JULY 17, 2015 • VOL. 39, ISSUE 15
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Police offi cers,
city reach deal
Fountain up and fl owing at the library
Cannon
Beach
drinks to
Harley
Sroufe
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
J
ames Harley Sroufe was a well-
loved character in Cannon Beach,
and now his memory can live on
more fully in the public eye. The 41-year-
old fountain built to honor Sroufe was re-
located to the front of Cannon Beach Li-
brary and rededicated Thursday, July 9.
Sroufe owned Sroufe’s Grocery on
North Hemlock Street from 1951 until
his death in 1964, and was a member of
the city parks committee.
Sroufe Memorial Fountain, a drinking
fountain in the shape of a seashell, was
designed by the late John Yeon, a former
Portland architect and Cannon Beach
resident, and originally placed in the city
park Sroufe helped create.
“Nobody could think of where else
it might be put,” Sroufe’s son, Gerald
Sroufe, said. “Main Street wasn’t quite
as grand as it is today.”
The fountain was relocated near the
Christian Conference Center for a time
before moving between the Cannon
Beach Chamber of Commerce and the
tennis courts on East Second Avenue.
The latest relocation was the work of the
public art committee.
“This was one of their projects, to
move the fountain over here instead of
bringing another piece of art into town,”
Judy Wood, co-president of the Cannon
CARLA O’REILLY/SUBMITTED PHOTO
Owen Barrows and his dad drinking from the fountain for the fi rst time.
Beach library board, said.
James Harley Sroufe’s wife, Margaret,
was a volunteer at the library for about 20
years, making it a ¿ tting location.
And his daughter-in-law, Maureen
Dooley-Sroufe, is the co-owner of Can-
non Beach Book Company. “I can walk
across the street and get a drink of wa-
ter,” she said.
The drinking fountain actually hadn’t
worked in years, but is once again fully
functional in its new location.
Cannon Beach po-
lice will ¿ nally get
their fair share, win-
ning an up to 4 percent
salary at the Tuesday,
July 7 meeting of the
City Council. City
Manager Brant Kucera
noted that, on average,
Cannon Beach’s Po-
lice Department had Police Chief Jason
Schermerhorn
been 18 percent below
every other depart-
ment in the county.
The new two-year contract will provide
of¿ cers with pay more closely resembling
those in nearby communities, such as Gear-
hart, Seaside and Manzanita. Salaries for pa-
trol of¿ cers will now start at $20.50 per hour.
Negotiations were conducted between
the newly formed Cannon Beach Police
Of¿ cer’s Guild and city administration,
represented by Kucera, Chief Jason Scher-
merhorn and the city’s labor attorney Steven
Schuback. The guild was represented by
attorney (lizabeth Lemoine, Senior Of¿ cer
Joe Bowman, Of¿ cer Seth Collins and Of¿ -
cer Devon Edwards.
“Since City Manager Kucera and I started,
we have been aware that our Police Depart-
ment is underpaid when compared with other
departments in Clatsop County,” Schermer-
horn wrote in his report to the City Council
for its July 7 meeting.
Highlights of the agreement include an
increased laundry, cleaning and boot reim-
bursement allotment for of¿ cers, added com-
pensation for certi¿ cations and a physical ¿ t-
ness incentive change to the Oregon Physical
Abilities Test. If of¿ cers complete the test,
they could receive an increase up to 4 percent
of their base salary.
The police department’s canine of¿ cer
will receive a 5 percent base salary increase
and 30-minute shorter shifts to cover time
spent caring for the dog at home.
The evidence technician will receive a 2.5
percent base hourly wage increase.
“I think what’s important is you can see
here that the assignment, you’re putting a
lot of trust and discretion in a person who’s
handling very sensitive things.” Kucera said.
“We really want that person in that position
to be of the highest ethical standards.”
See Fountain, Page 9A
See Police, Page 6A
City Council moves ahead with citizen survey plan
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
On Tuesday, July 7, the
City Council narrowly ap-
proved a $30,000 strategic
plan that could guide future
policy choices in Cannon
Beach. According to City
Manager Brant Kucera, the
National Citizen Survey relies
on citizen input to provide a
detailed analysis and summa-
ry of community viewpoints,
and is used by cities as large
as two million and as small as
a few hundred.
The survey is administered
by the National Research
Center and the International
City/County
Management
Association, and serves as a
tool for long and short-term
planning. The survey will
cost $15,000, with another
$10,000-$15,000 for facili-
tation, Kucera said. For the
price the city’s getting, Kucera
said he is “not sure how it’s a
bad deal.” He said he has ad-
ministered in the survey in at
least six other communities
with successful results.
“For me, I think that the
ability to cross-tabulate our-
selves with other communities
and from year to year are very
important things to see as far
as how we rank and then are
we having a process of contin-
uous improvement,” he said.
He noted that the survey
results could be used to entice
residents to Cannon Beach.
Councilor Mike Bene¿ eld
agreed that attracting more
full-time residents than sec-
ond-home owners should be
the goal for the future of the
town.
Mayor Sam Steidel said he
is more concerned about the
people already living in Can-
non Beach than attracting po-
tential newcomers, and would
rather see a service needs sur-
vey.
Steidel said he did not like
the National Citizen Survey’s
format, which uses the terms
“poor, fair, good and excel-
lent” which could be consid-
ered subjective. He noted that
he believed the survey would
be a “waste of time and mon-
ey.”
Steidel added that he had no
interest in comparing Cannon
Beach to other communities,
because of its
uniqueness.
“We are Cannon Beach, Can-
non Beach is us,” he said.
Some in the audience
agreed. In the crowd of about
15, a handful stood up to
speak against the survey be-
fore the strategic plan discus-
sion even began.
Jillayne Sorenson said a
national survey may not be
the best route for a commu-
nity like Cannon Beach with
its speci¿ c characteristics.
“I think there are a number
of ways of receiving feed-
back from the community,”
she said, adding the survey
shouldn’t be the only source
of input.
‘‘We are Cannon Beach,
Cannon Beach is us.’
Mayor Sam Steidel
The way questions are
posed could have an impact
on the results, Sorenson said,
and the survey may not be
worth the expense.
Kucera said the questions
can be customized and sug-
gested going with the na-
tional survey to avoid bias.
An in-house survey may
inadvertently offer leading
questions, he added, noting
the national survey is statis-
tically defensible.
Bene¿ eld said he wants
the city to be proactive, and
a strategic plan would assist
in that.
Councilwoman
Wen-
dy Higgins said the survey
would provide an oppor-
tunity for staff and elected
of¿ cials to utilize commu-
nity input for future plans
and budgets. “That’s what a
strategic plan is: a road map
in how to get from here to
there,” she said.
Councilor George Vet-
ter said he wasn’t sure the
survey was the best way to
spend money and discussed
putting it off.
Bene¿ eld said he didn’t
see what another month of
rehashing would do.
Councilors
Bene¿ eld,
Higgins and Melissa Cad-
wallader voted in favor of
the survey. Steidel and Vetter
provided the nay votes in the
3-2 decision.
The survey administra-
tion period is estimated to
take 17 weeks. Resulting
data will be used to develop
a strategic plan draft before
the new year. The average
return rate of the survey is
30-55 percent, which is ad-
ministered every two years
by councilors.
Nature awareness camp
for kids is back in session
By Dani Palmer
Cannon Beach Gazette
Video game controllers
and cell phones rule a child’s
world most of the year. Fire
Mountain School offers a
different sort of playtime.
The school’s Nature Aware-
ness Track Camp, now in
session, helps children con-
nect with nature through ed-
ucational play.
“We’re throwing them
out there without any sort
of technology or someone
telling them what to think,
no constant driving for their
attention,” teacher Mike
McGlinn said. “We’re just
letting them soak up every-
thing that’s around us right
here. To stop and breathe
and think.”
Fire Mountain School is
situated between Oswald
West State Park and the
Paci¿ c Ocean. Fire Moun-
tain School operated for
years before closing for a
three-year absence due to
a lack of volunteer support.
“We want the communi-
ty to know the program is
back,” teacher Sarah Lip-
pold said.
With a different theme
each week, volunteers —
including Fire Mountain
School staff and parents
— touch on topics ranging
from streams and rivers to
outdoor survival skills. The
kids will also be taking ¿ eld
trips to areas such as Short
Sand Beach in Arch Cape.
While learning through
the arts and science is in-
volved, McGlinn said staff
really focus on environmental
issues during the school year.
“In this world of aca-
demic success and hitting
the numbers with Common
Core education, I think
there’s a lot that’s lost in
terms of freedom and cre-
ativity,” he said.
He added that the kids
are not only learning more
DANI PALMER PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Viva Simmons ducks under a parachute during a game
at Fire Mountain School’s Nature Awareness Track Camp
on July 9.
about their outdoor envi-
ronment, but gaining more
respect for themselves, oth-
ers and nature.
Lippold said the young-
er campers experience the
same themes each week,
but with more age-appro-
priate lessons. The older
children often mentor the
younger ones in an expe-
rience that teaches them
See Camp, Page 9A