Friday, May 7, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Prom Centennial greets starter’s Providence North Coast
pistol with $14,000 tourism grant CEO Lemmon to retire
mary and specialty care providers
and launched upgrades and remod-
eling of MRI/CT services at Prov-
Don Lemmon, chief
idence Seaside Hospital.
executive of Providence’s
The hospital’s $5.7 million
North Coast Service area, is
emergency room renova-
retiring at the end of June.
tion and expansion opened
in 2020.
Before coming to the
“We are grateful for his
North Coast in 2018, Lem-
years of service and cel-
mon served as director of
ebrate the start of a new
operations for Providence
Hood River Memorial Don Lemmon chapter in his life,” said
William Olson, chief oper-
Hospital.
“My main focus is to be able to ating offi cer for Providence Oregon
provide basic services for our com- in a statement.
An interim leader will be named
munity,” he said in a 2019 interview.
As CEO he recruited new pri- at a later date.
Seaside Signal
Seaside Signal
In 1806, members of the Lewis
and Clark Expedition established a
salt works where the Prom is now
located. In 1850, the fi rst board-
ing house opened in Seaside and
in 1871 railroad magnate Ben Hol-
laday began work on the Seaside
Hotel. Seaside was incorporated in
1899, the city of 400 hosting almost
10,000 visitors a year. The Prome-
nade, fondly called the Prom, was
dedicated in a well-attended cer-
emony on Aug. 7, 1921. It is only
concrete boardwalk along the ocean-
front in the Pacifi c Northwest.
These points of history and others
will be among the interpretative sig-
nage along the Prom, to be delivered
through $14,000 in grant funding
through Travel Oregon’s 2021 Com-
petitive and Recovery Grants Pro-
gram. The city announced the grant
Monday.
The grants program awards eli-
gible applicants funding for projects
that contribute to Oregon’s tourism
economy in communities through-
out the state that support Travel Ore-
gon’s vision of a better life for all
Oregonians through strong, sustain-
able local communities that wel-
come a diversity of explorers, direc-
tor of tourism marketing Joshua
Heineman said. The signs will aim
to enrich the experience of those on
the Prom with history of the iconic
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local
agencies for latest
meeting informa-
tion and attendance
guidelines.
Jeff Ter Har
A sunset near the Prom in Seaside.
Northwest landmark and Seaside
area, info about “Terrible Tilly”
lighthouse and the Seaside Aquar-
ium and more.
The centennial gets a running start
on May 14 with a 100K Relay on the
Prom, and culminates with breakfast
and prizes the next morning.
Fifteen to 20 teams with between
two and seven runners will run from
8 p.m. throughout the night along
MONDAY, MAY 10
Seaside City Council,
7 p.m., cityofseaside.us.
from 12th Avenue to Avenue U
along the Promenade to complete
the race, culminating with breakfast
and prizes the next morning.
Safety guidelines from the Ore-
gon Health Authority and the Cen-
ters for Disease Control will be fol-
lowed in organizing this race. Call
the Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District at 503-738-3311 to
register.
TUESDAY, MAY 11
Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation Dis-
trict, 5:15 p.m., board
workshop; 7 p.m.,
budget committee,
1225 Avenue A.
Seaside Planning
Commission, 6 p.m.,
989 Broadway St.
THURSDAY, MAY 13
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
Seaside Civic and
Convention Center,
5 p.m., 415 First Ave.
Seaside Tourism
Advisory Committee,
3 p.m., 989 Broadway
St.
TUESDAY, MAY 18
Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation
District Board of Di-
rectors, 5:15 p.m., 1225
Avenue A.
Seaside School
District, 6 p.m., www.
seaside.k12.or.us/meet-
ings.
Gearhart Small
Business Committee,
6 p.m., cityofgearhart.
com.
Seaside Tree Board,
4 p.m., 989 Broadway
St.
Gearhart Parks
Master Plan Citizens
Advisory Committee,
5:30 p.m., work session,
cityofgearhart.com.
THURSDAY, MAY 20
Seaside Transpor-
tation Advisory
Commission, 6 p.m.,
989 Broadway St.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Continued from Page A4
safe environment. I see arts and
culture opportunities for all res-
idents, where community and
togetherness are at the heart of
our lives. I see pickleball, volley-
ball, basketball, indoor soccer,
theatre, indoor space for kids to
play in the winter, child care, and
everything in between.
The residents of our commu-
nity deserve a bold vision. We
deserve positivity and unity. We
deserve laughter, joy and happi-
ness. Together we can maintain
the memories of the past, while
building a sustainable and healthy
future for our kids and grand-
children, and we are able to do
this all without raising your taxes
by purchasing the middle school
through a fl ex-lease!
I encourage you to join me to
reelect my fellow Board of Direc-
tors for Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District: Su Cod-
dington, Celeste Tuhy Bodner,
Michael Hinton, Katharine Parker
and myself, Erika Marshall
Hamer. Visit ProgressforSEPRD.
com for more information!
Erika Hamer Marshall
Seaside
Vote for change in
Sunset Empire Park
and Rec District
At the end of the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation Dis-
trict candidate’s forum at the Bob
Chisholm Center, in respond-
ing to a chat comment Chel-
sea Archibald, the wife of Skyler
Archibald, said if Skyler leaves
the district, the entire staff will
too. I perceive that as a threat.
The executive director serves
at the pleasure of the board of
directors. The board serves at the
pleasure of the voters in the Sun-
set Empire Park and Recreation
district. Yes, this is how it’s sup-
posed to work. Currently the
board is 80% hand-selected by
other board members.
If you are OK with a board
80% appointed by other board
members and you like a board
that will make signifi cant pur-
chases for the district like Broad-
way Middle School without your
consent, I suggest you vote for
the incumbents.
If, on the other hand, you are
tired of not being heard, please
consider voting for me and a
group of people I respect. My
name is John Huismann and I am
running with Al Hernandez, Pat-
rick Duhachek, Stephen Morrison
and Jackie Evans.
The biggest diff erence between
us and the current board? We all
come from the business world.
Meaning we are all used to being
held accountable. It also means
we are well trained in holding
others accountable. Both things
have been missing from the board
of directors for a long time.
John Huismann
Seaside
The power of
special districts
I cannot accept these vague
representations from “Transpar-
ency” group candidates for Sun-
set Empire Park and Recreation
District Board of Directors posi-
tions. They’ve no vision but a
desire to take over control of the
district to wreak havoc on a sus-
tainable budget our program-
ming including scholarship grants
to fi nancially impacted fami-
lies; who incidentally many times
agree to volunteer for program
support.
Patrick Duhachek speaks of
“niche” programs? Is he talking
of lap swim, open swim, Zumba,
water aerobics or yoga? Swim
lessons or lifeguard Training?
Surf camps, emergency child
care, preschool? While we pro-
vide many essential programs, we
also have special events provid-
ing social and community bene-
fi ts such as our Seaside Farmers
Market or Daughter and Daddy
Dance.
Several employers negoti-
ate reduced fees on behalf of
employee groups who can avail
themselves of district fi tness and
wellness programs, including the
city of Seaside.
Why quibble over our perma-
nent tax rate of .000928/$1000?
I sense his ultimate desire is to
defund our budget. Some in his
eclectic group wish to default on
our fl ex lease loan utilized to pur-
chase the former Broadway Mid-
dle School; the very same mech-
anisms funded the much-needed
women’s locker room expan-
sion and the warm water therapy/
learner’s pool in addition to pur-
chasing the Abel House property
subsequently transferred to city
ownership to site our new library
and siting for our Sunny Hunt
Community Gardens. We’ve not
asked for any new taxes.
Patrick has stated that our
park and recreation district is the
fi fth highest funded in Oregon.
Pat has wrongly compared us to
others (2) that have no indoor
pools. Some better funded dis-
tricts also utilize system develop-
ment charges. We don’t. Some are
only aquatic districts with sea-
sonal outdoor pools. We are more
than a pool. Our funding is one
of the reasons we have a sustain-
able budget for childcare, pre-
school, summer camps, after
school programs, and a beautiful
indoor community pool. Sustain-
ability is the reason we have been
able to open and reopen Sunset
Pool six times since the onset of
the COVID-19 pandemic. No one
else in Clatsop County can boast
that.
We have the power of a spe-
cial district. Formed in 1969 by
a few hundred people with a tax
base that proved unsustainable
and when infl ation became a bar-
rier to building new pool; the
early days were rough until Mary
Blake came in 1984. Her knowl-
edge of aquatics proved to be the
diff erence in guiding the board
and community toward sustain-
ability. Sizemorian 1990 poli-
tics reshaped the district tax base
with resulting the aforementioned
present permanent tax rate.
I was the fi rst director to
receive governance and fi nance
trainings with special districts
Association of Oregon. I don’t
see any experience with spe-
cial districts by any opponent or
vision of empowering our com-
munity invest in social capital,
positive youth development and
optimal use of the Sunset Pool.
Please reelect The SEPRD
board. This is the best option for
Seaside. Vote for honesty and
integrity. Support these young
directors from Seaside.
Michael Hinton
Seaside
Your vote is your voice
There is an important race in
the upcoming May 18 election.
I would like to provide you with
some insight.
The Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District board of direc-
tors has been in a state of fl ux
since the 2019 election. A total
of fi ve resignations have left the
board with four appointed and one
elected member (Mike Hinton).
The previous board voted, in
June 2020, not to pursue purchase
of Broadway Middle School. Mike
Hinton and Katharine Parker voted
to pursue; Su Coddington voted
to table purchase. As soon as the
last two elected members resigned,
the board voted again and these
three remaining directors voted
unanimously to pursue purchase.
Su Coddington changed her vote.
columbiamemorial.org/behavioral-health
These three directors then chose
Celeste Bodner and Erika Marshall
to fi ll the empty board seats. This
was in August 2020.
To gauge public interest, a sur-
vey was released on the SEPRD
website, newsletter and Face-
book page. A link was also in the
water bills mailed out Oct. 16, but
by October 5th the district had
already entered a contract to buy
the school.
After learning the SEPRD
board was pursuing this major pur-
chase I set out to inform the cit-
izens this was taking place. This
attracted a group of people who
were also concerned about the
actions of this board of directors
who were not elected and not rep-
resenting the people. We found
the school had a $4.5 million price
tag to remediate and the district
had no money for remediation. We
scolded, implored, bargained, and
pleaded with board members to
take this purchase to a vote of the
people. The board was unwavering
in their commitment to their plan.
When the current board of direc-
tors closed on the property, we felt
our voices were heard but they
didn’t listen.
Now it’s election time. Every
member of the current board is
up for election (not re-election, as
their signs claim) and being chal-
lenged by citizens who deeply care
for the district and, more impor-
tantly, care for the citizens who
own the district. These highly
qualifi ed candidates have stepped
up to make SEPRD the best that it
can be. Al Hernandez, John Huis-
mann, Patrick Duhachek, Jackie
Evans and Stephen Morrison have
excellent credentials and experi-
ence to bring to the table. It’s time
for a change. They will listen to
you.
Make an informed decision.
Your vote is your voice. Let your
voice be heard.
Diane Wells
Seaside
