A2
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021
IN BRIEF
County extends moratorium
on vacation rental permits
Permits for new vacation rentals will not be pro-
cessed and issued in Clatsop County’s unincorpo-
rated areas and Gearhart’s urban growth boundary
through at least April 28.
The county Board of Commissioners on Wednes-
day approved a 120-day extension of a moratorium
on new licenses for short-term rentals. The move
gives the county additional time to examine the reg-
ulations that govern these businesses.
Short-term rentals have become a contentious
matter — lucrative for property owners and good
for local tourism, but complaints have mounted
about trash, noise, parking problems and other nui-
sances, as well as unclear recourse for affected
neighbors.
The original moratorium went into eff ect on Sept.
1 and was set to expire on Dec. 29. The county,
which had planned at least a six-month process to
review the short-term rental rules, had assumed an
extension would be necessary, Community Develop-
ment Director Gail Henrikson said.
The county has held two town hall meetings —
one in September, the other in November — to get
feedback on the core issues.
A third town hall meeting, scheduled for Jan. 22,
will look at zoning, good-neighbor standards, neigh-
borhood notifi cations and rules for on-the-ground
property agents.
Proposed revisions to the short-term rental ordi-
nance will come before the board at a January work
session. The final revisions will be discussed at
two public hearings slated for February, Henrik-
son said.
State discloses virus cases
at local schools
The Oregon Health Authority has disclosed
three new coronavirus cases at schools in Clatsop
County.
All three cases were students, according to the
health authority’s weekly outbreak report. One case
was from Astor Elementary School, while the other
two were from Seaside High School.
The health authority, meanwhile, disclosed eight
new virus cases for the county on Thursday and 10
new cases on Wednesday. Since the start of the pan-
demic, the county had recorded 2,677 virus cases as
of Thursday.
— The Astorian
MEMORIAL
Thursday, Dec. 16
In VAN Brief
DUSEN, Carol Susan — Open house cel-
ebration of life from 1:30 to 4 p.m., Astoria Golf &
Country Club, 33445 Sunset Beach Lane in Warren-
Memorial
ton. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary was in charge
of the arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
Assault
the fi rst degree, unlawful
On
the
Record
• Raymond
Scott
Beh- entry into a motor vehicle,
noud, 49, of Astoria, was
arrested on Tuesday on
W. Kensington Avenue
in Astoria for assault in
the fourth degree consti-
tuting domestic violence,
harassment, three counts
of resisting arrest and
menacing. Behnoud also
had a warrant for his arrest
for a previous charge of
improper use of 911.
Theft
• Jacob Eye Terrill, 35,
of Gearhart, was indicted
in November for theft in
theft in the second degree
and criminal mischief in the
third degree. The crimes are
alleged to have occurred
early in the month.
DUII
• Heather Marie Dick-
ins, 29, of Pensacola,
Florida , was arrested on
Wednesday at Marine
Drive and 29th Street in
Astoria for driving under
the infl uence of intoxi-
cants, hit-and-run involv-
ing property and reckless
driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Marinas Advisory Committee, 2 p.m., special meeting,
Warrenton Marina Offi ce, 501 N.E. Harbor Place, Warrenton.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec-
tronic meeting).
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board,
4 p.m., workshop, Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225
Avenue A, Seaside.
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., work session, (elec-
tronic meeting).
Lewis & Clark Fire Department Board, 6 p.m., main fi re
station, 34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave.
Seaside School District Board, 6 p.m., (electronic meeting).
Clatsop Community College Board, 6:30 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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FOOD PARADE
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Volunteers pass through rows of donations while boarding the streetcar during the Astoria Fire Department’s Holiday Food
Parade on Tuesday.
Johnson pitches centrist
message to farmers
State senator
appeared at
annual convention
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
REDMOND — If she’s
elected Oregon’s governor
next year, state Sen. Betsy
Johnson expects to keep her
veto pen busy.
Many of the state Dem-
ocratic P arty’s policies go
against the interests of ordi-
nary Oregonians and thus
wouldn’t pass muster with
her administration, she
said at the Oregon Farm
Bureau’s annual convention
in Redmond .
“The ‘D’ behind my
name doesn’t defi ne me,”
said Johnson , D-Scappoose,
noting that she refuses to
“march lockstep” with
Democratic priorities that
harm agriculture.
“Why do some legis-
lators appear be so anti-
farmer? I fi nd this inexplica-
ble,” she said.
Johnson’s observations
were repeatedly interrupted
by applause and laughter
from the crowd of farmers,
whom she plans to court
vigorously in her indepen-
dent campaign for gover-
nor. She intends to leave the
Democratic Party and run as
a nonaffi liated candidate.
“Oregonians can be sur-
prisingly independent and
that’s independent with a
small ‘i’,” she said. “Our
government needs a centrist
to bring the opposing sides
together.”
Johnson
said
she’s
focused on fundraising but
will begin fl ying around
rural parts of the state next
year, since she realizes
“there’s an Oregon that’s
east of Bend and south of
Eugene.”
Reaching out to residents
outside the state’s major
population centers will be
key to her campaign strat-
egy, Johnson later told Cap-
ital Press.
“The support of rural
Oregon will be absolutely
essential to win this race,”
she said.
Johnson reminded farm-
ers of several instances in
which she defi ed the Dem-
ocratic supermajority in the
Legislature, such as voting
against controversial cap-
and-trade bills that aimed to
curtail carbon emissions.
“Being told climate
change is the most import-
ant issue our nation faces
rings hollow when you’re
struggling to make it to the
end of the month,” she said.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
State Sen. Betsy Johnson speaks with Bob Klinger, a Polk County sheep farmer, at the Oregon
Farm Bureau’s annual convention in Redmond on Wednesday.
‘THE SUPPORT OF RURAL
OREGON WILL BE ABSOLUTELY
ESSENTIAL TO WIN THIS RACE.’
State Sen. Betsy Johnson
Another bill to mandate
higher overtime wages for
farm workers was based
on “emotions, not reality,”
since it would likely result
in reduced hours and pay-
checks for those employees,
she said.
Johnson highlighted her
support for legislation that’s
helped farmers, including a
bill that reduced regulatory
requirements for cleaning
drainage ditches.
“There are legislators
in Salem who have no idea
how important clean ditches
are,” she said.
State environmental pol-
icy had treated all such
ditches as “pristine salmo-
nid habitat,” Johnson said.
“No, they’re not. They’re a
ditch.”
Farmers must give law-
makers an earful about pol-
icies that are important to
them, which may mean tes-
tifying online during the
next legislative session, she
said.
“Don’t give up, even if
leadership locks down the
building,” Johnson said.
“Don’t let them screw you
with the door closed.”
Closing the Capitol to
the public is an example
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of the state’s “episodic and
jerky” coronavirus restric-
tions, which didn’t “neces-
sarily follow the science,”
she said.
“Nobody in Salem will
crown me Miss Congeni-
ality, but that’s fi ne,” John-
son said. “There are enough
smiling faces in Salem.”
Many farmers will likely
be receptive to Johnson’s
message, even though the
agriculture industry tradi-
tionally leans Republican,
according to several grow-
ers at the conference.
“I’m not happy with the
Republicans or the Dem-
ocrats. They can’t work
with each other and are
entrenched in their own little
world,” said Peter Kenagy,
a Benton County farmer.
“Neither of them sees the
bigger picture of where
we’re headed as a state.”
Farmers recognize John-
son as a Democrat who has
“really stood up” for the
industry, he said. “They
value her historical support
for agriculture, ” he said.
Johnson is seen as an
exception to the Democratic
P arty’s restrictive approach
to commercial-scale agri-
culture, said Mike McCar-
thy, an orchardist in Hood
River County.
“She would reduce the
over regulatory environment
that’s putting us out of busi-
ness,” he said.
Bob Klinger, a Polk
County sheep farmer, said
he doesn’t think farmers
are married to voting for a
Republican candidate in the
2022 election.
“I’m registered as a
Republican but I’m an inde-
pendent. It’s just if I don’t
register as a Republican, I
don’t get much of a voice,”
he said. “When she says
she’s independent, that’s
what makes her acceptable
to me.”
While
Johnson
has
always been good to work
with, the “bottom line” is
whether she’ll be able to
keep a left-leaning candi-
date from winning, said
Kathy Hadley, a Polk
County farmer.
“I want to see some poll-
ing and a path to victory,”
she said. “That is the key
underlying principle: Who
can beat the progressive?”
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