COAST WEEKEND
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DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019
146TH YEAR, NO. 14
$1.50
Sen. Johnson
saw wake-up
call in Salem
Cap and trade, vaccination bills at issue
House Bill 2020, which
would have created the
second statewide cap-
and-trade system in the
Controversial bills in U.S. after California.
Salem over issues like Large emitters of car-
cap and trade and vac- bon dioxide would have
cinations were a clarion been taxed for going
call to people who feel over a cap on pollution
underrepresented, state and forced to buy off-
Sen. Betsy Johnson said . sets. The proceeds would
“I believe this ses- have been invested in
sion has caused
climate-friendly
an awakening in
initiatives.
the sector of the
The bill died
electorate
that
because of a lack
heretofore
has
of support in the
not paid a lot of
state Senate. It
attention to the
drew the particu-
activities of the
lar ire of the nat-
Oregon Legisla- Betsy Johnson ural
resources
ture,” the Scap-
industry, includ-
poose Democrat told the ing the #TimberU nity
Astoria-Warrenton Area movement that protested
Chamber of Commerce in front of the Capitol.
on Tuesday.
“When all those log
State legislators tack- trucks came down to
led a host of hot-button the Capitol, I believe
issues, from reforming that it was a clarion call
the Public Employees to action on the part of
Retirement System to a lot of loggers, timber
passing a plastic bag ban workers, people in the
to a gross receipts tax on woods who heretofore
businesses expected to had taken the Legislature
pump $1 billion a year somewhat
passively,”
into education .
she said.
Among the most con-
tentious was the failed
See Johnson, Page A6
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Astorian
Online squabble over
Grocery Outlet echoes
other campaigns
Similar pages
on Facebook
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
In June, Responsi-
ble Growth Palmdale
launched a Facebook
page to protest a devel-
opment project near a
popular mall in South-
ern California. In July,
Responsible
Growth
Lake Stevens created a
Facebook group opposed
to a new Costco in Wash-
ington s tate.
Responsible Growth
Astoria emerged on July
17 to challenge a new
Grocery Outlet near Mill
Pond .
All three groups share
nearly
word-for-word
introductions and the
Facebook pages echo
similar design and photo
elements .
A man who said he
manages the Astoria page
said the groups are not
linked. B ut it is not clear
who is behind Responsi-
ble Growth Astoria.
This week, several
See Squabble, Page A6
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
An evacuation route sign stands by the Cove in Seaside.
COUNTY WANTS
TO IMPROVE
EVACUATION ROUTES
Now, the county is going to work with the
same groups to clearly defi ne the evacuation
By NICOLE BALES
routes by determining where more signs need
The Astorian
to be added .
Brown is submitting a request for proposals
latsop C ounty is still working on mak-
this week to hire a consultant , gather data and
ing sure residents and visitors know
help the county organize the information.
where to go in a
After they fi gure out where
tsunami.
the new signs need to be
“We were really aware as
‘WE WERE
placed, they are going to cat-
people started surveying the
alog where all the signs are
REALLY AWARE
routes that the signage wasn’t
to make maintenance easier
suffi cient, if only for people
moving forward.
AS PEOPLE
who aren’t familiar with the
The catalog will also help
STARTED
area,” Clatsop County Emer-
the county identify and replace
gency Manager Tiffany Brown
signs, which have
SURVEYING THE stolen
said.
become a problem .
The Emergency Manage-
“Seaside has known for a
ROUTES THAT
ment Division is in the last
while that people steal those
THE SIGNAGE
phase of the Tsunami Way-
signs,” Brown said. “So, in
fi nding Project, a three-
addition to that problem, we
WASN’T
phase effort to create evacua-
can’t even speak to how exten-
tion routes to guide people to
sive it is because we don’t
SUFFICIENT,
higher ground after a Cascadia
have a clear record of how
IF ONLY FOR
Subduction Zone earthquake
many and what types of signs
and tsunami.
comprehensively have ever
PEOPLE WHO
In the fi rst phase, the state
been installed.”
AREN’T
Department of Geology and
Once the location of each
Mineral Industries helped
sign is recorded, Brown said
FAMILIAR WITH
communities develop maps
they will be able to keep track
and brochures with evacua-
of what signs go missing.
THE AREA.’
tion routes and installed some
Brown is looking forward
Tiffany Brown | Clatsop
signs .
to fi nishing the project this f all,
County emergency manager
In the second, the fi ve cities
she said. O nce the w ayfi nding
in the c ounty, unincorporated
system is organized, it will be
areas and military bases were
easier and less time-consum-
convened by the d epartment to create evacu-
ing to maintain .
ation routes. They identifi ed where to put the
“We’ll be able to start worrying about other
“Y ou are here” and temporary assembly signs.
things,” she said.
Directions critical after a disaster
C
Two Pacifi c Northwest planners vie to oversee development
City post vacant for
nearly two years
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
Two Pacifi c Northwest planners
are vying to be Astoria’s next com-
munity development director — a
post that has been vacant for nearly
two years.
At a public meet and greet Tues-
day, Elaine Placido, the director of
community services for Cowlitz
County, Washington, and Jeffer-
son Spencer, the former planning
director for Jefferson County, min-
gled with community leaders, resi-
dents and city staff .
The city has not had a commu-
nity development director since
Kevin Cronin left in 2017. City
Manager Brett Estes has fi lled in
as interim director in addition to
his regular duties, but the depart-
Photos by Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
LEFT: Elaine Placido, center, answers questions at a public meet and greet Tuesday. She is one of two candidates vying
for a community development director job in Astoria. RIGHT: Jeff erson Spencer, right, interacts with community
leaders, city staff and residents.
ment has relied heavily on contract
consultants and planners to handle
day-to-day work.
Placido is the director of com-
munity services for Cowlitz
County, in charge of combined
building and planning and health
and human services departments.
She oversees a staff of 60 people
and also runs a working farm in
Rainier with her family. She fi rst
arrived in Oregon with the Coast
Guard in the early 1980s.
Spencer was hired as the plan-
ning director for Jefferson County
in 2016 and left the job in April. He
was Jefferson County’s fi rst full-
time planner since 2012. He has
worked primarily in Oregon and
Washington state, with a career
in environmental and land use
planning.
Both have relevant experience
and appear eager to be in Astoria,
said Jan Mitchell, a former p lan-
ning c ommissioner and a long-
time planner herself, after speak-
ing with the two candidates at the
event Tuesday.
“So for me it’s a matter of how
would they work with other city
staff and the city manager, how
would they engage with the com-
munity,” Mitchell said, adding,
“Probably either of them could do
this job.”
The community development
director oversees a department
tasked with economic develop-
ment, land use planning, zoning
administration, building inspec-
tion, historic preservation and
code enforcement, among other
responsibilities .
In the past two years, the depart-
ment has tackled complex code
amendment projects tied to water-
front development, as well as com-
plicated development applications.
Since Cronin left , Estes has
recruited numerous candidates
and made several offers with-
out success. A woman he offered
the job to earlier this year initially
accepted but then backed out for
personal reasons. Afterward , the
See Planners, Page A6