»INSIDE
THURSDAY
APRIL 7
2022
WOMEN IN
BREWING
PAGE 8
‘ICONIC ’
ASTORIA
PAGE 6
HOME AND CHEF
TOUR RETURNS
WASHINGTON
NUP
COAST CLEA
L
SET FOR APRI
PAGE 11
PENINSULA
ARTISTS OPEN
STUDIOS
PAGE 13
149TH YEAR, NO. 120
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022
City to
review
homeless
camping
$1.50
LIGHTSHIP
RETURNS
Lightship Columbia has
returned from dry dock in
Portland and is temporarily
at Tongue Point. Caroline
Wuebben, of the
Columbia River Maritime
Museum, said the
museum hopes to have
the ship back at the
17th Street Dock and
ready for the public
in May. See more
photos online at
dailyastorian.
com
A list of places to come later
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The Astoria City Council expects to
review a camping ordinance in the com-
ing weeks that outlines the time and
manner for when someone can sleep on
public property.
Since recent federal court rulings and
state legislation, police can only enforce
illegal camping on public property if
there are adequate shelter spaces avail-
able for people to sleep. In the absence
of adequate shelter space, Astoria plans
to detail the time, place and manner
someone can sleep outdoors.
The time and manner portion of
the ordinance will detail the overnight
hours people can sleep and the items
they can keep with them to stay warm
and dry.
During a City Council meeting Mon-
day night, Police Chief Geoff Spald-
ing said the ordinance will reference a
second document that would identify
places people can sleep.
“I suspect that that’s going to take a
substantial amount of time to actually
vet some of those locations, if any of
them become practical,” Spalding said.
In the meantime, the city can move
forward with the rest of the ordinance.
“By doing this, I think this would
also give us some fl exibility that if we
do identify certain locations that we
could always add an additional location
or remove a location if it becomes prob-
lematic, as opposed to having to come
back and make an ordinance modi-
fi cation every time that the list gets
updated,” the police chief said.
Lydia Ely/
The Astorian
See Homeless camping, Page A6
Port adopts
waterfront
master plan
A signifi cant step
toward redevelopment
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
The Port of Astoria Commission voted
Tuesday to adopt the waterfront master
plan.
A collaboration between the Port and
the city, the plan seeks to tackle redevel-
opment between Pier 1 and the Astoria
Bridge in Uniontown. Over the p ast eight
months, the Port and the city, along with
Walker Macy — the landscape architec-
ture, urban design and planning fi rm that
was hired to craft the plan — collected
input from an advisory committee, stake-
holders and the public.
At a Port workshop several weeks ago,
Walker Macy gave Port c ommission-
ers a fi nal look at the draft and a chance
to make suggestions . On Tuesday, in the
Port Commission’s return to in-person
meetings during the coronavirus pan-
demic, c ommissioners voted 4 to 0 to
sign off on the plan. Commissioner James
Campbell was not present at the meeting.
The City Council will look to adopt
the plan in early May .
The plan could feature a new hotel to
replace the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, the
opportunity for private development of
marine industrial uses on Pier 1 and con-
cepts for a market hall, fi shing village
and boardwalk around the West Mooring
Basin.
See Port, Page A6
Piano trio adjusts
performance over
Russia concerns
‘Siege of Leningrad’ not part of festival
By ABBEY McDONALD
The Astorian
The Liberty Theatre and Hermitage Piano Trio
have made adjustments to the Third Dimension Festi-
val in response to recent events in Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine.
The festival, planned for June 11 to June 26, includes
performances from the Grammy-nominated group and
special guests. It will also host the fi rst Astoria Interna-
tional Chamber Music Competition, open to all artists
between 18 and 30.
See Trio, Page A6
The Hermitage
Piano Trio
released a
photo standing
with Ukraine.
Labor commissioner
a workplace referee
Several candidates
competing in May
By GARY WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
It’s Oregon’s mystery
political job. One of fi ve
elected executive offi ces —
alongside governor, secre-
tary of state, treasurer and
attorney general.
The position has been
around since 1903 —
with diff erent names. It
has no term limits — one
man served 24 years. Four
Republicans and three
Democrats held the job
before it became a non par-
tisan offi ce with the 1996
election.
The mystery offi ce?
Commissioner of the
Bureau of Labor and Indus-
tries, commonly referred
to by its acronym, BOLI.
Often, the job is called by
its original name, l abor
c ommissioner.
Val Hoyle dropped her
re election bid for labor com-
missioner to run for the 4th
Congressional District seat
of retiring U.S. Rep. Peter
DeFazio, D-Springfi eld.
The vacuum left by
Hoyle’s departure from the
race drew three veteran
political candidates.
• Yamhill County Com-
missioner Casey Kulla
switched from the Demo-
cratic primary for governor
to the BOLI race.
• Portland employee
rights attorney Christina
Stephenson, who placed
second in a 2020 run for
state House District 33,
fi led the day after Kulla.
• On the last day to
fi le for offi ce, former
Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend,
jumped into the race.
Rounding out the fi eld
are Cornelius forest man-
agement
businessman
Aaron Baca, Aloha banker
Brent Barker, Oregon City
truck driver Chris Henry
and Greenhorn laborer
Robert Neuman.
If one can win more than
50% of the vote in the May
election, the race is over —
there would be no run off
in November. With seven
candidates and three with
political track records, it’s
a longshot that the winner
won’t be determined until
the November election.
The BOLI job is part
workplace referee, part
civil rights enforcer, part
job training promoter, part
government information
desk and complaint box.
There’s a $31 million
budget for the offi ce — not
a lot by state government
standards. The job pays
$77,000 — less than the
See BOLI, Page A3