November 24, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Boone remembered as chief, teacher, mentor, friend
Boone from Page 1A
to the county following wind
storms during the Great
Coastal Gale of 2007.
In 2014, Boone helped as
semble a Federal Emergency
Management Agency grant
that allowed the purchase of
the department’s first new
fire apparatus, a custom built
3,000gallon water tender.
In April 2015, Boone was
recognized for his service
during the monthly Hamlet
community potluck dinner,
with about 60 people in atten
dance.
He was given an antique
fire nozzle, polished and
mounted on a piece of wood
containing a placard engraved
with a thank you for dedicat
ing “40 years and counting” to
the community.
‘Part of a team’
Verley met Boone about 14
years ago, when both were on
construction jobs, he said.
“I was working on a house
and Bill was working on a
neighboring house,” Verley
said. “He walked over and he
made a pitch for the fire de
partment.”
The centerpiece of Hamlet
Fire, the Necanicum fire sta
tion, was designed and built
under Bill’s watch, Verley
said.
Boone spent almost every
Wednesday at the fire station,
taking care of small mainte
nance items, paperwork, plan
ning drills, and all the details
necessary to keep the depart
ment running smoothly, Ver
ley said.
“I really enjoyed working
with Bill,” Verley said. “He
was fair and thorough. He
really made everyone feel
appreciated and he made you
feel a part of the team.”
Daniels praised Boone’s
mutual aid efforts. “As chief
of Hamlet, they’d always
send people needed. He was
running a business. It was a
lot for him, but he’d never say
no. He’d always be there.”
Dale Kamrath, Seaside fire
chief from 2007 to 2012, lat
er moved to Hamlet where he
served as a firefighter volun
teer. He called Boone’s efforts
“flat-out amazing.
“In the 10 years I’ve
known him, he’s always gone
out of his way to help any
body, whether it was fire ser
vice or personal.”
Celebration of life
After Boone was diagnosed
with cancer in 2016 and unable
to actively serve, Verley was
named chief and Boone assis
tant chief, a position he served
until early this year.
When Boone first joined
the department, there was a
strong sense of community in
the town.
Some of that was lost over
the years, he said, but there
has been a resurgence of com
munity spirit, including the
reinstatement of potluck din
ners, which are held the sec
ond Saturday of each month,
and holiday events.
“There are a million differ
ent ways to do it, but this is
just the way I’ve chosen,” he
said in 2015.
Boone specifically said
he wasn’t interested in a big
celebration or a lot of fanfare,
Verley said. “He wasn’t inter
ested in glory — he was in
terested in helping his fellow
human beings.”
Cleve Rooper, Cannon
Beach fire chief from 1996 to
2011, remembered Boone as a
builder, contractor, carpenter,
boat operator, fly fisherman
and a really good friend.
“He was a very accom
plished man, a very good
COURTESY HAMLET FIRE DEPARTMENT
Bill Boone on the job in Hamlet.
‘He wasn’t interested in glory
— he was interested in helping
his fellow human beings…. He
was a great fire chief, community
member, a great family man
and contributed a lot to the
community. And he died way too
young. He will be sorely missed.’
Hamlet Fire Chief Matt Verley
friend,” Rooper said. “He was
a great fire chief, community
member, a great family man
and contributed a lot to the
community. And he died way
too young. He will be sorely
missed.”
A memorial dinner for
Boone for Hamlet firefighters
past and present will be held
at an upcoming date.
Boone’s family is planning
a celebration of life, Verley
said.
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY SHELLY CLOOTEN
Hamlet Fire Chief Bill Boone, third from left, is pictured with
the rest of the Hamlet Volunteer Fire Department during a
monthly community potluck in 2015.
LETTERS
Letters from Page 4A
our businesses and current
business zones, and being
welcoming to the influx of
new full time residents mov
ing back to Gearhart while
welcoming our seasonal vis
itors are not mutually exclu
sive ideas. With a near record
amount of nightly rentals still
operating in Gearhart and our
new citizens finding available
housing to make Gearhart
their permanent home, we are
primed for excellent econom
ic conditions going into the
next decade.
Let’s all take a deep
breath. We’ve all been
through a lot and now it’s
time to come together and
celebrate 100 years of this
amazing city next year. I look
forward to continue reaching
out to folks with different
opinions to my own and
help promote what we all
love about Gearhart. There’s
nothing we can’t solve if we
respect each other and work
together. Cheers to 100 years
of Gearhart, let the cele
bration and healing process
begin.
Matt Brown
Gearhart
Thompson
deserves support
I feel compelled to voice
my concern over what I see
happening in our local gov
ernment. I was disheartened
to learn that Commissioner
Scott Lee is calling for the
resignation of his colleague,
Commissioner Lianne
Thompson. As I understand
it, Commissioner Thompson
has not only lived up to the
requirements of her position
but also goes above and
beyond. Does Ms. Thompson
intimidate Mr. Lee?
The Astorian reported that
Mr. Lee’s call for resigna
tion is based on two factors.
First, that Commissioner
Thompson placed her hands
on another when expressing
a point. Personally I have not
seen improper behaviors or
gestures from her in any set
ting. Lianne is respectful and
caring. Frankly this school
yard charge is below the
office of Commissioner Lee.
Second, Mr. Lee cites the
amount of reimbursement is
higher than expected. I would
expect higher expenses from
one who is so active in their
position. I know Lianne to be
frugal and environmentally
conscious.
Lianne Thompson lives,
eats and breathes her role as
District 5 Clatsop County
Commissioner. If she isn’t
at an event or meeting, she’s
on her way to or just leaving
one. She’s been doing ex
tensive travel for the county,
when required. When not so
engaged, she’s most likely at
a city or county event. If her
expenses for reimbursement
were higher than expected,
it’s because she does more
than is expected.
I have never known
Lianne to be anything but
professional, gracious and
kind. That she is willing to
give so much of herself to our
county and our communities,
makes her invaluable. District
5 is fortunate to have Com
missioner Lianne Thompson.
When she is up for reelection
I will vote for her again.
Paula Vetter
Cannon Beach
Support Lianne
Thompson
I live in the Coast Range
of Clatsop County where,
for the most part, we require
few county services. We rely
on our volunteers for fire
suppression, motor vehicle
rescue and traffic control,
emergency medical services,
removal of downed trees on
state and county roads and
handling all manner of high
winds, flooding and land
slides.
We worked hard to see
that our representative to the
Clatsop County Commission,
Lianne Thompson, was duly
elected to speak for us as a
commissioner about rural
housing, jobs and environ
mental protection.
What’s going on? Why
does my commissioner have
to ask the chairman to stop
members of the gallery from
repeatedly displaying her
campaign Tshirt with an X
across it? Where did respect
at public meetings go? Why
have there been five com
missioners (with fouryear
terms) in our rural district
since 2009? Where can I get
these disturbing questions
answered?
Diane Jette
Elsie
Resiliency
advocate
It is my pleasure to write
this letter of support for
Clatsop County Commis
sioner Lianne Thompson. I
know Thompson through her
work to support preparedness
efforts along the North Coast.
She was instrumental in voic
ing the need and supporting
the development of Commu
nity Response Emergency
Team programs in Clatsop
County, including our local
high schools.
Commissioner Thompson
attends numerous community
meetings to stay in touch and
lend support to important
coastal issues. She was an
active committee member
of Seaside School District’s
successful bond campaign
to relocate its schools out of
the tsunami inundation zone.
She also volunteers with
the American Red Cross,
emergency ham radio, and the
medical reserve corps.
Lianne Thompson strives
to strengthen the safety and
resilience of those in Clatsop
County, and I strongly support
her in that effort.
Doug Dougherty
Gearhart
Unprofessional
treatment
I am writing in response
to the headline story in
which the Clastop County
Commission chairman, Scott
Lee, calls for the resignation
of Commissioner Lianne
Thompson (“Lee calls for
Thompson’s resignation,” The
Daily Astorian, Oct. 26).
In all my 30plus years of
public service, never have I
seen such unprofessional and
inappropriate use of power in
a locally elected board as that
of the Clatsop County Com
mission for the past few years.
I say this from a position of
personal knowledge, having
served as a Clatsop County
commissioner in the late
1980s. I served with two other
commissioners under the gen
eral law form of governance.
When I was on the board
of commissioners, if we didn’t
agree on something we were
at least respectful of each
other’s right to an opinion
or stand on an issue. We did
not play out our disagree
ments in the local newspaper
MEETINGS
by calling out each other’s
transgressions. If a policy was
breached, we discussed it like
adults, and I do not remember
any such public displays of
disagreements or chastising
one another.
I am baffled as to why, if
the county does not intend
any disciplinary action,
there was a public chiding
of Commissioner Thompson
at a board meeting. Upon
reading the article, it appeared
to this reader that she was
being criticized for just doing
her job. It is incumbent upon
commissioners to keep up
with the demands of the job
of making policy, something
I have known Commissioner
Thompson to have done since
she came on to the county
board.
Her longtime work in
resilience and emergency
preparedness has been an ex
emplary example of taking the
lead on an issue and providing
those of us at different levels
of government the assurance
that this urgent information
is being delivered at the local
level. Personally, I believe
that Commissioner Thompson
has done her job in a pro
fessional manner, and I am
thankful that she has stepped
up to serve Clatsop County in
this important position.
But to use the forum of a
public meeting to basically
beat up on a commissioner for
travel expenses that exceed
other commissioners’ use of
these funds is unprofessional,
especially when there are no
sanctions being considered.
The travel budget exists
to reimburse expenses and
the amount does not seem
excessive for the time span
described. It seems more
like common bullying to me,
something we are seeing more
and more of these days in
public forums.
Finally, one has to wonder
just who is going to step up
and serve in these elected
positions when this type of
treatment is so prevalent. The
relationships that Commis
sioner Thompson has built
at all levels over the many
years that she has worked in
the public sector are priceless,
and appreciated by those of us
lucky enough to have worked
with her.
Deborah Boone
Oregon State Representa-
tive, House District 32
Monday, Nov. 27
Tuesday, Dec. 12
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside School District
Board of Directors, 6 p.m.,
1801 S. Franklin, Seaside.
Tuesday, Nov. 28
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Thursday, Dec. 14
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Seaside Convention Center
Commission, 5 p.m., 415 First
Ave.
Community Center Commis-
sion, 10 a.m., 1225 Avenue A.,
Seaside.
Gearhart Planning Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 698
Pacific Way.
Seaside Library Board, 4:30
p.m., 1131 Broadway, Seaside.
Tuesday, Dec. 19
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, work session, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Wednesday, Dec. 6
Wednesday, Dec. 20
Seaside Improvement Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Seaside Tourism Advisory
Committee, 3 p.m., 989
Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 7
p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacific Way.
Tuesday, Jan. 2
Thursday, Dec. 7
Seaside Parks Advisory
Committee, 7 p.m., City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Monday, Dec. 11
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Community and Senior Cen-
ter Commission, 10:30 a.m.,
1225 Avenue A., Seaside.
Seaside Library Board, 4:30
p.m., 1131 Broadway, Seaside.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
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