July 8, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
Journey is ‘the most important part’
Gearhart rental rules
draw divisive debate
Miss O from Page 1A
Gearhart from Page 1A
Her victory was decided
by a score determined from
the swimsuit competition,
evening wear, on-stage re-
sponse and talent. Mather
drew a large applause from
the crowd during the talent
section when she belted the
opera song, “Nessun Dor-
ma.”
Mather will now travel to
Atlantic City, New Jersey,
where she will compete for
the title of Miss America on
Sept. 11. Win or lose, Miss
Oregon will have a busy year
of traveling, appearances
and involvement in charity
events.
Mather said winning the
crown represents a small
piece of the entire experience.
“The journey is the most im-
portant part,” she said . “I’m
so thankful God put me in this
position.”
Heated discussion
Passing the crown
Ali Wallace, of Portland,
who won the title last year,
passed her crown to Mather.
Wallace was the second in
her family to win the contest,
as her mother Tammy Wallace
was Miss Oregon in 1987.
“It’s bittersweet because it’s
been my identity for the last
year, but I’m excited to ac-
complish my other goals in
life,” Wallace said.
Prior to winning the
crown, Wallace had never left
the West Coast. Within the
past year she’s been to New
York, New Jersey and even
Japan representing her home
state. She took this last year
of school off to make all the
travel events and appearanc-
es, but has begun taking class-
es again at Portland State and
plans on inishing up her de-
gree this year.
Locals on stage
Mather wasn’t the only
contestant to hail from near-
by as Miss North Coast,
Tess Rund, and Miss Clatsop
County, Ryen Buys, also com-
peted in the pageant.
Buys won the People’s
Choice Award in votes cast
prior to the event. The award
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Contestants surround the newly crowned Miss Oregon Alexis Mather during the Miss Oregon
competition on Saturday in Seaside.
‘The journey is the
most important
part. I’m so thankful
God put me in
this position.’
The council discussion
came after a heated com-
ment period. “Hats off to ev-
eryone involved,” said Matt
Brown. He said the rules
would make more homes
available for long-term rent-
als and affordable housing.
“I think this would be a good
example of a responsible
way to handle this that oth-
er communities in Clatsop
County could follow.”
David Russell said short-
term rentals represent a “sea
change in our community,
with a constant turnover of
short-term rentals.” He said
transient lodging needs to
be controlled and regulated
“very strongly.”
Opponents to the rules
blamed a handful of bad
owners for short-term rental
abuses.
“I think we are looking
for a problem where there
is none,” David Remer,
who owns several proper-
ties in Gearhart, said. “I’m
adamant about going after
the issue, not the philoso-
phy of ‘strangers’ coming to
our town. We already have
xenophobia. It’s a national
issue. Where are we going
with this? Hold me account-
able. Make people behave.
Fine me, toss me, do what-
ever you need to do, but give
me a chance to do this prop-
erly.”
Portland attorney Dean
Alterman appeared on be-
half of ive homeowners. He
said the proposed rules have
“no factual base,” and can-
not be adopted by the city
without one.
If the rules are ratiied
by councilors, voters would
have a 30-day period to call
for a referendum, City At-
torney Peter Watts said, with
an additional 90 days to col-
lect petition signatures.
If those signatures are
collected, the referendum
would be placed on the bal-
lot. “If this were adopted
quickly and you got signa-
tures quickly, this could be
on the ballot within the No-
vember period,” Watts said.
“If not it would go to a spe-
cial election in February.”
“We’re not attempting to
eliminate short-term rent-
als,” Mayor Dianne Widdop
said. “What we are attempt-
ing to do is let everyone who
has a short-term rental keep
it and use it within the reg-
ulation.”
FOR
AGAINST
Alexis Mather
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
qualiied her to advance to the
top 11, but her quest for the
crown would end there.
“I looked out and saw so
many people and local busi-
nesses here to support me,
that was really great,” Buys
said. “It’s been a time con-
suming last few weeks, but
amazing getting to know all
these girls.”
Dana Phillips had been the
director of Miss Oregon since
1986, but this was her irst
year not running the show.
That’s not to say she wasn’t
involved.
Phillips and her husband,
Steve, are in charge of the Or-
egon Scholarship Foundation,
which oversees the scholar-
ship money for the contestants.
“I might have retired from the
Miss Clatsop Ryen Buys waves to the crowd during the Miss
Oregon competition on Saturday, July 2, 2016, at the Seaside
Convention Center in Seaside, Ore.
day-to-day tasks for Miss Ore-
gon but I’ll always be heavily
involved with the organiza-
tion,” laughed Phillips.
Miss Outstanding
Teen contest
The contest for Miss Ore-
gon’s Outstanding Teen was
interwoven into the premier
event with the younger girls
participating in similar pag-
eant disciplines.
Taryn Miller, Miss Teen
Columbia-Paciic, won fourth
runner-up. Also on stage were
Miss Teen Clatsop County,
Caitlin Hillman, and Miss
Teen North Coast, Nikkole
Sasso.
Moving up
Mather will now travel to At-
lantic City, New Jersey, where
she will compete for the title of
Miss America on Sept. 11.. The
nationally televised event will
feature women from all ifty
states going up against each oth-
er in the same diverse ields of
competition. Win or lose, Miss
Oregon will have a busy year
of traveling, appearances and
involvement in charity events.
For Mather, winning the
crown represents a small piece
of the entire experience. “The
journey is the most import-
ant part,” she said after the
crowning. “I’m so thankful
God put me in this position.”
Paula Madden, left, and David Remer, right, voice their
opinions on proposed short-term rental regulations.
DANNY MILLER / EO MEDIA GROUP
Parade and more highlight the holiday
Parade from Page 1A
She was at the Seaside parade
for the irst time, along with a
small group of friends.
She described them as
“holiday freaks” who enjoy
celebrating the spirit of each
holiday to its fullest. The
group was decked in sweaters
printed with American-lags
and ingernails painted with
stars and stripes.
James Maki, of Kirkland,
Washington, noted how pa-
rades are tinged in nostal-
gia because the concept of
marching or proceeding
through a city “started as a
projection of military pow-
er.” Historically, parades
were used after victorious
military conlicts to celebrate
the homecoming of troops.
Take, for instance, the well-
known New York City Victo-
ry Parade of 1946, which cel-
ebrated the end of World War
II. Today, they are a quintes-
sential festivity reminiscent
of earlier decades, a tradition
passed down through genera-
tions.
Maki was visiting Seaside
along with his brother and
sister-in-law and their three
school-aged daughters. Trav-
eling to Seaside to commem-
orate the Fourth of July and
vacation over the holiday is,
for them, a family tradition.
The girls said they enjoy
watching the parade because
of the music, the distribution
of candy and the opportuni-
ty to “see the cool things,”
which this year included
children riding unicycles,
pageant winners, singing pi-
rates, roller derby skaters,
Sasquatch on wheels and a
bevy of other colorful sights
and sounds.
For Seaside’s Jeremy
Mills it is the pageantry —
“the colors, the music, the
excitement, the sense of pride
in our nation” — that draws
people to parades on Fourth
of July.
His wife, Misty, agreed,
adding she enjoys coming to
Seaside’s parade and seeing
the amount and diversity of
people in attendance, both
participants and spectators,
and “the pride they’re taking
in our town and our country.”
Seaside’s parade stands
out because “of the effort
they put into their loats” or
other parade entries, Misty
Mills said.
The parade was just the
start. The Seaside Museum
and Historical Society held
Weed the Skipanon River by canoe
with North Coast Land Conservancy
KATHERINE LACAZE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Four drum and bugle corps were one of the highlights of the
Seaside Fourth of July Parade.
its old-fashioned social and
silent auction. The four drum
and bugle corps, featuring
more than 500 performers,
participated in a free con-
cert at Broadway Field. The
Northwest SkyLiners put on
a stunt kite presentation at the
Turnaround in the afternoon.
The holiday was capped
in the late evening with
Seaside’s ireworks show,
produced by Kriegshauser
Family Pyrotechnicians and
sponsored by community
partners, such as the City of
Seaside, the Seaside Cham-
ber of Commerce and multi-
ple local businesses and en-
terprises.
KATHERINE LACAZE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Members of the color guard
for the Oregon Crusaders
perform during the annual
Fourth of July Parade.
DON’T LET LIFECARE PASS YOU BY
It’s not too late to join or renew!
Call, come by, or apply online
while there’s time!
*Full year,
per household.
Family includes you
and household dependents.
IN AN EMERGENCY CALL
9-1-1
Gearhart residents and community members ill all the
seats at the Gearhart Fire Station during a public hearing
about Gearhart short-term rentals Tuesday.
2325 SE DOLPHIN AVENUE
WARRENTON
503-861-5558
www.ambulancemembership.com/medix
The wild, forested up-
per Skipanon River is lush
with towering Sitka spruce,
native sedges and inva-
sive plants such as purple
loosestrife, yellow lag iris,
and ivy. North Coast Land
Conservancy owns three
properties totaling 106 acres
along the Skipanon near
Warrenton High School. The
properties are impossible to
access on foot, so staff and
volunteers plan to ride the
tide and weed the waterway
by boat on Wednesday, July
27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The
conservancy
will provide canoes on a
space-available basis. Vol-
unteers may also participate
with their own canoe or
kayak. In either case, con-
tact Stewardship Director
Melissa Reich in advance
(melissar@nclctrust.org or
503-738-9126 for RSVP
and location, and to reserve
a spot in a canoe if needed.
Wear clothing appropriate
for boating and the weather,
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Invasive yellow lag iris
seed pods.
and bring lunch, drinking
water, and gloves. There are
no toilets or potable water
on site. The conservancy
will provide any necessary
tools.
This stewardship day
is a partnership with Ski-
panon Watershed Council.
Get more information about
this and other stewardship
opportunities at NCLCtrust.
org.
LifeCa
ONLY re
59 00
$
*