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THURSDAY
APRIL 14
2022
THE
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LONG BEACH
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DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022
149TH YEAR, NO. 123
$1.50
Seaside
advances
homeless
camping
ordinance
City still needs to
identify specifi c sites
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE —The City Council has
voted to advance a new ordinance that
would map out places where vans or motor
homes could be permitted to stay overnight.
The ordinance is designed to protect
the safety of all residents — housed and
homeless — and regulate the use of pub-
lic and private property by establishing
time, place and manner guidelines for
homeless camping.
“While I do not hold myself out as
any constitutional lawyer, it seems that
this ordinance comports with the two
cases, one out of Boise, Idaho, and the
other out of Grants Pass,” City Attor-
ney Dan Van Thiel said of court rulings
related to homeless camping. “That is not
to say that some innovative constitutional
attorney cannot challenge this ordinance,
but I am of the opinion that it should be
implemented.”
See Ordinance, Page A6
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
LiFEBoat Services opened on Commercial Street last year.
Tensions over homelessness make
providing social services diffi cult downtown
WARRENTON
Commissioner
again asked
to resign
Newton lashes out
against mayor
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
WARRENTON — After lashing out
at the mayor, City Commissioner Rick
Newton was again advised by several
of his fellow commissioners to step
down.
Tensions rose at a City Commission
meeting Tuesday night after Newton
made accusatory remarks toward Mayor
Henry Balensifer regarding past issues
handled by the c ommission. The mayor,
Commissioner Gerald Poe and Commis-
sioner Mark Baldwin reiterated their con-
cerns about Newton’s actions and asked
for his resignation.
The request comes just months after
the same three c ommissioners asked
Newton to step down following an infi ll
controversy on his property.
“Wow. I would like to remind all the
commissioners, not just one, but all of
us, that this is a democracy and we’re
all voted to be here … For somebody to
be so much more mighty than everyone
LiFEBoat Services
a focal point
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
A
s Astoria tries to address quality
of life concerns tied to homeless-
ness, tensions between LiFEBoat
Services, a social services pro-
vider, and several businesses con-
tinue to spill over downtown.
LiFEBoat, which opened on Com-
mercial Street last August, is the
umbrella organization for Beacon Club-
house, a members-only center that pro-
vides mental health support and other
services, and Filling Empty Bellies, a
nonprofi t that serves meals to anyone
in need and connects homeless people
with services.
T he nonprofi t has received frequent
complaints and police calls from neigh-
boring businesses and others over peo-
ple gathering outside, trash left behind
and behavioral issues. Many of the crit-
ics have taken to social media, posting
pictures and videos of homeless people
and documenting problematic behavior
that has drawn disparaging, angry and
sometimes threatening comments.
Over the past several months, LiFE-
Boat has taken steps to respond to the
concerns by enforcing rules, working
with police to ban people who cause
disturbances, cleaning sidewalks and
requiring people to bring their belong-
ings inside while visiting.
Business owners and others have
acknowledged the improvement . But
‘YOU GOT PEOPLE FIGHTING OUTSIDE,
YOU GOT PEOPLE SMOKING POT OUTSIDE,
YOU GOT PEOPLE SMOKING CIGARETTES
RIGHT OUT FRONT. I DON’T FEEL LIKE THAT
IS A WARM ENVIRONMENT FOR ANYBODY
TO WANT TO WALK INTO WHEN THEY’RE
ALREADY DEALING WITH CRISIS.’
Britney Brim | an employee with Caring for the Coast, a business
that provides in-home care for the elderly and disabled
some do not believe the nonprofi t
should be located downtown .
“I am still wondering why LiFEBoat
thinks it is kind to put the suff ering and
hard times of those they serve on dis-
play in the middle of downtown for all
to see?” Gretchen Allen, the owner of a
tax preparation service downtown, said
on the Concerned businesses/citizens
of downtown Astoria Facebook page.
“It seems quite heartless and counter
to the privacy and dignity of those
they purport to serve? Why do they
lie about reality? Is this serving or tak-
ing advantage of others for their own
gratifi cation?”
‘It worries me’
Allen was among a few dozen peo-
ple who attended a meeting for busi-
ness leaders on downtown livability
last week at Fort George Brewery’s
Lovell Showroom, where the location
of LiFEBoat was a dominant theme .
The Astoria-Warrenton Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, the Astoria Down-
town Historic District Association
and Clatsop Economic Development
Resources led the discussion in an
eff ort to identify specifi c challenges
and potential steps forward. The meet-
ing was organized after some business
owners said they have not felt heard.
Britney Brim, an employee with
Caring for the Coast, a business that
provides in-home care for the elderly
and disabled, said the activity outside of
LiFEBoat has aff ected daily operations.
She said she has not been able to eff ec-
tively communicate with LiFEBoat, so
she took her concerns to the city.
“You got people fi ghting outside,
you got people smoking pot outside,
you got people smoking cigarettes right
out front. I don’t feel like that is a warm
environment for anybody to want to
walk into when they’re already dealing
with crisis,” Brim said .
See Tensions, Page A6
See Commissioner, Page A6
Wyden talks housing, mental health and salmon
Oregon Democrat
held virtual town hall
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden spoke at a virtual town hall for residents of Clatsop
County on Tuesday from The Astorian’s newsroom.
In Clatsop County’s stop on
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s yearly tour
of town halls throughout Oregon,
the topics ranged from aff ordable
housing and mental health to fi sh-
ing and salmon recovery.
The Oregon Democrat noted
several investments in the commu-
nity from federal spending pack-
ages, including $1 million for a
waterline project in Hammond and
nearly $1 million toward estab-
lishing virtual intensive care at
Columbia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria in partnership with Ore-
gon Health & Science University
Hospital.
Nancy Ferber, of Astoria,
brought up the region’s struggle
with a lack of aff ordable and work-
force housing, asking what initia-
tives and projects the senator has
worked on to help respond to the
issue.
Wyden pointed to a number
of steps , including the Decent,
Aff ordable, Safe Housing For All
Act, which seeks to create more
housing options for individuals at
various income levels.
The act would address the
aff ordability challenge by strength-
ening the low-income housing tax
credit, as well as creating a mid-
dle-income housing tax credit.
“At every level, we are trying
to extend help – low income, mid-
dle income, homeless, busting red
tape,” Wyden said at the virtual
town hall, which was livestreamed
See Wyden, Page A2