OUR 113th Year
Three council seats up
for November election
Morrisey will not seek reelection
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Three City Council seats
are up for reelection in Sea-
side in November, with
incumbents Randy Frank
and Tom Horning running
unopposed.
City Councilor Seth Mor-
risey announced at Mon-
day’s City Council meeting
he will not run again for the
August 28, 2020 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
Ward 4 seat.
Morrisey was elected in
2014, winning a two-year
term after the retirement
of Stubby Lyons. He was
reelected in 2016.
“I would like to announce
that I will not be seeking
another term as city coun-
cilor,” Morrisey said in a
statement at the meeting.
“It’s been both an honor and
a privilege to represent the
city of Seaside as a coun-
cilor the last fi ve years. I’ve
enjoyed my time as a public
servant, and this was a very
diffi cult decision to make,
but in the end, with a grow-
ing family, and professional
commitments, at this time
I cannot commit to another
four-year term.”
Morrisey will continue
to volunteer for the city, he
said, “and will always leave
the door open to future
elected positions if the
See Seaside, Page A6
Cockrum lone candidate
for Gearhart mayor
Competitive
council races
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
With Tuesday’s fi ling
deadline passed, November’s
ballot shows an uncontested
mayoral race in Gearhart and
a competitive race for City
Council Position 2.
City Councilor Paulina
Cockrum is the sole mayoral
candidate after Mayor Matt
Brown decided not to seek
reelection.
Brown, a PGA golf pro-
fessional, threw his support to
Cockrum after his decision to
step down to focus on his golf
businesses.
“Paulina has years of expe-
rience serving on the Plan-
ning Commission and on the
City Council,” Brown said
in announcing his decision
not to seek reelection earlier
this month. “It’s been incred-
ible to have her as our council
president these last few years
where she continues to work
diligently to preserve what
makes Gearhart so special.”
Cockrum has played a key
role in making fi scal decisions
that have led to a budget sur-
plus and a strong fi nancial
position for the city over the
last four years, Brown said.
She has also led on important
issues such as vacation rental
regulations, affordable hous-
ing, environmental issues and
emergency management.
See Gearhart, Page A6
Norris & Stevens
Aerial view, Broadway Middle School. Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District is located at top right-center.
Park district eyes purchase
of Broadway Middle School
R.J. Marx
Seaside fi refi ghters Genesee Dennis and Katie Bulletset as they prepare to head to California.
MUTUAL AID
On the California fi reline, a close call for Seaside fi refi ghters
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Firefi ghters from Seaside in the thick of Califor-
nia wildfi res survived a close call Saturday morning
when a tree hit their brush truck while patrolling the
fi reline.
The truck was in motion and all three crew mem-
bers were inside, Fire Chief Joey Daniels said.
The truck’s light bar “probably saved us from
injury and prevented the tree from going through the
cab roof,” Seaside fi refi ghter Katie Bulletset said.
The brush truck is out of service and under damage
assessment, but the Seaside crew continues to work
with the rest of the 17 member Clatsop County Task
Force to assist with fi refi ghting efforts on a fi re near
Sonoma Lake, northwest of Santa Rosa.
Cal Fire asked to have another vehicle sent down
from Clatsop County, City Manager Mark Winstan-
ley said.
“Two other fi refi ghters drove that vehicle down
to California overnight then turned around and came
back,” he said. “Because they’re not currently assigned
to the fi re, they drove down a vehicle so that vehicle
could be replaced.
“Not only do we have fi remen that are down there,
but we have fi remen who are willing to drive all the
way to California and back just to make sure they have
the right equipment.”
The task force includes fi refi ghters from engine
companies in Seaside, Warrenton, Lewis and Clark,
Astoria and Knappa who left from Seaside on Aug. 19.
Space shortage
could lead to
program cuts
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District will
seek public input on a poten-
tial purchase of Broadway
Middle School.
A
community
sur-
vey will be available for
response from Aug. 31 to
Sept. 14. Community pre-
sentations are scheduled
for Sept. 8 and Sept. 9, and
virtual online tours or in
small groups in-person for
mid-September.
“It’s been a little bit dif-
fi cult for staff to know
what angle to pursue, or if
it was worth pursuit,” Sky-
ler Archibald, executive
director of the park district,
said at last Tuesday’s board
meeting. “What is import-
ant for staff is knowing the
board is interested in the
property and support explo-
ration of it. I think it’s in the
best interests of the district
to move at a swift pace to
gather this feedback, assess
it and take the next steps
See Broadway, Page A6
Park District adds
two board members
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Seaside Fire Department
Seaside fi refi ghters experienced a close call when trees
fell on their brush truck.
Two new board mem-
bers took the oath of office
at the Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District’s
Aug. 18 meeting.
Celeste Bodner and
Erika Marshall, who par-
ticipated remotely, joined
board members Katha-
rine Parker, Mike Hinton
and Su Coddington to fill
the board after the July
resignations of former
board president Jeremy
Mills and board member
John Chapman.
Bodner assumes Posi-
tion 2 and Marshall Posi-
tion 4. Both terms will
expire next year.
Bodner is the founder
and executive director of
the Seaside-based Foster-
Club. The mission of Fos-
terClub, a national non-
profit, is to improve the
lives of young people in
and from foster care.
Bodner, married with
four “mostly grown” chil-
dren, is a former volunteer
on the park and recreation
See Board, Page A6
Schools ‘ready to pivot at any point’ amid virus
By KATHERINE LACAZE
Seaside Signal
As families in the Sea-
side School District prepare
to go back to school in a cou-
ple weeks, they can expect
a continuation of remote
learning with the possibil-
ity of a gradual reopening in
late October if certain com-
munity and state metrics are
met for the coronavirus.
“We’re trying to be really
fl exible, and you just have to
have multiple plans and be
ready to pivot at any point,”
Juli Wozniak, the principal
of Pacifi c Ridge Elementary
School, said. “It’s impossi-
ble to predict where we’ll be
in six weeks, but we have an
idea, so we have a plan for
that.”
Seaside Middle School,
Seaside High School and
Pacifi c Ridge are offering
two options for delivering
instruction as they begin the
school year Sept. 14 amid
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fi rst is compre-
hensive distance learn-
ing, where students will be
assigned set schedules and
participate in synchronous
learning — online instruc-
tion time or classes in sync
with specifi c teachers.
The other option, Online
Thrive, is an indepen-
dent-learning model that
can be tailored to individual
families and their needs.
At the middle and high
school levels, distance
learning students will sign
up for fi ve and four classes,
and will have a bell sched-
ule similar to what they’re
used to.
Pacifi c Ridge students
enrolled in distance learn-
ing will be assigned to a
classroom and provided
with a daily schedule of
online live-learning oppor-
tunities with their teacher
and classmates through
Zoom. They will also have
a schedule of daily activities
they do on their own time,
with all assignments and
videos being posted on the
school’s new learning plat-
form, Seesaw.
At Cannon Beach Acad-
emy, students are all using
the same curriculum to start
with, as opposed to choos-
ing between two different
See School, Page A8