SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 110th YEAR • November 25, 2016
With a nod from voters, district
to receive additional $4 million
District can cash in on state funding
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Driven by the threat of
tsunami and evidence of
crumbling Seaside schools,
voters on Election Day rallied
around the school district’s
$99.7 million bond .
The district can now add
another $4 million from the
state’s Department of Educa-
tion Offi ce of Finance and Ad-
ministration, which will bring
total funding to more than
$103 million. The district was
required to pass the bond to
receive the state funds, which
match up to $4 million of a
district’s bond levy.
“I couldn’t be more proud
of our community for step-
ping forward and making a
truly historic decision that
will improve the lives of
children and families for
generations to come,” Sea-
side Superintendent-emeritus
See Budget, Page 5A
SUBMITTED P HOTO
Superintendent-emeritus Doug Dougherty and Gail Dundas,
co-chairwoman of Vote Yes for Our Local Schools, celebrate
the bond vote on election night.
MAYOR STEPS DOWN IN
EMOTIONAL FAREWELL
Room tax
hike to pay
for center
upgrades
$14.6M plan at convention center
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Visitors, not residents, will pay for up-
grades to the Seaside C ivic and C onvention
C enter.
City c ouncilors took the fi rst step Mon-
day, Nov. 14, to hike the lodging tax from
8 to 10 percent. The additional tourist rev-
enue would be used to repay construction
bonds over a 20- to 30-year period to fund
the $14.6 million renovation.
“We are at a time where we’re waiting
for the fi nancing to go through,” Civic and
Convention Center General Manager Russ
Vandenberg said after the meeting. “To-
night was a big step in that process.”
The construction project would add
about 10,000 square feet to the existing
62,000-square-foot facility, and renovate more
than 13,000 square feet of the current space.
“Council had quite a bit of discussion
about how they would go about this,” City
Manager Mark Winstanley said at the meet-
ing. “The consensus was the best way for
that type of revenue to be raised would be to
raise the room tax from its current 8 percent
up to whatever is going to be necessary to
handle $14 million worth of debt.”
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
T
he city named its library af-
ter Mayor Don Larson at its
council meeting on Monday,
Nov. 14. Larson followed
that announcement with a shocker.
“I’m resigning after 14 years,” he
said at a City Council meeting. “We’ve
had fun together. Staff, people that live
in Seaside, all I can say is: Thank you
very much. I love you all.”
Councilors choked back tears as
they saluted the mayor, whose health
concerns drove his decision to step
down. Larson, 80, is battling cancer.
“I can’t say enough for all you’ve
done,” Councilor Randy Frank said.
“He is the consummate person who
understands civility,” Councilor Jay
Barber said. “If you think of what’s
happened in politics in our country, and
even in our area. We’ve had the kind
of leadership that really called for us to
be civil with each other. We disagree,
we have other points of view, but we’ve
been civil — and you’ve led that.”
Tax’s history
ABOVE: Randy
Frank, Seth
Morrisey,
Dana Phillips,
Don Larson,
Don Johnson,
Tita Monte-
ro and Jay
Barber.
See Larson, Page 6A
‘WE’VE HAD FUN TOGETHER. STAFF, PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN SEASIDE,
ALL I CAN SAY IS: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I LOVE YOU ALL.’
LEFT: Don
Larson and
Don Johnson,
longtime
friends and
colleagues,
after Larson’s
announce-
ment of his
retirement.
PHOTOS BY R.J. MARX
SEASIDE SIGNAL
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
Don Larson, outgoing Seaside mayor
Enacted in the early 1970s, Seaside’s
original hotel and motel tax was set at 5 per-
cent. Over the years the rate was increased
as additional services were needed to ac-
commodate a growing number of visitors.
The convention’s last expansion in 1991
was funded by an increase in the room tax.
The rate, last changed in 2002, stands at
8 percent. The tax does not include vaca-
tion rental revenue. According to the new
ordinance, funds collected are to be divided
between tourism promotion, public safety,
the Prom Improvement Fund and other city
costs. More than half of the room tax —
56.8 percent — would be allocated to the
convention center fund for outstanding debt
requirements and for maintaining, upgrad-
ing and expansion of the convention center
building.
An additional 4 percent of the tax would
be allocated to the convention center cap-
ital improvement fund for maintenance,
upgrading and expansion of the convention
center building, properties and equipment.
See Center, Page 5A
Festival of Trees will be a ‘winter wonderland’
Meet Princess Belle and
the Sugar Plum Fairy
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
For Veronica Russell,
Providence Seaside Hospital
Foundation’s development
specialist, “Christmas is about
kids.”
Children bring magic to
the holidays — their inno-
cence, excitement and wonder
awakening within adults the
same feelings of joy and awe
they experienced themselves
in their youth, culminating
in a rich, multi-generational
spirit of celebration through-
out the holiday season.
To generate an especial-
ly enchanting experience for
children at this year’s Festi-
val of Trees community open
house, the Dec. 3 event will
feature a new Candy Cane
Lane, with expanded activi-
ties and offerings for young
attendees.
An actress portraying Dis-
ney’s Princess Belle will sing
and read stories on the mezza-
nine at the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center, where
the event will take place. The
Sugar Plum Fairy, inspired by
“The Nutcracker” ballet, will
oversee the making of Christ-
mas magic wands. Children
also will get to decorate cook-
ies, get their picture taken
with Santa Claus, have their
faces painted, work on craft
projects and create and wrap
hand-made ornaments to give
to loved ones.
During a conference Rus-
sell attended — targeted for
designers and organizers
of various Festival of Trees
events — she was inspired
to bolster the experience for
children and add a touch of
Disney magic, as other orga-
nizations and communities
had done.
“My vision for Candy
Cane Lane is that people will
come, families will come, to
see the trees and see Santa and
catch a good case of holiday
spirit at the open house,” Rus-
sell said.
A winter
wonderland
The 19th annual Provi-
dence Festival of Trees, host-
ed by the hospital’s founda-
tion, also will retain many
traditions the community
expects and enjoys. Guests
will experience the highly an-
ticipated display of stunning
See Festival, Page 11A
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Members of last year’s Providence Festival of Trees commit-
tee included (front row, from left) Kimberly Ward, executive
director of the Seaside Providence Hospital Foundation;
Anna Dennis; Laura Freedman; (second row, from left)
Roxann Holwege; Veronica Russell, the foundation’s develop-
ment specialist; Raven Brown; and Alana Kujala.