-
all property tax burden in the
school district is projected at
$2.68 per $1,000 of assessed
value through 2049 if the bond
passes.
Yes for Astoria Kids raised
more than $33,700 for its cam-
paign, while Yes for Warren-
ton Hammond Kids raised
nearly $10,500. The PACs pri-
marily focused on signs, mail-
ers, social media and door-to-
door outreach.
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