A3
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022
Emergency: Move
has been mulled for
more than a decade
Continued from Page A1
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
The Astoria Regatta is planned for August.
Regatta: ‘It’s been a long time since
we’ve been able to gather as a community’
Continued from Page A1
Queen since 2020. This year,
Steele will pass the crown to
one of fi ve court members.
Chris Nemlowill, the
owner of Fort George Brew-
ery, and his wife, Zetty , will
serve as the g rand m arshals
of the Grand Land Parade.
Pete Gimre, of Gimre’s
Shoes, will be the parade
admiral. He will be joined
by a dmiral’s aide Julie Flues
Troedsson.
Grothe said the Regatta is
working to connect the Asto-
ria Yacht Club’s races to the
festival schedule and river-
front events.
They are also working
with the U.S. Coast Guard,
hoping to bring back events
such as the search and rescue
demonstration.
Spruce Up Warrenton
is working on the movie in
the park event and hoping
to expand Thursday evening
activities for families.
“As for the Grand Land
Parade and Highwater Boat
Parade, we are hoping to
broaden our reach and grow
participation to include
community and business
groups with which we have
not connected in the past,”
Grothe said.
The Astoria Regatta Asso-
ciation plans to publish more
information about festival
events in the coming weeks.
“It’s been a long time since
we’ve been able to gather as
a community,” Grothe said in
a statement announcing the
Regatta’s return, “but I can’t
think of a better way to come
together again, than in cel-
ebration of this wonderful
region we call home.”
“There’s no doubt that
the risk towards Clatsop
County regarding earth-
quakes, tsunamis and
windstorms, and any other
form of natural disaster,
is high,” he said, “and I
think that it’s important as
we move forward that the
emergency management
function be elevated to a
department level.”
Next week, commis-
sioners will hold a second
reading on an ordinance to
remove from the county
manager’s
assigned
duties the direction of the
emergency management
offi ce.
The move has been
considered for more than
a decade.
In 2010, emergency
management — a statu-
torily required agency —
was shifted from the s her-
iff ’s o ffi ce to the county
Consult a
PROFESSIONAL
LEO FINZI
Crockett: ‘I think we could all use a little vibrancy’
Continued from Page A1
conversation with the city,”
she said. “Just adopting
some arts goals — not nec-
essarily more funding —
but things like making space
for public art, making space
for busking downtown, and
murals and sculpture.
“I think we could all use
a little vibrancy after the last
two years.”
Crockett is a member of
the Arts Council of Clatsop
County and serves on the
advisory board for the Inde-
pendent Venue Coalition of
Oregon. She served on the
board for Coast Community
Radio from 2017 to 2020.
Crockett, a professional
musician, is a substitute
clarinetist with the Oregon
Symphony.
During her time at the
helm of the Liberty The-
atre, the organization has
quadrupled its operating
budget, Crockett said. Staff
have increased from two to
nine. Two more staff ers are
expected to be hired by the
end of the year, and six more
over the next three years.
Since the start of the pan-
demic, Crockett has focused
her eff orts on helping arts
organizations weather the
DURING HER TIME AT THE HELM
OF THE LIBERTY THEATRE, THE
ORGANIZATION HAS QUADRUPLED
ITS OPERATING BUDGET.
storm and recover.
She spearheaded the cre-
ation of the North Coast
Performing Arts Alliance,
which made the Liberty The-
atre a backbone for 17 per-
forming arts organizations.
Crockett said leaders
of the diff erent organiza-
tions were able to commu-
nicate and help each other.
She also hosted workshops
about insurance, fundraising
and grant writing.
“Some of the organiza-
tions wrote and received
their fi rst grant,” she said.
“Some of them did their fi rst
fundraising campaign.
“We all sort of acknowl-
edged that what had worked
in the past may not work
ever again, and we got
through it together.”
One of the biggest ques-
tions before the City Coun-
cil is a workforce housing
proposal at Heritage Square
that would also include units
for people undergoing men-
tal health and substance
abuse treatment. The project
has left the City Council and
many people in the commu-
nity divided.
Last week, c ity c oun-
cilors voted 3 to 2 to enter
into an exclusive negotiat-
ing agreement with Edlen &
Co., a Portland-based devel-
oper, which will allow the
city and developer to nego-
tiate and refi ne the concept.
Crockett said that if she
had to vote on the deci-
sion, she probably would
have sided with City Coun-
cilor Tom Brownson and
City Councilor Tom Hilton,
who voted “ no.” Brownson
and Hilton have expressed
concerns about the men-
tal health component of the
project.
Crockett said she would
like to see the timeline pause
to allow for more discussion.
“I, like a lot of people,
have a loved one that strug-
gled with addiction for a
really long time, and was
often homeless during that
time,” she said. “And it
absolutely ripped my family
in half for a very long time.”
Despite her personal
experience and understand-
ing of the need, Crock-
ett said she recognizes
why many businesses are
concerned.
She said there are many
questions, including whether
Heritage Square is the best
location and how the project
would impact tourism and
walk-up traffi c.
Crockett hopes her deci-
sion will inspire other young
people, women and artists to
run for City Council .
Mayor Bruce Jones
and City Councilor Roger
Rocka, who represents Ward
1, which covers part of the
Port of Astoria, Uniontown
and the western edge of
downtown, have indicated
they will not seek reelection
in November .
“I know I’m not going
to be right for everybody,”
Crockett said. “So I hope
there’s enough candidates
to chose from, especially
with as many openings as
we have coming up on the
council.
“It would be awesome to
have a big pool to choose
from.”
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fi ll in as acting superinten-
dent due to the timing, the
requirement of a superinten-
dent’s license and the need
to relocate to Jewell.
“It just concerns me a
little. I’ve been here six
years and I’ve seen quite a
lot of turnover here at the
school,” Mialon told the
school board. “I think hir-
ing someone in a hasty way
— I am just really apprehen-
sive about that approach. I
think it needs to be looked at
very carefully and hopefully
you aren’t going to just pick
somebody because they are
available and you’re going
to pick them because they’re
fair, compassionate and ethi-
cal people, and they’re going
to do the job well.”
“That’s what we’re shoot-
ing for,” Ginger Kaczenski, a
school board member, replied.
Phillips was hired by
the school district as an
executive administrator in
2018 and was eventually
appointed superintendent in
2019, replacing Alice Hun-
saker, who had retired.
Phillips’ tenure in Jew-
ell followed his resignation
from his position as dep-
uty superintendent in the
Beaverton School District
after receiving blowback
for reposting a tweet that
expressed anti-immigration
sentiments. Members of the
Jewell Education Associa-
tion had opposed Phillip’s
hiring at the time.
He served as superinten-
dent and director of second-
ary education in the Malheur
Education Service District
before his time in Beaverton.
Jewell School, the only
school in the school district,
serves students from kinder-
garten through 12th grade.
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Harbor Freight expects
to open this spring, but an
offi cial opening date will be
revealed closer to launch,
the company said in a
statement .
“We’ve been looking to
open a location in Warren-
ton for a number of years so
that we can provide the tools
and equipment at tremen-
dous values to the commu-
nity,” said Trey Feiler, the
s enior v ice p resident for r eal
e state and c onstruction for
Harbor Freight Tools. “In
addition to fi nding a great
location, we were attracted
by the availability of great
associates in the Warrenton
area, and we look forward to
having them join the Harbor
Freight team.”
Construction is underway
on the building, where tenant
improvements are being
made, according to City
Manager Linda Engbretson.
Harbor Freight sells a
wide range of products,
including power tools, gen-
erators, jacks, tool boxes and
more.
The company expects
to bring between 25 and 30
new jobs to the community,
including positions for sales
and logistic supervisors,
senior associates and addi-
tional seasonal opportuni-
ties . Harbor Freight is look-
ing for interested applicants
to apply on their website.
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manager’s offi ce. In 2015,
the county manager at the
time considered convert-
ing emergency manage-
ment into a director-led
department, but ended
up absorbing the duties
himself.
This is the fi rst time a
full-time director will lead
the county’s emergency
management functions.
“It’s exciting for me,
and should be for the
whole community, that the
county manager, and the
board in turn, has decided
to make this investment,”
Brown said.
The state , meanwhile,
is doing something similar.
By law, the state Offi ce of
Emergency Management,
long under the umbrella
of the Oregon Military
Department, is slated to
become the Department of
Emergency Management,
and report directly to the
governor.
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