6A • June 1, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
New public works director
chosen in Cannon Beach
La Bonte has
served as interim
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Karen La Bonte has been
named the new public works
director of Cannon Beach.
La Bonte started with the
city as assistant public works
director in September, but has
been serving as the interim di-
rector since her predecessor,
Jim Arndt, retired in March.
She was chosen out of a
pool of five other candidates,
City Manager Bruce St. Denis
said.
“Karen has served as inter-
im public works director with
distinction and has guided the
department through some diffi-
cult times,” St. Denis wrote in a
statement. “I have watched her
BRENNA VISSER/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Karen La Bonte has been named the new public works di-
rector in Cannon Beach.
work with staff and citizens and
am impressed with both her in-
terpersonal skills and energy.”
Before coming to Cannon
Beach, La Bonte worked at
Verizon Communications for
30 years as Engineering Direc-
tor, facilitating project planning
and construction across the
country. After retiring in 2006,
La Bonte decided to pursue
winemaking and bought Trio
Vintners winery in Walla Wal-
la, Washington. But after facing
some health issues, she closed
the winery and decided to re-
tire again in her favorite vaca-
tion town of 22 years: Cannon
Beach.
“I’ve always considered
it my decompression place,”
she said. “It’s where I always
thought I would come to re-
tire.”
But less than year after the
move, La Bonte decided retire-
ment “just didn’t fit” her, and
applied for the assistant direc-
tor position.
“It just felt like a good fit.
After meeting Jim and the rest
of the staff it felt like home,”
she said.
La Bonte said as director
she hopes to continue to build
a strong network between the
city, residents and business
owners.
“I just hope to make a posi-
tive impact,” she said.
Cannon Beach may add emergency
manager, code enforcement officer
Budget from Page 1A
The $113,000 cost is offset
by money the city has already
budgeted for an emergency
consultant and lower-level
emergency part-time position,
a difference of about $39,000.
Code enforcement
According to the budget
message, the budget increase
is $3.16 million.
After budget adoption on
May 23, that number was
slightly higher. New staff po-
sitions and increased water
rates, wastewater and utility
rates are the primary source of
the increase, approved by city
councilors in March to help
cover infrastructure mainte-
nance costs.
A code enforcement officer,
also a new position, is budget-
ed at about $106,000.
Currently, Cannon Beach
staff have a hard time keeping
up with the number of planning
FILE PHOTO
Cannon Beach City Hall.
and design codes that need to
be enforced, St. Denis said at
a budget committee meeting.
Enforcement includes manag-
ing both short-term and long-
term rental enforcement. “The
community has high standards,
but we don’t have the staff to
do the follow up on maintain-
ing those standards.”
Funding changes between
the city and the Chamber of
Commerce were also resolved.
In May, the city proposed a
decrease in funding for the
Visitors Center, only funding
$40,000 of the $160,000 total
it takes to operate. The city,
which has fully funded the
center in the past, asked the
chamber to cover the remain-
ing $120,000 with lodging tax
dollars.
Chamber officials argued
the change would cut into the
chamber’s promotion pro-
gram, which is financed by the
lodging tax. The two entities
agreed to split the cost of the
Visitors Center, with each pay-
ing $80,000 next year.
Other budget highlights:
• Transient room taxes
are projected to increase by
$288,004 or 7 percent over
2017-18 budget amounts.
• $100,000 has been set
aside digitizing city hall re-
cords as a back-up in the event
of an emergency.
• $50,000 has been set aside
for a preliminary site study for
a new city hall.
Cannon Beach city attorney steps down
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Cannon Beach City Attor-
ney Tammy Herdener has an-
nounced her resignation, citing
her desire for a career change
and to spend more time with
family.
Herdener, who has worked
for the city since 2007, will be
leaving this July to invest more
time as a professor at American
Public Univer-
sity, a job she
has held with
the online in-
stitution since
2003.
Living
Tammy
in
Portland,
Herdener
Herdener also
said balancing
commutes to Cannon Beach
with family time was getting
more difficult. “This is a part
of a larger career change I’ve
wanted to do,” Herdener said.
“I want to focus more on my
students and my family.”
During her time in Cannon
Beach, Herdener oversaw tran-
sitions between three city man-
agers, helped navigate local
marijuana ordinance changes
after legalization and played an
integral role in the purchase of
the 800-acre Ecola Creek For-
est Reserve.
Herdener said she is grate-
ful for her time in Cannon
Beach, and looks fondly upon
her memories with numerous
city councilors and staff.
“This job has been interest-
ing and challenging. I’m leav-
ing only on the most positive of
terms and feelings,” she said.
The city has posted the
job opening and hopes to hire
a new attorney by the end of
June.
George Vetter not
seeking re-election
Cannon Beach
city councilor
was appointed
in 2012
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
George Vetter will not
run for another term on the
Cannon Beach City Council.
Vetter was appointed
to the council in 2012 be-
fore being elected in 2014.
He said he is not seeking
re-election because he plans
to spend more time out of
town, making balancing his
travel and a rigid meeting
schedule more difficult.
“I don’t want to be com-
mitted to be here if it’s not
convenient,” Vetter said.
He also said that “it
wouldn’t hurt to have new
blood on the council.”
Before running for City
Council, Vetter served on a
number of city committees
in his 40-year tenure in Can-
non Beach.
As a business owner, Vet-
ter said one of the highlights
of his term was playing a
part in mending a tenuous
relationship
between the
chamber of
commerce
and the city.
“The re-
lationship
George
between
Vetter
the city and
chamber and
business community has be-
come much more of a part-
nership — as it should be.
Previously there was always
this ‘us and them’ thing, and
there is much more of a ‘we’
attitude now,” Vetter said.
“That’s something I feel
good about, and I think my
approach helped make that
happen.”
While he plans to spend
more time at his other home
in Bend, Vetter said he is still
invested in Cannon Beach
and intends to stay involved.
“Whoever is next, I hope
it will be someone with a
good foundation in Cannon
Beach … someone who un-
derstands the town,” he said.
Vetter’s seat is one of
three council positions that
will be on the ballot in No-
vember. The filing period
for city candidates opens
May 30.
Snowy plovers spotted
in Fort Stevens
First sighting in
decades
By Katie Frankowicz
The Daily Astorian
Three years ago, Fort
Stevens State Park desig-
nated a half-mile portion
of the beach as a “Western
Snowy Plover Management
Area” and invited the endan-
gered birds to nest there. No
snowy plovers took the park
up on its offer.
But this week snowy
plover nests were spotted at
Clatsop Spit — the first time
since the 1980s that anyone
has seen the birds there.
Vanessa Blackstone, a
wildlife biologist with the
Oregon Parks and Recre-
ation Department, says the
sighting is even more excit-
ing because it connects the
Western Washington state
and Northern Oregon snowy
plover populations.
The possibility for this
overlap was one big reason
why the department orig-
inally picked the Clatsop
Spit area, bordered by the
Columbia River and the
Pacific Ocean, as a manage-
ment area.
“Oregonians have helped
plovers return to the North
Coast, and Clatsop Spit is an
important link between our
Tillamook County birds and
those that live in Washing-
ton,” Blackstone said. “Plo-
vers nesting at Fort Stevens
is a huge step for species re-
covery and people who sup-
port a healthy environment.
We can all be proud of this
moment.”
So far, the state reports
seeing one nesting pair
with three eggs on the river
side of Clatsop Spit. Such
sightings prompt special
precautions within the man-
agement area. Several activ-
ities are restricted, including
dogs (even on a leash), vehi-
cles, kites, drones, camping
and fires. People walking
along the beach are required
to stay on wet sand areas and
keep to official trails.
Signs on dry sand identify
plover nesting areas. Snowy
plovers nest in shallow san-
dy scrapes. Eggs and chicks
are well-camouflaged and
can be accidentally crushed
by people or pets. Repeated
disturbances that cause par-
ent birds to flee the nest —
permanently or temporarily
— can also be lethal for eggs.
powered by
North Coast benefits from international tourism
Spike in foreign
travel due to
marketing, visa
changes
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Oregon is seeing more in-
ternational tourists than ever
before, and recent projections
don’t show any signs of the
trend stopping.
In 2017, the state had more
than 1.1 million foreign visitors,
up 11 percent from 2012. The
state collected about $1.3 bil-
lion in international spending,
up 18 percent from five years
ago, according to a report from
Tourism Economics, a tourism
consulting and research firm.
The Oregon Coast receives
about $113 million of those in-
ternational tourism dollars, fall-
ing third in line behind Portland
and the Willamette Valley.
Oregon is on track to be the
sixth fastest-growing state for
international tourism, with an-
alysts projecting up to 23 per-
cent growth in foreign visitors
through 2022.
So what is bringing people
to Oregon?
“Part of the big draw for in-
ternational visitors is who we
are. They hear about the beauty
of this place, the amazing culi-
nary scene, our fresh seafood,
what’s being done with our
wine and craft beer industries,”
said Todd Davidson, the CEO
of Travel Oregon, the state
agency that promotes tourism.
“What we’re doing in Or-
egon is working. Yes, we’ve
been more aggressive in the
international market than ever
before, but we couldn’t do it
without all of our Oregon busi-
nesses and partners.”
Shifting demographics
There are many factors that
contribute to the boom of for-
eign visitors.
Over the past few years, the
number of international flights
into Portland has opened the
door to countries that otherwise
would have never had a con-
venient way to visit the Pacific
Northwest. Partnerships with
national marketing organizations
like Brand USA have allowed the
state to “penetrate markets they
wouldn’t have even dreamed of
a decade ago,” Davidson said.
But one of the biggest
changes to the Oregon tour-
ism landscape has been a sig-
nificant shift in the number of
visitors from Asian countries.
Canada has historically ac-
counted for about half of all
international tourists and con-
tributes to about one quarter of
all international spending.
In 2017, travelers from coun-
tries like China, South Korea
and Japan comprised a quarter
of all of Oregon’s internation-
al visitors, but brought in more
than $241 million in travel reve-
nue — more than 43 percent of
all international spending.
“We know (Oregon) is not
necessarily the first destina-
tion that comes to mind when
people want to come to the
U.S. They are going for other
destinations, like California or
Florida, they’ve seen in TV or
movies,” Davidson said.
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