September 28, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Action now can change our lives for the better
O
n Monday, Sept. 17, the
Sunset Empire Park &
Recreation District hosted
the first of our Community Forums.
When the district’s Board of
Directors made the decision to move
forward and ask the voters of the
district whether or not they supported
the district expansion project, we
knew that there would be a great
deal of our population that needed
to be informed of the project details,
purpose of the project and give the
residents and guests of the district
the opportunity to ask questions
regarding this important topic.
The forum was well attended,
and the room seemed to be full of
residents that were passionate about
the project, perhaps on both sides.
District staff, Board members and
supporters of bond Measure 4-196
came forward to help address those
questions and provide accurate and
fair information to our residents.
While it’s not likely that everyone
SKY BOX
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
left the forum ready to vote yes on
the upcoming measure, the experi-
ence was clearly impactful for some.
One individual approached Raven
Russell, one of the leaders of the
citizens committee that has emerged
to support the bond, and shared a
powerful message.
This woman attended the forum
but was a quiet participant at least
partly because she did not feel com-
fortable speaking. But she identified
herself to Raven as a user of district
programs and as a mother and she
shared a powerful message about
why, in her opinion, that this is an
extremely worthwhile project.
Those individuals with young
children in our community know the
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
A young swimmer enjoys the Sun-
set Rec aquatic facility.
story she shared all too well.
Kids need space, they need room,
they need activity. We know that
obesity rates in our country have
increased by some 500 percent over
the last 50 years and Clatsop County
rates (29 percent of the current
population) are well above that of the
average Oregon county.
Without facilities and programs
for kids to get active, that dangerous
trend will continue. Unfortunately,
today’s children have a shorter life
expectancy than that of their parents,
a particularly alarming statistical de-
velopment despite all our technology
and scientific advancement.
Along with the prevalence of
obesity in our community we also
have above average rates of alcohol-
ism and drug abuse. It’s clear that
this community’s overall health is
in serious jeopardy and action taken
now can completely change the
likely charted course for the future of
Seaside.
The woman remarked in her inter-
action with Raven about the need for
increased safe and healthy spaces for
children in our community to play.
Those thoughts aligned with that of a
local coach who volunteers his time
to coach sports throughout the year
but sees negative health impacts on
the kids he coaches particularly in
the winter, when rainy weather and
short days combine to limit activity
time for kids.
The district Expansion Project
aims to serve our community’s great-
er health needs and meet the demand
to provide more space for youth,
seniors and families to recreate and
restrain the negative health trends
that prevail.
We invite our entire community
to come to one of our upcoming
forums scheduled for:
• Tuesday, Oct. 9, 6 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center
• Monday, Oct. 29, 5 p.m. Bob
Chisholm Community Center
If you have questions about the
expansion project, please go to
sunsetempire.com or contact me at
sarchibald@sunsetempire.com for
more information.
School superintendent shares once-in-a-lifetime experience
veryday educators go to school
to work with students. Whether
we are teaching in a classroom,
providing breakfast or transportation,
keeping a building safe or providing
multiple forms of student support,
we all teach kids through our words
and our actions. We have education
in our field, on-the-job experience,
continuing professional learning
activities, and for many of us years
(or even decades) of experience. And
sometimes, maybe once in a lifetime,
we find ourselves in a totally new
world which was not mentioned in the
educational textbooks. We build a new
school.
Just about any adjective can fit
into the description of this experience.
Exciting, exhilarating, rewarding,
E
GUEST COLUMN
SHEILA ROLEY
scary, confusing, fascinating, tiring, the
list could go on. But perhaps one of the
best words to describe the experience
on a daily basis is enlightening. As
educators we are committed to being
life-long learners, and the learning
curve that has been needed to be part
of this project is undoubtedly the steep-
est most of us have ever encountered.
There are many people in this story,
but the stars are you, our communi-
ty. Without the support of so many
individuals and organizations, none
of this would be happening. Most
importantly, you came to the polls two
years ago and cast your votes on behalf
of the current and future youth of our
community. Since then the Seaside city
councilors, City Manager, members of
multiple city committees, public safety
personnel, and the truly awesome Pub-
lic Works Department have worked to-
gether with us to make this a commu-
nity effort. Many of you have served
on our design advisory group, and our
very dedicated Citizen Bond Oversight
Committee has convened regularly to
review plans, progress, timelines and
the budget, to ask the tough questions,
and provide input.
The story of small community
tackling a very large task could fill a
book. The challenges are many, but the
commitment to solutions by everyone
involved is making it happen. Yes, the
voters did approve a bond just under
$100 million and the initial estimates
came back much higher, but with hard
work by many people and creative
problem solving most of that gap has
been filled. We have learned the new
vocabulary of “value engineering”
which translates to figuring out how to
do more with less, and we have never
wavered in our commitment to build
a school with the resources we were
allocated by the voters.
We as a community are on our way
and writing our story of creating the
best learning place for our children,
within our beautiful coastal home.
Not all of the chapters of this epic
tale are written yet, but the adventure
is underway. The topics I hope to
discuss with you in the coming months
include: passing the bond, selling the
bond, and creating and maintaining a
budget; assembling the team; early de-
sign; land use, expanding boundaries,
annexation, permits, permits, permits;
preparing the site; collaborative part-
nerships; advanced design; technology,
safety and emergency preparedness;
elementary planning; further develop-
ment of the campus; the logistics of
moving 1,600 students and 200 adults;
bringing us all together — a new
mindset; educating into the future —
Seaside School District Strategic Plan.
Writing a book is always a
challenge, and with the scope of this
project it will likely be a page turner to
find out what happens next. Our goal
is that it will be the best book you will
ever read.
LETTERS
Letter demeaned
director, board
I am writing in response to
a letter that the Seaside Signal
published Sept. 14. This letter
was an appeal to voters to vote
no on the proposed bond mea-
sure to expand the Sunset Em-
pire Park and Recreation Dis-
trict. The entire argument for a
vote down was a personal attack
on the executive director, calling
into question the credibility of
the entire board and a complaint
about the bathrooms.
SEPRD serves as one of the
very few places that children
can go for preschool care, af-
ter-school programs, workout
facilities open to the public,
public health programs, access
to a community kitchen and
event space and not to mention
the only public pool for nearly
30 miles.
Executive Director Skyler
Archibald is a community advo-
cate, investing time and resourc-
es in programs across the area
that support the health and well
being of all of our children and
adults. I have worked with him
and his staff on multiple projects
and am always impressed with
their willingness to collaborate.
Please, if you vote no don’t
let it be because of your lack of
trust in Skyler or the board. They
are an educated and passionate
group that does not deserve the
type of slander published Sept.
14. Attend one of the communi-
ty forums, next on Oct. 9.
Sarah Brown
Warrenton
Bad decisions
in Seaside
After more than 10 years,
Seaside’s “leaders?” are get-
ting around to discussing earth-
quake and tsunami safety and
community recovery. Seaside’s
Current Tsunami Evacuation
Map shows how residents and
visitors are to evacuate in the
event of a tsunami f His first
priority to improve bridge safety
needs further analysis. There is
a high probability that the new-
er bridges (Broadway and 12th
Street) over Neawanna Creek
will withstand a Cascadia earth-
quake and will allow evacuation
of those residents and visitors
who are on the east side of the
Necanicum River to reach high
ground evacuation sites.
Evacuation means walking
briskly, not driving, which will
be impossible. Humans walk-
ing very briskly can walk 5,000
feet in 15 minutes (the expect-
ed minimum time between the
Cascadia earthquake and tsuna-
mi). Following the city’s desig-
nated evacuation route map, the
majority of the highly developed
areas of Seaside west of the Ne-
canicum River are too far (Sea-
side’s dirty little secret) from
the evacuation sites to allow
resident and visitor to escape re-
gardless of bridge condition.
Residents and visitors who
are on the west side of the Ne-
canicum from about Avenue N
can evacuate south to Tillamook
Head without the need to cross a
bridge. Seaside has continued to
pour your money into improv-
ing the Avenue U Bridge over
the Necanicum even though it
has no use in a tsunami evacu-
ation.
The only rational conclusion
is that the city needs to build
a vertical escape structure (as
recommended by the Federal
Emergency Management Agen-
cy) over the downtown parking
lot next to the convention center.
This facility would allow all of
Seaside’s residents and visitors
to safely evacuate (including
the kids during the 70 percent of
the time they are not in school).
Bridge improvements over the
Necanicum River are useless in
terms of tsunami evacuation.
During preliminary plan-
ning of the expansion of the
convention center it was sug-
gested to the city (by this writer
on paper with design drawings)
that this improvement could do
double duty (convention center
expansion and vertical escape
structure) and be funded by the
$16 million convention center
expansion bond. Their answer
was, “we don’t like your ideas,”
much like their answer to Mr.
Horning which was, “tsunami
planning is unimportant.” In a
similar manner, existing “Sea-
side leaders” refused to even
look at the Seaside school re-
location option of upgrading
Broadway School which would
have met all seismic and tsuna-
mi requirements and saved the
taxpayers 80 million dollars as
well as eliminated the need for
Seaside taxpayers to shell out
another $30 million (surprise
folks) for the unfunded sewer,
water and road improvements
for the schools. The upgrading
of the Broadway School would
also have met all the needs of the
Sunset Empire Park and Recre-
ation District, which is now ask-
ing for another $20 million of
your money.
You voters simply don’t elect
competent leaders.
John Dunzer
Seaside
Consider merits
of rec bond
The letter of Sept. 14 titled
“Vote no on Rec District ballot
measure” was disturbing to me
as one who has worked with the
people served by Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District for
over 20 years. First of all, this
ballot measure is being put for-
ward to the voters in an effort to
better serve the various health
and recreation needs of the com-
munity. The improvement proj-
ects were selected by represen-
tatives of the community after
numerous and varied opportuni-
ties to gain input from the com-
munity. I hope voters seriously
consider the opportunities being
presented.
I also find it disturbing that
personal attacks upon Skyler Ar-
chibald and the entire board of
directors are occurring in the pa-
per. I don’t believe that personal
attacks are necessary or appro-
priate. Clearly and respectfully
stated concerns, questions and
differences of opinion makes for
better decisions in most cases.
My past interactions with SE-
PRD staff and board members
has consistently shown that ap-
proach works. I encourage those
with concerns to reach out for a
discussion rather and attack in-
dividuals who have been found
to be qualified and working on
behalf of the community. At-
tacking people does not encour-
age open mindedness.
Dan Gaffney
Astoria
Rec District is
welcoming
I was extremely surprised
when I read the letter from John
Huismann regarding Skyler Ar-
chibald’s management of the
Sunset Empire Park and Recre-
ation District. I am not a swim-
ming patron, but a gym/workout
patron. Since Skyler had been
director there has been a marked
improvement in the schedul-
ing as well as the quality of our
classes. Before Skyler came the
classes had to have at least six
participants to be run. One of
the first changes he made was
to that program. If the class was
listed in the schedule it was a go.
Because of this continuity our
class rarely has fewer than eight
or ten and often has quite a few
more. I have noticed the same
increase in other classes.
This continuity is very im-
portant. But for me what is even
more important is that when I
have had questions and con-
cerns the staff as well as Skyler
have been open to my thoughts.
They have not always been
able to solve the issue, but they
have followed through with me
about my concern. So, I know
that when I have communicat-
ed with them, walked into their
offices or called I have received
good customer service. Please,
if you have questions, respect-
fully go and talk. I think you will
powered by
find an open reception.
Susan Deshon
Seaside
Role of women in
Gearhart’s history
As a member of the commit-
tee that planned Gearhart’s cen-
tennial gala on Sept. 1, I appre-
ciated and enjoyed the Seaside
Signal’s coverage of the event,
which led off with the following
historical note:
“The city, formerly part of
the town of Clatsop, was in-
corporated after a vote in 1918.
P.A. Lee was elected mayor; F.L.
Hager, author and police judge;
and D.B. Schroeder, treasurer. At
the time, Gearhart’s population
was counted at 128.”
Those bare facts are true, as
far as they go. But that standard
account doesn’t reflect the fact
that the City of Gearhart was
created in spite of wartime con-
ditions when most of the eligible
male voters had been drafted and
were unable to vote for incorpo-
ration.
Back in June, I was asked
by the Signal to write a column,
limited to 1,000 words, on the
Gearhart vote of 1918. That ar-
ticle was duly published in the
Signal’s July 20 edition. Though
I’d kept the words to less than
1,000, I, along with others, were
surprised to find that a section
had been cut — the section that
I’d considered the most import-
ant. No doubt the cut was made
owning merely to space limita-
tions, however, it might be worth
restoring it here:
“With the military draft in
effect since the previous year,
the younger men were away in
the stinking, disease-infested
trenches of France. The First
World War was still raging and
wouldn’t be over until autumn
when those who’d survived the
shells and bombs and bullets
and, worst of all, the Spanish
influenza would come home
again to Gearhart — far too late
to vote for its independence. But
we can assume that many, per-
haps event most, of the Gearhart
voters were women. Although
women couldn’t vote nationally
until 1920, they’d been able to
vote in Oregon since 1912. So,
the decision to create the City of
Gearhart was likely to have been
in large measure the choice of
women.”
We Gearhart citizens owe
a gesture of gratitude to those
great-grandmothers for our exis-
tence as an independent commu-
nity. Let me offer it here, at last.
Bill Berg
Gearhart
Support for
Skyler Archibald
I am responding to the recent
Letter to the Editor from John
Huismann (Signal, Sept. 14) re-
garding Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District’s executive
director, Skyler Archibald, and
his management capabilities. I
have had the pleasure of work-
ing with Skyler on several dif-
ferent projects both in his official
job capacity and as a dedicated
Rotarian. Never have I ever felt
anything but total respect for his
decision-making, listening and
leadership skills. He has built an
outstanding and committed team
of employees at SEPRD and I
can only imagine what amazing
innovations he will bring to our
community in the future. I would
never have a reason to doubt his
competence in managing and di-
recting the expansion of the pres-
ent facilities. I am proud to call
Skyler a friend, and I am even
more proud of his professional
accomplishments. I would defi-
nitely support him wholeheart-
edly in all current and future
SEPRD endeavors.
Laura Freedman
Cannon Beach
SEASIDE
AMERICAN LEGION
CR A F T
FAIRE
Fall Festival
October 6 th /9 am - 5 pm
Saturday, September 29, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Silent auctions for Cannon Beach hotel stays
Gift certificate drawings for Cannon Beach shops
Homemade crafts & baked goods sale, 10-5, Sept. 29
Come meet our crafters and local
businesses. Bake goods, candles, clothing,
fabric items, etched glass and more!
131 N. Hemlock, Cannon Beach (503-436-1391)
Place bids & buy drawing tickets at library, Sept.1-29
1315 Broadway in Seaside
All proceeds will go to the local back pack program
Cannon Beach Library
music fi rst