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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2022)
»INSIDE 149TH YEAR, NO. 100 WEEKEND EDITION // SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2022 $1.50 Astoria plans to close child care facility Sprouts Learning Center will shut down at the end of June By NICOLE BALES The Astorian After reaching a critical staffi ng short- age and operating at an unsustainable loss, Astoria will close Sprouts Learning Center, the city’s day care program, at the end of June. The center is one of the larger child care facilities in Clatsop County, making the closure a signifi cant loss as child care options remain scarce. T he city’s Parks and Recreation Department has been operating the pro- gram with a skeleton crew for several months, and staffi ng reached a criti- cal point late last year. The city said the day care at the Astoria Recreation Center loses about $17,000 a month. During a work session on Wednesday afternoon, city councilors unanimously sup- ported transitioning out of providing the ser- vice by the end of the fi scal year on June 30. The closure will impact 21 families. “I’ve always felt that adequate child care is one of the most important commu- nity health components out there,” Mayor Bruce Jones said. “And it’s one of the most important components of a thriv- ing local economy. And as we’ve seen, it’s also one of the most diffi cult services to provide without signifi cant subsidies of some sort. It’s still very disappoint- ing that our federal government has never made this a top national priority. Lydia Ely/The Astorian Astoria is looking at ways to address issues related to homelessness. City looks at menu of options to address quality of life concerns See Child care, Page A6 Police regularly receive complaints tied to homelessness New virus cases at care home By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Astoria is weighing diff erent options to address quality of life concerns that stem from an increas- ingly visible homeless population. Police regularly receive complaints related to homelessness — people sleeping in doorways, tents and vehicles to trash, abandoned property and public urination and defecation. The visibility has led to a perception that some places in the community are unsafe, Police Chief Geoff Spalding said. At a City Council work session on Wednes- day, t he police chief presented a menu of options designed to curb some of the behavior . “These are very complex issues — we’re oper- ating in a lot of gray area,” Spalding told city coun- cilors . “And we’re also dealing with some very complex individuals as well. So this is not an easy Outbreak disclosed in the state’s weekly report By ERICK BENGEL The Astorian The Oregon Health Authority has reported nine coronavirus cases at Clat- sop Care Memory Community, a care home in Warrenton. The outbreak, fi rst reported on Jan. 28, was disclosed on Wednesday in the health authority’s weekly report . The care home, part of the Clat- sop Care Health District, has no active virus cases, Hannah Olson, the facility’s administrator, said on Thursday. Olson said the outbreak peaked at 10 virus cases and was entirely among staff . She said no one was hospitalized as a result . “Everyone’s doing well, and everyone is healthy, and it was pretty mild,” Olson said. “It was much better than this last time.” topic, and we want to navigate this very carefully. “This is a problem that impacts everybody in our county — all of our social services providers, of course, law enforcement. So this is something that we intend to work on together with all of our part- ners. We don’t feel that we can solve this alone.” Priorities The City Council prioritized a few options, including updating the city’s camping ordinance and creating an expulsion zone ordinance, which would temporarily expel repeat off enders from spe- cifi c areas for periods of time. Because of recent court rulings and state leg- islation, the city has limited options for enforcing camping on public property, Spalding said. If there are shelter spaces available for people to sleep, police can enforce illegal camping. But if See Astoria, Page A6 ‘THESE ARE VERY COMPLEX ISSUES — WE’RE OPERATING IN A LOT OF GRAY AREA. AND WE’RE ALSO DEALING WITH SOME VERY COMPLEX INDIVIDUALS AS WELL. SO THIS IS NOT AN EASY TOPIC, AND WE WANT TO NAVIGATE THIS VERY CAREFULLY.’ Geoff Spalding | Astoria police chief See Outbreak, Page A2 Jones will not seek reelection as mayor Fitzpatrick to run for mayor decide an issue 5 to 0 or 3 to 2, once the vote is taken we move on to the next issue with no hard feelings.” Jones called his choice not to run for a second, four-year term a tough decision. After six years on the City Coun- cil, the mayor said it is time to focus on family and his work at the m useum. “Until then, however, we have a full plate of pressing issues and much yet to do,” he said. “The council will not be slowing down.” Jones stepped into the role of mayor at a time of turnover on the City Coun- cil. The city was grappling with many of the same issues it is now, including how to provide more aff ord- able and workforce housing, how to Business owner active on planning issues See Council, Page A6 See Fitzpatrick, Page A6 Herman, Rocka to also step away from City Council By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Astoria Mayor Bruce Jones will not seek another term in November. Jones, the deputy director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria and a former commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Colum- bia River, was elected to represent the east side’s Ward 4 on the City Council in 2016 and ran a successful campaign for mayor in 2018. “It’s a great privilege to serve our Joan Herman Bruce Jones Roger Rocka unique, vibrant community as m ayor, especially through the ongoing pan- demic and other challenges we’ve faced,” he said in a statement. “Astori- ans are passionate about their town but far from homogenous in their views or their backgrounds. I appreciate the great diversity of opinion on import- ant issues we‘ve wrestled with, know- ing that all have Astoria’s best inter- ests at heart. “My fellow c ouncilors’ dedica- tion, bipartisanship and civility makes serving with them a joy. Whether we By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Sean Fitzpatrick, who owns apartment complexes and serves on the Astoria Plan- ning Commission, intends to run for mayor in the November election. Fitzpatrick, who owns Wecoma Part- ners and the Illahee Apartments, is the fi rst person to announce his cam- Sean paign for the city’s top post. Fitzpatrick Mayor Bruce Jones has chosen not to seek a second, four-year term . Before Fitzpatrick began to buy property and work in Astoria nearly 20 years ago, he said he knew he wanted to make the city his home. He started visiting family in the area when he was a child. He eventually moved to the city with his wife permanently in 2010.