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149TH YEAR, NO. 70
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021
$1.50
CANNON BEACH
Food tax
survives
recount
New tally shows a
one-vote shift to ‘yes’
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
SALUTE
TOP: A salute is given after the
laying of the wreath by World War
II veteran John Sefren in Seaside on
Tuesday as people remember the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in
1941.
RIGHT: Members of the American
Legion Post 99 hold the American
fl ag at the Necanicum River in
Seaside during a remembrance of
Pearl Harbor.
Photos by R.J. Marx/
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH — A recount has
not changed the outcome for a food tax
meant to raise money for city infrastruc-
ture and emergency services.
The tax continued to pass by only
a handful of votes following a recount
Wednesday morning by Clatsop County
elections offi cials in Astoria. The fi nal
vote on the controversial measure stands
at 380 to 374 — a one-vote shift to “yes”
from the last count. Certifi cation of the
recount now goes to the Oregon Secre-
tary of State’s O ffi ce.
Patrick Nofi eld, who owns Escape
Lodging in Cannon Beach and asked for
the recount, said he was disappointed.
But, he added, “I think the main thing is
not to be reactive. I think we just need to
sit down and fi gure out what it is.”
The tax proposal divided the commu-
nity. W ith such a close margin after elec-
tion night in November, Nofi eld felt a
recount was justifi ed.
He remains concerned about an inci-
dent where city offi cials opened a ballot
drop box in front of City Hall in Octo-
ber. City Manager Bruce St. Denis has
defended the action, saying people had
shoved several ballots into the side of the
box and city staff wanted to make sure
the ballots were protected from the rain.
He and Karen LaBonte, the city’s public
works director, unlocked the box and put
the ballots inside.
County elections staff say St. Denis
and LaBonte did not violate any rules.
“They did not break any laws and
they are under oath,” County Clerk Tra-
cie Krevanko said. Granted, she added, it
probably wasn’t a wise decision on their
part given the controversy around the tax.
The incident continues to trouble some
in Cannon Beach, including Nofi eld.
At a City Council meeting Tuesday
night, several people voiced their con-
cerns about the opening of the ballot drop
See Food tax, Page A6
Safety concerns cause
schools to cancel classes
Seaside, Ilwaco
respond to incidents
By R.J. MARX and
BRANDON CLINE
The Astorian and
Chinook Observer
Two local school districts
canceled classes this week
as precautions after threats
and misbehavior involving
students.
School administrators sus-
pended all classes in the Sea-
side School District on Tues-
day after a possible threat
was sent to a Seaside High
School student over social
‘(PRE-PANDEMIC), YOU COULD
DEESCALATE SITUATIONS AND
YOU COULD BUILD BRIDGES
BETWEEN GROUPS. THAT’S JUST
NOT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.’
Amy Huntley | Ocean Beach School District superintendent
media. Police later deter-
mined it was not a credible,
localized threat.
Ilwaco High School
closed on Wednesday to
address concerns over an
unusually high number of
incidents of misbehavior
among students.
Schools across the coun-
try are on edge after a mass
shooting at a high school in
Oxford, Michigan, in late
November left four students
See Schools, Page A6
Infi ll on commissioner’s lot causing headaches
Newton faces a
potential fi ne
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
WARRENTON — A
property owned by City
Commissioner Rick New-
ton was fl agged by the city
after he accepted infi ll from
a city-approved construction
project.
During the summer, Big
River Construction removed
the infi ll — a mixture of
materials — from a road
reconstruction project on
S.W. Alder Avenue, and after
communicating with New-
ton, dumped it at his property
on First Avenue. Newton and
his girlfriend, co-owner Patty
Cardinaletti, had planned to
build housing units on the lot.
“There was some con-
fusion on what the material
was actually supposed to be,”
Scott Hazelton, the city’s
planning director, said. “It
was interpreted by the build-
ing offi cial that it was going
to be gravel only — that it
was going to be waste rock
on the property — and not
the mud, silt, sand, every-
thing that is there now.”
See Infi ll, Page A6
The 11th Streets stairs are ‘pigeon steps’ — shallow, narrow steps set on the city’s hilly sidewalks.
Homeowner told to remove
structures at 11th Street stairs
O’Neel did work
without a permit
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
A homeowner who built
part of a fence and deck on
city property at the top of
the 11th Street stairs with-
out a permit will need to
take it all down.
Billie O’Neel said she
wanted to keep deer out of
her garden at her Jerome
Avenue house, create a level
place for her husband to
walk and cover an unsightly
retaining wall that belongs
to the city. But she built into
a public green space and a
city right of way to do it —
taking advantage, O’Neel
said, of good weather and
the sudden availability of
workers and supplies.
After the fact, in an
attempt to bring the work
into compliance with city
code, O’Neel submitted a
request to use the public
property next door.
But city staff noted
multiple issues with what
O’Neel had built and rec-
ommended that city leaders
deny her request. O’Neel
decided to take the mat-
ter to the City Council. At
a meeting Monday night,
the c ouncil agreed with staff
and denied her application.
The city will work with
O’Neel on a reasonable
timeline to remove the por-
tions of the fence, deck and
an arbor that intrude on
city property and setbacks,
according to City Engineer
Nathan Crater.
The city is also investi-
gating other code violations
associated with O’Neel’s
work on her property.
“I’m really sorry this has
come to this impasse,” City
Councilor Joan Herman told
O’Neel, “but it would not
have happened if the proper
permits had been sought to
begin with.”
O’Neel, an Arkansas res-
ident, has been renovat-
ing the house in prepara-
tion for a move to Astoria.
Herman was sympathetic to
O’Neel’s eff orts to improve
her home and said she
understood working within
the city’s codes could be
frustrating, but she and
other city councilors bris-
tled at O’Neel’s character-
ization of interactions with
See Stairs, Page A2