A2 • Friday, October 25, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Cannon Beach fi re chief to retire
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
After three years as the
fi re chief for the Cannon
Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, Matt Benedict
announced he will retire at
the end of the year.
Benedict will help the
fi re district’s board with the
recruitment of a new chief.
“I’ve been in the fi re ser-
vice for 30 years and it takes
its toll on you physically and
mentally,” he said. “I’ve put
in 30 years and it is time for
me to give this body a rest.”
Every day the fi re depart-
ment is called to a scene,
they are getting called to
somebody’s worst day, he
said. Experiencing people’s
worst days with them builds
up and leaves fi refi ghters
learning to cope, he said.
Prior to Cannon Beach,
Benedict served as assistant
fi re chief for the Pendleton
Fire Department, where he
climbed the ranks over 20
years.
The Cannon Beach fi re
district hired Benedict in
2016 to replace Mike Balzer,
who was fi red in 2015. Bal-
zer fi led a civil rights lawsuit
against the fi re district that
was eventually settled by a
$55,000 payout.
“I’m comfortable leaving
this organization the way I
have developed it over the
past three years,” Benedict
said. “Now I get to revital-
ize some of those things that
kind of got lost during my
career.”
Colin Murphey
Cannon Beach Fire Chief Matt Benedict will retire.
Benedict is not planning
on staying in the area. He
said his wife intends to work
as a traveling nurse.
Benedict is looking for-
ward to spending more time
with his family, traveling
and enjoying the outdoors.
Although he will not miss
all the rain, Benedict said he
will miss the community, the
beautiful days and listening
to the ocean and campfi re in
the evenings.
Ballot initiative on immigrant driver’s licenses rejected
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — An attempt to
repeal a new state law allow-
ing undocumented immi-
grants to get Oregon driver’s
licenses has hit a snag.
Oregon Secretary of State
Bev Clarno on Tuesday
halted a proposed ballot ini-
tiative to walk back House
Bill 2015, saying it doesn’t
comply
with
require-
ments stated in the Oregon
Constitution.
The bill, passed earlier
this year, allows Oregonians
to present forms of ID that
don’t prove a person’s legal
immigration status in order
to get a driver’s license. The
licenses will not be available
until Jan. 1, 2021.
Undocumented
immi-
grants — or others without
documents proving U.S. cit-
izenship or that they are in
the country legally — have
been barred from getting
driver’s licenses in Oregon
since 2007.
Supporters of the petition
want to prevent people who
are here illegally from get-
ting state driver’s licenses.
The campaign to repeal
the law, which calls itself
“Stop Illegal Drivers,” is
led by Mark Callahan, a fre-
quent candidate for political
offi ce in Oregon.
Callahan, reached for
comment Tuesday, said that
the campaign was “defi -
nitely going to fi ght” the
ruling, and pointed to sev-
eral previous cases that he
believes support his inter-
pretation that the petition
Sarah Zimmerman/Associated Press
Immigrant rights advocates rally in March outside the Oregon
state Capitol in favor of a measure that would expand driver’s
license access to undocumented immigrants in Salem.
passes muster.
The Secretary of State’s
Offi ce believes the consti-
tution requires the petition-
ers to present the changes
the petition would make to
state statutes. Instead, the
ballot title just says that a
“Yes” vote on the petition
“ ‘Demands’ repeal” of the
bill.
In a post on the “Stop
Illegal Drivers” website,
the campaign said the rea-
son Elections Director Steve
Trout gave — the constitu-
tional requirement cited by
Clarno — was “not valid.”
The campaign also posted
on the website a message
from Callahan addressed
to Trout. Callahan called
the reason for the rejection
“fl awed in logic and reason-
ing.” He maintained that the
petition was not trying to
pass a new law.
“How can we submit the
full text of a law that we are
NOT ‘Proposing?’” Calla-
han wrote. “It doesn’t make
any sense. If we are NOT
‘Proposing’ a law, there is no
full text of a law to submit.”
Oregon’s
constitution
includes several ways that
Oregonians can have a
direct say on a policy at the
ballot box.
Lawmakers can refer a
measure to the ballot; citi-
zens can ask for a referen-
dum on a particular law; or
citizens can fi le an initiative
petition to change state laws.
A referendum, which
simply asks voters to reject
or keep a law state legisla-
tors pass, differs from an ini-
tiative petition.
In the case of House Bill
2015, petitioners could not
submit a referendum. That’s
because of a few words in
the bill that amount to an
“emergency clause.”
That clause says the bill
takes effect as soon as law-
makers pass it. The state
constitution doesn’t allow
bills that go into effect that
soon to get referred.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOGS
SEASIDE POLICE DEPT.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
Oct. 16
Oct. 14
7:18 p.m., 2100 block S. Frank-
lin: A disturbance is reported.
2:41 p.m., 2200 block Skyline
Drive: Emergency medical re-
sponse.
8:41 p.m., 2100 block Lewis and
Clark Road: A disturbance is re-
ported.
Oct. 15
Oct. 17
2:53 p.m., 200 block 16th Ave-
nue: Fire investigation.
10:21 a.m., Holladay and Indian
Way: A disturbance is reported.
5:22 p.m., 1200 block S. Wahan-
na: Fire investigation.
11:52 p.m., 1000 block S.
Downing: Suspicious circum-
stances are reported.
3:16 p.m., Library: Police make
contact with two males who
were asked to move along by
library personnel.
9:14 p.m., 1000 block S. Down-
ing: Emergency medical re-
sponse.
Oct. 13
6:24 p.m., 800 block 12th Av-
enue: Property crimes are re-
ported.
Oct. 11
12:26 a.m., 1500 block N. Prom:
A subject is arrested on a war-
rant.
12:53 a.m., Turnaround: An as-
sault is reported.
1:43 p.m., 900 block Ocean-
Way: A disturbance is reported.
3:17 p.m., Cedar and Hilltop: A
transient couple reported look-
ing for cans and rifl ing private
cans is reported as suspicious;
offi cers are unable to locate.
3:59 p.m., East End Avenue B:
Transients are warned not to
set up camp.
Oct. 14
8:50 a.m., Wahanna Baseball
fi eld: A dog reported wander-
ing at large is recognized by
police offi cers who return it
home and leash it inside its
own yard.
Oct. 15
8:26 a.m., Police headquarters:
A person came in to register as
a sex off ender.
9:52 a.m., Avenue E and Ocean
Shore: A person reported to
be digging large holes on the
beach and harassing sea birds
is advised to fi ll in a hole they
dug. No further action was tak-
en.
1:51 p.m., Avenue E and Irvine:
A person is arrested on a war-
rant.
7:20 p.m., Parking area by Thai
Me Up: A person is given a ci-
tation for driving without in-
surance.
9:30 p.m., 3400 block Highway
101: Police assist another agen-
cy with a subject in Gearhart.
SEASIDE FIRE & RESCUE
PUBLIC SAFETY
LOG
Oct. 16
10:05 a.m., 500 block Beach
Drive: Emergency medical re-
sponse.
Oct. 17
1:20 p.m., 400 block Hillside
Loop: Structure fi re.
8:14 p.m., East Pine, Gearhart:
Structure fi re.
OREGON STATE
POLICE
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
Oct. 11
6:47 a.m., 1900 block Beach
Drive: Emergency medical re-
sponse
11:51 a.m., 400 block S. Hol-
laday: After responding to a
report of a disturbance, police
advise the person causing the
disturbance be transported to
Seaside Providence Hospital
for evaluation.
6:52 p.m., Southeast Seaside:
Fire investigation.
Oct. 13
2:40 a.m., 1000 block S. Down-
ing: Emergency medical re-
sponse.
Man charged after
taking elk during closed
season
On Sunday, Oct. 20, at 9:13 a.m.,
after being pulled over for a
traffi c violation on Highway
26 near MP 13, Luis Fernando
Vasquez, 47, from Portland,
was cited for taking elk during
closed season after the butch-
ered remains of an elk were dis-
covered in two game bags in
the back of Vasquez’s vehicle.
Also in the back was a 7 mm
rifl e with a scope, which was
seized, along with the meat, as
evidence.
But citizens can fi le an
initiative petition in that
case. That’s what the back-
ers of Initiative Petition 43
did.
Since they fi led an initia-
tive petition, the Secretary
of State’s Offi ce says, peti-
tioners were supposed to
present an amended form of
the law for voters’ consider-
ation, showing exactly how
the law would be changed if
the provisions of House Bill
2015 were repealed.
But the petition they sub-
mitted just “demanded”
repeal of the law.
House Bill 2015 affected
many parts of state law, said
Deputy Secretary of State
Rich Vial.
“We feel like you need
to put the sections that were
originally affected by the
legislation in to the petition
and show what you would
propose to take back out of
the law or change it back
to what it was before,” Vial
said. “The law, obviously,
was complicated enough
that there was a number
of things in the statute that
were added or changed.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
Planning Commission
applicants sought in
Gearhart
Gearhart is taking
applications for the Plan-
ning Commission. The
commission consists of
seven volunteer, voting
members to be appointed
by the mayor with a major-
ity of the City Council.
The term of offi ce for
a member shall be four
years with terms expiring
on Nov. 30 of the fourth
year after appointment.
Planning
commission
meetings are held on the
second Thursday of each
month at 6 p.m. Occasion-
ally the planning commis-
sion will hold an addi-
tional work session.
Members of the plan-
ning commission will be
chosen from the residents
or the property owners
within the city and urban
growth boundary.
The commission stud-
ies the subdivision of land
and make recommenda-
tions to the city coun-
cil, to public offi cials and
to individuals regarding
land use, location of thor-
oughfares, public build-
ings, parks and other pub-
lic facilities. The planning
commission also studies
any other matter relating
to the planning and devel-
opment of the city and sur-
rounding areas.
Applications and ques-
tionnaires for the com-
mission may be picked up
at Gearhart City Hall at
the city’s website. Appli-
cations must be returned
by Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Interviews take place at
the Dec. 4 City Council
meeting at 7 p.m.
Online permit pur-
chasing and tracking sys-
tem called ePermitting is
now available from Tthe
Clatsop County Building
Codes Division
Contractors are now able
to apply for and purchase
all building permits online,
submit plans electronically
and schedule inspections
24/7 by phone, computer or
smartphone via www.Build-
ingPermits.Oregon.gov.
Building codes is spon-
soring ePermitting training
to contractors on Oct. 29
from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
at 800 Exchange St., Astoria.
Contractors and their
staff are encouraged to
attend in person.
Staff from the Oregon
Building Codes Division
will be available after the
training to answer ques-
tions and help contractors
set up and use the system.
For more information con-
tact building offi cial David
Kloss at 503-338-3697.
Tax surplus leads to
$1.5B ‘kicker’
The Oregon Depart-
ment of Revenue will pro-
vide $1.5 billion tax sur-
plus credit, or “kicker,” for
the 2018 tax year.
According to the depart-
ment, instead of kicker
checks, the surplus will
be returned to taxpayers
through a credit on their
2019 state personal income
tax returns fi led in 2020.
Visit
www.oregon.
gov/dor or call 800-356-
4222. For TTY (hearing
or speech impaired), call
800-886-7204.
MEMORIALS
Jane P. Tarr
Sunday, Oct. 27
TARR, Janice P. — Memorial during the 9:30 a.m.
regular service, St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, 36335
U.S. Highway 101 in Nehalem. All are welcome.
Celebrating
the
County ‘ePermitting’
now available
The Birth of the
200 BÁB
th
Anniversary of
IRAN, that country in the cross hairs of our government and on the lips of
pundits across the land. But what do we know about that “land of mystery”?
For nearly two hundred and fifty years that land called Persia or Elam in the
Old Testament, was the center of human achievement and acknowledged
by historians as the cultural center of all civilization. Until Alexander and his
hoards sacked the capital city of Persepolis it was the most advanced urban
center in all the world.
Sadly, over the centuries Persia languished under the increasing corruption of
Islamic rule, a rule that abandoned the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed
in favor of materialistic expediency. Life was as difficult as any experienced
in the Dark Ages of Europe. Then in the nineteenth century, a fervor spread
across much of the land, a fervor associated with the Shiite Muslim prophecies
that the “return” was imminent. Just as in the Christian west where Bible
scholars were pouring over scripture and concluding that the “return of
Christ” was soon to be realized, the “thousand years” since the disappearance
of the Twelfth Imam would end in the year 1260 AH or 1844 in the solar
calendar.
It was two hundred years ago this month that a child was born of the “pure
lineage” that is, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, a very special child
widely known to be precocious yet strangely pious, gentle and kind. That child
three decades later would announce to a small handful of seekers that He
was that promised “return” and that He brought a new message that would
prepare His followers for the coming of one even greater than Himself. The
tumult of this and a subsequent public declaration when challenged by the
corrupt clergy, set in motion an upheaval unparalleled in religious history.
Eventually martyred by a Muslim firing squad of seven hundred and fifty
riflemen, His movement could not be stopped nor His mission stifled. Twenty
thousand of his followers were brutally butchered by the fanatical mobs.
The prophet Jeremiah in referring to Persia recalled that the Lord promised
to “set his throne in Elam” a statement that has baffled bible scholars for
centuries. The story of The Bab, His brief ministry and tragic ending is not
an ending at all but the beginning of a new chapter in the book of world
religions.
Baha’is all over the world are gathering to celebrate the birth of that
Luminous Being and the beginning of their faith in that far off land of Persia,
Iran. Knowing that one day, as described in the Baha’i writings, Iran would
throw off the shackles of orthodoxy and once again reclaim its role as a leader
among nations.
You are warmly invited to join us in celebrating the
two hundredth anniversary of the Birth of the Bab on:
th
Saturday, October 26
at 3:00 p.m.
Best Western Hotel
Astoria, Or
"Dawn of the Light", a documentary film will be shown
followed by refreshments and fellowship.
All are warmly welcome.