The Columbia press., September 02, 2022, Image 1

The
Columbia
Press
Celebrating
our
100th year
• 1922-2022
1
50 ¢
September 2, 2022
503-861-3331
Vol. 6, Issue 35
Newton to challenge Balensifer for mayor’s post
By Cindy Yingst
The Columbia Press
Warrenton City Commissioner
Rick Newton is challenging Mayor
Henry Balensifer for the city’s top
leadership role.
“I’m really torn; I really would
rather go travel,” Newton said
Balensifer
Newton
Mitchell
when asked why he wanted to go
head-to-head with Balensifer. “War- nities, Newton said. One of them is
renton is in a very precarious position maintenance of the Hammond and
right now.”
Warrenton marinas, which will need
There are many missed opportu- to be replaced within the next 20
years.
“Nobody’s doing anything about
it,” he said. “If Warrenton were a
business, I’d try to buy it because it
has so much opportunity not being
developed.”
Newton said he can no longer
work with the mayor, but can’t
bear to walk away from the city.
“I’d be leaving something I really
love under very bad management,” he
said. “To look at the future I see, it’s
very depressing. … Any ideas brought
See ‘Mayor’ on Page 5
Fort Clatsop home to explorers, farmers, cows
The Columbia Press
The sunken boat under the foot-
bridge at Fort Clatsop is from the era
when dairy was king.
And it’s proof that artifacts of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition aren’t the
only remnants of county history that
can be viewed at the old fort.
The piece of dairy history pokes
from the murky waters along the Net-
ul River Trail during low tides.
Trail hikers will find the crumbling
remains of a gillnet boat used by a
dairy that occupied the area that’s
now part of the Lewis and Clark Na-
tional Historical Park. It can be seen
below the pedestrian bridge.
“While it might not look like much,
this boat has a fascinating story,” park
historians wrote on Fort Clatsop’s
Facebook page. “Several years ago,
our Cultural Resources team worked
with maritime archaeologists and his-
torians to gather as much information
about the boat as we could.”
Based on its dimensions and de-
sign, historians identified the boat as
a common World War I-era gillnetter.
“The land west of the boat remains
was home to a dairy farm from the
See ‘Dairy’ on Page 4
Above: Remains of a
century-old gillnetter
along the Netul River
Trail at Fort Clatsop.
Courtesy Lewis and Clark
National Historical Park
Right: Cows at the
J.W. Reith Ranch on
the Lewis & Clark Riv-
er in Clatsop County,
circa 1901-1930.
Oregon Historical
Society archives
Commissioner’s
comments were
‘inappropriate,
unprofessional’
By Cindy Yingst
The Columbia Press
Commissioner Rick Newton came
under fire last week for seemingly
inappropriate comments made while
conducting business within the city’s
Planning and Building Department.
In an email, an employee document-
ed the interchange, calling it “su-
premely inappropriate and unprofes-
sional,” and sent the email to interim
City Manager Matt Workman.
The matter was discussed, along
with the city attorney, during an exec-
utive session at the end of last week’s
City Commission meeting. Commis-
sioners voted 3-0-1 to document the
complaint and potential repercus-
sions in a letter to Newton. Newton
abstained from the vote and Mayor
Henry Balensifer was out of town.
Because the conversation involved
employees, the city could be liable
should any lawsuit arise from the is-
sue, particularly if the behavior con-
tinued and city leaders had taken no
action.
The Columbia Press was given a re-
dacted copy of the email after filing a
Freedom of Information Act request.
“During a rambling dialogue, which
began over a discussion with (name
withheld) on the topic of sign permits
requiring a building permit, Commis-
sioner Newton rambled into the topic
of Feminism and Racism,” the email
states.
“At one point … Newton clearly and
unabashedly used the ‘N’ word in a
statement about rap lyrics/culture. I
do not believe it was directed toward
or intended as a disparaging com-
See ‘Newton’ on Page 4