A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021
County records 10th virus death
The Astorian
The Oregon Health Author-
ity reported a 10th person in Clatsop
County has died from the coronavirus.
An 86-year-old man died on
March 2 at Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital in Astoria after testing positive
for the virus on Feb. 19. The man was
reported to have had underlying con-
ditions, but no other information was
provided.
Since the pandemic began, Clat-
sop County has recorded 1,098 virus
cases. Twenty-fi ve people have been
hospitalized and 10 have died.
Nine new cases were reported in
the county on Tuesday.
The health authority reported
211,315 cases and 2,803 deaths from
the virus statewide as of Wednesday.
Tourism: Lack of College: ‘It’s been
challenging and it
communication
really is unacceptable’
was an emphasis
during meeting
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
David Reid, the exec-
utive director of the Asto-
ria-Warrenton Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, made
several appeals to the City
Commission over the past
few months, urging them to
not withdraw funds.
City
commission-
ers debated how much
to reduce the distribu-
tion before settling on 2%.
Commissioner Rick New-
ton, who favored a 3% dis-
tribution, voted “no.”
“It’s
disappointing,”
Reid said of the City Com-
mission’s vote. “We think
the committee has made
the case that marketing is
important for Warrenton
and that the committee is an
apt tool for doing that mar-
keting and has been for a
number of years.”
However, Reid said he is
optimistic that the tourism
committee can work with
the city moving forward.
“We’re pleased that they
are still in the committee
because it gives us a place
to go and try to continue to
make that case so that next
year we can get them back
to full funding, ” he said.
“The committee is in
good shape fi nancially.
They will be able to do what
they do.
“What may change
over time is the empha-
sis. If Warrenton continues
to withdraw, it will be dif-
fi cult to, sort of, focus on
those areas but there will
still be some need to do that
because the product, when
you’re talking about attract-
ing visitors, the product is
the entire area, you can’t
ignore the Pacifi c Ocean
nor can you ignore Astoria
in either of those conversa-
tions,” he said.
Mayor Henry Balensifer
said that it would be bet-
ter for the city to negotiate
with the tourism committee
what it wants rather than to
completely cut the cord in
regards to funding.
“The mantra here is War-
renton for Warrenton,” the
m ayor said. “The idea is that
for so long we have been
just, ‘Develop anything, do
anything you want.’ Kind of
the Wild West. We are try-
ing to look down … ‘What
does it mean to live in War-
renton and how do we pro-
tect the people who do live
here?’
WARRENTON WILL GO FROM
SENDING THE TOURISM
COMMITTEE ABOUT $52,750
TO ABOUT $15,500 .
The lack of communica-
tion between the city and the
tourism committee was an
emphasis during the meet-
ing on Tuesday, and both
parties agreed that more
needed to be done . City
commissioners acknowl-
edged they had not been
regularly attending tourism
committee meetings.
“It’s a two-way street,”
Reid said. “The commit-
tee is a tool and it needs to
be wielded. It needs some-
body providing the input as
to how they want it to be
used and being at the table.
That’s the big thing we
need to work on next year
is making sure everybody
is talking together and that
the opinions and inter-
ests of all sides are being
addressed.”
Although Reid noted that
the decrease from 6.8% to
2% is big, he doesn’t think
there will be a signifi cant
change in the messaging
and marketing that the tour-
ism committee provides.
“I think there is more
detailed information they
want that they aren’t getting
right now because we have
gotten more out of LCTC in
the years prior, but I think
the commission is really
delving into, ‘What is it
doing for residents?’”
Several residents came
to the meeting Tuesday to
complain to the City Com-
mission about the lack of
dredging done at the Ham-
mond Marina . The reve-
nue from lodging taxes that
was removed from the tour-
ism committee will be fun-
neled to the m arina’s capital
reserve fund.
“It’s important to note
that it is not just going to the
Hammond M arina opera-
tions. It’s going to the capital
reserve, which is dredging
and capital improvements.
It’s not getting lost, so to
speak,” Balensifer said.
The city will go from
sending the tourism com-
mittee about $52,750 to
about $15,500 .
At a college board meet-
ing Tuesday, a nursing stu-
dent described a situation
where her personal infor-
mation was revealed to
her entire class after she
attempted, unsuccessfully,
to use the college’s scholar-
ship application portal. She
faced silence or dismissal
from college staff when she
sought help, she said.
She told the board the col-
lege had a serious liability on
its hands.
“Just what is it going to
take to pull the trigger to get
rid of this God-awful com-
puter system?” Tim Lyman,
a board member who has
been critical of the software
system, asked following the
student’s comments.
“Do we have to get sued?”
he added. “Is that what it’s
going to take?”
Lyman had recruited
candidates to run against
incumbents in the May elec-
tion based on his concerns
that college leadership was
not adequately address-
ing enrollment and software
issues or student and staff
concerns.
He set up a website to
broadcast his claims —
actions that then-board
c hairman Robert Duehmig
criticized in a statement at
his fi nal college board meet-
ing in June. Duehmig lost his
seat to newcomer Trudy Van
Dusen Citovic in the May
election.
In his statement, Dueh-
mig noted that the college
faces a number of challenges
going forward.
“We are the entity that is
the public face of the col-
lege,” he said, “and I have no
doubt that Clatsop Commu-
nity College is going to han-
dle the enrollment issues that
have been brought on by the
pandemic. We’ve handled
other issues.”
But, in light of Lyman’s
claims and actions, Duehmig
had some concerns about the
integrity of this public face.
He called Lyman’s actions
and statements “appalling.”
“We have to be able to
operate as a board, look at
facts, have some hard dis-
cussions and be able to pres-
ent ourselves as a voice that
the public can trust,” he said.
Lyman’s website included
false statements about the
college and its leadership,
Duehmig said. Lyman also
took swings at his fellow
board members while pro-
moting candidates he said
he’d recruited.
Van Dusen Citovic was
included on the site, but told
The Astorian after the elec-
tion that Lyman included her
without her consent.
Since the spring, the
college has taken several
actions to encourage a return
to classes with increased
marketing and by off er-
ing dually-enrolled Clatsop
County high school students
from the classes of 2021 and
2022 free tuition, fees and
books for one class this sum-
mer. College staff have been
reaching out to existing cre-
dential-seeking students who
have not graduated or com-
pleted their programs to
try to retain them for future
classes.
On Tuesday, Breitmeyer
told the college board he is
aware of the issues the nurs-
ing student faced with col-
lege software. Recent staff
turnover and lingering prob-
lems with CampusNexus are
to blame, he said. The col-
lege is taking steps to address
the technological problems
as well as staff response time
to students’ concerns.
“It’s been challenging and
it really is unacceptable,” he
said.
Jerad Sorber, the college’s
vice president for student
services, said an update to
the software is coming that
should lead to a more effi -
cient, user-friendly process.
Online enrollment has been
smoother than in the past, he
noted.
Breitmeyer
is
also
engaged in larger discussions
about issues facing Oregon’s
community colleges .
On Tuesday, Breitmeyer
and student Miranda King
participated in a panel of
educators who met with
U.S. Secretary of Education
Miguel Cardona and U.S.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici in
Beaverton.
The goal of the session
was to provide Cardona with
information and feedback to
use in crafting and promoting
President Joe Biden’s Ameri-
can Families Plan. A compo-
nent of the plan is a proposal
for free community college .
Breitmeyer said such a move
would be a game-changer for
the nation. Community col-
lege is already free for many
recent high school graduates
in Oregon under the Oregon
Promise Grant.
Clatsop Community Col-
lege, like many schools
in Oregon, received some
federal dollars to help
weather shortfalls due to the
pandemic.
Community college lead-
ers said continued support
and funding for existing pro-
grams — as well as for pro-
grams promised under the
Biden administration —
equitable access to educa-
tion and increased partner-
ships with high schools and
employers are all important
as institutions move forward.
Treatment: ‘We
literally have nothing
except for to go out and
be with them every day’
Continued from Page A1
Boudon said when
someone is ready to accept
treatment there is a small
window to act before
momentum is lost. People
need to be consistent, moti-
vated and have tools, like
constant access to a phone,
she said, and the process
can be cumbersome.
The goal, she said,
becomes keeping people
alive day to day.
She said that because the
only shelters in the county
require people to be sober,
people who are homeless
and struggling with drug or
alcohol abuse have an addi-
tional barrier than keeps
them trapped in addiction.
“So not only are they
houseless with a substance
use disorder, there’s no abil-
ity to get them housing,
there’s no ability to get them
Consult a
PROFESSIONAL
LEO FINZI
Continued from Page A1
work,” Speakman wrote. “It
requires heavy equipment
and a reasonable amount of
space. As any artist does,
she also needs a place to
display her work.”
Speakman’s wife is also
a painter and would dis-
play her work at the space ,
he said. “We would be able
to use this showroom as a
gallery for all of us, really,”
Speakman said at last
week ’s meeting.
The Gearhart Ironwerks
represented “the obvious
solution,” he said.
“I know the building and
its history well,” he said.
“All the infrastructure is in
place to support any artis-
tic endeavor. It features a
spacious showroom, ideally
suited for displaying art and
meeting clients. It also fea-
tures a large workroom with
concrete fl oor.”
The Speakmans antic-
ipate the business will be
open to the public, three to
fi ve days a week, including
weekends.
Plans submitted to the
Planning Commission show
a 700-square-foot gallery,
workroom and living space.
The site is designated com-
mercial by the city’s com-
prehensive plan and desig-
nated general commercial
by the city’s zoning ordi-
nance. The Speakmans’
request is for approval of
a conditional use permit to
modify the existing inte-
rior space to accommodate
an artist’s residence, within
about a quarter of the exist-
ing building footprint.
Code requires a condi-
tional use permit for the
gallery and use of the home
as a residence.
The project was sent to
each city department and
there were no objections,
City Planner Carole Con-
nell said.
Commissioners unani-
mously approved the appli-
cation with conditions,
including a 5-foot-wide
walkway constructed in the
Pacifi c Way frontage.
Owners must fi le a sign
permit request with the city
prior to installation of any
signs. They are encouraged
to provide a bicycle rack in
the entrance area.
Prior to issuance of a
building or occupancy per-
mit, the Speakmans must
provide the city with a
copy of the septic system
approval from the state
Department of Environ-
mental Quality and Clat-
sop County Public Health
Department.
“This is one of the most
positive land use applica-
tions I’ve ever had the priv-
ilege of working on, in so
many ways,” Connell said.
“It’s a perfectly suited use
to put the residents and
gallery together in a very
attractive space. It’s really a
win-win for everybody.”
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Gearhart: Project was sent to each city department
into residential and that’s
how we’re losing them,”
Boudon said. “It’s a loss- loss
situation because we liter-
ally have nothing except for
to go out and be with them
every day, let them know
that they’re seen, bring them
water, take them to coff ee,
let them know that they’re
valued and they’re worthy
of trying to continue to meet
their goals or improve their
quality of life somehow.
“And just instill that hope
in them that they should not
stop trying. Because, who
knows, one day it might get
better.”
But she said most peo-
ple in that situation become
discouraged.
“And that’s heartbreak-
ing,” Boudon said. “I’m
tired of seeing people die
because we don’t have
enough resources to keep
them alive.”
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