LOCAL RACES AND BALLOT MEASURES » A6 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM OUR 112th YEAR • November 9, 2018 Seaside voters choose Barber Mayor promises to follow-through on housing issues, school infrastructure By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal R.J. MARX Jan and Jay Barber after election results were delivered Tuesday night. “Let Seaside Keep Its Mayor,” read the lawn signs throughout the city. Voters heard the request, as Mayor Jay Barber on Tuesday de- feated challenger John Chapman, owner and operator of KSWB Pro- ductions LLC/Radio Clatsop. Barber, a former city council- or who filled the vacant seat of the late former Mayor Don Larson in 2016, has lived in Seaside for 11 years. The former president of War- ner Pacific University and pastor of a community church in Red Bluff, California, Barber and his wife, Jan, have four grown children and five grandsons. With all members of the City Council returning next year, Barber seeks continuity to pursue projects already underway, including a $15 million Seaside Civic and Conven- tion Center remodel, urban renewal and providing city infrastructure to relocate schools outside the tsunami inundation zone. “I really appreciate the faith the voters have expressed by voting for me,” Barber said after taking 60.1 percent of the vote to Chapman’s 37.8 percent. “I look forward to FUTURE LEADERS OASC During the 2018 Oregon Association of Student Councils fall conference in Seaside, hundreds of students from across the state spent time at Seaside High School for workshops and idea sharing on Sunday, Nov. 4.  Student councils come to convention center By Katherine Lacaze For Seaside Signal What do roughly 1,350 high school stu- dents talk about when they get together? At the 2018 Oregon Association of Student Councils fall conference in Seaside, topics of conversation included how to be proac- tively kind leaders, building connections, mental health issues, and servant leader- ship, to name a few. The theme of this year’s conference, which took place Nov. 4 and 5, was “Con- structing Leaders.” The idea behind the theme, according to the association’s exec- utive director Sara Nilles, is that “we’re all under construction.” “We’re here trying to improve ourselves as leaders and we’re trying to work to im- prove our schools,” she added. “We’re do- ing the best we can with what we have. Just like in construction, you’re working to im- prove.” The conference fills the Seaside Civic and Convention Center to maximum ca- pacity — 1,500 — with about 1,350 high school students and 150 faculty advisers from 105 Oregon high schools. This year, See Leaders, Page 3A working with our council, which stays intact as well for the next four years. We live in a great city, and we’ve got a future ahead. I’m hon- ored to be able to serve.” City Council City Councilors Steve Wright, Tita Montero and Dana Phillips each ran unopposed in Ward 1, Ward 2, and Ward 3 and 4. See Seaside, Page 6A Smith in Gearhart Kerry Smith wins; city, county pot taxes pass By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal City Councilor Kerry Smith won re-elec- tion on Tuesday night to Position 1, defeat- ing challenger Jack Zimmerman. “I would like to thank the voters of Gear- hart for giving me the opportunity to repre- sent them again,” Smith said after winning 69.4 percent of the vote to Zimmerman’s 29.3 percent. “I appreciate their faith in my work and what I have accomplished in the last four years. … As we move forward, I renew my commitment to listening to my constituents and directing Gearhart in a positive direction.” Smith is an independent contractor and has lived in Gearhart for 33 years. He start- ed his own business 26 years ago and pri- marily has done home remodels in Gearhart and Seaside. He has served as a city coun- cilor since 2014. Smith has called a new fire station the city’s most important concern. The exist- ing fire station, built in 1958 and liable to collapse and flood during a Cascadia Sub- duction Zone earthquake and tsunami, is the topic of years of conversation. City Councilor Paulina Cockrum, who was unopposed, won re-election to Position 3. Cockrum, a Gearhart resident since 1976, served on the Planning Commission before her appointment to the council in 2015. Her goal is to “practice stewardship and work to make Gearhart a better place when I leave than when I started.” City, county cannabis taxes Two measures designed to put areas of Clatsop County under state limits for mari- juana taxation went before voters. County voters approved Measure 4-193, which would impose a 3 percent tax on marijuana sales in unincorporated Clatsop County after county commissioners adopt- ed the 3 percent tax. The tax is the maxi- mum a county government body can im- pose under Oregon law. The vote brings the county into line with taxes imposed by most other cities in Clatsop County PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE See Gearhart, Page 6A Foundation’s Festival is premier holiday event By Katherine Lacaze For Seaside Signal One of the most anticipated local events of the winter season, Providence Seaside Hospital Foundation’s Festival of Trees not only provides an opportu- nity for family fun as well as an elegant gala to kick off the holidays but will also raise money to renovate the hospital’s emergency care facilities. “Everybody looks forward to this event,” said Kimberly Ward, executive director of the foundation. “We like to refer to it as the premier holiday event, because it’s always the first weekend of December, and it’s a really great way to kick off the season.” The 21st annual Festival of Trees, sponsored by Providence and Safeway, will take place Friday, Nov. 30, through Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Seaside Civ- ic and Convention Center. This year’s theme “Wonder,” is a spin off the con- cept of the advent calendar, and it en- capsulates “the expectation and excite- ment of Christmas,” Ward said. Better emergency care The funds raised at this year’s Fes- tival of Trees will go toward Beyond 911: A Campaign to Expand Emergency Care, one of the most ambitious fund- raising endeavors the foundation has undertaken, according to Ward. During the past year, the foundation has been working to raise $1.5 million toward See Trees, Page 3A PROVIDENCE SEASIDE HOSPITAL FOUNDATION Oregon Region Foundation President Laurie Kelley; Providence Seasde Hospital Foundation Director Kimberly Ward and development specialist/ event coordinator Meaghan Triana.