March 17, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Clatsop County needs ecologically sustainable jobs
Clatsop County Commissioner
Lianne Thompson provided this
testimony to the Oregon Joint Ways
and Means Committee March 3.
C
latsop County Commissioner
Lianne Thompson Co-chairs
Sen. Devlin and Rep. Na-
thanson, members of the committee,
thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you tonight.
My name is Lianne Thompson,
and I’m a Clatsop County com-
missioner. I appreciate the very
great challenge before you in this
session as you balance revenues
and requests from all over Oregon.
It’s no surprise that there are more
of the latter than the former. It’s
no surprise that many people are
requesting — perhaps demanding
— that you perform the impossible
GUEST COLUMN
LIANNE THOMPSON
job of meeting every request with
agreement and funding. I’m from
the government, and I came to help.
What I’m offering isn’t imme-
diately possible, but it’s a direction
forward. I’d ask your attention
to wise investment in economic
development that provides jobs
in ecologically sustainable ways,
jobs that grow the hearts and minds
of the workers involved as they
support our local and statewide tax
base. Sen. Betsy Johnson has her
Oregon Manufacturing Innovation
Center project in Scappoose.
I’m in favor of supporting that
project with whatever “ask” she
has for funding. I trust her judg-
ment. I’m also requesting that you
consider investing in factories all
over Oregon that will use cross-lam-
inated timber or other mass-timber
technology to produce value-added
timber products from our private,
state, and federal forests. I’d like
to see us building modular housing
using mass timber techniques. We
don’t have specifi c requests at the
moment, but they’re coming soon.
Please give them consideration as
they provide jobs in rural Oregon.
You know that rural Oregon des-
perately needs those ecologically
sustainable manufacturing jobs, or
we face becoming ghost towns or
theme parks. Let’s instead put tools
in workers’ hands, develop opportu-
On your mark, get set … spring break!
W
ith spring break just weeks
away, are you ready?
We’ve seen a little bit of
everything when it comes to our weather
over the past few months. And this
winter has brought more occurrences
of snow than any of the previous six
winters I’ve lived here. Many life-long
residents have echoed my thoughts
and told me that it’s one of the longest
stretches of cold and wet weather they
can ever remember. The mountains have
reaped the rewards this year, much the
way we did in 2015 where snow was
scarce and sunshine and warmer temps
were the talk of the town.
Two years ago, that weather helped
spark a surge of winter business, and
lodging tax brought in 30 percent more
than it did during the January through
March quarter of 2014. This year, our
tourism friends in the mountains are
seeing a lot of the same increases we
did just 24 months ago. The good news
on the travel front is that spring break
is kicking off for some this very week
(University of Portland is closed from
March 13-17). We’ll now see public
schools and universities across the Pacif-
ic Northwest breaking at different points
all the way through the week of April
10-14, where most Seattle area schools
get some rest and relaxation.
The biggest spring break week hap-
pens March 27-31 when most Oregon
Last and perhaps most important
for many is that this future will give
us the means to also protect and
preserve forests in Oregon as wild
places, places that provide clean air
and drinking water, allow recre-
ational opportunities, and species
and habitat protection. It’s a big
dream, there’s a lot of collaborative
work to be done, but it’s a dream
that inspires both hope and com-
mon purpose for our shared value,
a thriving Oregon. Thank you again
for your work.
I am eager to work with you as
we move forward.
nity for good jobs, so they can pro-
vide for themselves, their families,
and their communities. The way
forward in developing mass timber
jobs, especially ones that will create
modular housing (my personal fa-
vorite), is not clear right now. We’re
still in the early stages of develop-
ing the concepts and implementing
them. It’s not a “silver bullet,” and
it’s not an immediate solution.
But working toward a future that
makes better use of Oregon forests
allows multiple benefi ts. If we have
secondary production on our timber
products in local manufacturing
facilities, we do more than provide
good jobs.
We also provide a way to pay
for essential services, and I know
you’re committed to that by your
membership on this committee.
Lianne Thompson is a long-time
community activist who’s current-
ly serving as the elected Clatsop
County Commissioner for District 5,
the southern half of Clatsop County.
Cleanup team
Deadline for tourism
grant is getting near
SIDE RAIL
JON RAHL
While spring break season is one
thing that can help travel surge in
our area, the City of Seaside Visitors
Bureau’s tourism grant program is also
designed to drive new tourism business.
The tourism grant program has long dis-
tributed funds towards both the Seaside
Jazz Festival and Independence Day
Fireworks. This year’s fi scal awards for
the 2016-17 fi nancial year also went to
Halloween Happenin’s – developed by
the Seaside Downtown Development
Association, and January’s A Capella
Festival.
Do you have an event you’ve been
itching to develop during the September
through May time period? That’s the
preferred time of year for applying pro-
grams, but if you have any idea to help
increase tourism in Seaside, this may be
the tool that helps get you going. The
deadline to apply is Friday, April 14
and you can learn more at seasideor.
com/industry.
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 & Con-
vention Center.
schools and universities, as well as the
Boise and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho areas
release for time off. Many Washingto-
nians have breaks April 3-7, including
Tacoma, Olympia and the Mt. Vernon
area. Clark County and Vancouver also
break the fi rst full week of April.
With an uptick of weekday business
expected through mid-April, are there
things you do to get ready for the beach
seekers? Much like many of us might
do at home with a little spring cleaning
after the winter months, I treat this time
of year as an awesome opportunity to re-
ally brush up on customer service skills
and make sure Seaside visitors realize
how much we appreciate them visiting.
Consumers have loads of choices
when it comes to travel and it’s a huge
smorgasbord of options they can pick
from. Our marketing efforts aim to keep
Seaside as a top choice when it comes
to vacationing but a nice string of good
weather would complement those efforts
greatly. I’d love to hear what you do to
help kick off the spring season, so drop
me a line at the email below if you have
something you’d like to share.
Kristen Harvey and 22
other employees from digi-
tal marketing agency, Logi-
cal Position, teamed up with
the nonprofi t, Solve Oregon,
and “stormed” a Seaside
beach to help the environ-
ment. Around 125 pounds of
garbage were collected from
the beach and properly dis-
posed by the two groups.
Kristen Harvey
BUSINESS
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Gregory Scott Lawson
Aug. 17, 1961 — March 10, 2017
Greg was the son of Kenneth
Steven Lawson and Norma Jane
Lawson (Seiders). He was raised
in the Seaside area, and gradu-
ated from Seaside High School.
Greg was never married. He
was an accomplished baker for
nearly 40 years, and was dedi-
cated to his career. He enjoyed
fi shing, collecting antiques,
barbecues with his friends and
caring for his pets.
Greg is survived by his
mother, Norma Lawson of La
Pine, Oregon; and his siblings,
Kelli Shultz of Tigard, Oregon,
Terry Jo Lawson of Warrenton,
Oregon, and Brian Lawson of
Warrenton, Oregon. He was
preceded in death by his dad,
Kenneth “Steve” Lawson. Greg
also has many other relatives
and friends who will remember
him fondly.
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Georgiana F. Hay
Natalia Fife Torres
April 1, 1926 — Feb. 8, 2017
Jan. 28, 1928 — March 3, 2017
I’m sorry to advise every-
one of the death of Hallmark
Inns & Resorts co-founder,
Georgiana F. Hay, on Feb.
8, 2017. Mrs. Hay was 90
years old.
Mrs. Hay and her late
husband, Bill Hay, fi rst en-
tered the hospitality busi-
ness when they purchased
property in Cannon Beach,
Oregon, in 1948. The prop-
erty contained a single
house with a four-car garage
and, almost immediately,
Bill converted the four ga-
rage units into hotel rooms.
A year later Bill, with
help from his father, Glen
Hay, constructed another 18
units, and the Surfview Mo-
tel opened for business. This
property is the site of the
current Hallmark Resort &
Spa in Cannon Beach. With
the success of the Surfview
Motel, other motel ventures
followed. Over the next 50-
plus years, over 40 hotels
were either newly construct-
ed or acquired and renovat-
ed.
Mrs. Hay was very ac-
tive with the business, and
Georgiana Hay
always traveled with her
husband to scout locations
for new hotels, or to look
at existing hotels. Bill Hay
passed away in 2002. Mrs.
Hay is survived by a son,
Gary A. Hay; daughters,
Lynda J. Allred (William
Allred) and Pamla MacLean
(Frank); seven grandchil-
dren; and six great-grand-
children.
Per Mrs. Hay’s instruc-
tions, no funeral will be
held, but a celebration of life
will be held in mid-April
when everyone in her fam-
ily, and friends, can attend.
Natalia Fife Torres (née
Galvani) passed away on
March 3, 2017.
She was born Jan. 28, 1928,
in Seaside, Oregon. Natalia
(Pat or Patsy to her friends)
grew up in Seaside, where her
father, William H. Galvani,
was mayor.
She is survived by her chil-
dren Regan Lee, Alicia Torres,
Dorian Torres Mullnix and
Alan Mark Torres; and three
grandchildren, Gabriel and
Shannon Mullnix and Vivi-
anne Torres. She also leaves
behind her beloved dog Lucy.
Natalia loved the Oregon
Coast and moved to Newport
after living in California for
several years. She moved to
Long Beach, California, after a
stroke, where she was loving-
ly cared for by her daughter,
Dorian.
Natalia loved music, and
played classical piano, was
an avid reader and lover of
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mystery books and crossword
puzzles, and loved dogs. She
worked hard raising four chil-
dren and became a registered
nurse to support her family. We
will miss our mother, who was
funny, irreverent and smart
and took care of her family
with hard work and sacrifi ces.
We will miss her very much,
but know she is now in a better
place, free of pain.
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Native Plant Sale 2017!!!
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Large variety of native plants for landscaping,
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