Friday, December 25, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Seaside: COVID-19, election and protests mark 2020
Continued from Page A1
Meetings are now con-
ducted via Zoom or broad-
cast on the city’s YouTube
channel.
Auxiliary tents went up
at Providence Seaside Hos-
pital and Clatsop County has
struggled with a rising case-
load. Hotels and restaurants
struggled to adapt to new
rules in a changing land-
scape and longtime busi-
nesses closed their doors as
they considered their next
steps.
Amidst this, emotions
from a heated national elec-
tion spilled over to Seaside,
with rallies in front of City
Hall and the Prom. Annual
hallmarks of the city like the
Miss Oregon competition ,
Hood to Coast and the Sea-
side Beach Volleyball tour-
nament were all canceled.
Even the Fourth of July fi re-
works were scratched, along
with the typical parades and
parties.
“We’re telling people
they need to be responsi-
ble,” City Manager Mark
Winstanley said in March.
“Whether they come to Sea-
side or don’t come to Sea-
side, it’s very important for
people to make responsible
decisions. It is not business
as usual. This is a very seri-
ous and different situation.
We think people should pay
attention to that situation.”
Relief
To help businesses sur-
vive during closures, the
council
unanimously
approved a $1 million relief
package to help businesses
and residents get through
the coronavirus.
Lodging taxes for the
fi rst quarter of 2020 were
waived and property owners
universally saw a $50 credit
on water bills.
Downtown businesses
Seaside City Council
City meetings went electronic in 2020.
R.J. Marx
struggled to meet pandemic
safety requirements, includ-
ing masks, social distancing
and limits to the number of
customers indoors.
The council approved
$250,000 in relief for busi-
nesses that suffered eco-
nomic harm from restric-
tions during the pandemic.
Restaurants, shops, galler-
ies, cafes and entertainment
venues operating in Seaside
for at least one year were
among those eligible.
With 142 applications
by the deadline, the city
received requests for more
than $520,000 in funding
requests by retailers, food
service, businesses and
professionals.
Of eligible applicants,
126 of 135 received all or
part of their request, with 11
of those fully funded.
Election 2020
Three candidates sought
to fi ll the Ward 4 seat after
City Councilor Seth Mor-
risey, citing professional
and family commitments,
said he would not seek a
new term.
David Posalski, the
owner of Tsunami Sandwich
Co., edged Kathy Kleczek, a
former transit district board
member, for Ward 4 on the
City Council.
Posalski moved to Sea-
side in 2010 and opened
Tsunami Sandwich Co. He
now owns fi ve local busi-
nesses with more than 60
employees. He ran on a
record of six years on the
Seaside Chamber of Com-
merce board and Seaside
Transportation Commission
and three years on the Sea-
side Planning Commission.
City Councilor Tom
Horning won reelection
unchallenged in Ward 3,
while Councilor Randy
Frank was returned unop-
posed to the Ward 1 and
Ward 2 at-large position.
Horning, a geologist who
has called for greater disas-
ter preparation, was fi rst
elected in 2016. Horning
said tsunami preparation
and bridge replacement
remain his priorities.
Frank, a former busi-
ness owner entering his
third term, said he sought
to continue the work the
council has accomplished.
He is a 20-year member
of the Seaside Downtown
Development
Associa-
tion, with nine years on the
board. He serves with the
Seaside Airport Advisory
Committee.
Reader board outside the Seaside Civic and Convention
Center in April.
A heated summer
With a divided elec-
torate and bitter debates
nationwide, Seaside expe-
rienced some of the unrest
seen elsewhere. Residents
and visitors exercised
their right to free expres-
sion with signs to close the
beach in March while oth-
ers sought their reopening.
The killing of George
Floyd by police in Minne-
apolis inspired protesters to
gather at the Prom in June.
For days the group carried
“Black Lives Matter” and
“Justice for George” signs
and observed eight minutes
and 46 seconds of silence
at Seaside’s Turnaround on
June 4.
In August, supporters
bearing American fl ags
and banners calling for
the reelection of President
Donald Trump gathered
in front of Seaside’s City
Hall. Many of them car-
ried fi rearms in plain sight.
Interactions led to tense
Katherine Lacaze
David Posalski, a local businessman, won the Ward 4 seat for
the Seaside City Council in November.
moments as groups con-
verged at the Turnaround.
Less than a month later,
Seaside business owner
Jimmy Griffi n of Seaside
Brewing Co. called for a
discussion on open carry of
weapons. His online mes-
sage was reposted thou-
sands of times.
“For the safety of the
citizens of Seaside, I am
patently not all right with
people wandering the streets
of Seaside with loaded
assault weapons, guns, bats,
knives and all the things
they brought with them,”
Griffi n said.
In September, rallies pro-
ceeded without incident
after three hours of marches,
drums, chants and some-
times heated discussions.
Gearhart: Business revitalization, a new mayor and elk on the rise
Continued from Page A1
development would need to
go through the public rezon-
ing process.
Plans will not be rushed,
Morey said. “We will be col-
laborating with the entire
community of Gearhart as
we determine the best long-
term uses of the former ele-
mentary school property.”
Downtown business
Even before the pan-
demic, the City Council
tasked the Planning Com-
mission to look at ways to
stimulate existing businesses
and bring new ones to down-
town. The process began in
January 2019 with a call
to look at the commercial
downtown zoning code and
continued through this year .
The drive took spe-
cial urgency as businesses
sought to expand options
for customers at the same
time withstanding increased
costs associated with the
pandemic.
The goal, City Planner
Carole Connell said, in a
series of meetings through-
out the year, is to modernize
uses in downtown to allow
current and future businesses
more options to increase
revenue. While restricting
chain stores or franchises,
the amended code expands
descriptions for cafes, gal-
leries and salons, and allows
more options for variety
stores and increases residen-
tial options downtown.
Downtown
businesses
will now be able to use 50%
of their property for resi-
dential purposes. Parking
requirements for eating and
drinking establishments are
eased, and a 10 p.m. closing
time eliminated. Cafes may
offer outdoor and sidewalk
seating for patrons.
Some business owners
felt the new wording didn’t
go far enough and sought an
end to conditional use per-
mits for most uses in the
downtown zone. They said
restrictive zoning is “stran-
gling” existing businesses,
particularly at a time when
they are limited by corona-
virus restrictions.
Neal Maine/Pacifi cLight Images
The Gearhart Golf Course hopes to curb elk-human
interactions.
R.J. Marx
Gearhart reelected Reita
Fackerell and Dan Jesse to
the City Council.
Meet Mayor Cockrum
When
Mayor
Matt
Brown announced that he
would not seek reelection,
citing professional reasons,
Gearhart faced an opening
at the top. The PGA golf pro
and course owner served as
mayor since 2016, when he
won on a campaign of citi-
zen involvement and adher-
ence to the city’s compre-
hensive plan, which he
described as “a blueprint
for a sustainable, residential
Gearhart.”
Brown threw his sup-
port to Cockrum, then a city
councilor, endorsing her
“key role in making fi scal
decisions that have led to a
budget surplus and a strong
fi nancial position for the city
over the last four years.”
Brown also pointed
to her record on vacation
rental regulations, afford-
able housing, environmen-
tal issues and emergency
management.
Cockrum, who ran and
won unopposed, said she
plans to prioritize the needs
of fi refi ghters and imple-
ment the city’s hazard miti-
gation plan.
In the city’s other two
races, City Councilor Reita
Fackerell and Councilor
Dan Jesse won reelection by
substantial margins, a voter
endorsement of the direction
of the City Council.
Cockrum’s fi rst act as the
new mayor was to appoint
Brent Warren to her vacated
Position 3 seat. Warren
worked for Bank of Amer-
ica, Key Bank and Banner
Bank, serving as a vice pres-
ident of community devel-
opment in Portland for 33
years before his move to
Gearhart.
R.J. Marx
Owners Lisa and John Allen announced the closing of the Pacifi c Way Cafe after 32 years in
Gearhart.
are ahead, and with it, some
diffi cult decisions given the
low mortality of elk and the
lack of options to reduce the
population.
The city could review
subdivision ordinances as
they relate to elk or work
with partners to propose
land use changes that would
alleviate pressure on elk
habitat. They could cre-
ate elk movement corri-
dors, refuge areas or high-
way crossings as nonlethal
ways to provide a safe hab-
itat and reduce elk and
human interactions.
In October, Tim Boyle,
president and CEO of
Columbia Sportswear and
the owner of Gearhart
Golf Links, suggested a
trap-and-transfer plan that
could move elk from Gear-
hart to state parks or res-
ervations, but that plan is
still in the planning stage.
Hazing
methods,
designed to drive elk off
property in Gearhart, have
been shown to lead to even
more damage and risk.
Some members of Oregon
Solutions have suggested
landowners in more rural
areas to the north or south
might consider an arrange-
ment to allow hunters. The
city could also get a permit
to cull the herd within its
limits.
Happy Holidays from
Herd mentality?
From a herd of about 40
elk a decade ago, the popula-
tion jumped to about 100 elk
in Gearhart just a couple of
years ago.
That number is now esti-
mated at about 150 and will
exceed 200 elk in the near
future.
Gov. Kate Brown desig-
nated the Clatsop Plains Elk
Collaborative as an Oregon
Solutions project in April
2019.
Oregon Solutions, housed
in the College of Urban and
Public Affairs at Portland
State University, works
across jurisdictional lines
to help solve problems big
and small. Their fi ndings
A division of
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