SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 110th YEAR • August 5, 2016
35TH ANNUAL SEASIDE BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT COMING AUG. 11–14
HITTIN’ THE BEACH
Seaside voters
to decide fate
of cannabis
tax initiative
By R.J. Marx and Dave Fisher
Seaside Signal
More than 3,000 players — including adults and
youth — are expected to participate in the 35th annual
Seaside Chamber Beach Volleyball event.
A resolution calling for a ballot initiative that
proposes a three percent tax on the sale of mari-
juana products by Seaside recreational marijuana
retailers was approved unanimously by the Sea-
side City Council at its meeting July 25. As a re-
sult, voters will have one more ballot measure to
decide this November.
Retail, not medical sales, would be subject to
the tax. State law mandates local taxes may not be
imposed on medical marijuana patients or care-
givers. Recent legislative changes made it possi-
ble for Seaside to impose the three percent tax on
retail cannabis sales within its borders.
Last fall, Seaside city councilors approved
retail sales at licensed medical marijuana dispen-
saries. Highway 420, Cannabis Nation and Oasis
Cannabis retailers are licensed within the city and
regulated by the Oregon Health Authority and Or-
egon Liquor Control Commission.
According to the League of Oregon Cities
publication “Local Government Regulation of
Marijuana in Oregon,” rules amended this year
could allow cities and counties to enter into in-
tergovernmental agreements with Oregon Depart-
ment of Revenue to collect the local taxes.
A consolidated regulation system may be en-
acted in 2017, according to the document, which
was revised in May.
Oregon now charges a 25 percent state tax on
retail sales of recreational marijuana from medical
marijuana dispensaries. The tax will be reduced to
17 percent after July 1, 2017. Medical marijuana
cardholders and caregivers will not have to pay
the state tax on the retail sale of marijuana items.
Of state tax revenue from the retail sale of
cannabis, 10 percent will be transferred to cities
to “assist local law enforcement in performing
its duties.” After July 1, 2017, revenues will be
distributed proportionately based on the number
of licenses issued in each city. Fifty percent of
revenues will be distributed based on the number
of production, processor and wholesale licenses
issued in the city, and the other 50 percent will be
distributed based on the number of retail licenses
issued in the city.
If a city adopts an ordinance prohibiting the
establishment of any registered or licensed mar-
ijuana activities, it will not be eligible to receive
state marijuana tax revenues.
SUBMITTED BY SEASIDE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Seaside gears up for ‘world’s
largest’ beach volleyball event
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
T
he Seaside Chamber of Com-
merce intends for the 35th annual
Seaside Chamber Beach Volley-
ball event to revolve around one
primary principle: an exceptional
player experience. For this year’s
upcoming event, that means better
pacing at the tournament and using updated
technology.
Seaside’s beach volleyball event – recog-
nized since 2011 as the world’s largest beach
volleyball tournament by the World Records
Academy – will take place Aug. 11 through
14. More than 3,000 players on about 1,450
teams are expected to attend. The event also
draws large crowds of family members,
friends and random spectators.
The tournament includes players of all
ages, with the youth divisions becoming the
focal point in terms of consumer demand.
Most of the 14-year-old brackets were the
fi rst to fi ll up and the boys youth divisions
have grown exponentially from last year, ac-
cording to Brian Owen, the chamber’s exec-
utive director.
See Volleyball, Page 10A
JEFF TER HAR PHOTO
A celebration ensues among players follow-
ing a volleyball match at last year’s event.
Emergency
readiness focus of
Bonamici visit
By Lyra Fontaine
EO Media Group
For a second time in two weeks, U.S. Rep. Su-
zanne Bonamici was in Seaside, this time for a town
hall meeting with constituents to discuss issues and
fi eld questions.
In an earlier visit, Bonamici, D-Oregon, visit-
ed Providence ElderPlace in Seaside on July 22,
where she met program participants and shared
her views on elder care, a new mental health
initiative and community programs with Prov-
idence staff.
Her hour-long town hall Tuesday attended by
about 40 people at the South County Campus of
Clatsop Community College followed a visit to the
Cannon Beach Fire Department earlier in the af-
ternoon. While Bonamici touched on a variety of
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Visit, Page 7A
Helping people out, one load at a time
Laundry Love off ers a practical expression
of love and support
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
Laundry Love is exactly what it sounds like. One
Saturday per month, people – whether families or
individuals, visitors or locals, children or elderly
persons – can stop by the Laundromat in Seaside
and get a couple loads of laundry done for free. The
experience is meant to show them a practical expres-
sion of love and support.
Laundry Love is a countrywide initiative that
takes various forms in hundreds of community-cen-
tered chapters. Water’s Edge, a nonprofi t focused
on faith-based ministry, operates the local Laundry
Love program for Seaside and the surrounding area.
“When people are there, it’s not a place where
we preach or anything like that,” said Shirley Smith-
Yates, a Seaside pastor and the program coordinator.
“We’re just there to love people and to help people.”
On July 30, At the Water’s Gate sponsored a ben-
efi t concert at Seaside Coffee House. Smith-Yates,
who performs as Shirley88, and some friends pro-
vided live music and shared information on Laundry
Love. Attendees could deposit donations into empty
detergent containers set up at the coffee shop.
According to Smith-Yates, the event raised about
$1,200 in donations – enough to fund Laundry Love
for several months.
The beginning of Laundry Love
Smith-Yates and her husband, Carl Yates, started
At the Water’s Gate when they moved to the area
four years ago. The organization, affi liated with the
Foursquare Church, is what Smith-Yates defi ned as
“a simple church,” one without a physical location
that functions primarily as a ministry. At the Water’s
Gate took on Laundry Love as one of its projects,
but the program is also supported by other commu-
nity members and entities, like North Coast Out-
reach and Knights of Columbus.
See Laundry, Page 7A
KATHERINE LACAZE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Shirley Smith-Yates and Rob Brown perform live
music July 30 for a fundraiser at Seaside Coff ee
House. Patrons donated tips to support the local
Laundry Love program.