A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
Seaside announces fi nalists
for city manager position
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Three fi nal-
ists for city manager will go
before the public next week
as the city seeks to fi ll the
role.
Spencer Kyle, Esther
Moberg, and Matthew Selby
were announced as the fi nal-
ists on Monday after a four-
month search .
City Manager Mark Win-
stanley, who has held the job
since 2001, will retire at the
end of June.
Jensen Strategies, a
recruiting fi rm, conducted
the search, with candi-
date interviews, City Coun-
cil guidance, public surveys
and listening sessions.
A former director of
administrative services for
South Jordan, Utah, Kyle
has 16 years of govern-
ment experience. He has
also served as assistant city
manager and assistant to the
city manager for Saratoga
Springs, Utah, and fi nance
intern for Lehi City, Utah.
Moberg, Seaside’s library
director and public informa-
tion offi cer, has nine years of
local government manage-
ment experience. She served
as youth services librarian
and volunteer manager for
Lane Library District/Cre-
swell Library and assistant
librarian for Gearhart Ele-
mentary School, among
other library positions.
Selby, most recently
interim assistant city man-
ager for Yakima, Washing-
ton, has 11 years of local
government management
experience. Earlier, he
served as the interim exec-
utive director for Middlesex
West Chamber of Commerce
in Massachusetts, land use
and economic development
director for Acton, Massa-
chusetts, as well as direc-
tor of community develop-
ment and health, economic
development
coordinator
and conservation agent and
zoning enforcement offi cer
for Ashland, Massachusetts.
The position is budgeted
at up to $140,000. Winstan-
ley receives an annual salary
of $130,620.
The community is invited
to meet the fi nalists and
share their feedback at a
community reception from
6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday
at City Hall. The City Coun-
cil plans additional execu-
tive sessions on May 19 and
May 20 to fi nalize the selec-
tion process.
Music program: ‘Really good progress’
Continued from Page A1
“There were a lot of things
to overcome, but in gen-
eral, the district personnel,
teachers and many parents
have been very supportive,
wonderfully
supportive,”
he said. “It’s a slow start –
small classes, slow start –
but we’ve made really good
progress this year.”
One of Achilles’ priorities
is getting instruments in stu-
dents’ hands as early as pos-
sible. While second grad-
ers use recorders, third and
fourth graders play big Afri-
can marimbas. Fifth grad-
ers use concert instruments
– ones made from plastic to
maximize durability.
In building the program
from the ground up, Achil-
les sees real value for the
students and community
with the return of music
education.
“The science is in …
learning a musical instrument
in the context of a group does
Ethan Myers/The Astorian
The Knappa School District sees value in music education for
students.
teach you how to process
information and learn,” he
said. “ ... What we’re doing
is we’re opening the lives of
these kids and it’s something
that will increase their value
of life and enjoyment of life
for the rest of their life. A nd
if they run with it, they can
play for the rest of their life.”
Citing personal reasons,
Achilles is stepping away at
the end of the school year to
begin doing private lessons.
Fritz plans to keep the
momentum moving forward
and is interviewing potential
candidates to take the reins.
“I wanted every child to
fi nd something they love
about coming to school …
to now have (music) as one
of our options, where it does
so many good things for peo-
ple, we owed it to them to do
that,” Fritz said.
Estes: Time marked by rapid renewal
Continued from Page A1
While Estes said he was
not searching for a new
job, the position piqued his
interest. A longtime plan-
ner, Estes said the new role
gives him the opportunity
to focus on planning-re-
lated issues and remain on
the North Coast.
“I have truly enjoyed
working with the citizens
of Astoria during my ten-
ure with the c ity in tack-
ling sticky issues while at
the same time achieving
many community goals,”
Estes said in a statement.
“We have a great, hard-
working staff whom I
have had the pleasure to
work alongside over the
years; and I’ve had the
pleasure of working with
a number of dedicated
elected and appointed
individuals who are
focused on making Asto-
ria a better place.”
Mayor Bruce Jones
praised Estes’ leadership,
calling him “extraordi-
narily eff ective and com-
petent in overseeing the
complete range of c ity
operations.”
“I rely on his deep
expertise and background
knowledge of myriad
issues, ranging from per-
sonnel and fi nance to
state infrastructure fund-
ing and economic devel-
opment,” Jones said. “ He
has always provided wise
counsel during my 5 ½
years on the City Council.
While I am deeply disap-
pointed to lose him, I am
glad for his new oppor-
tunity and wish him the
very best.”
The City Council will
consider the selection of
an executive recruitment
fi rm and possibly appoint
an interim city manager.
“As we have seen with
other cities in recent years,
the market for highly
qualifi ed individuals is
extremely tight,” Jones
said. “The rapid esca-
lation of housing prices
makes outside recruit-
ment even more diffi cult.”
Jones added, “the c oun-
cil will focus on its annual
goals, and prioritize to keep
key initiatives, particu-
larly code changes related
to housing density and the
Port of Astoria w aterfront
m aster p lan, moving for-
ward despite the transition in
leadership.”
In Astoria, the city man-
ager runs day-to-day oper-
ations. The City Council
supervises the city manager
and sets policy.
Estes’ time in Astoria
has been marked by rapid
renewal.
In recent years, the city
has focused on improving
the local economy, livability
and quality of life concerns
by addressing issues such as
homelessness, housing and
child care.
This year , the city and the
Port adopted a waterfront
master plan to redevelop the
area between Pier 1 and the
Astoria Bridge in Union-
town. The plan is a joint
eff ort to strengthen Astoria’s
working waterfront and pro-
vide living-wage jobs.
When Estes began as the
city’s community develop-
ment director, his fi rst task
was to develop a R iverfront
V ision P lan that addressed
issues and concerns about
development along the
Columbia River.
“That was really the fi rst
time having to dive in to
some tough, sticky issues
and really be able to get to
understand the various per-
spectives and sides to land
use and development within
Astoria,” Estes said. “I think
working through that proj-
ect, when I fi rst came on,
really set the tone for really
kind of understanding the
community and really appre-
ciating the people here.”
Estes said the city has
worked to maintain Astoria’s
authenticity during times of
change and keep it a place
that is appreciated by locals.
He pointed to a man-
tra that things in Astoria are
done “for locals fi rst, and if
visitors like it, even better.”
“I really appreciate that
perspective,” Estes said.
“And that’s something that
I really felt was important
to be able to do in my work
as community development
director and city manager.”
Consult a
PROFESSIONAL
LEO FINZI
Low-Cost Internet
If anyone in your household
benefits from SNAP, Medicaid,
WIC, SSI, Federal Public Housing
Assistance (FPHA), Veterans
Pension and Survivors Benefit,
Fast Friendly
Free and Reduced-Price School
and Affordable
Lunch Program or School Breakfast
Program, or received a Federal Pell
Grant in the current award year or
if your income is 200% or less than
Dell Inspiron 15 - Intel i3,
the Federal Poverty Guidelines,
8 GB, 256 GB $499.99
you qualify!
Mon-Fri 10-6 Sat/Sun Closed
77 11th Street, Suite H
Visit
Astoria, OR
https://nv.fcc.gov/lifeline/?id=nv_flow&ebbp=true
503-325-2300
to apply
AstoriasBest.com
Astoria’s Best
Campers: Police’s ability to enforce new rules limited
Continued from Page A1
Without options, police
are limited in their ability to
enforce the new rules.
“It’s going to be diffi cult
for the city,” City Manager
Mark Winstanley said. “There
isn’t going to be a site where
people are going to come to
you and say, ‘Oh, you found
the perfect place.’ It isn’t
going to happen that way.”
Vehicles, including vans
or motor homes, would need
to be registered and in com-
pliance with vehicle insur-
ance responsibilities.
A proposal to move RV
parking and tents to areas
south of Alder Mill Road and
east of public works could
handle about 20 RVs and 20
to 40 tents, Police Chief Dave
Ham said.
“We can fi t many tents
in there for people who are
using tents as their shelter,”
Ham said. “The idea would
be to put some Jersey barriers
across there so motor vehi-
cles wouldn’t be able to phys-
ically go through there.”
But parts of that property
are owned by the city and the
North Coast Land Conser-
vancy, a natural area that was
acquired in 2002 with private
and grant money for the pur-
poses of conservation, City
Councilor Tom Horning, who
serves on the land conservan-
cy’s board, said.
“It’s encumbered,” Horning
said. “It’s got contracts with the
funders who gave us the money
to acquire it. And we can’t rede-
fi ne the usage of the property
without their permission.”
With saltwater and fresh-
water ponds, Horning said,
the success of the Neawanna
River as a salmon hatchery is
“unparalleled.”
“Basically, it’s one of the
greatest salmon factories that
you can have on the Oregon
Coast,” Horning said. “You
get twice as many bird spe-
cies as any other place in the
county. Just because it’s open
and natural doesn’t mean it’s
a wasteland or anything that
could be converted into some
more urban usage.”
The Mill Ponds is already
off the list of permitted sites,
he added, as camping on pub-
lic parkland is prohibited in
the ordinance.
City Councilor Dana
Phillips asked the city to
take all residential areas off
the list of potential overnight
camping sites.
“I really have apprehen-
sion about having any camp-
ing in a residential area any-
where,” Phillips said. “I really
have a problem with the fact
that after driving through Port-
land and seeing what is hap-
pening in neighborhoods, that
it’s going to get out of hand.”
Winstanley proposed a
look at the contract with
Recology, which operates
the recycling center on land
owned by the city. That space
could be used for campers.
Other options could come
through the purchase of prop-
erty or a building.
“There will be an obsta-
cle or two with every piece of
property that we are looking
at,” Winstanley said.
City Councilor Tita Mon-
tero suggested possible
incentives for property own-
ers to sell or lease to the
city. “I would like people to
maybe think about what kind
of arrangements or entice-
ments the city is willing to
off er to some private land-
owner who might want to get
involved with the city in this
endeavor, ” she said.
Montero also proposed
a centralized location, pos-
sibly with the help of agen-
cies such as Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare and Clatsop
Community Action. “I think
it would make it much eas-
ier if they can go to just one
place,” she said.
The workshop ended with
more questions than answers,
including the structure of the
Mill Ponds deal, the availability
of the recycling lot and poten-
tial sites for purchase or lease.
“In the interim, what tem-
porary steps could we take as
a council to be able to respond
by the time the ordinance
goes into eff ect?” Mayor Jay
Barber asked.
The city could hold another
workshop before the City
Council meeting on May 23 ,
with additional information
about available land or build-
ings and property or lease
contracts on potential sites.
“We need to do some-
thing now to make sure that
we have access for our home-
less people to go this summer
during tourist season,” Phil-
lips said. “We as a city must
take a stand and get some-
thing done on a short-term
basis. And I would love it if
the county would work with
all of our cities and come up
with a property somewhere in
the county.”
Q: What is love?
A: Now that is a difficult
ASTORIA
CHIROPRACTIC
Alicia M. Smith, DC
Owner
503-325-3311
2935 Marine Drive
Astoria, Oregon
question, but we can
promise to get you back
to doing THINGS that
you love!
Small adjustments make a
world of difference.
Q: Does oral
health affect
overall health?
you probably
A: Although
understand that poor dental
JEFFREY M. LEINASSAR
DMD, FAGD
L E I NA S S A R
DENTAL EXCELLENCE
503/325-0310
1414 MARINE DRIVE,
ASTORIA
www.smileastoria.com
care can lead to cavities, did you
know that other, more serious
health problems can also result
from poor oral care? The truth
is that if you don’t take proper
care of your teeth, you could face
far more serious consequences
than a simple toothache or some
unsightly stains. You could face
cardiovascular disease, dementia,
respiratory infection, diabetic
complications and more.
is the Consult
Q: What
a Professional section
and how can it help my
business?
Consult a Professional
A: The
section in The Astorian is a great
Heather Jenson and affordable way to advertise your
Advertising
Representative
971-704-1716
www.dailyastorian.com
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!