SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 110th YEAR • February 19, 2016
Montero
leaves
Downtown
Development
Association
SEASIDE SHOOTING
Investigation clears offi cer in shooting
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
Board to search for
replacement
By Katherine Lacaze
Seasude Signal
Tita Montero has resigned
as the executive director of
the Seaside Downtown De-
velopment Association .
Her resignation was effec-
tive immediately, although
she has offered her assistance
during the transition .
Sarah Dailey, administra-
tive assistant at the associa-
tion since last
-une , is ¿ lling
in as interim
executive di-
rector while
the nine-mem-
ber
board
of
directors
searches for a Tita Montero
replacement
for Montero as soon as pos-
sible.
“In a small organization,
with just two of us, it was just
kind of a natural for us to con-
tinue working together, me
and the board,” Dailey said.
Montero, who serves on
the Seaside City Council, be-
came the full-time executive
director in February 2015 .
She replaced Laurie Mespelt,
who became executive direc-
tor in 2007. Montero was the
¿ fth executive director for the
association since it started in
1993.
President Ruth Swenson
said the board was meeting
with Montero on Feb. 1 to
discuss general business, and
that was when she ¿ rst pre-
sented her resignation. The
move came as unexpected to
the board.
Montero said the position
required a lot of abnormal
working hours and brought
the kind of stress she does not
want in her life right now.
“I’ve really come to a time
where I don’t want to be the
person in charge,” Montero
said. “You’re basically on call
weekends and for events.”
She said she plans to “take
a breather,” which will give
her time to pursue other inter-
ests and spend time with her
mother, sister and brother-in-
law who soon are moving to
Prineville.
Although the resignation
was immediate, Swenson
said, she has continued con-
versing and holding confer-
ence calls with Montero, who
has offered her help until
a new executive director is
found.
Offi cer David
Davidson
The ¿ ndings of the Seaside
shooting investigation show
Seaside Police 2f¿ cer David
Davidson was legally and
morally justi¿ ed in shooting
and killing Phillip Max Ferry.
Ferry was being arrested on
a felony assault warrant Feb. 5
when he shot and killed Sea-
side Police Sgt. Jason Good-
ding. Ferry was then shot by
Davidson and later died.
Clatsop County District
Attorney Josh Marquis, the
Oregon State Police and
Clatsop County Major Crime
Team released the ¿ ndings
and identi¿ ed Davidson, a
Seaside Police of¿ cer since
late 2012, during a press con-
ference today at the Judge
Guy Boyington Building in
Astoria.
“The purpose of the inves-
tigation deals primarily with
the shooting of Mr. Ferry,”
Marquis said. “The murder of
Jason Goodding was not the
primary focus, not because it
doesn’t profoundly affect us,
but because the legal issue is
whether the surviving of¿ cer
was justi¿ ed in using deadly
force.”
Phillip Max
Ferry
See Findings, Page 6A
OFFICER JASON GOODDING
REMEMBERED
PHOTOS BY JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP
Pallbearers take Sgt. Jason Goodding’s casket into the memorial service.
A heartfelt farewell to an everyday hero
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
E
veryone who knew Jason Goodding says his smile could
light up a room. ¶ Before giving the closing benediction at
Goodding’s memorial last Friday afternoon inside the Sea-
side Civic and Convention Center, Jerry Gaidos, a chaplain
for Clatsop County law enforcement, paused to describe how he will
always remember Goodding’s smile.
See Farewell, Page 6A
Emotions raw at Seaside Sgt. Jason Goodding’s me-
morial at Seaside Civic and Convention Center Friday.
See more related stories on Pages 4-6
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Montero, Page 7A
SHARED
HOPE
Local resident
seeks to halt
sex-trai cking
industry
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
S
easide’s Jay Barber is on a mission to promote the efforts of
Shared Hope International, a nonproi t organization trying to erad-
icate sex trafi cking at home and abroad. The nonproi t seeks to
raise awareness and inl uence federal and state laws that strength-
en the response to trafi cking.
Barber i rst became aware of Shared Hope International, founded by
former Washington congresswoman Linda Smith in 1998, while leading
a training program called the Essentials of Development for
the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust.
See Hope, Page 9A