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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2016)
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY OUR 110th YEAR • April 29, 2016 Uptick in revenue boosts budget School district to prepare bond measure for November ballot By Nancy McCarthy For the Seaside Signal With an uptick in revenue through property taxes and stable fi nances, the Seaside School District will add a few more teachers next year and make essen- tial repairs at all four schools. The district’s budget committee re- ceived its fi rst look at the 2016-17 bud- get Tuesday night and will continue dis- cussion on it May 17. Oregon is experiencing a “full throt- tle rate of growth” in revenue from taxes and building permits, said Superinten- dent Doug Dougherty, and the Seaside district is experiencing the same phe- nomenon. The budget includes a $19.53 mil- lion general fund, with revenue coming mostly from property taxes and timber revenues. A fi ve-year local option levy, approved by voters last November, also added $1.2 million to the budget. Because its property values are high- er than the average throughout Oregon, the Seaside district does not receive state education funds. While the receipts from state forest timber sales are expected to be low- er this year, more sales are expected in 2017, so revenue could be higher than expected, Dougherty said. EMBRACING THE ARTS Student’s eff orts lead to fi rst high school art day By Susan Romersa For Seaside Signal R PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE ussian eggs, cartoons and book- binding — those were only a few of the arts represented at Seaside High School’s fi rst art day April 14. The event was inspired by Seaside High School’s Hayley Rollins, who wanted to see more art programs in the schools. “To our surprise every student was engaged with the art project they were doing,” Hayley said Monday. “They kept coming up to me after lunch to tell me thank you for making the art day, and that they hope I will do it again next year. To me it made a big differ- ence to hear the student’s responses to the art day.” Now a freshman, she graduated Broadway Middle School with a See Budget, Page 6A Short-term rental rules divide town Gearhart’s proposed regulations under threat of legal action By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal passion for art and an understanding of Oregon’s legislative system. Her plea was adopted by Rep. Deborah Boone and state Sen. Betsy Johnson, who brought her cause to the fl oor of the Statehouse. With the passage of House Bill 3042, the state launched “Honorary Artists of Oregon Day” to celebrate art and artists, to promote art education in the state of Oregon and to encourage engagement in artistic endeavors. Residents sounded off on short-term rentals Thursday night as more than 100 fi lled the fi rehouse and spilled outside at the April 14 Planning Commission. The meeting is to be continued in Gearhart Thursday, May 12. Those who spoke — and more than 60 signed up to do so — were respond- ing to proposed rules that could sharply limit the number of properties used as short-term rentals. The new rules limit the number of vacation rentals to 35, to be obtained by a lottery process. See Arts, Page 10A See Rules, Page 7A Dire risk prompts Wyden stopover Sen. Ron Wyden to seek federal funds for region’s tsunami safety By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, Seaside Mayor Don Larson and geolo- gist Tom Horning in front of Broadway Middle School, one of Seaside’s schools at risk. “Help!” is the message from Seaside School Superintendent Doug Dougherty, and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden responded to the S O S Sunday. Dougherty and Seaside Mayor Don Larson served as guides on a tour of the city’s tsunami zone, from Seaside High School to Broadway Middle School before going east to Seaside Heights Elementary School. “My view is when you talk about disasters, this has historically been considered a place there is a federal role,” Wyden said. “It’s not about somebody’s political philosophy when coming together to ensure when our communi- ties are facing life-and-death situations we are there for them.” Dougherty told Wyden that Seaside is the most vulnerable to tsunamis of any city in Or- egon. “Seaside, then Gearhart, then Cannon Beach,” Dougherty said. Most of Oregon’s other coastal towns have some kind of elevation, Dougherty said, provid- ing some protection . Federal studies only plan for 38-foot tsunami waves, but studies by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries found past tsu- namis scaled 80 feet. “If the federal government doesn’t get the heights right, that’s going to affect everything else,” Wyden said. “As I understand it, Doug Dougherty is trying to plan for real world cir- cumstances, not for some mythical fi gure.” Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Fi- nance Committee, said he would seek pre disaster and Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. “What really needs to improve is the judg- ments of members of Congress in terms of pri- orities, and that’s my job,” the Oregon Democrat said. See Stopover, Page 6A