A3
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, MAy 21, 2020
Voters approve tax levies
Money to finance
county fairgrounds,
Cannon Beach fire
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Voters
on
Tuesday
approved ballot measures
to increase funding for the
Clatsop County Fairgrounds
and the Cannon Beach Rural
Fire Protection District.
Fifty-six percent of vot-
ers favored renewing and
increasing a five-year tax
levy for the fairgrounds.
Fifty-nine percent of voters
backed the new tax levy for
the fire district.
“I am excited and thank-
ful for the voters to have
confidence in the district,”
Cannon Beach Fire Chief
Marc Reckmann said in
a text message. “This is a
hard time for everyone so
passing the levy during this
time is very exciting for the
district.”
The fire district asked
voters to approve a five-year
levy for 35 cents per $1,000
in assessed property value
to help sustain operations
by hiring a second com-
manding officer and replac-
ing equipment.
The new tax will bring
in between $403,000 to
$454,000 a year.
Call
volume
has
increased and volunteer fire-
fighters have become harder
to come by, making it neces-
sary to hire personnel. And
the stress on fire chiefs in
Cannon Beach has resulted
in turnover.
‘I AM EXCITEd ANd THANKFuL
FOR THE VOTERS TO HAVE
CONFIdENCE IN THE dISTRICT.
THIS IS A HARd TIME FOR
EVERyONE SO PASSING THE
LEVy duRING THIS TIME IS VERy
EXCITING FOR THE dISTRICT.’
Cannon Beach Fire Chief Marc Reckmann
The fire district has a per-
manent tax rate of 35 cents
per $1,000. On top of that,
voters have approved a five-
year levy to support the fire
chief’s position for 19 cents
per $1,000 and a five-year
bond for a ladder truck at 9
cents per $1,000.
The total tax with the new
levy will increase from 63
cents per $1,000 of assessed
value to 98 cents, or about
$141 a year for a home val-
ued at $400,000.
The Clatsop County Fair-
grounds has been financially
impacted by the cancella-
tion of the Crab, Seafood
& Wine Festival, the Asto-
ria Scandinavian Midsum-
mer Festival and the Clat-
sop County Fair.
With the financial hit
from the cancellations, the
levy became even more
vital for the future of the
fairgrounds.
John Lewis, who took
over as operations man-
ager in 2018, has taken the
lead in completing deferred
maintenance, improving the
fairgrounds and expanding
events.
The increase to 7 cents
per $1,000 of assessed
property value — up from
5 cents — will continue to
fund operations and main-
tenance while staying even
with increasing costs.
Taxpayers will pay about
$21 more a year for a home
valued at $300,000. The tax
rate will generate between
$471,000 and $530,000 a
year.
“We’re
obviously
pleased with the results of
the levy, and we can cer-
tainly use the extra funds to
move forward with the fair-
grounds and keep up with
the rising costs. And par-
tially make up for all the
events we’ve been miss-
ing now this year from the
COVID crisis,” said Mike
Autio, the chairman of the
Fair Board.
“It’s hard to know what
will happen with this whole
crisis affecting the economy
and people out of jobs in the
county. But we’re grateful
that they all came out and
we had a good voter turn-
out and there was strong
support.”
Commission: Challengers said
they could bring fresh perspectives
Continued from Page A1
The challengers also
made cap and trade and the
county’s decision to opt
out of a $1 billion lawsuit
against the state over tim-
ber harvests issues in their
campaigns. Sullivan and
Nebeker took no position
on the cap-and-trade leg-
islation in Salem and had
voted in 2017 to opt out of
the timber suit.
Sullivan, a former hotel
office manager, building
manager and teacher, ran
uncontested when she was
elected in 2016. She was
selected by the board in
January as chairwoman.
Sullivan said she is
proud of the campaign she
ran and thanked all her
supporters.
“As I finish the remain-
der of my term as county
commissioner for District
4, I will continue work-
ing for the people of Clat-
sop County,” she said. “I
believe that the people of
our district and our county
share core values. I believe
that we can and will move
forward, working together
to improve the quality of
life in our communities.
“I am honored to have
been given the opportunity
to serve. After my term
as county commissioner
ends, I will stay involved
with the many import-
ant issues challenging all
of us. I love this special
part of the world. It is my
home.”
Nebeker, a business
manager active in the arts,
was first elected in 2012
and reelected in 2016. She
served as chairwoman of
the board last year and was
chosen vice chairwoman
this year.
Both incumbents were
endorsed
by
Clatsop
County Democrats and
Indivisible North Coast
Oregon.
They both said their
experience on the board
would be crucial in help-
ing the county move
through the coronavirus
pandemic while continuing
to address priorities like
housing, mental health,
child care and the new jail.
The challengers said
they could bring fresh
perspectives to the board
and better prioritize local
issues, particularly around
natural resources.
Toyooka’s
campaign
focused on overall eco-
nomic development and
support for businesses.
Bangs focused on sup-
porting working families.
She also prioritized child
care, broadband access and
housing as key issues.
While the county com-
mission is nonpartisan,
victories by Bangs and
Toyooka shift the ideolog-
ical balance on the board
toward a more conserva-
tive direction.
OREGON CAPITAL
INSIDER
Get the inside
scoop on state
government
and politics!
House: ‘We need to fight against cap and trade’
Continued from Page A1
“I’m happy with the
results,” Weber said Tues-
day night. “We’ll start
tomorrow, my team and I,
on working on our priori-
ties for November and for
the race. But right now, I’m
going to focus on bring-
ing common sense back
to Salem — our common
sense, our North Oregon
Coast common sense — and
protecting our farming, and
our forests and our fisheries
to the utmost.”
Mitchell was criticized
over her support of contro-
versial legislation to cap
the carbon emissions of
large industrial polluters
and make them buy mitiga-
tion credits, the proceeds of
which would be invested in
climate-friendly initiatives.
Weber has made defeat-
ing cap and trade her top
priority and said Tuesday
night that the coronavirus
pandemic makes it all the
more important.
“We need to fight against
cap and trade because of pre-
serving our small businesses
and preserving the ability of
our small businesses on the
coast to receive goods and
to keep the prices that we
have fair,” she said. “And
all of that has to be mea-
sured by taking that cap and
trade off the playing field.”
Her contributions include
$3,000 from Hampton Lum-
ber and $1,500 each from
the #TimberUnity PAC,
the North Coast First PAC
and Koch Industries. Koch
Industries is the owner of
the Georgia-Pacific Wauna
Mill, which would have
faced emissions regulation
under the proposed cap-and-
trade bill.
Weber has also taken
aim at the Student Success
Act, financed by a corporate
activity tax to support edu-
cation reforms she believes
need to be voided.
Lower
congratulated
Weber on the win and said
she would support her in
November as Republicans
try to take back the district.
“We need to work
together, and we need to get
out and vote,” she said. “I
think that’s probably been
our biggest downfall is that,
historically, we haven’t
voted.”
Boothe-Schmidt, who is
also a board member with
the Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District, was hand-
picked by state House Dem-
ocrats to replace Mitchell.
She has amassed more than
$65,000 in campaign contri-
butions, largely from labor
unions.
More than $43,000 of
Boothe-Schmidt’s contribu-
tions have come from her
union, the American Fed-
eration of State, County
and Municipal Employees.
Kiepke gathered just under
$3,000 in contributions.
“I’m excited about the
win,” Boothe-Schmidt said.
“I’m excited to get started
on the general election. I’m
very grateful to everybody’s
help I had during the pri-
mary, all the volunteers and
my team.”
Boothe-Schmidt
has
focused her campaign on
fighting for better wages,
safer working conditions
and affordable health care.
She has said she believes
in climate change, but has
been fairly noncommittal
about how she would vote
on cap-and-trade legislation
that has dominated the past
two legislative sessions.
“If we can do some-
thing to change the climate,
we need to do it,” she said
Tuesday night. “But we
need to make sure we keep
the jobs, the living wage
jobs we have, or have new
jobs in place before the old
jobs go away.”
Kiepke
conceded
Wednesday that he could
not win without the endorse-
ment of major labor unions,
who he interviewed with
during the campaign. But he
said his political aspirations
are not over.
“All this did was ignite
a fire inside me, and I’m
going to make a difference,”
he said.
The power of
Astoria
This spring, the Liberty Theatre marks 95 years of helping downtown Astoria shine.
We’ll all have to wait a bit before we can celebrate milestones like this in person
again, but the Liberty Theatre—and this whole community—will be back soon,
better than ever.
In the meantime, rest assured that Pacifi c Power will be right here: supporting
community organizations with partnership and contributions, and delivering safe,
reliable power through thick and thin.
To learn about the steps we’re taking in your community, visit us at pacifi cpower.net
© 2020 Pacifi c Power