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Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The Port of Astoria is encouraged by the fi nancial
performance of the West Mooring Basin and boatyard.
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Port sees
improved
revenue
There are two contested races for Astoria City Council in November.
Better return from boatyard, marina
Lineup takes shape
for November election
ELECTION 2022
The lineup is set for the
Nov. 8 election.
ASTORIA
Mayor
• Sean Fitzpatrick
Ward 1
• Andy Davis
• Geoff Gunn
Ward 3
• Elisabeth Adams
Housing, homelessness, child care and
economic development likely to dominate
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
oters on the North Coast
will choose city lead-
ership in the Novem-
ber election, with issues
such as housing, home-
lessness, child care and eco-
nomic development likely to
dominate the campaigns.
Ballots will feature con-
tested races for mayor in
Warrenton and Cannon
Beach and for City Council
in Astoria, Gearhart, Seaside
and Cannon Beach.
Voters will also weigh
several ballot measures,
including improvements to
the Astoria and Warrenton
libraries and temporary bans
on psilocybin in Seaside and
the unincorporated parts of
Clatsop County.
The last day for local can-
didates to fi le was Tuesday.
Along with the
city elections, voters
will decide who will
represent the region
in Salem in the state
House and Senate.
V
Astoria
In Astoria, three of
the fi ve slots on the City Coun-
cil were open after Mayor
Bruce Jones, City Councilor
Joan Herman and City Coun-
cilor Roger Rocka chose not
to run for reelection.
Sean Fitzpatrick, who
owns Wecoma Partners and
serves on the Planning Com-
mission, is uncontested for
mayor.
Elisabeth Adams, the
owner of Wild Roots Move-
ment & Massage, and Kris
Haefker, a general contrac-
tor and housing provider, will
run in Herman’s downtown
Ward 3.
Andy Davis, a senior
research analyst for the Ore-
gon Health Authority, and
Geoff Gunn, the chef and
general manager of Bridge-
water Bistro, will vie for Roc-
ka’s Ward 1, which covers
the Port of Astoria, Union-
town and the western edge of
downtown.
An $8 million bond would
help fi nance a $10.6 million
renovation of the Astoria
Library. The tax rate is esti-
mated at 57 cents per $1,000
of assessed property value.
The renovation project
would make the library more
accessible and upgrade infra-
structure in the 55-year-old
building on 10th Street.
City leaders have stressed
that designs for the renova-
tion are conceptual and could
change with public feed-
back if the bond measure is
approved.
Warrenton
In Warrenton, Mayor
Henry Balensifer and City
Commissioner Rick Newton
will compete for the top post.
Balensifer, a sales and
marketing manager at JBT
AeroTech who was
elected to the City
Commission in 2012,
was appointed mayor
in 2017 and elected to
a four-year term the
following year.
Newton, a former
NAPA Auto Parts store
owner, was elected to the City
Commission in 2014. Over the
past year, he has clashed with
Balensifer and other commis-
sioners over the city’s direc-
tion and resisted calls from
fellow commissioners that he
resign over his behavior.
Paul Mitchell, the chair-
man of the Planning Commis-
sion, is uncontested to replace
Newton in Position 4.
A fi ve-year local option
levy would fund operations
and community programs,
support staff and extend hours
at the Warrenton Community
Library.
The levy, which would
raise the tax rate from 33
cents to 38 cents per $1,000
of assessed property value,
would generate nearly $1.5
million.
• Kris Haefker
WARRENTON
Mayor
• Mayor Henry Balensifer
• City Commissioner Rick
Newton
Position 4
• Paul Mitchell
GEARHART
Position 1
• City Councilor Dana
Gould
• Anne Mesch
Position 3
As the Port of Asto-
ria recovers from years of
fi nancial instability, the
agency has seen improved
revenue from the boatyard
and West Mooring Basin.
While the numbers are
estimated until the agen-
cy’s audit is complete, the
fi nancials from the last fi s-
cal year that ended in June
show the boatyard received
over $220,000 — or 158%
— above what was bud-
geted. Revenue from the
West Mooring Basin came
in $46,813 — or 107% —
above projections. The rev-
enue from both facilities
were higher than the previ-
ous fi scal year’s fi gures.
Will Isom, the Port’s
executive director , called
the fi nancial performance
of the boatyard and marina
“encouraging.”
“One of the goals
back when I started at the
Port actually, specifi cally
looking at the marina,
which had operated in the
red for a long time, was to
make sure that that busi-
ness unit was more self-sus-
tained,” he said. “ … Ide-
ally, these business units
would be able to operate
on a stand-alone basis and
the revenue they gener-
ate would be suffi cient to
not only fund annual oper-
ations, but also invest back
into the facility.”
For the marina, Isom
partially attributed the
increased revenue to the
higher price of fuel and an
ongoing rate increase to
moorage, but added that the
volume of customers has
been high.
Looking to meet the
demand for moorage, the
Port has invested in the
replacement of pilings and
dredging.
Isom said the boatyard is
also seeing greater demand.
In June, the Port received
See Port, Page A6
• City Councilor Brent
Warren
• Preston Devereaux
SEASIDE
Mayor
• City Councilor Steve
Wright
Ward 1
• Steve Dillard
• Duane Solem
Ward 2
• City Councilor Tita
Montero
• Dan Schorr
Ward 3 and Ward 4
• Seamus McVey
• Seth Morrisey
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A play area at the Step Ahead Academy in Gearhart.
• Marcus Runkle
CANNON BEACH
Mayor
• Barb Knop
• Erik Ostrander
City Council at-large
• City Councilor Robin
Risley
• Gary Hayes
New preschool
opens in Gearhart
Organizers
hope to fi ll need
• Lisa Kerr
• Deanna Pauli-
Hammond
• Jenee Pearce-Mushen
• Laurie Simpkins
State House District 32
• Cyrus Javadi (R)
• Logan Laity (D)
State Senate District 16
• Melissa Busch (D)
• Rep. Suzanne Weber (R)
See Election, Page A6
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
By ABBEY
McDONALD
The Astorian
GEARHART — Col-
orful backpacks hang in
the cubbies at the front
of Step Ahead Academy
and books line the shelves
inside. Toys wait in boxes,
and each tiny chair is per-
fectly in place at every
tiny table. Pickle the tad-
pole fl oats in his tank atop
a shelf.
The only thing missing
from the new preschool is
the students.
Nancy Taylor, the owner
of Infi nity Gymnastics in
Astoria, has opened a new
preschool in Gearhart.
She’s hoping to address the
region’s child care short-
age, but is still working on
getting the word out about
it.
“There was a big need
for it in our area, so we’re
trying to fi ll a need,” Tay-
lor said.
See Preschool, Page A6