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June 21, 2019
T he C olumbia P ress
Port: Resigning director says he wishes port well
Continued from Page 1
½ years with the port,” he said.
“I’ll probably take some ex-
tended time off to gather my-
self to see what comes next.”
Commission
Chairman
Frank Spence said he’s glad
the issue is resolved. He be-
came the swing vote, joining
commissioners Hunsinger and
Dirk Rohne in a decision to fire
Knight after getting a dismal
report back from their ad hoc
finance committee.
“It might take up to two years
to get back into good shape,”
Spence said. “During the ne-
gotiations that were taking
place all afternoon between
Mr. Knight’s and the port’s at-
torneys, neither side wanted
this dragged out. We wanted
closure and to have everything
completed by the end of day
and the end of this fiscal year,
which ends at the end of this
month.”
Spence said the entire com-
mission is looking forward to
having Scott McClaine join the
panel, replacing Hunsinger, ef-
fective next month.
“He will be a new fresh objec-
tive independent voice on the
commission. And now we have
to face all the problems and at-
tack them. … We intend to work
together in the best interest of
all the people of Clatsop Coun-
ty.”
The Port of Astoria was
founded in 1914 to boost trade,
but the past two decades have
been a rocky road.
Twenty years ago, Peter
Gearin was hired as executive
director. He was fired under
a cloud eight years later and
eventually pleaded guilty in
federal court to violating the
federal Clean Water Act over
mishandling
contaminated
dredge spoils.
Gearin was replaced by Jack
Crider, who resigned a year
later; Herb Florer, who served
as interim director; Hank By-
naker, who resigned after a
year; and Mike Weston, who
was appointed interim director
and replaced by Knight.
WHS hires new
basketball coach
Warrenton High School has
a new girls basketball coach.
Jake Mullins previously had
been varsity assistant coach
and coach of the boys JV
team for three years.
He is a 2004 WHS graduate
and holds a master’s degree
in Education from Western
Governors University in Salt
Lake City. He teaches social
studies and science at War-
renton Middle
School. He will
continue to be a
member of the
WHS
football
coaching staff.
“(We’re) excit-
ed to bring Jake
Mullins in as our next
head girls basketball coach,”
said Ian O’Brien, vice prin-
cipal. “He has high energy,
outstanding work ethic and
understands the game of
basketball with a passion for
Warrenton High School ath-
letics.”