The daily Astorian., June 13, 2020, Page 6, Image 6

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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2020
Purchase: Property features a unique Ballots: ‘The goal is to
have a fl awless election’
mix of animals, plants and streams
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
The
Rainforest
Reserve project will be a
“signifi cant undertaking,”
perhaps the largest project
the land conservancy has
ever tackled, said Water-
shed Enhancement Board
staff.
“But they do have a
reasonable plan for suc-
cess,” Miriam Forney, the
grant acquisition coor-
dinator, told the board
Thursday. And the scale
of conservation achieved
would be massive.
The land conservancy
calls the peaks found in
the acreage — relics of a
far distant volcanic event
— Oregon’s “Galapagos
Islands.” On their slopes
and summits live plant
and animal species rarely
found elsewhere and some
are unique to this spot.
Cope’s giant salaman-
THE NORTH COAST LAND
CONSERVANCY IS IN THE THIRD YEAR
OF A FIVE-YEAR EFFORT TO
ACQUIRE THE ACREAGE.
der is only found on a few
peaks in Oregon south of
the Columbia River, but it
makes its home in the pro-
posed reserve. The peaks
also contain the only
known breeding site for
one species of rare drag-
onfl y. Coho salmon swim
the streams and there are
intact stands of old growth
forest.
People have long
desired to conserve the
property. Seventy years
ago, Sam Boardman,
Oregon’s fi rst state parks
superintendent, called it
“one of the greatest oppor-
tunities for creating one of
the outstanding natural
parks in the nation.”
The North Coast Land
Conservancy is in the
third year of a fi ve-year
effort to acquire the acre-
age and Voelke is confi -
dent they will be able to
raise the remaining $1.9
million. Around half of
what the organization had
raised prior to the grant
award was through indi-
vidual donations .
“At this point, it feels
absolutely achievable,”
Voelke said.
The desire to pro-
tect large forests — and
through them protect
other things of value,
tangible and intangi-
ble — has assumed more
urgency in the face of cli-
mate change, she added.
“It’s not just electric
cars,” Voelke said. “It’s
also a shift in the way
we manage our lands, to
clean our air and clean our
water.”
Skipanon Water Control District,
which is dissolving, there was an
omission involving the commis-
sion race .
“It really is a complicated sys-
tem. And part of the complica-
tion led to what we experienced
in precinct 22,” Bohn said.
The county coordinated with
the s ecretary of s tate’s offi ce
and the original ballots that were
already sent in were set aside.
If those voters did not send in
updated ballots, then their fi rst
ballots were counted. Forty vot-
ers only turned in original bal-
lots, according to the county.
“The goal is to have a fl awless
election, and I know that that’s
(County Clerk Tracie Krevan-
ko’s) goal also. And so as we
move forward, one of the things
we’re going to be working on is
just those kind of those checks
and balances within this complex
system to make sure that as we
prepare these 138 different ballot
variations, that they’re correct.
“Because, as I’ve stated
before, elections is kind of the
bedrock of our entire system and
the public has to have faith and
trust in it. And so that’s some-
thing that we certainly take
seriously.”
Nebeker, who lost to Toyooka
by 612 votes, pressed Krevanko
about the error.
“I can see that if this were to
be in a close race, it could make a
big difference. So what’s to pre-
vent this from happening in the
future? ” she asked.
Bohn and Krevanko said pre-
vention is having the quality
assurance processes documented
so that any changes can be dou-
ble and triple-checked.
Bohn said the county clerk’s
offi ce responded well to the
error, and commended staff for
the hard work.
“This is not like any other
year that I’ve ever been in, and
so I do want to say that,” he said.
“But I also want to say that the
expectation is, is that we have
fl awless elections.”
Consultant: ‘I want my community to express themselves’
Continued from Page A1
When she fi rst introduced
herself to voters last year,
she highlighted her opposi-
tion to cap and trade in Salem
and the county commission’s
decision to opt out of a $1 bil-
lion lawsuit against the state
over timber harvests.
“When I began to get
involved, I just started looking
around myself and my neigh-
bors and the families that I
worked for as a teacher, and
I just noticed that we needed
a singular voice and we need
somebody to hear us,” Bangs
said. “I’m not saying that my
opponent wasn’t hearing us.
It’s just she wasn’t taking a
stand for that large contingent
of working families.”
Even though Bangs
risked being viewed solely
as a #TimberUnity candidate,
when she was also talking
about the importance of child
care and broadband access,
Kilada said issues related to
timber seemed to really mat-
ter to voters .
Sullivan and Nebeker did
not take a position on cap-
and-trade legislation, but both
had voted in 2017 to opt out
of the timber suit.
“Looking at that and say-
ing, ‘H ere is what these sort
of outside agendas are doing
in your county’ seems to
really work,” the consul-
tant said. “And I would say
that the fact that the voters
just took out two incumbents
who supported cap and trade
by not standing up against
it — which is an act of sup-
port — and by opting out of
the timber lawsuit, I think the
voters in the county said they
were ready for a more local
agenda.”
A breakdown of the vote in
District 4 by precinct showed
that Sullivan won both pre-
cincts in Astoria, but Bangs
swept every other precinct,
including John Day, Knappa,
Olney, Svensen, Walluski,
Hillcrest and Westport.
Ultimately, Kilada said,
Bangs and Toyooka clearly
showed what issues they
would have taken differ-
ent positions on than the
incumbents.
“I think I would say that
we had an idea that would
work because that’s why
Courtney got involved in pol-
itics in the fi rst place. She was
a voter who was upset with
the priorities of her county, ”
he said.
Bangs said she and Kilada
connected after a Facebook
video of her speaking at a
town hall in Seaside last year
hosted by state Rep. Tiffi ny
Mitchell, D-Astoria .
Kilada, the former politi-
cal director for Oregon Right
to Life, started Intisar Strate-
gies last year. Bangs was his
fi rst client, and then he offered
his services to Toyooka and
Weber. He has also helped
several other candidates in
Oregon run for seats on city
councils, county commis-
sions and the state H ouse.
“He looks at things and
he listens to his people. H e
just listens. And he doesn’t
put words in our mouths ...
that was my big concern is I
didn’t want to turn into some-
one that I wasn’t,” Bangs
said. “He always encouraged
me to use my own words, to
be myself.”
While the campaign was
built off of her values and
goals, she said Kilada helped
her stay focused on the issues,
sharpen her message and
draw a picture for voters . She
described him as an anchor
and guide in navigating poli-
tics as a fi rst-time candidate .
Bangs raised more than
$21,000 for her campaign,
including
a
signifi cant
amount from local industries
on the North Coast . Sulli-
van, who was seeking reelec-
tion after running unopposed
in 2016, raised more than
$15,000.
Bangs said she believes
she needed more fi nancial
support to get her message
out given she had no prior
political presence.
“David really knew who
to talk to. H e knew where
to get somebody to create a
logo. H e knew who was mak-
ing the sign. H e knew peo-
ple,” she said. “I would have
been scrambling and wasting
time trying to fi gure out on
my own.”
Along with #TimberUnity,
Bangs aligned herself with the
Republican P arty during the
campaign. The county com-
mission is nonpartisan, how-
ever, and she said her goal
after taking offi ce in January
will be to listen and adhere to
what the greatest number of
her constituents are saying .
“I feel just deep inside that
I really want public engage-
ment, b ecause you can’t be a
voice for a silent community,”
she said. “I want my commu-
nity to express themselves.”
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