January 15, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Community members support Balzer, ask board to step down
there is no need for you, the
board.”
In a letter addressed
to Balzer, retired Cannon
Beach Fire Marshal Mike
*raham wrote “A ¿re chief
must have the full trust of
his or her ¿re¿ghters, and
I feel you have achieved
that trust. I remain in total
support of you, and hope
the board of directors will
reconsider their action.”
Public confusion and emo-
tions were further inÀamed
as the board’s explanations
for Balzer’s ¿ring were not
readily forthcoming.
Last month a public re-
cords request by the Ga-
zette revealed that Balzer’s
¿ring, according to board
member Garry Smith, was
“strictly business, not per-
sonal.” Particularly, the
board took issue with Bal-
Recall from Page 1A
department,” the letter con-
tinues. “It would be best
Ior the ¿re department and
community if certain board
members would resign
from the board before it be-
comes a recall situation.”
Ten more current and
former volunteers shared
their concerns in personal-
ized letters.
“During every call I have
ever been on or with Mike
(Balzer), his leadership,
knowledge and skills were
top notch,” wrote volunteer
¿re¿ghter Trevor Mount.
After explaining the
shock of the ¿ring, Mount
asked, “Why did you not
share with us the board’s
concerns? Because let’s be
really clear here.... With-
out volunteer ¿re¿ghters,
zer’s perceived clerical and
administrative shortcom-
ings.
Many community mem-
bers remain unsatis¿ed by
that rationale, as evidenced
in the 22 letters Neuwirth
collected from local resi-
dents.
“I doubt that the alleged
lack of administrative skill
was suf¿cient to merit ter-
mination,” wrote Cannon
Beach resident Eric Reiter,
a retired Portland Police
Bureau sergeant. “Until the
board can demonstrate that
it was, Chief Balzer should
be reinstated.”
In a three-page letter,
former board President Al-
fred A. Aya Jr. detailed a
tenuous working relation-
ship between the Balzer and
the board. Aya wrote that
members of the board were
ANDREW R. TONRY PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Susan Neuwirth is seeking
changes on the Cannon
Beach Rural Fire Protection
Board.
engaged in “determined
micro management,” which
he deemed an overreach.
the sole reason. As I’ve ob-
served the meetings, they are
so unprofessionally run.”
Board members subject
to Neuwirth’s recall, Clyde,
Beck-Sweeney and Smith,
declined requests to com-
ment on the petition.
After registering the re-
call with Clatsop County,
Neuwirth is currently col-
lecting signatures. She said
she needs to get a minimum
of 125, and 150 to be safe,
and believes she will gather
them with ease. Should she
succeed the board members
will need to decide whether
to contest or resign.
“This isn’t something
I enjoy doing,” Neuwirth
said. “I don’t like going up
against people who are do-
nating time and effort to the
community. But it’s time
for new leadership.”
“In my opinion, from
what I’ve observed, those
three directors cannot keep
themselves from intensive-
ly µmanaging’ the ¿re chief
and his responsibilities,”
Aya wrote. “Seeing no way
to correct this effectively,
I resigned from the board
where I’d served as vice
president for 12 years and
president for 18.”
Upstairs at the ¿rehouse,
where the board meets,
Neuwirth made reference
to a plaque titled: “Cannon
Beach Fire and Rescue: Our
Values.” She pointed to one
line in particular. It reads:
“Open communications at
all levels.”
“The board isn’t operat-
ing with that kind of trans-
parency,” Neuwirth said.
“Mike Balzer was the im-
petus of this, but he is not
Storm damage repairs may impact planned improvements
Good year for parks
Storm from Page 1A
“The plan was to im-
prove the trail anyway, but
this will certainly change
the scope of that work,”
said Rippee, who is no lon-
ger sure that the money set
aside for the project will
cover the cost. The good
news is the parking lot and
restroom facilities are still
open to the public. The
parks department suggests
gaining alternative beach
access at nearby Hug Point
or Tolovana recreation sites.
Other state parks and rec-
reation sites that comprise
the 10,000-acre Nehalem
Bay Management Unit,
aside from Arcadia and
Ecola, have, so far, fared
better this winter. They in-
clude Nehalem Bay and
Oswald West state parks;
Saddle Mountain State Nat-
ural Area; and Manhattan
Beach, Hug Point and Tolo-
vana Beach recreation sites.
“In terms of landslides,
it’s mostly Ecola that expe-
riences them,” Rippee said.
“It seems not a year goes by
that repairs are needed. It’s
a very active area.”
As for the rest of 2015, it
was a good year for the state
parks’ system. Early numbers
indicate visitation throughout
the state was up nearly 25
percent from the year before.
Rippee is keeping his ¿ngers
crossed that the worst weath-
er this winter is over and that
he and his staff can once again
concentrate on “routine” park
maintenance in anticipation
of the 2016 season.
As for the stormy and
wet November weekend that
closed Indian Beach Road at
Ecola State Park and beach
access at Arcadia Beach State
Recreation Site, Rippee sums
it up in just ¿ve words: “That
was quite a weekend.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The viewing platform at
Ecola Point sat precariously
close to the landslide caused
by torrential downpours in
mid November.
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE.
The beach access trail at Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site suffered major damage as a
result of mid-November stormy weather.
History of landslides
To prove his point, Rip-
pee accessed Google Earth
on his computer and zeroed
in on Ecola State Park. A
closeup image shows tell-
tale signs of landslides that
have occurred previously.
Trails over the years have
had to be rerouted as well.
If El Niño simmers down,
as forecasted for the ear-
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ly part of this year, Rippee
said he is con¿dent repairs
at Ecola and Arcadia will
be completed by May. He is
quick to point out, however,
“that’s a best-case scenario.”
As far as a dollar amount
for the work, it is too early
to tell until Parks and Rec-
reation solicits bids, some-
thing that will occur in the
next few weeks. Compli-
cating matters in repairing
the culvert and washed out
road at Ecola is the issue
of ¿sh passage in Canyon
Creek. Engineers have yet
to determine whether or
not to replace the existing
culvert with a larger one
or construct a bridge over
the creek. Once the bidding
process has been complet-
ed and the storm season
has passed work will com-
mence.
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