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A6 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 Commissioners: ‘I think we’re getting to critical mass’ Continued from Page A1 Commissioner Lianne Thompson, who is running for a third term in South County’s District 5, said she has long advocated for mod- ular housing. Thompson pointed to a possible collaboration between the Oregon Restau- rant and Lodging Asso- ciation and the TallWood Design Institute to provide modular housing, made with mass plywood panels . “I’ve been talking about this since 2010; I’m just going to keep talking about it,” Thompson said. “But, I tell ya, I think we’re getting to critical mass. I think it can happen.” Her challenger, Steve Dillard, an innkeeper from Seaside, said local build- ing codes hamper hous- ing development — a belief shared by Pinkstaff . Dillard said he spoke with a county employee who wanted to put duplexes on his property. “The city of Astoria, with Lydia Ely/The Astorian A candidates’ forum was held Tuesday night at Clatsop Community College. all the permits, with all the extra money, with all the engineering that had to go on — it was going to be too cost prohibitive to generate the kind of housing that he was hoping to do,” Dillard said. Commissioner Mark Kujala, the board chairman, who is running unopposed for a second term in Warren- ton’s District 1, pointed out that the county has put up surplus property in Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside for expressions of interest from cities and nonprofi ts. Making the land avail- able, he said, could lead to aff ordable housing projects. “That’s the fi rst step,” he said. When it comes to address- ing the scarcity of child care Candidates: ‘Local control is important’ Continued from Page A1 a home health nurse from Warren and a Democrat, are seeking to replace Johnson. They are running unopposed in the May primaries. Weber’s run for Senate left an open seat in House District 32, which covers the North Coast. Cyrus Javadi, a dentist from Tillamook, and Glenn Gaither, a retired cor- rections offi cer in Seaside, are competing in the Repub- lican primary. Logan Laity, a community organizer and small-business owner in Til- lamook, is unopposed in the Democratic primary. Weber, Busch, Javadi and Laity appeared at the forum Tuesday at Clatsop Commu- nity College organized by the American Association of University Women Astoria Branch. The q uestions from Chris Breitmeyer, the college pres- ident, who moderated the forum, touched on a range of topics, including housing , fi shing regulations, abortion and climate change . When asked to address one issue between men- tal illness, drug addiction, homelessness and poverty, each candidate took diff erent approaches in their answers . Laity focused on home- lessness , calling it a “human- itarian crisis” and saying he would funnel money to non- profi ts that work on the issue. Javadi eyed tackling drug addiction, a problem which he partially attributed to the fallout from the 2020 vote on Measure 110 , which decrim- inalized the possession of small amounts of drugs and sought to channel money to on the North Coast, Thomp- son said the county’s role — as it is with other essential services — is to “convene people, bring the right peo- ple to the table, get the right data presented, and then fi nd ways to implement those data into solutions that work in the community.” The c ounty has been hemorrhaging child care options, losing more than half of licensed child care slots since 2017, The Asto- rian has reported. Thompson led the coun- ty’s child care work group before Kujala and Commis- sioner Courtney Bangs took over from her. Wev said the county is likely to help with child care projects such as Asto- ria’s partnership with Bum- ble Art Studio to preserve day care options . Bumble is taking over the operations of Sprouts Learning Center, a city-run child care program that was set to close at the end June. The county has dedicated federal American Rescue Consult a PROFESSIONAL LEO FINZI Attendees listen to candidates talk during Tuesday’s forum at Clatsop Community College. Lydia Ely/ The Astorian addiction treatment . “If we deal with home- lessness, if we deal with mental illness, if we deal with poverty, we’re deal- ing with the outcomes rather than the source … I think if we fi x our drug addiction problem, we’re going to see a huge reduction in all those other areas,” he said. Weber, a former mayor of Tillamook, pointed to addressing homelessness, similarly noting that solving one challenge could improve the others. Busch did not identify one issue, but instead sug- gested investment in com- prehensive health care that would take on all four . “These are all intertwined issues. I think if we are look- ing (at) them in separate silos then we will not solve the problem,” she said. “We need … (to) address them simultaneously so that we can actually get real solu- tions that are sustainable, not just for an immediate Band-Aid, but a long-term solution.” As communities across the North Coast struggle with the lack of housing options, Javadi said tack- ling the problem should start with the adjustment of out- dated land use laws. Laity pointed to several potential solutions. “We’re losing our work- ers, and as your next state legislator, I will work to rework our zoning codes to allow for multifamily hous- ing, expand down payment assistance and make zoning more effi cient by providing incentives to our local plan- ning departments to make permitting more effi cient and eff ective,” he said. Weber and Javadi fre- quently pointed to govern- ment regulations as obsta- cles , citing what they see as the need for local control in areas like logging, fi shing and schools. “Local control is import- ant. I think this was pointed out to us very poignantly during the pandemic because children were at home and parents fi nally saw what children were learning and they weren’t happy,” said Weber, a former elementary school teacher. Busch said the conversa- tion around education has become too politicized. H er concern is not with govern- ment overreach, she said, but with a lack of funding. With the U.S. Supreme Court about to weigh in again on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 rul- ing on abortion, abortion rights could be an issue in the November elec- tion. Busch and Laity indi- cated their strong support for abortion rights. Weber described herself as “pro- choice from conception to natural death,” while Javadi described himself as “pro-life.” Astoria’s Best The U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce in Portland said that from about 2006 to 2010 Cazee posed online as, alternately, a young man and a teenage boy to get teenage girls to trust him and send him sexual images of themselves. “In at least one instance, Cazee mailed a webcam and a teddy bear to a minor victim and convinced her to produce sexually explicit videos for him using the webcam,” the agency said in a statement . The victims spoke at the sentencing hearing. One was 15 when Cazee manip- ulated her into believing she had developed an online rela- tionship with a young man. Cazee later led her to believe that the boy had died of can- cer. Only when federal inves- tigators contacted her did she learn what Cazee had put her through. Kevin Sonoff , the public aff airs offi cer with the U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce, District of Oregon, said of the victims’ statements, “I think all of us were very impressed and moved by their composure and courage that they demon- strated today.” The sentencing comes more than a year after the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned Cazee’s Circuit Court convictions for “peep- ing Tom” crimes that he com- mitted from about 2014 to 2017. Cazee had been caught lurking around homes in his neighborhood, peeking into windows, and recording vic- tims in states of undress and engaged in private, some- times sexual behavior. A jury found Cazee guilty of more than 20 counts that involved invading personal privacy, criminal trespass, stalking and using a child in a display of sexual conduct. He was sentenced to 35 years. The appeals court found that Cazee’s cellphone, which contained pornographic vid- eos of underage girls, had been seized without probable cause. Once the incriminating cellphone evidence, and the evidence that stemmed from it, was deemed off -limits, the victims’ testimony could not be substantiated. The case was dismissed. Clatsop County District Attorney Ron Brown praised federal prosecutors for pursu- ing a case against Cazee. “I was glad to see him get what he got,” Brown said. Some of Cazee’s Clatsop County victims were present at his sentencing on Monday, Brown said. With credit for time served, Cazee will be in his mid-70s when he is released. “The world will be a better place for that length of time,” Brown said. All Windows 10 desktop computers 50% OFF! Mon-Fri 10-6 Sat/Sun Closed 77 11th Street, Suite H Astoria, OR 503-325-2300 AstoriasBest.com ASTORIA CHIROPRACTIC By phone, by calling 877-322-8228 You may need to send in a paper request. cover chiropractic care for auto-related injuries? A: Yes! 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Online, by visiting: AnnualCreditReport.com cover chiropractic care without a referral from your 503-325-3311 primary care physician. Call 1490 Marine Dr., us today for more info or to Suite 202 Astoria, Oregon schedule your appointment. 971-704-1716 further guidance is received, the transit district said. Masks are also no longer required at Portland Interna- tional Airport or Seattle-Ta- coma International Airport. Get a free copy of your credit score from each of the three major credit reporting agencies Alicia M. Smith, DC Owner Masks: Change went into eff ect immediately said. “We ask that people be kind and respectful of a per- son’s individual decision to wear a mask or not.” Masks will still be required on RideAssist vehicles until Visit Experian.com and register for FREE alerts for changes to your credit score, new inquiries, and much more. Q: Will insurance Representative “We understand that rid- ers and transit employees will have mixed feelings about this sudden change,” Jeff Hazen, the transit dis- trict’s executive director, Credit and Identity Monitoring Be prepared to have current credit information (mortgage, credit card) which will be used to verify your identity. Cazee: Posed online as a young man, teenage boy Continued from Page A1 Plan Act money to expand- ing child care, Kujala said. Pinkstaff said child care has been over-regulated. When his grandmother ran a day care, he said, “the regu- lations weren’t there that are there today.” “I think we took away the parent’s right to know what’s best for their chil- dren,” he said. Wev responded that she doesn’t think regulation is a bad thing. “If I’ve learned anything in my career, it is that there are a lot of people … who have expertise in diff erent areas that I don’t have, and therefore I think that those regulations are often very good,” she said. Dillard said the county needs to, “when possible, incentivize private child care.” The candidates’ forum was organized by the Amer- ican Association of Univer- sity Women Astoria Branch in partnership with the col- lege, KMUN and The Astorian. 949 Exchange St. Astoria, OR 503-325-3211 business and inform readers about the types of services you provide. All you need to do is come up with a question that a customer might ask about your line of expertise and then give a detailed answer to help educate them before they even walk through your door. We are offering great rates and package deals that help save you money!
