VOL. 42, ISSUE 10
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
MAY 18, 2018
Thompson wins second four-year term
Thompson,
Kujala celebrate
victories
By Jack Heffernan
The Daily Astorian
Commissioner
Lianne
Thompson and former War-
renton Mayor Mark Kujala
and seized victories Tuesday
in their races for the Clatsop
County Board of Commis-
sioners, while Pamela Wev
and Peter Roscoe are set for a
November runoff.
Lianne
Thompson
Mark
Kujala
Thompson won a second
four-year term in District 5,
which covers most of South
County. Her top priorities are
housing, economic develop-
ment and emergency prepared-
ness.
“Thank you to my boss-
Mitchell scores
upset for state
House seat
Democratic primary to
replace Boone
es — the voters in District 5,”
Thompson said. “I’m grateful
for their support and will con-
tinue to work hard to do right
by them.”
Thompson has faced sharp
criticism from three other com-
missioners and County Man-
ager Cameron Moore over her
travel expenses, behavior to-
ward county staff and view that
commissioners should have
a more active role in day-to-
day county operations. At one
point, Lee called for her resig-
nation.
“When I went out and said,
‘(Voters) are at the top of the
organizational chart, you pay
the bills, you hold staff ac-
countable for what they paid
for,’ they said, ‘Yep, that’s it,’”
Thompson said. “Now we’re
crystal clear on that.”
Susana Gladwin, a Jewell
farmer, challenged Thompson.
The candidates served with
each other for four years on the
county Planning Commission.
Gladwin often attends Plan-
ning Commission meetings
and highlighted housing and
forestry policies as two of her
core issues.
Ron Brown, running un-
opposed for district attorney,
secured a four-year term on
Tuesday. The longtime pros-
ecutor has served as District
Attorney Josh Marquis’ deputy
since 2004. Marquis is retiring
after 25 years in office.
Circuit Court Judge Cindee
Matyas, also running unop-
posed, won another six-year
term. Matyas has been a judge
since 2007.
Voter turnout in Clatsop
County was 36 percent.
Commission runoff
Wev — a land use consul-
tant — and Roscoe — a former
restaurateur — will compete in
the first commission runoff in a
decade after neither reached 50
percent of the vote in District 3.
Doug Thompson — a property
manager — finished third.
Commissioner Lisa Clem-
ent chose not to run for re-elec-
tion in a district that covers
parts of Astoria, Miles Cross-
ing, Jeffers Garden, Lewis and
Clark, Youngs River, Olney,
Green Mountain and parts of
Walluski.
Wev served five years in
former Portland Mayor Vera
Katz’s administration, while
Roscoe served on the Astoria
City Council.
TRAVELING IN STYLE
By Edward Stratton
The Daily Astorian
Tiffiny Mitchell, a progressive lifted by
union and conservation groups, scored an
upset victory Tuesday night in the Demo-
cratic primary for state House.
Mitchell, a state child welfare worker who
moved to Oregon three years ago from Utah,
and John Orr, an attorney, were both seen
as underdogs next to Tim Josi, a Tillamook
County commissioner and former state rep-
resentative with more name recognition and
the backing of industry and many state legis-
lators. The three sought to replace state Rep.
Deborah Boone, D-Cannon Beach, who will
retire when her seventh term ends in January.
“I think that my message just resonat-
ed with voters,” Mitchell said of the strong
showing in her first campaign.
She credited volunteers for helping to
get her name and message out after filing
just before the deadline in March. She said
she personally knocked on more than 3,000
doors.
Mitchell will face Republican Vineeta
Lower, a teacher, and Independent Brian
Halvorsen, a progressive organizer, in the
November election. Democrats have long
dominated in House District 32, which in-
cludes Clatsop and Tillamook counties,
along with a small portion of western Wash-
ington County.
Some in Clatsop County were concerned
Mitchell and Orr would split the county vote
and tip the primary to the more conservative
Josi, who is from Bay City.
In his concession speech, Orr, who was
edging Josi for second place, congratulated
Mitchell.
Jackson Hopkins of Vancouver, Washington, rides a horse provided by Medical Reserve
Corps member Bob Wayne at the Coastal Community Festival in Cannon Beach on Saturday,
May 12. For more coverage, photos and a personal look at the Blue Barrel Challenge, see p. 4.
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Changes to come for Visitor Information Center funding
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
Chamber of
Commerce could
take on more
responsibility
to fund visitor
center
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
The city and the Cannon
Beach Chamber of Commerce
are at odds over how to fund
the Visitor Information Center.
For the past 30 years, the
city has funded operations,
which amounts to about
$160,000 a year. For the first
time, the city proposed spend-
ing $40,000, and has asked the
chamber to cover the remain-
ing $120,000 with lodging tax
dollars. The change would cut
into the chamber’s promotion
program, which is financed by
the lodging tax.
Paying $120,000 to operate
the Visitor Information Center
would dip into about a third of
the chamber’s fund, which is
anticipated to have $385,655
earmarked to promote tour-
ism during the off-season next
year. Since 2015, the amount
of lodging taxes paid to the
city has increased by double
digits almost every quarter, in
part because of the team’s mar-
keting efforts, chamber board
president Greg Swedenborg
said. He argues the change in
fundong for the Visitor Infor-
mation Center will substantial-
ly influence the ability to do
marketing and promotion.
“Paying $120,000 this year
would make us come to a
screeching halt,” Swedenborg
said during a budget hearing
Wednesday.
The idea to reallocate the
funds comes at a time when
the city is looking at ways to
be more stringent with trans-
fers out of the general fund,
See Center, Page 6A
Bokish watches town grow, returns with a new cafe
Breakfast and lunch spot will
replace Bella Espresso
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
A new internationally-inspired breakfast and
lunch spot will be coming to downtown Cannon
Beach.
Surfbird Cafe will be replacing Bella Espresso,
the Italian-style coffee shop that has operated at 231
N. Hemlock St. for more than 16 years, over Memo-
rial Day weekend.
“I have decided to simplify my life, enjoy family
and check things off my bucket list,” former owner
James Faurentino said in a statement. “It has been
a pleasure owning and operating Bella Espresso for
the last 16 years and I am looking forward to just
focusing on my first business and love in Cannon
Beach: Pizza a’ fetta.”
At the helm of Surfbird Cafe is Josh Bokish, who
chose the name to keep the seabird theme in line
with his other restaurant, Osprey Cafe in Seaside.
After four years in Seaside, Bokish saw the open-
ing in Cannon Beach as an opportunity to expand,
as well as a way return to his Cannon Beach roots.
For Bokish, running a business in Cannon Beach
is a family affair. His parents, John and Elizabeth
Bokish, operate the fair trade clothing and goods
store West of the Moon across the street, and his sis-
ter Natalie runs Geppetto’s Toy Shoppe on the same
block.
“Growing up we had a house on Monroe Street,”
Bokish said. “I’ve gotten to watch the town grow
and change a little bit.”
Like Osprey Cafe, lunch and breakfasts will be
inspired by Bokish’s years of international travel
with his parents, and emulate classic American, In-
dian, Asian and South American cuisine.
Surfbird Cafe will hold a similar vibe that is
found at Osprey Cafe, Bokish said, but with its own
twists. Due to limited space, Bokish said the restau-
rant will start by being counter service only to en-
courage both to-go orders and a casual, sit-down at-
mosphere. There will still be a full-service espresso
bar for those who have come to rely on this location
for their morning coffee.
While the menu isn’t finished yet, Bokish said to
look out for a new clam chowder recipe and a break-
fast sandwich made with arepas — a type of South
American corn flour patty.
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Josh Bokish plans to open Surfbird Cafe around
Memorial Day weekend where Bella Espresso
operated for more than 16 years.
But some classics will carry over.
“We’re definitely going to carry over the avocado
toast, because they were so popular at the Osprey,”
Bokish said. “But I always like to keep experiment-
ing and challenging myself to come up with new
ideas. I would be bored doing the same thing.”