4A • July 17, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Communities need ‘skin in the game’
One aspect of the tsunami threat
is undeniable. Kids in our schools
are at risk. The Oregon Coast can
anticipate an earthquake offshore
will generate a tsunami similar to
the March 2011 earthquake in Ja-
pan. The Oregon Department of
Geology and Mineral Industries —
DOGAMI, rhymes with “tsunami”
— offers inundation maps that show
whole “downtown areas of Cannon
Beach and Seaside as being prone to
complete inundation.”
Last month Seaside School Dis-
trict Superintendent Doug Dough-
erty said the district is considering a
new bond to move Seaside schools
— Broadway Middle School, Sea-
side High School and Gearheart El-
ementary School — to safer ground.
It was tried in 2013 to the tune of
$128.8 million, and soundly defeat-
ed by voters. The physical threat
remains the catalyst: “There are four
schools along the Oregon Coast in the
inundation zone, and we have three of
those,” Dougherty said. “Our goal is to
have students out of every one of these
schools as soon as possible.”
Dougherty said he expects a bond
to be presented within a year and a
half or later, because the economy
here “has not fully bounced back.”
In addition, the district still has to
pass a local option levy in Novem-
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two initiatives, one to replace school
buildings and one to maintain staff-
ing, are unlikely to pass in one year,
the clock will have to wait on need-
ed safety measures, or “physical ret-
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them.
Same issue, new bond, only three
years later? Sell that to voters. Many
At the Library
Cannon Beach residents are still
miffed at the way Cannon Beach El-
ementary School was shuttered.
Before all the horses and all
the king’s men have to put Hump-
ty-Dumpty together again, citizens,
civic leaders and government of-
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gether so the next bond won’t be a
failure. Planning should begin now.
At a breakfast meeting of the
Seaside Downtown Development
Association July 9, state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, D-Scapoose, responded
to an audience member who asked
how the district could replace Sea-
side’s schools without breaking tax-
payers’ backs.
“We need to move our high
school and middle school up to a
safer location,” Johnson said. “On
the face, it seems so simple: Get our
kids out of danger. But it is actually
a very complex question.
“Part of the problem is, it’s not
as easy as ‘let’s move the school,’”
Johnson said. “Seaside has a two-
part whammy. When your last bond
failed so dramatically, you didn’t
have property or site control, and
the site you chose created addition-
al costs in the architectural require-
ments because it was odd terrain.
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ownership of the land.”
Land-use architecture, urban
growth boundaries and site loca-
tion are critical to provide options
for school siting, Johnson said, all
of which require a “breathtaking
amount of money.”
Johnson has been through this
SURFHVV EHIRUH DIWHU ÀRRGLQJ LQ
2007 destroyed three schools in Ver-
nonia.
C ANNON S HOTS
By
R.J.
MARX
Clearly any steps
in the future will
require a coalition
of local, state and
federal entities.
“A lesson I learned from rebuild-
ing three schools in Vernonia after a
natural disaster: The community has
to have skin in the game,” Johnson
said. “It can’t just be, ‘Let’s go to the
state and get them to pay for it.’ First,
we can’t. It cost us $40 million to re-
build three schools in Vernonia. The
costs are so dramatic.”
The urgency is growing, and will
shape policy in Salem not just in
terms of natural disaster funding in
our region, but through every future
capital project.
“It was actually the presence
of Seaside and some other coastal
schools in the tsunami zone that
caused me to be so adamantly op-
posed to the Senate president’s pet
project of rebuilding the Capitol
building, to the tune of $350 mil-
lion,” Johnson said. “When he was
in trying to break our arms to get
us to vote for that, I said, ‘I cannot,
Mr. President, go back to my coast-
al communities with any modicum
of integrity and look parents in the
eye and say, “I took care of a box
full of politicians before I took care
of a box full of kids.”’ That was not
what he wanted to hear.”
There is some hope in Salem as
legislators show a growing aware-
ness of the threat and its immedi-
acy. The Senate considered two
bills this year to address seismic
dangers.
State Senate Bill 778 gave the
state’s geological arm, the Depart-
ment of Geology and Mineral Indus-
tries, DOGAMI, the power to require
mitigation measures for buildings,
with the aim of reducing risk to the
public. What legislators didn’t like
and why the bill ultimately failed was
the bill would also give DOGAMI
the power to block development if it
decided a building could not be made
safe. “Nobody wanted DOGAMI to
be in charge of anything,” Johnson
said, citing a history of bad manage-
ment and overreach by the agency.
While that measure failed, the
Senate did pass Bill 447, with $125
million that will allow schools in
certain situations to apply to the state
to move certain facilities or allow
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The bill establishes grant pro-
gram to provide matching fund
grants to school districts for capital
costs of school districts. Johnson
calls it a “pathway” to upgrades in
Seaside and Cannon Beach.
According to Johnson, the rules
for implementation have not been
R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Sen. Betsy Johnson speaking
before members of the Seaside
Downtown Development Associ-
ation July 9.
determined. The bill is currently
awaiting the governor’s signature.
Whether or not Superintendent
Dougherty can use the proposed
state funds remains to be seen, but
money was made available, Johnson
said.
Clearly any steps in the future
will require a coalition of local, state
and federal entities. Whether the
school district and its voters have the
stomach to approach this again after
only three years remains to be seen.
The cities may also look to include
other stakeholders including educa-
tional foundations and environmen-
tal organizations when developing
a potential site. Any new building
effort will require not only school
board, city and state participation,
but grassroots support and a capital
commitment on the part of our com-
munities.
CARLA O’REILLY
A thank-you to all those who helped with book sale
and sometimes having to
enter the library by detour-
ing through the bank park-
6XPPHU LV GH¿QLWHO\ ing lot for access while our
happening at the Cannon project was in full swing!
Beach Library!
A dedication ceremony
First of all, since we was held Thursday, July 9.
DUH D QRQSUR¿W OLEUDU\ ZH Thanks to everyone who at-
need to work hard on our tended!
fundraisers each year. Our
But the big news at the
Fourth of July book sale is library is our newly up-
one of our most important and-running Library2Go
²KDUGZRUNEXWGH¿QLWH eBooks program, whereby
ly a fun way to get together active patrons can access
as a community and also thousands of books and
meet some of our wonder- digital audiobooks online.
ful visitors. We are delight- Even those of us who were
ed to report that this year’s GH¿QLWHO\ DURXQG EHIRUH
July Fourth sale was a very computers were a factor
enjoyable and successful in daily life will be able
event.
to learn the process easily
Those of you who (and without asking grand-
weren’t able to attend the children for assistance!)
book sale simply must Stop in at the library soon
stop by and see the newly and receive your written in-
installed Sroufe Memori- structions.
al Fountain in front of the
Some of our children
library! The fountain is become bored in the sum-
beautiful, and along with mertime — even by July!
Beth Holland’s amazing A good option to computer
landscaping vision, it has games and texting friends
added much to enhance the is available at the library
appearance of our library. right now. The summer
Many thanks to Beth and reading contest, named
also to Tracy Sund of Can- “Catch a Dragon by the
non Beach Public Works Tale” this year, is available
for all the hard work. We to children, tweens, and
would also like to thank teens. Packets are avail-
our visitors and patrons for able at the front desk; they
dodging heavy equipment contain sheets for track-
By Carla O’Reilly
Cannon Beach Gazette
CARLA O’REILLY
ing each child’s progress,
an explanation of how the
process works, and info on
the grand prize, which will
be announced on Aug. 24
for each age level. Ongo-
ing prizes will also be giv-
en each child as he or she
reads books. It’s not too late
to sign up!
Also, please visit our
newly improved library in-
teractive website, with im-
proved design, quality and
function. Patron accounts
can be accessed from any-
where in the world in order
to place holds, track check-
outs, and access our newly
launched online eBooks.
Visit www.cannonbeachli-
brary.org.
Other library events
Cannon Beach Reads
will meet on Wednesday,
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Timmy, a book sale customer, discovered books on how to build wooden boats.
July 15, 7-8:30 p.m. at
the library. The group will
be reading and discussing
“Things Fall Apart,” by
Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian
author. The novel follows
the life of Okonkwo, an
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RI 8PR¿D DQG LV IRFXVHG
on British colonialism and
Christian missionaries and
their effects on the Igbos
community. As always,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Edison will be missed at
Cannon Beach Food Pantry
ture she saw to it the pantry functions
in accordance to all rules and regula-
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At their June 15 meeting, the board the hungry in a loving and compas-
of the Cannon Beach Food Pantry was sionate manner.
handed something most unexpected:
Thank you, Molly, for your years,
the retirement letter of Molly Edison. your caring, and your devotion.
The board accepted her announce-
Carla O’Reilly
ment in stunned surprise. We under-
Cannon Beach Food Pantry
VWDQGWKHGLI¿FXOW\RIKHUGHFLVLRQWR
Board of Directors
retire from the pantry and we honor
her decision. Molly’s almost seven
years of experience in our pantry will
be missed.
Many members of the Cannon
Under Molly’s leadership, the pan-
try has progressed from an idea to a Beach community are anticipating
well-organized effort. Our pantry pro- the publication of the second edition
vides food and essentials to those who of Peter Lindsey’s “Comin’ in Over
pass through our doors every Wednes- the Rock: A Storyteller’s History of
GD\6KHOHGXVLQWRRXU¿UVWSDQWU\DW Cannon Beach.” The second edition
the Cannon Beach Bible Church and will be graced with a forward by Pe-
then to our new home in the vacated ter’s old friend Karl Marlantes, au-
Cannon Beach Elementary School.
thor of the best-selling Vietnam War
The devotion and attention to de- novel “Matterhorn.” Rainmar Bartl,
tail she provided cannot be overstat- Cannon Beach’s retired city planner,
ed, Molly is the face of our pantry. has dedicated himself to this project
She is well-respected throughout the and enlisted several of Peter’s friends
region. She had a smile for everyone to proofread “Comin’ in Over the
and a shoulder for every care. Words Rock” and make corrections that were
are not adequate to express the high PLVVHGLQWKH¿UVWHGLWLRQSXEOLVKHGLQ
esteem we hold for Molly.
2004.
Her departure from the pantry
There has been one impediment
leaves a void. One thing it does not to this process, and it is coming from
do is bring about the end of our pan- the Cannon Beach History Center.
try. The pantry board and volunteers When Peter was gathering material
KDYHEHHQDEOHWRPRYHHI¿FLHQWO\WR IRUWKH¿UVWHGLWLRQWKH+LVWRU\&HQ
take up Molly’s work load, a tribute to ter gladly lent him photos which he
Molly’s leadership. Before her depar- copied and promptly returned. Some
Recognize eff orts of
historian Peter Lindsey
of the historical photos now available
at the history center were donated by
Peter and his family. Over the years
the history center has used Peter as a
resource, calling him when they need
information about the history of Can-
non Beach. This time, the board of
directors is asking Peter to pay $30
for each scan, an unaffordable sum
for a volunteer effort. Sometimes
an organization does not recognize
a feather when it’s tickling its nose.
Were the History Center to help Peter
with the photos for the second edition
of “Comin’ in Over the Rock,” Peter
would acknowledge the center fully
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would be good publicity for the center
seems to have been overlooked by the
board of directors when they insisted
that Peter pay for the photos.
Our dear Professor Lindsey is not
without fans in Cannon Beach. He is
our eyes and ears. He is a local trea-
sure, an icon. He’s the mayor of Bill’s
Tavern. People love Peter! The Can-
non Beach History Center should,
too. He is our history! But here’s
the added insult: After denying Peter
the photos to be scanned gratis when
the center gladly helped him free of
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that they would like to have Peter vol-
unteer to speak at one of their fund-
raising functions. There’s a feather for
you, but they didn’t put it in his hat!
Rex and Diane Amos
Cannon Beach
new members are wel-
come!
The quilt drawing is
ongoing and will be until
December. Drawing tickets
are selling for $1 each or
six for $5. The quilt is on
display at the library and
also will be displayed at
the Cannon Beach Farm-
ers’ Market, Aug. 18, 1-5
p.m. The drawing will be at
our holiday tea in Decem-
ber, and the lucky winner
— who need not be present
to win — will be contacted
and will receive the quilt
by shipment.
So pay a visit to our li-
brary soon. Sit outside on
the bench to enjoy the sun-
shine and access our free
Wi-Fi or come on in and
learn how to operate the
eBooks program or check
out our ongoing book sale!
South from Alaska, Dani
Palmer joins the Gazette
Dani Palmer joined the
Cannon Beach Gazette
this week as the city’s lo-
cal news reporter. Palm-
er will be covering city
government, features and
breaking news. Her work
will appear in the Gazette
and The Daily Astorian.
Palmer most recently
served as full-time report-
er for the Petersburg Pilot,
in Petersburg, Alaska. Pri-
or to that she was a report-
er for the Newport News-
Times, where she covered
education, the cities of
Toledo and Siletz, and the
news of Lincoln County.
She attended University
of Southern Indiana in
Evansville, and graduat-
ed with a degree in jour-
nalism. She is originally
from southern Indiana.
Palmer won second
place, nondeadline news
reporting, for her sto-
ry package “Staggering
debt,” from the Indiana
Associated Press Media
Editors in 2013. She also
won second place from
the Society of Profes-
sional Journalists for best
Reporter Dani Palmer
joined the Cannon Beach
Gazette this week.
education reporting in
2013, also for her series
on student debt. She won
the University of South-
ern Indiana Senior of
the Year for Journalistic
Excellence and Achieve-
ment 2011, and numerous
awards from the Indiana
Collegiate Press Associ-
ation.
“I’m excited to be back
in Oregon and covering
Cannon Beach news,”
Palmer said.
Palmer invites story
ideas and tips. She can
be reached via email at
dpalmer@cannonbeach-
gazette.com, or at 503-
738-5561.