October 28, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
A tourism toolbox for local businesses
F
or the past few years, the
Seaside Visitors Bureau has
developed a very strong part-
nership with Entercom Portland. In
addition to serving as our key radio
station partner in the Portland Metro
market, where you’ll likely hear
advertisements promoting Seaside
on 105.1 The Buzz, 97.1 Charlie
and 92.3 Classic Rock, we’ve also
been able to do some great email
and SMS (text) marketing. Our
contract provides us with the ability
to send a handful of targeted emails
each year while also giving us a
chance to deliver promotional text
messages up to twice per month to a
database that’s nearing one thousand
phone numbers.
At this point you might be won-
dering what’s so unique about these
opportunities, or quite simply why
am I telling you this? It’s two-fold.
SIDE RAIL
JOHN RAHL
For one, I’ve been given the chance
to talk about Seaside tourism in this
space for more than fi ve years now
and it’s something that I realized
I’ve never touched on. Secondly,
these are opportunities that are
available to businesses in Seaside
that are interested in reaching the
day or overnight visitor making
a trip to the beach. Best of all,
there’s no cost to participate as it’s
something we’ve already built into
our annual marketing plan budget.
Are you a business owner? Do
you know a business owner, with a
focus on visitors, that’s looking to
try something a little different over
the fall and winter months? Chances
are, as a local in this community,
you’re either one or the other and so
I encourage you to read on.
The opportunities don’t stop with
the email and text marketing. In
the summer of 2015, we launched
a Smartphone App for both Apple
iOS and Android. Another tool
— because of this App — at our
disposal gives us the ability to send
push notifi cations from the App and
reach up to another 700
plus individuals. Many
local busi-
nesses
LETTERS
A crazy number
Yes, Seaside schools need
to be physically improved and
made safer. With 1,500 stu-
dents only the 500 at Seaside
Heights Elementary are in
pretty good shape. That leaves
the facilities for the remaining
1,000 students to be improved
and/or relocated. The Seaside
School Board says you — the
voter — must spend $100 mil-
lion to accomplish this needed
job. Yes, folk, that is $100,000
per student! That is a crazy
number.
The school board said there
was no Plan B for spending
less than $128 million in 2013
and they were wrong since it
is now $100 million in 2016.
There is a Plan C that is less
than $50 million which will
accomplish the same objec-
tives but that is not on the bal-
lot. Voting for Plan C would
allow funds to be available to
improve the bridges, which
will provide safety for stu-
dents during the 71 percent of
the time they are not at school
and all the rest of the residents
and visitors.
John Dunzer
Seaside
Reelect Don Johnson
It is my pleasure to endorse
Don Johnson for reelection to
the Seaside City Council.
As a former councilman,
I worked alongside Don for
10 years and appreciated his
approach to solving the prob-
lems presented to us as well
as having the foresight to plan
for the future. Born and raised
in Seaside, Don has a great
knowledge of its history and
the workings of our city. He
is always eager to listen to his
constituents, the city staff and
his fellow council members in
making decisions for the bet-
terment of our town.
Don’s years of experience
on the Planning Commission
and the City Council make
him the most qualifi ed candi-
date for this position. Please
help me reelect Mr. Johnson
for another term on the City
Council.
Tim Tolan
Seaside
now 65 years — and they are
deteriorating. A walk down
the halls on a rainy day will
show leaky roofs. Upon closer
look below the hallways, there
are rusted pipes, old electrical
wiring and failing heating
systems. In one school, there
are 17 portable classrooms
because the septic fi eld is at
capacity.
Why should we rebuild
the schools and not repair?
Current maintenance costs
are $300,000- $500,000 a
year beyond normal mainte-
nance costs. To fully correct
and renovate te roofi ng, pip-
ing, plumbing and electrical
systems would cost over $30
million. This doesn’t include
seismic retrofi tting and cor-
recting structural defi ciencies.
Our community has been
able to develop corporate sup-
port. Weyerhaeuser will do-
nate the land to locate the new
facilities next to the Heights
Elementary school and out-
side of the tsunami zone.
I believe that everyone in
our community bears a re-
sponsibility to support the
current generation of students.
Business and individuals do
look for good schools and
a well-educated workforce
when they make decisions
about where to locate. Invest-
ing in our schools is an invest-
ment in our community and
employment opportunities.
We have a great opportu-
nity to maximize available
funds, take advantage of fa-
vorable interest rates, reduce
project costs and incorpo-
rate donated land. We should
move forward to receive the
best bang for our education
dollars.
Caryl Scharpf
Gearhart
we had the Civilian Conser-
vation Corps, and it would
work now.
Cleve Rolfe
Seaside
have taken a stab at creating an offer
for this platform, and in several cas-
es we’ve seen some solid results.
There are a couple of ways that
you can get involved. You can
send an email to info@seasideor.
com with the subject “promotional
offers” and then give us some detail
of what you’d like to promote or
talk about. In the coming weeks and
months, we’ll also be bringing the
opportunity into as many businesses
as we can. Our summer intern, Roni
Darling — a Seaside High School
graduate and current college senior,
worked on a project this summer to
outline all of the businesses oppor-
tunities we have in a small booklet.
She did an incredible job with this
project.
Now that she’s back in school, a
member of our staff will be hitting
the ground to talk to as many
people as possible and sharing the
examples we created. Our newest
employee, Ken Heman — you
might recognize the name as a
former radio host along the North
Coast — will be leading that charge.
Nicole Bailey has worked exten-
sively on reaching out to businesses
via phone and email and will also be
assisting in these efforts from time
to time. We realize this might not be
the perfect tool for everyone but we
encourage you to give it a try and I
look forward to sharing some of the
successes in a future column.
Have a thought or a question about
tourism in Seaside, or maybe an
idea for a future column? Drop me
an email at jrahl@cityofseaside.us.
Jon Rahl is the director of tourism
for the Seaside Visitors Bureau and
assistant general manager of the
Seaside Civic & Convention Center.
LOG JAM
Support Tom Horning
I wholeheartedly support
Tom Horning for Seaside City
Council. For over 25 years he
has been a strong and consis-
tent advocate for preparing
Seaside and Oregon’s coastal
communities for the Casca-
dia earthquake and tsunami.
During this time Seaside has
benefi ted from state and feder-
al grants looking at how to re-
duce Seaside’s risk, refl ecting
its status as the most vulner-
able community on the coast.
Tom will provide what Sea-
side has lacked, a determined
and knowledgeable advocate
on the City Council to imple-
ment well thought out policies
to protect Seaside. The ideas
that he and the Tsunami Ad-
visory Group developed over
the years were ahead of their
time and have been adopted
by other communities. Sea-
side will benefi t both in the
short term and over time with
Tom’s leadership on the City
Council. As lifelong resident
of Seaside who has served
on the Planning Commission,
Parks Advisory Committee
and the North Coast Land
Conservancy Board, Tom un-
derstands Seaside and will be
an effective City Councilor
whose leadership will help all
coastal communities.
Jay Raskin
Former mayor, Cannon Beach
NEAL MAINE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
City workers cleared logs at the Avenue A bridge during the Oct. 21 storm in Seaside. The
city was spared the worst, which brought a tornado to Manzanita.
PARTY
Saturday, October 29 • 4-9pm
See Letters, Page 6A
Halloween Punch • Food
FUN & MORE!
Costume Contest
Homeless solution
I keep hearing about how
much of an issue the home-
less population is causing all
around the area. A workable
solution would be to put them
to work, for pay. If they won’t
work, then make them leave
the area. This worked when
451 AVE. U, SEASIDE
503-738-5261
www.seasidegolfcourse.us
Comments on
Measure 97
Two comments about
Measure 97:
1. Voters pamphlet (page
52) states that any corpora-
tions paying Oregon M97
taxes may write off those state
taxes against their federal tax-
es.
2. If corporations pass
along the increased costs
to consumers, why are they
spending $18 million to de-
feat M97?
(P.S.: I’m betting these
corporations will be writing
off the $18M regardless.)
D. Smith
Gearhart
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Support the
school bond
I am writing today to voice
my support for the upcoming
Seaside School District bond .
The environment for our
students needs to be secure,
comfortable and safe. When
looking at the current facili-
ties, it is clear that the cost of
maintenance for buildings is
something that cannot be sus-
tained. The schools were built
to last 50 years and were not
designed for our harsh con-
ditions along the coast. The
average age of the schools is
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