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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2016)
❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION BACK TO HIS ROOTS Warm wishes SPORTS — B INSIDE — A3 126TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 9 Port changes insurance ❘ NOVEMBER 19, 2016 ❘ $1.00 SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH Port manager’s recommendation overturned by 3-2 vote In a contentious three to two vote, Port of Siuslaw commissioners overrode the recommendation of port manager Steven Leskin on select- B Y J ACK D AVIS ing a new insur- Siuslaw News ance agent during the Nov. 16 meeting. Every three years, the port issues a request for proposal on selecting a new insurance agent of record to handle the port’s insurance portfolio. The agents compete on analyzing exposure, recom- mending insurance carriers, consultation and maintaining policies for a fixed per- centage of the premiums. In the past, interested companies would make a presentation to the board and the board would then select a company to manage the policies for the next three years. This year, Leskin and port employees did the research, heard presentations and made a recommendation based on the cri- teria established in previous years. Leskin said, “Our criteria were experi- ence with public entities and special dis- tricts, experience with ports and proximity to Florence and the port. We received four bids. One from Wilson Hargood out of Eugene, who has been our current agent for six years, Fullhart Insurance out of Reedsport, Coastal Insurance in Florence and Able Insurance also out of Florence.” Leskin and the port staff recommended the board approve giving the contract to Able Insurance. “Able gave a very solid presentation,” Leskin said. “She looked over quite a bit of our port records and went out of her way to make some recommendations that frankly we hadn’t seen. Additionally, they have quite a bit of experience representing ports. They currently represent Gold Beach, Port Orford and Coos Bay.” Commissioner Terry Duman quickly made a motion, but not before voicing his discontent with the process. “I sat through this process three years ago with the same applicants. I make a motion that we award the insurance contract to Coast Insurance Services.” Commissioner Mike Buckwald imme- diately seconded the motion, prompting commissioner Nancy Rickard to ask Duman why he was doing this. See PORT 7A NOTICE EARLY DEADLINES FOR THANKSGIVING WEEK INSIDE Siuslaw News is joining other area businesses by being closed Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 24. Advertisements and news items should be submitted as soon as possible next week to accommodate early dead- lines. All news articles and press releases must be submitted by Monday, Nov. 21, at noon, for both the Wednesday, Nov. 23, and Saturday, Nov. 26, issues. The deadline for display advertising in the Nov. 26 paper is Tuesday, Nov. 22, at noon. Line classifieds and legal notices for Saturday are due by Wednesday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m. Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Picture of the Week . . . . . . . . Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 A4 A7 A2 MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Native American students and parents were recognized at the Nov. 16 Siuslaw School Board meeting for their contributions to the school community and in recognition of November as National Native American Heritage month. Connecting the dots T he City in Motion continues its momentum with the hir- ing of Jesse Dolin, of Yachats, as the City of Florence’s first economic development catalyst to bring talent and jobs to the area. “We’ve been on an economic development journey since March 2015,” said City Manager Erin Reynolds, when Mayor Joe Henry launched an Economic Summit. That led to the creation of the Economic Development Committee. “Through that work, we realized there were a lot of action items that could be done to help increase jobs and growth of our existing business- es in our community. That was something more than our current staffing capacity could handle,” Reynolds said. The city decided to fund an eight- month project position to focus on economic development. The posi- tion runs from Nov. 1 to June 30. “To have someone who can always say this is their priority — growth of our community — that’s an amazing thing that the Florence City Council decided to fund,” Reynolds said. “It’s an intriguing title, economic development catalyst. What am I catalyzing? Anything economic development related,” Dolin said. “As a catalyst, my job is to facilitate making things happen more smooth- Florence selects Jesse Dolin as new economic development catalyst to drive growth B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Siuslaw News Florence’s Economic Development Catalyst Jesse Dolin COURTESY PHOTO ly and expedited, making sure noth- ing is left on the table, connecting people and bringing more jobs.” Dolin, 38, lives in Yachats and is originally from the Waldport area. “I’m very passionate about seeing these coastal towns thrive. I’m a third generation ‘coastie.’ I moved back, like most people who grew up on the coast who have to get away for a while. I realize a lot of people my age are moving back to have babysitters and be closer to family, whereas I moved back just from a love of the area. I never got enough of it,” he said. As an avid fisherman, Dolin loves the outdoors and spending time in nature. He even has a small business in Yachats, Stoney River Sinkers, that works to remove lead from the fishing industry. “I also appreciate all the gifts that living in a small community brings you, such as connecting with people and knowing everyone. It couldn’t be a better position for that, since I’m going to get to know the com- munity so well and really work on being there in any way that facili- tates growth for the city,” he said. City Recorder Kelli Weese said, “We have three legs to our econom- ic development stool: business retention and expansion, marketing and recruitment and entrepreneur- ship and innovation. Jesse is taking on two of those.” Regional Acceleration and Innovation Network (RAIN) hired David Youngentob on Nov. 1 as its coastal venture catalyst to target entrepreneurship and innovation in coastal and rural communities. “We’re really psyched, because now we have movement in all three of those economic development aspects,” Weese said. Dolin will be working with Florence’s 1,500 existing businesses and helping to bring in new busi- nesses. “I believe in connecting people to make things happen. That’s part of being a catalyst — listening and being as effective as possible to cat- alyze growth,” he said. “So much comes from collaboration and part- nerships. It’s amazing what can hap- pen when everyone rallies together to go after mutually beneficial game plans.” Since 2015, Florence has formed partnerships and strengthened ties with RAIN, South Coast Develop- ment Council, Lincoln Couny See CATALYST 7A Land/Sea Symposium packs the Commons with information, people ore than 200 central coast residents attended the fourth annual Cape Perpetua Land/Sea Symposium at the Yachats Commons on Nov. 17. The symposium was sponsored by the Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon Surfrider Foundation, Oregon Marine Preserves Partnership and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. M Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A11 Side Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . A12 THIS WEEK ’ S State Sen. Arnie to discuss ocean B Y M ARK B RENNAN Roblan was the fea- issues, and because Siuslaw News tured speaker and his the health of our energized presenta- oceans is really tion touched on numerous aspects important to our economy and to of the work necessary to restore our residents.” and maintain the Oregon coastal Roblan added that his interest resources that create jobs, draw in the ocean has always been an tourists and support our economy. integral part of his life and he is Roblan said, “I am here determined to do whatever he can because this is one of the most to safeguard the fragile resources. important gatherings in the state To that end, he is preparing to TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 60 50 55 48 54 47 54 47 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 introduce a bill designed to speak to a serious problem in a major Oregon industry, fishing. “One important piece of legis- lation we are working on deals with ocean acidification. It is real- ly affecting our shellfish industry and we need to address it, or we will completely lose this once thriving business,” he said. S IUSLAW N EWS 3 S ECTIONS ❘ 26 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2016 See SYMPOSIUM 7A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
