6A • November 9, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
LOCAL RACES AND BALLOT MEASURES
Voters say ‘not now’ to expansion plan
Bond for
aquatic facility
expansion
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Sunset Park and Recre-
ation District voters gave
thumbs down to a $20 mil-
lion bond to expand rec-
reation facilities. About
two-thirds of the electorate
opposed the measure to fund
the expansion of the aquatic
facility and provide indoor
recreation space at the Sunset
Pool, opened in 1977.
The ballot measure called
for construction of a rec-
reation center featuring an
SUNSET EMPIRE PARK AND RECREATION DISTRICT
Rendering of the proposed aquatic center expansion.
indoor gym space, indoor
walking track, group fitness,
weight room and cardio-
vascular rooms, with added
parking, site improvements
and additional changing ar-
eas.
The funds would have ex-
panded preschool and youth
program space, group fitness
space, indoor walking track
and gymnasium space to
improve overall community
health. The estimated tax rate
for the bonds was estimated
at 70 cents per $1,000 prop-
erty value, or $140 annually
for a home with an assessed
value of $200,000.
During the course of the
campaign, city councilors
and members of the public
asked for a focus on improve-
ments on the current facility
rather than “unnecessary ex-
pansion.” Residents resisted
a new financial obligation
so shortly after the passage
of a $99.7 million bond for
a new Seaside School Dis-
trict campus in the Southeast
Hills, designed to move en-
dangered schools out of the
tsunami zone. Others felt the
cost was excessive.
On Tuesday night, the dis-
trict’s executive director Sky-
ler Archibald said the organi-
zation has strived to meet the
needs of residents and guests
by providing high-quality
recreation programs and fa-
cilities.
“While the results of
Measure 4-196 are not what
we were hoping for, we’ll
continue to work to meet
those needs,” Archibald said.
“Throughout our process, we
have repeatedly heard from
our residents of the need for
more indoor recreation space
to increase community health
and wellness. The district will
be proactive in seeking out
opportunities to provide that
space both for the interim and
for the perpetual future.”
After three tries, voters back Mitchell wins
state House race
a new Clatsop County Jail
Campaign to
replace Boone
A $20 million
bond to expand
to Warrenton
By Edward Stratton
The Daily Astorian
By Jack Heffernan
The Daily Astorian
Voters on Election Day
approved a $20 million bond
to relocate the overcrowded
Clatsop County Jail in Asto-
ria to an expanded facility in
Warrenton.
Two previous bond mea-
sures, in 2002 and 2012, had
failed, but law enforcement
saw a rare opportunity to up-
grade when the state closed
the North Coast Youth Correc-
tional Facility last year.
“Oh, hell yes,” Clatsop
County Sheriff Tom Bergin
said when asked if he had seen
the election results moments
after they were released.
“I’m very grateful to the
people of Clatsop County for
realizing this is an absolute ne-
cessity for the integrity of the
county,” he said.
DLR Group, a Port-
land-based
architecture
firm, was hired to conduct a
$51,000 feasibility study on
converting the former youth
facility. The firm presented
plans that ranged from a $12
million option with capacity
for 140 inmates to $28 million
with 200 inmates.
Citing relatively inexpen-
sive operating costs, the coun-
ty commission settled on a
design that calls for 148 beds
with room for future expan-
sion.
The 38-year-old jail on
Duane Street can hold 60 in-
mates. Several inmates each
week are released from the jail
while their court cases are on-
going because of overcrowd-
ing.
Local law enforcement
leaders cited several studies
that reveal the need for a new
jail. The 2017 Oregon Uni-
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
A $20 million bond will support a new jail at the former North Coast Youth Correctional Facil-
ity in Warrenton.
‘This bond takes unique advantage of the still ‘fresh’
bones of the OYA facility, without which the project
could have cost the taxpayers double.’
Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis
form Crime Report, for exam-
ple, ranked the county first in
behavioral crimes and crimes
against people and fifth in
property crimes.
Some, though, questioned
how the jail bond would fare,
considering that school bonds
in Astoria and Warrenton and
another measure to expand the
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District’s fitness and
aquatic centers were also on
the ballot.
“I was cautiously optimis-
tic, to put it lightly,” Bergin
said.
Warrenton Mayor Henry
Balensifer and the City Com-
mission took no position on
the jail bond. The mayor said
that while he saw the need for
a new jail, he was hesitant to
ask residents for more money
with the Warrenton-Hammond
School District’s $38.5 mil-
lion bond also on the ballot.
“This bond takes unique
advantage of the still ‘fresh’
bones of the OYA facility,
without which the project
could have cost the taxpayers
double,” Clatsop County Dis-
trict Attorney Josh Marquis
said in an email. “Yet some,
like Warrenton Mayor Henry
Balensifer, refused to take a
position, like many I guess,
hoping that we could just
whistle through stats showing
the highest violent crime rates
reported by the Oregon Crimi-
nal Justice System.”
The sheriff said the differ-
ence in this year’s bond mea-
sure was that officials had a
more established plan that was
meant to keep costs down.
“I know we did our due dil-
igence the past two years,” he
said.
Bergin has said a new
jail would offer better men-
tal health treatment options.
While Amy Baker, the execu-
tive director of Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, decried the
tendency to fund incarceration
over mental health services,
she supported the bond. Bak-
er said the current jail is “in-
humane” and that a new one
could offer more opportunities
to provide treatment.
To pay for increased jail
operating costs, the county
passed a 1 percent lodging tax.
Bergin said the tax was fair
since a large share of people
arrested in the county come
from other areas. Local ho-
teliers, however, vehemently
opposed the tax.
Bergin said the next step is
for architects and county offi-
cials to discuss a timeline for
construction in Warrenton.
“I’m sure it’ll take a few
months to get that all sorted
out and move forward,” he
said.
Kerry Smith wins; Gearhart OKs pot tax
Gearhart from Page 1A
When Oregon voters le-
galized recreational marijua-
na sales in 2014, the state im-
posed a 17 percent sales tax
and gave cities and counties
the option to add an addition-
al 3 percent if approved by
voters. The county considered
the tax in 2016, but no recre-
ational dispensaries existed
outside city limits at the time.
Staff estimates the tax, ap-
plied to dispensaries outside
city limits, would generate
$50,000 in revenue annually,
county staff estimated.
Gearhart pot tax
Gearhart also sought to
align itself with Oregon
statute as voters considered
Measure 4-199, designed to
amend the city’s taxes on
sales of marijuana products.
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
A clerk returns a jar of marijuana to a shelf after helping a
customer at Sweet Relief in Astoria.
Unofficial results showed
more than 70 percent of vot-
ers approving the 3 percent
tax on the sale of cannabis
products.
Gearhart was among a few
cities to vote in a tax prior to
the legalization of recreation-
al cannabis. In 2014, shortly
before the state’s voters ap-
proved Measure 91, the city
passed an ordinance requiring
a 10 percent tax on the sale of
recreational marijuana and a 5
percent tax for a medical mar-
ijuana registry cardholder.
After legalization, the state
established a 17 percent tax
on marijuana and limited lo-
cal taxes to 3 percent. Cities
may not tax medical marijua-
na sales.
With a 10 percent tax al-
ready in place, Gearhart city
councilors had the option of
defending the tax in court or
asking voters to approve a 3
percent tax.
The measure would ap-
prove the Gearhart ordinance
imposing a 3 percent tax on
the sale of recreational mari-
juana in the city by a licensed
marijuana retailer. The tax
would be collected at the
point of sale and remitted by
the marijuana retailer. The
measure also includes pro-
visions regarding collection,
administration and enforce-
ment of the tax.
Tiffiny Mitchell kept state
House District 32 in Demo-
cratic hands on Tuesday, de-
feating Republican Vineeta
Lower to replace the retiring
state Rep. Deborah Boone.
“I ran my race the
old-fashioned way, on vot-
ers’ doorsteps, talking to
them about the things that
most impact their lives,”
Mitchell said in a release.
“Volunteers for my cam-
paign knocked on more than
15,000 doors, and I personal-
ly knocked over 7,000. I plan
to bring that same neighborly
work ethic to Salem to tack-
le the biggest issues that our
community faces.”
Mitchell, a state social
services worker, scored an
upset victory in May in a
tight Democratic primary
against Tim Josi, a Tilla-
mook County commissioner
and former state represen-
tative backed by regional
industries and incumbents,
including Boone, D-Cannon
Beach, and state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, D-Scappoose. Josi
came in third after John Orr,
a local attorney and employ-
ee of Trails End Recovery.
Lower, a teacher, faced
no challengers in the Repub-
lican primary. Josi crossed
the political aisle after losing
in the primary and endorsed
Lower, who eventually
picked up many of his back-
ers in local industry, along
with state Republicans.
“Even though the results
tonight weren’t what we were
hoping for, I will always re-
main committed to serving
our community,” Lower said
in a statement. “I’d like to
congratulate Tiffiny on her
victory and hope that she will
be committed to representing
the unique and diverse inter-
ests of our district. Lastly, I
would like to thank everyone
that helped our campaign.
I’ll always be thankful for
their support.”
Independent Brian Hal-
vorsen and Libertarian Ran-
dell Carlson were a distant
third
and
fourth.
While
Lower ’s
campaign
was backed
largely by
Tiffiny
business
Mitchell
interests,
M i t c h e l l ’s
support came primarily from
labor unions, along with en-
vironmental and women’s
groups. The Service Em-
ployees International Union
— Mitchell’s union — pro-
vided her largest donations.
Nearly half of her financial
support came in the form of
in-kind contributions from
groups campaigning on her
behalf.
Mitchell focused her
campaign on popular pro-
gressive social issues such as
making health care and hous-
ing more affordable, while
raising taxes on the wealthy
and corporations to provide
more revenue.
Lower centered her cam-
paign on improving infra-
structure and education, but
provided few policy specif-
ics.
Boone’s decision not
to run for re-election after
14 years in office created a
competitive campaign for the
open seat. The House Dis-
trict 32 race attracted more
cash contributions than the
$272,000 combined over the
past three election cycles, ac-
cording to the National Insti-
tute on Money in Politics, a
nonprofit tracking campaign
finance.
Mitchell took in about
$260,000 worth of cash do-
nations as of Tuesday, along
with $240,000 worth of in-
kind contributions. Lower
gathered $118,500 in cash to
go with $64,500 worth of in-
kind contributions. Josi had
gathered more than $113,000
in cash in the primary, while
Orr’s campaign took in less
than $20,000.
Neither Halvorsen nor
Randell recorded any contri-
butions.
Johnson,
meanwhile,
sailed to re-election Tuesday
against Constitution Party
candidate Ray Biggs from
Columbia City in state Sen-
ate District 16.
Mayor, councilors
keep their seats
Seaside from Page 1A
Montero, a councilor
since 2010, touted council
accomplishments
during
the campaign, and cited the
need for continued work on
workforce housing, home-
lessness, city infrastructure,
emergency
preparedness
and quality of life.
Phillips, elected in 2010,
said she was proud of oppor-
tunities to assist residents
when they have had issues
and raised concerns, citing
her advocacy for those seek-
ing parking access for peo-
ple with disabilities.
Wright moved from
Gresham to Seaside in 2014.
He worked 35 years for an
international grain exporter,
retiring as chief financial of-
ficer in 2013. Wright said he
will continue to work with
the mayor and other coun-
cilors to achieve the goals
set by the council in early
2017.