A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2021
IN BRIEF
State reports new virus cases for county
The Oregon Health Authority has reported new
coronavirus cases in Clatsop County over the past sev-
eral days.
The health authority reported four new virus
cases on Tuesday, 18 new cases over the weekend
and seven new cases on Friday. Since the pandemic
began, the county had recorded 2,658 virus cases as
of Tuesday.
Astoria city manager sees pay raise
After acknowledging Astoria City Manager Brett
Estes’ hard work throughout the coronavirus pandemic,
the City Council voted Monday to give him a raise.
The 4% cost of living adjustment boosts Estes’
annual salary from $145,426 to just over $151,000.
Unlike other city employees, Estes did not receive
a cost of living adjustment last year. He had told the
City Council he would not accept a pay raise as the city
faced ongoing uncertainty and diffi culties because of
the pandemic.
Mayor Bruce Jones expressed his appreciation for
Estes at the meeting on Monday, saying the city man-
ager is “doing a superb job.”
“We feel in every way that you’re committed to this
community, committed to this city,” Jones said.
Port executive director gets pay raise
The Port of Astoria Commission voted Tuesday
to give Will Isom, the Port’s executive director , a pay
raise. His new base salary will be $168,375.
In an evaluation , Isom received praise for his perfor-
mance since taking over in 2019, particularly for stabi-
lizing the agency’s fi nancial situation in the midst of the
coronavirus pandemic.
— The Astorian
Appeals court upholds reversal
of halibut charter case
The Washington Appeals Courts Division II has
denied a request from the Pacifi c County Prosecutor’s
Offi ce to reinstate the 2019 convictions of charter boat
skippers David and Robert Gudgell.
In March 2020, Pacifi c County Superior Court
threw out the convictions, which were reached in South
Pacifi c District Court.
The two were convicted of high-grading while con-
ducting halibut charters on the Westwind and Katie
Marie during a 2017 season by allegedly fi shing over
the limit and tossing dead smaller fi sh overboard before
returning to port.
The court sent David Gudgell’s conviction for
unlawful recreational fi shing back for a new trial.
It will be up to the new Pacifi c County prosecutor
whether to continue pursuing the case with a new trial
for David Gudgell, or a possible appeal to the state’s
top-tier Supreme Court.
— Chinook Observer
DEATHS
Dec. 7, 2021
Luce-Layton Mortuary of
In RIFFE,
Brief:
Dec.
Valorie Jean
Astoria 9,
is in 2021
charge of the
Johnson, 65, of Knappa, arrangements.
died in Knappa. Cald-
July 29, 2021
Deaths
well’s
Luce-Lay-
SWEHLA,
Rob-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Dec. 6, 2021
KELLEY,
Richard
Marshall, 74, of Astoria,
died in Astoria. Caldwell’s
ert Mitchell, 35, of Spo-
kane, Washington, for-
merly of Astoria, died in
Spokane. Spokane Cre-
mation & Funeral Ser-
vice was in charge of the
arrangements.
MEMORIAL
Saturday, Dec. 11
Memorial
BRITTON, Linda Ellen (Yunker) — Celebration
of life at 11 a.m., Lighthouse Christian Church, 88786
Dellmoor Loop in Warrenton.
ON THE RECORD
Robbery
On
the Michael
Record
• Benjamin
Natividad, 31, of Hammond,
was indicted last week for robbery in the third degree,
resisting arrest, criminal mischief in the second degree
and theft in the third degree. The crimes are alleged to
have occurred in late November.
EXPLOSION
ROCKS
SURFSIDE
Pacifi c County Fire District No. 10
A massive explosion at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning destroyed a large garage-type building on the 305th and N Place cul-de-sac
in Surfside and caused damage to other buildings. There were no reported injuries. The cause of the blast is under investigation.
Buehler endorses Johnson
in the 2022 governor’s race
Bend Republican
backs independent
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Knute Buehler, the Repub-
lican nominee for governor
in 2018, endorsed state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, who is run-
ning an insurgent indepen-
dent campaign for governor
in 2022.
Johnson’s
campaign
released a “dear friends” let-
ter from Buehler to past sup-
porters on Tuesday.
“I am endorsing Betsy
Johnson for g overnor,”
Buehler writes. “Betsy’s
plain-spoken, independent
spirit and proven record of
putting the concerns of every-
day Oregonians before parti-
san politics is exactly what
Oregon needs right now.”
The letter ends with a link
to Johnson’s campaign fund-
raising committee.
Buehler said the closed
primaries of the Democratic
and Republican parties would
put candidates on the bal-
lot who represented the most
radical elements of their
parties.
“It is vital that we break
the iron grip monopoly of the
radical left on power, politics
and policy in our state,” Bue-
hler said of Democrats.
Republicans would likely
nominate someone who Bue-
hler believes would have little
chance of appealing to most
State Sen. Betsy Johnson is running for governor as an
independent.
voters in Oregon, which has
not elected a Republican as
governor since 1982.
“Unfortunately,
the
Republican Party is no longer
a viable alternative in Ore-
gon,” Buehler said.
Johnson’s announcement
that she would run as an inde-
pendent after 21 years in the
Legislature as a Democrat
was met with disapproval by
Democratic leaders.
Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, stripped
her of her co-chairmanship of
the powerful Joint Ways and
Means Committee, the state’s
main budget-writing panel.
Johnson remains a registered
Democrat and retains her seat
in the Senate.
Johnson has consistently
been the most moderate of
Democrats in the Senate.
While backing most of her
party’s social issue stances,
including support for abor-
tion rights, she has voted with
Republicans on issues such
as business restrictions, gun
rights and limiting carbon
emissions.
The Democratic and
Republican nominees will be
selected in the May primary.
Johnson has to submit just
over 24,000 valid signatures
backing her candidacy to the
secretary of state over the
early summer to go directly
on the November general
election.
Tuesday’s endorsement
is a return to Buehler’s old-
est political stance, when he
worked as the chief Oregon
organizer for independent
Ross Perot’s 1992 campaign
for president.
Buehler ran as a Repub-
lican for secretary of state in
2012, losing the general elec-
tion to the incumbent, Dem-
ocrat Kate Brown. Brown
became governor in early
2015 following the resigna-
tion of Gov. John Kitzhaber
in an infl uence-peddling
scandal.
Buehler was elected to
the House as a Republican
in 2014, representing Bend.
He was re elected in 2016, the
same year Brown won a spe-
cial election against Repub-
lican Bud Pierce to serve
the rest of Kitzhaber’s term.
Pierce has fi led to run for
governor as a Republican in
2022.
Buehler, a moderate
Republican who had been
critical of President Don-
ald Trump and did not sup-
port his successful 2016 bid
for the White House, won the
2018 Republican primary for
governor with 46.2% of the
vote but lost to Brown .
Buehler entered the
Republican primary for the
2nd Congressional District
seat in 2020, which was open
following the retirement of
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden . Bue-
hler tried to reverse his rep-
utation as a critic of Trump,
supporting the then-presi-
dent’s policies and re elec-
tion bid for the White House.
Buehler fi nished second in a
crowded fi eld to Cliff Bentz,
a Republican state senator
from Ontario, who went on
to win the heavily Republi-
can district in the November
election.
The Oregon Capital
Bureau is a collaboration
between EO Media Group
and Pamplin Media Group.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Sunset Empire Transportation District Board, 9 a.m.,
(electronic meeting).
Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning Advisory
Committee, 1 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Seaside Civic and Convention Center Commission,
5 p.m., 415 First Ave.
Gearhart Planning Commission, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Warrenton Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S.
Main Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Stairs: ‘I’ll be making a very diffi cult decision soon’
Continued from Page A1
city staff .
O’Neel described herself
as a “battered homeowner”
who had been abused by city
planning staff over the years.
“I’m so impressed with
our city staff ,” Herman coun-
tered. “They’re hardworking.
They’re dedicated. They take
a lot of abuse.”
“Because they are work-
ing for a public agency they
are not at liberty to respond
to verbal abuse,” she added,
“so I will, as a council mem-
ber: They don’t deserve that.
It’s not professional, it’s not
civil and it’s not communi-
ty-minded, no matter how
diffi cult of a position you feel
yourself in.”
To City Councilor Tom
Hilton, there was another
layer: O’Neel built on prop-
erty that belongs to the res-
idents of Astoria and func-
tions as a type of public park.
In the city’s report, staff
noted that O’Neel had
encroached on an iconic
vista. The improvements she
made would require multiple
variances that are not sup-
ported by the city’s devel-
opment code. City water and
sewer pipes run through the
right of way and encroach-
ments could make it diffi -
cult to access these utili-
ties. O’Neel also covered up
a failed portion of a retain-
ing wall, which could hide
further deterioration, staff
wrote.
Subscription rates
Eff ective January 12, 2021
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WANTED
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
“I just think if you would
have followed the process
and done what the code and
what the city was asking you
to do, I believe we wouldn’t
be in the predicament we’re
in right now,” Hilton said.
O’Neel has helped main-
tain the area of the 11th Street
stairs that is near her prop-
erty and has an agreement
in place with the city’s Parks
and Recreation Department
to restore decorative colon-
nades at the top of the stairs
at her own expense. She
plans to employ a contractor
who is working on her house.
Now, O’Neel told the City
Council, “I’ll be making a
very diffi cult decision soon.”
She isn’t sure she will still
want to donate the work if
the city is going to force her
to tear down the fence, deck-
ing and arbor.
O’Neel admits she did
the work without getting the
necessary permission from
the city, but she contends that
she has only enhanced the
area — her own property and
the city parkland — with her
improvements.
GAME MEAT PROCESSING
Debbie D’s will be at
Cash & Carry in Warrenton
at 10:00 a.m. every Saturday
to pick up and deliver
meat for processing.
20 lb. min • Each batch individual
Please call Mon-Fri between
10-4 so we know to expect you.
DEBBIE D’S Jerky & Sausage Factory
2210 Main Avenue N. • Tillamook, OR • 503-842-2622