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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2022
Schools: A lot of cases are household contacts Armitage: Several
commissioners
pointed to her
experience in Salem
Continued from Page A1
“I’m not going to sit here
and say it’s not spreading,”
he said. “I don’t have a case
rate. We could track that
but on a daily basis, we’re
spending anywhere from six
to eight hours just contact
tracing, and I haven’t gone
back to look at the numbers.
We do have some close con-
tacts and we do have some
spread, which we hadn’t
seen prior to the break. It’s
not great.”
McClean assured par-
ents that positive cases
among students are typically
linked to off -campus activ-
ities, rather than from stu-
dent-to-student contact in
the classroom.
“I can also say, just not
with defi nitive data, but a
lot of our cases are house-
hold contacts, just by con-
tact tracing every day,” Hop-
pes added.
Recognizing the chal-
lenge at schools, the Oregon
Health Authority indicated
the state would update its
guidelines to lessen the bur-
den of contact tracing.
The state said it would
no longer consider masked
contact in K-12 settings,
including school buses, to
be an exposure, regardless
of distancing.
While many parents
praised Hoppes and other
school district administra-
tors for their eff orts in keep-
ing students in classrooms,
one parent pressed the super-
intendent on why the dis-
trict is sticking to in-person
learning as virus cases rise.
“There is a balance that
Continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
School district leaders told parents the goal is to avoid a return to remote learning.
the district is trying to fi nd,
and I spend a lot of time
thinking about this,” Hop-
pes replied. “The balance is
what is healthy and safe for
students from a health stand-
point, and the impact of stu-
dents being in school, from
an academic, as well as an
emotional and mental health
standpoint … We do have
an online option for parents.
But at this point, we think
it’s advantageous … for
kids to be in school. And we
want to have kids remain in
school.”
Other questions from par-
ents included topics such as
a potential vaccine mandate
for students, natural immu-
nity and the guidelines for
students without booster
shots.
McClean told parents that
any vaccine mandate for stu-
dents would not come down
within the next year due to
the lengthy process it would
take.
Test-to-stay
As vaccines are now
approved for children ages
5 and older , the school dis-
trict has adjusted protocols
and implemented a new
strategy for how to man-
age exposures for unvacci-
nated students, referred to as
“test-to-stay.”
Instead of having to
immediately
quarantine
after being identifi ed as a
close contact to a virus case,
unvaccinated students can
now take measures to remain
at school. The unvaccinated
student must test negative
twice within a seven-day
period and be symptom-free
to continue to attend classes.
“This has been a good
protocol for us for the past
week. W e have been able to
keep a lot of kids in school,”
Hoppes said.
Hoppes applauded the
community and Columbia
Memorial Hospital for step-
ping up to assist with test-
ing. The school district per-
formed 40 to 50 tests this
week alone, he said.
Regarding a question
about the possibility of
across-the-board virus test-
ing for students, Hoppes
said there are no plans to do
so, and that testing all stu-
dents would likely need to
come from at-home tests.
Lalich said supply chain
issues could complicate the
delivery of at-home tests.
Flooding: County strained its resources
Continued from Page A1
If the state’s Offi ce of
Emergency
Management
also declares an emergency
in Clatsop County, federal
resources may come to the
county’s aid, Brown said.
Last week, in the wake
of snowfall that began on
Christmas, the North Coast
saw fl ooding and breached
dikes, as well as landslides,
downed trees and other haz-
ards that harmed public
infrastructure and private
property. Some r oads were
blocked. School districts
cancel ed classes. Warrenton
declared an emergency.
The county strained its
resources — personnel,
water pumps, sandbags —
during the wet weather .
“(T)he fl ood hazard
was of such magnitude and
severity that it is beyond the
c ounty’s response capabil-
ity,” according to the reso-
lution, which was approved
by county commissioners on
Wednesday .
“We brought it all and
we didn’t have any more
to bring,” Brown said in an
interview.
The county has asked
cities and special districts
— like fi re districts, school
districts, water and sewer
districts — to survey the
damage and report back.
As of Thursday, the
assessment was not fi nished,
but the county’s P ublic
W orks D epartment knew by
Jan. 7 that it would exceed
the threshold, Brown said.
“I probably received as
many constituent phone
calls in the last few weeks as
I have in the last three years,
and especially because a
very large part of my dis-
trict is susceptible,” Com-
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Trees off state Highway 202 were partially submerged by high water last week.
missioner Pamela Wev said ,
“and I just can’t say enough
about how responsive our
staff has been.”
Wev’s District 3 covers
central Astoria and Miles
Crossing, Jeff ers Garden,
Fort Clatsop, Lewis and
Clark, Youngs River, Olney,
Green Mountain and parts of
Walluski.
During the deluge, War-
renton’s stormwater system
was overwhelmed. Typically
disconnected
watersheds
were connecting. “If Alder
Creek would have overran
by another inch or so, there
would have been severe
damage to the city,” Mayor
Henry Balensifer said.
The mayor said the city
sought help from the county
— looking for additional
pumps and qualifi ed person-
nel to run them — and was
more successful getting help
from the Oregon Military
Department. Crews from
Camp Rilea Armed Forces
Training Center and Salem
showed up.
In the end, Warrenton
used pumps from the city’s
and the military depart-
ment’s fi retrucks to reduce
the fl oodwaters .
Brown said the county
had run out of pumps, and
that the emergency man-
agement offi ce tried to help
Warrenton in multiple ways.
Since Warrenton is a
signatory to ORWARN
(Oregon Water/Wastewa-
ter Agency Response Net-
work) — which puts it in a
mutual aid agreement with
other signatories — the
city needed to lean on fel-
low members, such as Asto-
ria and Seaside, before ask-
ing the Offi ce of Emergency
Management to mobilize
resources , she said.
“We considered the
options, and they weren’t
tenable,” Balensifer said.
The mayor said War-
renton and the county will
need to perform an after-ac-
tion review . “We’re going to
have to work out some stuff
with them, ” he said.
Brown, in an email, said,
“The situation highlights
work we can do at the county
level to help communicate
the process more eff ectively
— we want everyone to feel
well-served and are commit-
ted to understanding how to
make that happen.”
from Arch Cape, were also
vying for the appointment.
The three candidates
were selected last week by
Democrats from among a
slate of eight contenders
at the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center . In the
fi rst round of balloting,
Busch, who is running in
the Democratic primary
for Senate in May , had
walked away with 73% of
the weighted vote.
“I’d like to thank the
(Democrats ) who voted
for me and the commis-
sioners who appointed
me,” Armitage said in an
interview. “I would like to
thank the two women —
Melissa Busch and Nadia
Gardner — who ran this
race alongside me.
“And I especially want
to thank Sen. Betsy John-
son for setting such a
strong example of what
good public service looks
like in this district.”
Unlike Busch, Armit-
age said she will not run
in the Democratic primary
for Senate . State Rep.
Suzanne Weber, R-Til-
lamook, is giving up her
House District 32 seat to
campaign in the Republi-
can primary for Senate.
“I am defi nitely not
running for any offi ce in
2022,” Armitage said .
Armitage emphasized
her experience serving as
a legislative aide during
the 2016 and 2017 ses-
sions. She is an alum of
Emerge Oregon, a pro-
gram that trains Demo-
cratic women to run for
offi ce. She will represent
Senate District 16 when
the Legislature convenes
for a short session in
February.
On Friday, several
county
commission-
ers — including Clatsop
County
commissioners
Mark Kujala and Lianne
Thompson — pointed to
Armitage’s experience in
Salem .
Commissioners Court-
ney Bangs and John
Toyooka also voted for
Armitage. Commissioner
Pamela Wev cast the sole
vote for Gardner.
Lindsay Berschauer,
the chairwoman of the
Yamhill County Board
of Commissioners, said
of Johnson: “One of her
biggest strengths was her
communication style and
her ability to reach out
across the aisle and talk to
anybody.
“And in the spirit of
that, I was very impressed
with Rachel. She did reach
out to me almost immedi-
ately to have a conversa-
tion, and we had a lovely
conversation,” she said.
“We likely don’t agree
on much and we would
probably vote opposite of
each other. But we had a
lot of things that we did
talk about and saw in
common.”
Berschauer said that
Armitage was the only
candidate who reached
out to her. “I really appre-
ciate that,” Berschauer
said.
Johnson, a centrist
Democrat from a family
tied to Oregon politics and
government, had led the
district since 2006 after
several years in the state
House of Representatives.
She served as co-chair of
the Joint Ways and Means
Committee, which crafts
the state budget. She
often sided with Republi-
cans on issues such as gun
rights and environmental
regulation.
Among the eight candi-
dates Democrats consid-
ered for the vacancy, two
well-known names — for-
mer state House represen-
tatives Deborah Boone, of
Hamlet, and Tim Josi, of
Tillamook — came in last.
In reaction to the news
of Armitage’s appoint-
ment , Andy Davis, the
chairman of the Clatsop
County Democrats , said,
“I think that that was a
reasonable outcome. I
understand the commis-
sioners’ desire to have
someone with some leg-
islative experience in the
seat, and I don’t think they
are out of line to want that
in a candidate.
“So I think Rachel
seemed like a natural fi t
for that, and certainly the
county party will sup-
port her and hope that we
can play any part we can
to make her successful in
that short role.”
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Dispute: The Roberts plan to appeal
Continued from Page A1
appeals court maintained
that it was not the L egisla-
ture’s intention to preempt
the ability of local govern-
ments to apply standards
like setbacks that have a
purpose other than reduc-
ing density.
Haystack Rock LLC,
the nonprofit Oregon
Coast Alliance and the
League of Oregon Cities
supported the city in the
challenge.
The League of Oregon
Cities submitted an amicus
brief to the appeals court,
writing that the court’s
decision would “signifi-
cantly affect the ability of
cities in Oregon to plan
for and guide development
of housing within their
jurisdictions.”
Meanwhile, the Home
Builders Association of
Metropolitan Portland and
the Stafford Land Co.,
a residential developer,
submitted amicus briefs
in support of the Rob-
erts, echoing the couple’s
arguments.
The Roberts plan to
appeal to the Oregon
Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the cou-
ple has applied for a sec-
ond building permit for a
smaller house that meets
the oceanfront setback
standard. The City Coun-
cil plans to hold a pub-
lic hearing for a driveway
access easement agree-
ment — a requirement
before the building per-
mit is considered — in
March.
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