October 12, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
Candidates Smith, Zimmerman on the issues
Candidates from Page 1A
Zimmerman, a former oil and gas
executive, moved to Gearhart af-
ter traveling and visiting for over 28
years.
“I wish to serve to protect Gearhart
from unnecessary taxation and con-
centrate all my efforts on improving
our city’s existing assets before taking
on new service obligations which can
cause the city to lose its primary focus
on our current residents,” he said. “I
desperately want to frame this election
in the overriding concept of creating
beauty and goodness for our special
oasis by the sea.”
In interviews last week, they dis-
cussed key issues — the location of the
proposed firehouse, the growing elk
herd, the budget process and growth.
Fire station
Smith called a new fire station the
city’s most important concern.
The existing station, built in 1958
and liable to collapse and flood during
a Cascadia Subduction Zone earth-
quake and tsunami, is the topic of
years of conversation.
Smith anticipated using feedback
from the community to help determine
a new site, he said. A town hall meet-
ing is planned for November.
“With the town hall meeting,
they’ll find the pros and cons as the
committee sees it for each location,”
he said.
Zimmerman opposed locating the
fire station at one of the three proposed
locations — the city park at Pacific
Way and North Marion Avenue, he
said.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY COLIN MURPHEY
“The park was deeded to the city by
the county as a park, and it should be
continued as a park,” he said.
The cost of new infrastructure at
that site could be prohibitive, he add-
ed.
Zimmerman suggested a new
building at the fire station’s current
site, which already has infrastructure.
A new building could be construct-
ed to “withstand various scenarios.”
Smith countered that building the
firehouse at its current site could prove
even more expensive, with a tempo-
rary structure needed during construc-
tion and work needed to backfill unsta-
ble ground.
“The park doesn’t have that prob-
lem and neither does ‘High Ground,’”
Smith said, referring to a third site on
North Marion under consideration.
“There are issues with both of
them,” Smith continued. “Nobody
wants to lose a park and it’s going to
be more expensive — but those two sit
on stable dunes.”
Growth
Both candidates said they share a
love for the city and a passion for its
protection.
Smith said the city must comply
Jack Zimmerman, left, and Kerry
Smith are campaigning for the Gear-
hart City Council Position 1 seat.
with state regulations that require
Gearhart to maintain a 20-year inven-
tory of buildable lots. “The state has
notified the city that we need to com-
ply with this requirement,” he said.
New development could provide
workforce housing, which could prove
a boon for the city and region, he add-
ed.
As a “no-growth” candidate, Zim-
merman said an expansion of the city’s
urban growth boundary would create
higher density, require more services,
employees and costs.
“How much do you want to put on
the back of the taxpayers?” he asked.
“Gearhart doesn’t necessarily want
to change — I don’t think anybody’s
made the case that Gearhart has to be
dragged into the 21st century, or that
Gearhart has to provide high-density
apartments. Look at Portland.”
Spending
Zimmerman’s concern about
growth spilled into his views for the
city’s future. The most important issue
for the city, he said, is spending prior-
ities and the impact they have on the
community.
“That’s especially true in terms of
how much spending are you going to
ultimately levy on the property taxpay-
er,” he said.
Building fees, a septic fee or taxes
on cigarettes might also “throw off ex-
cess revenues” for the city’s parks and
other needs, Zimmerman said.
Smith said he would seek to limit
future expenses in “small ways that
add up,” with housekeeping cuts and
tightening up of expenditures.
Money saved could be moved to
the city’s Community Emergency Re-
sponse Team and resiliency planning,
he said.
If elected, Zimmerman said the
first thing he would change in Gearhart
would be to open the budget process
to greater scrutiny. Right now, he said,
it’s limited in scope.
“I’d like to see that process come
into the light of day and provide an op-
portunity in a town hall meeting and
get up and describe what they want
to spend money on, why they want to
spend, where they’re limited,” Zim-
merman said. “The taxpayer who has
to pay that bill should have the ability
to either agree, disagree or say ‘great
job.’”
Smith said the process offers resi-
dents an opportunity to study the bud-
get for 30 days before it is accepted by
the council and presented for a public
hearing where they can let their input
be known.
Elk
With a growing elk herd and in-
creasing encounters between elk and
people, the city’s wildlife population
has become a heated campaign issue.
Residents and businesses complain
about the loss of plantings, damage to
lawns, and hazardous meetings be-
tween the herd and visitors.
Smith is in favor of an ordinance
under consideration that would pro-
hibit feeding wildlife. “No feeding is
the first step we can take to stop the
habituation of elk-human interaction,”
he said.
Culling the herd should be a last
measure, he said, with sharpshooters
or bow hunters tracking the animals
outside of city limits.
Zimmerman said the Oregon De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife has un-
derestimated the herd’s numbers and
condition.
“They’ve mismanaged that thing
so bad that the herd’s grown to a pop-
ulation where they have hoof rot, one
of the most debilitating diseases an
animal can get. What has happened to
the elk herd is a travesty and borders
on negligence in terms of state super-
vision,” he said.
The herd should be transported out
of the city when possible and culled if
necessary, Zimmerman said.
Smith said if the elk are moved
from the area, “they’ll just set up shop
in someone else’s town.”
The city, which provides an online
blog to chronicle elk-human encoun-
ters, is building the paper trail with
comments to the Department of Fish
and Wildlife, and is likely to pass the
ordinance to stop the feeding of wild-
life except for songbirds.
“The elk are state property and
that’s about all we can do until ODFW
comes to us,” Smith said. “As it is now,
our hands are tied. I’d cull the herd, but
not within the city limits at all.”
After planning role in Seaside, Wallace takes to Astoria trolley
Trolley from Page 1A
He joined the board for
Camp Kiwanilong, which
proved to be a perfect outlet for
filling in what he missed, using
his skills in forming, funding
and managing projects.
If that wasn’t enough to
keep Wallace busy, his wife
asked if he knew they were
looking for trolley men, saying
she felt he would be good at it.
He wasn’t so keen on the idea,
but “it kept spinning around in
my head and I thought, ‘yeah it
might be fun.’”
He submitted his applica-
tion and quickly found himself
in the training program. “After
I drove the train the first time, I
was pretty well hooked.”
Wallace has joined an elite
group of about 45 certified
volunteers, mostly retirees. He
goes about once a week, and
says there are always two vol-
unteers on the trolley who split
the shift, alternating between
driving and conducting. There
is no set schedule and no com-
mitment.
“That works for me because
if I don’t have anything going
on, I can sign up for a shift if it’s
available. I like that.”
The trolley has become part
of Astoria’s scenic fabric. It
runs along the waterfront dai-
ly from noon to 6 p.m., from
spring to October. For a dollar,
passengers can take the hour
ride from the Trolley Barn off
Industry to the 39th Street Pier
and back.
The route is linear, and
when the train stops to prepare
for the trip back, passengers are
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instructed to stand and move a
lever which flips the seat-back
over so passengers are always
facing forward. “Some people
get shanghaied in Astoria, some
people get turned around in As-
toria,” he joked.
Wallace enjoys learning
about the early history of As-
toria and its colorful past. “It’s
fascinating, especially when
you realize how quickly things
happened. Part of that makes
me realize how big a focus
there was on the northwest and
how many foreign countries
were interested in this area.”
He learned about the War
of 1812 and why Astoria was
renamed Fort George. He’s
fascinated by the different na-
tionalities and looks forward to
learning more about the river
pilots and bar pilots.
“You take people’s money,
greet them, give them a bit of
history and some stand up,” he
said. “I enjoy doing that. I like
telling stories and I like learn-
ing stories. After spending 25
years in Seaside and learning
all about it, it’s nice learning
something different, and Asto-
ria has a lot of history.”
Though some of the locals
are quick to correct Wallace
on historical facts, he says
“that doesn’t happen a whole
lot.”
“Most people don’t know
Astoria that much and they en-
joy hearing the history. Where
else can you look at the most
gorgeous scenery for an hour?
Where are you going to get
that for a buck? It’s a unique
experience both from my end
and the passengers’ end,” he
said.
“It’s really gotten under my
skin.”
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Neal Wallace works the con-
trols of the trolley.
THEY’VE
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AT HIGH
TIDE.
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