6A • October 5, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Local governments approve enterprise zone expansion
Designation to
benefit outside
industries
By Jack Heffernan
The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County has ap-
proved expanding the Clatsop
Enterprise Zone to include
most of the Astoria water-
front, representing the final
nod needed for the idea.
Commissioners
voted
unanimously Sept. 26 to ap-
prove the expansion, follow-
ing Astoria, the Port of Astoria
and Warrenton. The expansion
will also include portions of
downtown Astoria, the Port’s
main waterfront, the East
Mooring Basin and parts of
the Youngs Bay waterfront.
Astoria rejected the en-
terprise zone in 2015 over
qualms about partnering with
the Port. City councilors re-
considered this year, while
excluding hotels, motels and
destination resorts from the
tax incentive.
The shift came after a
March presentation from
Hyak Maritime CEO Robert
Dorn. The enterprise zone will
now feature industrial docks
at North Tongue Point owned
by the tug and barge building
company, which plans to de-
velop a maritime repair and
fabrication center.
The enterprise zone offers
three- to five-year tax breaks
on improvements from eli-
gible development projects.
Enterprise zones are intended
to attract businesses to areas
experiencing economic hard-
ship.
The primary beneficiaries
will be manufacturers and oth-
er types of industries that are
‘The businesses currently operating
in Astoria have not been given
the same kind of support to
expand and succeed, why are new
businesses more deserving?’
Sunset Empire Transportation District board
in a letter to the commissioners
rare to the area, said Kevin
Leahy, executive director of
Clatsop Economic Develop-
ment Resources.
“We just want to show in
this discussion that this is a
business-friendly communi-
ty,” Leahy said.
In a letter handed to com-
missioners, the Sunset Empire
Transportation District board
expressed concerns about
the expansion, citing possi-
ble traffic issues, a housing
crunch and a lack of available
workers.
“The businesses currently
operating in Astoria have not
been given the same kind of
support to expand and suc-
ceed, why are new businesses
more deserving?” the letter
asked.
In other business Wednes-
day, commissioners:
• Took possession of a fore-
closed Jeffers Garden property
on G Road about a year ahead
of schedule. The property was
foreclosed in October, and the
owners had two years to keep
the property under state law.
But officials cited various
sanitary and safety issues —
including a lack of plumbing,
water and electricity on the
property that has often shel-
tered large amounts of people
— as a reason to take pos-
session earlier than expected.
After a first-of-its kind hear-
ing for the county earlier this
month, commissioners direct-
ed staff to begin the process of
taking it over.
The owner, Scott Wood,
has 30 days to vacate the land.
• Accepted the deed to
the property that holds the
now-shuttered North Coast
Youth Correctional Facility.
The state has owned the
land, with an estimated value
of $12.1 million, since 1996
and was required to hand the
property back to the county af-
ter the closure. A $20 million
bond in the November elec-
tion would, if passed, remodel
the facility into a new county
jail.
• Appointed Brittany Bod-
way Israel, who owns the
Dairy Queen on West Ma-
rine Drive, to the county Fair
Board.
She will serve the remain-
der of the term vacated by
Paul Mitchell, who resigned
earlier this year. The term runs
through 2019.
• Agreed to purchase a
roughly $400,000 Gradall ex-
cavator for the county Public
Works Department.
An excavator is a special-
ized machine used to dig ditch-
es and perform other functions
like debris removal, bridge
work and culvert installation.
The department has a 15-year-
old machine that is experienc-
ing many mechanical failures,
wrote Ted McLean, assistant
public works director, in an
agenda item summary.
Benefield, Risley and Swedenborg seek
election to two open City Council seats
Candidates from Page 1A
FILE PHOTO
The Tolovana Arts Colony debuted 50 years ago. It is be-
lieved that a copy of this 1968 edition of the Seaside Signal
will be included when a time capsule is unveiled.
City seeks to unearth
buried time capsule
An unveiling
scheduled this
fall at Tolovana
Arts Colony
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
This fall, the city hopes to
unearth a time capsule they
believe was buried 50 years
ago near the Tolovana Arts
Colony.
But what will they find?
“We’re not sure what to
expect,” Public Works Di-
rector Karen La Bonte said.
“But we’re willing to take a
chance.”
This summer, the city re-
ceived a call from a citizen
who said 50 years ago he was
a part of a gentleman’s club
that buried a time capsule.
After some digging, an article
marking the moment on Nov.
7, 1968, was found in the Sea-
side Signal.
The time capsule was
in commemoration of the
dedication of the Tolovana
Community Hall, and should
contain a copy of the Seaside
Signal, a page from McCall’s
magazine about food and
fashion, as well as photos of
a Boeing 737, the latest wom-
en’s hair-dos and a view of
Tolovana State Park.
Questions remain, howev-
er, about the existence of the
time capsule and whether or
not it remains without deteri-
oration today. So far, the city
has yet to find anyone else in
the community who remem-
bers the burial, and has not
been able to identify or locate
the original caller.
Either way, it’s a risk the
city is willing to take, City
Manager Bruce St. Denis
said. The city is now looking
for donations from residents
for a new capsule to buried in
the same location until Oct.
15. Any item that represents
Cannon Beach in 2018 is wel-
comed — the size of the ves-
sel will be decided based on
the amount of items, La Bonte
said.
A date has yet to be set for
the unveiling.
Report: Disparity in drug
convictions has declined
Early results from
new law
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
SALEM — A disparity in
the rate of drug possession
convictions between blacks
and whites has declined dra-
matically as a result of an an-
ti-racial profiling law that took
effect over a year ago, accord-
ing to a report by the Oregon
Criminal Justice Commission.
The new law reduced from
felonies to misdemeanors
crimes for possessing personal
use amounts of six drugs.
A state task force earli-
er found that Oregon blacks
were disproportionately being
convicted of drug felonies for
having small amounts.
“I am proud to report what
appear to be positive signs that
this legislation is working as in-
tended,” Oregon Attorney Gen-
eral Ellen Rosenblum said in
testimony Wednesday. She said
the law — House Bill 2355 —
“made significant inroads” in
reducing racial disparities and
reducing the number of all Or-
egonians convicted of felonies
for minor amounts of drugs.
“This reflects the belief of
the majority of our task force
that addiction cannot be ad-
dressed through punishment
alone and that a conviction with
the potential to take away a per-
son’s employment and housing
leaves them poorly situated to
overcome that addiction,” she
said.The report found that the
number of drug-related felony
convictions decreased by 2,000
in one year, a reduction of
about 40 percent. That doesn’t
mean they escaped prosecution
entirely. Drug-related misde-
meanors in the same time in-
creased from 224 to 1,443.
The disparity in drug posses-
sion convictions between blacks
and whites declined by 80 per-
cent, according to the report. In
2016-17, whites accounted for
83 percent of drug possession
convictions, even though they
make up 85 percent of the pop-
ulation, while blacks accounted
for 3.6 percent of those convic-
tions while they are 1.9 percent
of the population. The following
year, that fell to 2.9 percent, while
the percentage of conviction of
whites remained the same.
At the crux is a lack of af-
fordable housing, Benefield
said. It’s an issue the coun-
cil attempted to tackle a few
times during his last term.
Plans to introduce park mod-
el homes at the city’s RV park
have been stalled amid city
staff turnover. The council,
including Benefield, voted
down zoning code amend-
ments pitched as a way to en-
courage workforce housing,
finding them ineffective at
building housing the average
worker could afford.
“I don’t have a clear an-
swer. I think we’re in that
holding pattern because we
don’t have the answers,”
Benefield said. “But I don’t
think it’s just the city’s prob-
lem.”
If elected to another term,
Benefield would support di-
recting lodging tax dollars
away from promotion efforts
and putting the money into
public art, building trails and
buying the former Cannon
Beach Elementary School as
an event center.
While in favor of the
chamber’s efforts to mar-
ket during the offseason, he
questions its effectiveness in
driving tourism away from
summer months.
“People are going to see
the promotion and come
when they want, which is
summer,” Benefield said.
“It’s just too crowded.”
A listening ear
While this is her first bid
for City Council, Risley is
no stranger to local politics.
Over the course of three de-
cades, she has served on sev-
eral boards and committees,
including the Cannon Beach
and Clatsop County planning
commissions, the Oregon
State Parks and Recreation
Commission and the chamber
board.
As a member of public art
committees, supporting the
town’s art identity and legacy
would be a priority for Risley.
Other goals include working
more collaboratively with the
chamber and exploring solu-
tions for a new City Hall. As
a member of the parks com-
mittee, preserving the integri-
ty of the Ecola Creek Forest
Reserve would also be on her
agenda.
As a former chamber
board member, Risley sees
the value in promoting Can-
non Beach to tourists, but as
a councilor she would work
with the state to try and ex-
pand what projects can be
funded through the lodging
tax.
“We’ve got quite a bit in
the coffers, but we’re stuck
with a formula on how to
spend it,” she said. “I think
when a good thing gets too
good you need to rethink, and
that’s why I’m talking about
the Legislature.”
If elected, Risley’s
main goal would be
to be a sounding
board for her
constituents.
“I
love
this place be-
cause there’s
a spirit of in-
dependence and
cooperation with
each other,” she said.
“When we work together
we can accomplish so much,
so I want to hear what’s on
your mind.”
Finding a balance
For his first bid for public
office, Swedenborg hopes to
be a voice for people busy
running businesses and rais-
ing families — a cross section
of the community he feels of-
ten isn’t well-represented.
Born and raised in Cannon
Beach, Swedenborg worked
in Los Angeles and Bend in
technology sales and man-
agement with Hewlett-Pack-
ard before moving back to the
area to take over operations at
The Waves Oceanfront Lodg-
ing.
Remembering the small
and sleepy Cannon Beach of
his childhood, in conjunction
with the reality of a boom-
ing tourism industry today, is
what inspired his campaign
slogan: “Manage the future,
respect the past.”
“I think we really need to
look at the character balance
of Cannon Beach. Create
policy that allows for some
change and also will help
create balance by allowing
younger families to live here
and work here,” he said.
Creating that balance in-
cludes supporting paid park-
ing and a food and beverage
tax to help bring in revenue
that, unlike the lodging tax,
wouldn’t be restricted to
mostly tourism purposes.
Swedenborg is the stron-
gest advocate for tourism
promotion in the offseason
out of the candidates, and ar-
gues that, in comparison with
other tourism-based cities,
the amount spent on promo-
tion is small.
Experience Family Dining in
a Relaxed & Friendly
Environment
“I do feel Cannon Beach
has to have some kind of pro-
motion,” he said. “The only
way we’re going to grow the
transient lodging dollars we
use to run the city is by grow-
ing business in the shoulder
season.”
Swedenborg suggests a
better way to manage lodg-
ing tax dollars diverted to
the Tourism and Arts Com-
mission and the Chamber
of Commerce desti-
nation marketing
budget would
be to lump it
all into one
fund and have
it be managed
by an oversight
committee that
would vote on how
the money should be
used.
“I think the way we do it
today there are lots of dupli-
cate efforts. The city gives
money to one event in town,
and then the city gives money
to the chamber and they use
some of that money to mar-
ket that same event. I think
there are some synergies to
be gained by looking at how
that is managed at a city lev-
el,” he said.
Different approaches
While all of the candidates
listed housing as a top prior-
ity, their approach to address
it differed. All of the candi-
dates said employers should
do more to develop housing
for workers.
As a business owner, Swe-
denborg is directly impacted
by the employee shortage re-
lated to the lack of workforce
housing, and has had to pro-
vide lodging on a small scale
for employees for years, he
said.
Benefield said the city
should move forward with
the park model project and
incentivize accessory dwell-
ing units. He also believes
regulating vacation rentals
is a way to begin addressing
the housing shortage. He sup-
ports a proposal about to go
before the Planning Commis-
sion that would eliminate the
five-year rental permit that
allows some homeowners
nightly rentals.
“Our volunteer base is dis-
appearing. Because of higher
costs, young people are mov-
ing out, and the older folks
are getting tired. The young
people who are here are
working two to three jobs,”
Benefield said. “We’ve dis-
placed our younger families
with tourists. We need people
invested in the community,
not just their properties.”
Risley believes her real es-
tate background gives her key
insights into the complex re-
alities of building costs, zon-
ing and other housing issues,
she said. She joins Benefield
in supporting more accesso-
ry dwelling units in limited
areas, but believes the place
to start is to crack down on
unlicensed properties and
make sure lodging taxes are
collected.
“Things have changed in
real estate. People buying
these expensive homes don’t
need any other income,” Ris-
ley said. “I don’t see people
opening up these properties
for workforce housing.”
Establishing emergency
services at South Wind is also
a priority for the candidates,
though each differ on what
development should be pri-
oritized.
In a place where land is at
a premium, Swedenborg and
Benefield both advocate us-
ing a portion of South Wind
property for workforce hous-
ing.
Risley, however, said her
primary vision for the land is
to relocate the Cannon Beach
Academy, a charter school.
“I think everyone is ex-
pecting to see us put a school
on this property,” she said.
As discussions of devel-
opment unfold, the issue of
whether the city should finan-
cially get involved with fi-
nancing a school building has
split the City Council. Bene-
field believes the city should
not take on the cost of build-
ing any part of a school build-
ing, as he feels the financial
burden is the responsibility of
Seaside School District.
Risley and Swedenborg,
however, would be willing
to direct some city resourc-
es into building a dual-pur-
pose structure that could be
a school as well as a supplies
storage and evacuation area,
seeing it as an investment in
the youth and the city.
The campaign is com-
petitive but peaceful, with
candidates describing it so
far as a race between three
people who all love Cannon
Beach. No matter their dis-
agreements, there’s a certain
unspoken rule to stay friend-
ly in a town of 1,700 people,
Benefield said.
“Because no matter what,
you’ll end up running into
them at the coffee shop the
next day,” he said.
powered by
Serving Seafood, Pizza,
Sandwiches, Espressos, Beer,
Wine, Ice Cream and our
Homemade Desserts
We have a fabulous patio
where you can enjoy the
weather and your meal.
“TO-GO”
Orders Welcome
156 N. Hemlock • Cannon Beach
503.436.9551
Owned and Operated by the Cleary Family
music fi rst