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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JuNE 4, 2022
Gearhart mayor resigns
Exit comes after firehouse bond failure
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
GEARHART — Pau-
lina Cockrum has resigned
as mayor of Gearhart, citing
personal reasons.
In a letter to the City
Council, staff, the Planning
Commission, volunteer fire
department and residents,
she said the resignation was
effective Thursday.
“It has been my plea-
sure to serve on the Planning
Commission
2008-2015,
City Council 2015-2020, and
truly an honor to serve as
mayor for the past year and
a half,” she said in an email
statement. “Together we have
accomplished great things.”
The resignation comes
after the failure of a con-
tentious $14.5 million bond
measure in May to fund a
new firehouse and police sta-
tion on land north of the city.
“Some Gearhart residents
have argued that this isn’t
a good time to ask the vot-
ers for a bond to build a new
fire-police station,” she said
in presenting plans to voters.
“I say, ‘If not now, when?’”
Originally from Seat-
tle, Cockrum was a nurse at
Columbia Memorial Hospital
in Astoria and selected by the
governor to serve on a work
group for criteria for coordi-
nated care organizations.
The former planning com-
missioner was appointed
by Mayor Dianne Widdop
to fill the unexpired term of
City Councilor John Duncan
in District 3 after Duncan’s
serve the Gearhart
death in 2015.
we love,” Cockrum
She serves on
said.
the city’s Commu-
nity
Emergency
During her time as
Response Team.
mayor, Gearhart fin-
ished its parks master
Cockrum
ran
plan, began develop-
unopposed for mayor
Paulina
ment of a children’s
in 2020 after Matt
Cockrum
play area at Centen-
Brown announced
nial Park, limited
he would not seek
reelection. She received 96% contractor working hours,
of votes cast, winning nearly endorsed a Gearhart ZIP code
950 votes out of the city’s and passed zoning amend-
ments designed to assist
1,500 registered voters.
After the election, she downtown businesses.
As City Council presi-
said her goals included “get-
ting past the COVID-19 pan- dent, Kerry Smith will serve
demic and the turmoil of the as interim mayor.
national election and look
Vacant seats are filled
forward to the future.”
by appointment by a major-
At the time, said she hoped ity vote of the remain-
to prioritize the needs of fire- ing members of the coun-
fighters and implement the cil. The appointee’s term of
city’s hazard mitigation plan. office begins immediately on
“There is no shortage of appointment and continues
great things we can work on through the unexpired term
for all of our residents to pre- of their predecessor.
Director: ‘We’re definitely poised to move up’
Continued from Page A1
The housing author-
ity provides critical hous-
ing assistance to low-income
residents in Clatsop, Colum-
bia and Tillamook counties.
“I for one am very excited
Elissa is here,” Evans told
the board. “And I feel really
good about all the work that
we’ve done over the last year
and a half plus to get to this
point, and really feel Elissa
will be able to move NOHA
to the next level and beyond
the next level.
“I think we’ve set the
foundation, and in some
cases we found the floor. But
we’re definitely poised to
move up.”
Quadel was hired in 2020
to manage the agency’s hous-
ing choice voucher program
after the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Devel-
opment flagged the housing
authority as “troubled” fol-
lowing an audit report. The
program, which is the agen-
cy’s primary housing assis-
tance program, helps low-in-
come families find rental
housing.
When the agency’s for-
mer executive director,
Todd Johnston, resigned in
the fall of 2020, Evans was
appointed as interim director.
Evans has since worked
with the board and the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development on a
corrective action plan to
move the agency from trou-
bled to what HUD calls a
“standard performer.”
Evans told the board on
Thursday that he expects to
have a letter from HUD by
the end of the month notify-
ing the housing authority that
it has moved to a standard
performer.
In 2020, Evans and Nina
Reed, the board’s chair-
woman, attributed the disar-
ray of the voucher program
New affordable apartments are planned in Warrenton.
to staff turnover and incon-
sistent management, which
resulted in a lack of capac-
ity of the staff to do the job
in a way that met HUD’s
expectations.
The program was also
experiencing a financial
shortfall, and the agency was
advised by HUD to stop issu-
ing new vouchers until fund-
ing stabilized.
The program is no longer
in a shortfall, and Evans said
the housing authority has
been slowly issuing vouchers
for just over a year.
He said that everyone that
had been previously selected
off the waiting list, but had to
wait for a voucher, has been
served. The housing author-
ity began to issue vouchers
to new people on the waiting
list in May.
During the meeting Thurs-
day, Reed thanked Evans for
his leadership during the tran-
sition. Other commissioners
echoed her comments.
“A big ‘thank you’ to
Quadel for all their energy
and help and assistance and
cleanup — lots of cleanup,”
Utility rates: Use of general
fund to keep rates down floated
Continued from Page A1
As far as wastewater, the
City Council approved sev-
eral transfers to deal with
emergency situations such as
replacement generators and
check valves that had a signifi-
cantly negative impact on the
contingency and subsequently
the wastewater fund balance.
St. Denis said the city is
starting to repay loans on
wastewater
improvements
and does not recommend
using the general fund in lieu
of rate increases.
Mayor Sam Steidel advo-
cated for using the gen-
eral fund to keep rates down
for people who are on fixed
incomes and are already
experiencing cost increases in
other areas.
“That’s
where
this
becomes a challenging issue
right at this moment,” Steidel
said. “It’s possible we could
look at it in September (and
it) be totally different — we
don’t know where the econ-
omy is going to be. But my
guess is that at least within
the next year, two months, it’s
going to be tight. So, can we
save somebody a few bucks,
maybe we can.”
Others, including City
Councilor Mike Benefield,
argued that without rate
increases the city would move
backward.
“We haven’t really had a
gradual increase in rates. We
didn’t increase the rates,”
Benefield said. “And now we
really need to increase rates
and it’s a cause for concern.
And if we continue to put that
off, the cause for concern will
grow and grow until pretty
soon we’re back to the old
way, and that is using the gen-
eral fund to pay for the ser-
vices that we provide in our
utilities.”
Based on discussion with
the City Council, St. Denis
told The Astorian that city
staff plans to propose that
water rates increase by 3%
and wastewater rates increase
by 6%. The difference
between 6% and the origi-
nal 9% increase proposed for
wastewater rates could come
from the general fund on a
one-time basis.
Reed said.
Despite the setbacks, the
housing authority managed to
move forward on two afford-
able housing projects in Clat-
sop County.
A groundbreaking for Tril-
lium House at Chelsea Gar-
dens, an affordable housing
project next to Home Depot
in Warrenton, will he held on
Tuesday.
The four-story build-
ing will have 42 one, two
and three bedroom units for
households earning up to
60% of area median income.
The housing author-
ity is partnering with Clat-
sop Behavioral Healthcare
and Clatsop Community
Action to provide services to
residents.
Five units will be dedicated
for households with serious
mental illness, with Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare pro-
viding referrals and support-
ive services. Eight units will
be reserved for households
with project-based vouchers
and six will be reserved for
households under the agri-
culture workforce tax credit
program, which could be
used for workers at seafood
processors.
The housing authority also
unveiled a plan in April to
double the size of the Owens-
Adair, an affordable hous-
ing complex on 15th and
Exchange streets in Astoria.
A new four-story, 50-unit
apartment would mirror the
building and be built over
the parking lot. The project
would likely serve low-in-
come seniors and people
with disabilities earning 30%
to 50% of the area median
income.
The building would
include 40 one-bedroom
apartments and 10 studio
apartments, along with base-
ment parking with 55 park-
ing spots.
The housing authority
applied to the state for gov-
ernment financial help in late
April, and expects to learn
whether the application has
been approved by August.
If approved, construction
could begin by the summer
of 2023 and the project could
be completed by 2024.
Graduation: ‘It’s a time
dedicated to really applaud
their accomplishments’
Continued from Page A1
will hold its graduation
at 7 p.m. on June 11 in
the Knappa High School.
An awards program for
seniors will be held on
Tuesday.
The Seaside School
District will host gradu-
ation at 7 p.m. on Thurs-
day at the Seaside Civic
and Convention Center.
Earlier that day, graduates
will make their traditional
walk around Pacific Ridge
Elementary so younger
students can show their
support.
Ceremonies for sports,
seniors and scholarships
happen in the days before
graduation.
Jewell School District’s
graduation will take place
at the school, in a covered
area outdoors, at 2 p.m.
on June 18. The cere-
mony will be followed by
refreshments and a senior
slideshow.
Commencement fes-
tivities for graduates from
Clatsop Community Col-
lege will happen in Patriot
Hall at 4 p.m. on June 17.
Sheila Roley, a former
superintendent in Seaside,
will speak at graduation.
There are no capacity
limits due to the coronavi-
rus, however a livestream-
ing option will be avail-
able through the college’s
YouTube channel.
“Commencement
is
the culmination of all the
hard work and dedica-
tion our students have put
in throughout their col-
lege career, especially
acknowledging their per-
severance in these past
years through COVID,”
Chris Breitmeyer, the col-
lege’s president, said in a
statement. “It’s a time ded-
icated to really applaud
their
accomplishments.
We are excited to cele-
brate this milestone with
our graduates.”
Capsizing: The
crew got about two
hours of sleep over
a 40-hour period
Continued from Page A1
for prosecution. The
report also recommends
that the Coast Guard
Marine Safety Unit Port-
land issue a civil pen-
alty against Anderson for
negligence.
Investigators spoke to
survivors and witnesses
and examined footage of
the event.
On Feb. 20, 2021,
after 4 p.m., the 38-foot
vessel attempted to cross
the bar with four men and
about two tons of Dunge-
ness crab aboard. Coastal
Reign’s crew had spent
the previous week crab
fishing on multiple trips
and wanted to sell their
catch at Garibaldi, where
it would fetch more
money per pound than it
would in Warrenton.
Over a 40-hour
period, the report found,
the crew got about two
hours of sleep.
In addition, three of
the four crew members,
including
Anderson,
had smoked marijuana
during the trip, including
about half an hour before
they tried to cross the bar
amid turbulent waters,
the report found.
The Tillamook Bay
bar is among the most
hazardous in the coun-
try, “challenging even for
the most experienced of
operators,” Capt. Chris-
topher Coutu, the inves-
tigating officer from
Coast Guard 17th Dis-
trict, said.
That day, the bar had
been closed to recre-
ational and uninspected
passenger vessels under
40 feet long, but not
to commercial fishing
vessels.
Todd Chase, 51, the
secondary operator from
Warrenton, tried to enter
the bar through the pre-
ferred route in the north,
which is buoy-marked,
but backed out.
Anderson took con-
trol, tried to cut through
the south route and ran
over the submerged end
of the bar’s south jetty.
Several hundred feet of
the jetty lies underwater;
white waves break on the
water’s surface above the
boulders.
Anderson brought the
Coastal Reign “about
600 feet east of where
he should have been,”
Coutu said.
Three waves struck
the vessel’s port side; the
third capsized it. All four
crew members were in
the pilothouse when the
vessel overturned.
Chase
drowned
before he was found.
Zachary Zappone, 41,
a deckhand, also from
Warrenton, was pro-
nounced dead at Oregon
Health & Science Uni-
versity Hospital.
The presence of mari-
juana on board was con-
firmed through drug tests
and physical evidence
that washed ashore. Zap-
pone’s backpack, con-
taining marijuana in a
glass jar and a plastic
bag, turned up with other
debris.
Chase did not par-
take and had expressed
misgivings about drug
use on the trip, the report
found. His crew mates
hid their drug use from
him, according to the
report.
Chase helped Zap-
pone and the other deck-
hand put on their lifejack-
ets. He was not wearing
one himself; neither was
Anderson. There is not
enough information to
know whether lifejack-
ets were a factor in the
deaths, Coutu said.
A few years ago,
the preferred channel
switched from the south
to the north; the buoy
system was changed
accordingly.
“Did the movement
of the buoy cause the
casualty? No. Would it
have been helpful? Yes.
Yes. It would have been
helpful for (Anderson) to
have,” Coutu said.
There are other signs
that mariners can see and
use in making their way
over the bar, he added.
The report recom-
mends that Coast Guard
13th District conduct a
water access manage-
ment study of the area to
figure out where to place
buoys, and work with
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to determine
how much of the Til-
lamook Bay jetties are
underwater.