Friday, December 3, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Homeless: Park
district to provide
showers, meals
Overnight parking at recreation
center lot concerns board
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
PERMIT PROCESS
As a city-owned lot on Neca-
nicum Avenue becomes the over-
night resting place for more than
a dozen encampments, a parking
situation is brewing across the
highway at the Sunset Recreation
Center Parking lot.
Michael Hinton, a member of
the Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District Board of Direc-
tors, said he is concerned that if
the city starts closing down the
car park at 10th and Necanicum,
the Sunset Recreation Center will
turn into a “car camp.”
“It is already turning into one,”
Hinton said. “We’ve got RVs
which I’ve tracked and they’re
showing up camping out there,
several days, week after week,
and I don’t want to see any of that
migrate any further than it is to the
SRC. I’d like to gain some under-
standing of why the property is
being used for this free parking
for dry camping and people just
hanging out, particularly with
vehicles.”
The concern comes weeks
after Ken Heman, visitors infor-
mation specialist at the Seaside
Visitors Bureau, described condi-
tions at the public restrooms adja-
cent to the parking lot and visitors
bureau.
Heman said it started out with
fi ve or six people sleeping outside
to the point where vehicles are
taking spots at the visitors center,
opening up their doors and occu-
Seaside Visitors Bureau Direc-
tor of Tourism and Marketing
Joshua Heineman said the
visitors bureau has a long-
standing policy to issue over-
night parking permits to both
RVs and automobiles for the
lot that is now owned by the
Sunset Recreation Center. This
permitted parking is intended
to be a remedy whereby the
permit holders have lodging
that cannot accommodate
large vehicles like RVs or extra
vehicles.
Visitors bureau staff gather
name, phone, vehicle make,
model and color, license plate
state and number. Vehicle
owners read and sign the
following declaration:
“Vehicle owner or driver
hereby acknowledges that
city of Seaside assumes no li-
ability for theft or damages to
vehicles parked on premises.
Owner or driver also acknowl-
edges that they will not sleep
in vehicle. Violators are subject
to citation for unlawful lodg-
ing, if they are found to be
sleeping in vehicle.”
pying those spaces all day long, in
some cases, selling or using drugs.
“I think our staff recognizes
that it is a challenging area, one
that we haven’t necessarily had
to deal with before acquiring
this property,” Skyler Archibald,
executive director of the park dis-
trict, said at last Tuesday’s board
meeting.
People who park in the Sun-
set Recreation Center lot must
acquire a permit from the city,
available at the visitors bureau,
Archibald said. Typically, that’s
for visitors staying in a hotel or
staying in a vacation property
without a space space for an RV,
he added. There is no charge for
the permit.
If vehicles park without a per-
mit, the park district has legal
grounds to ask them to move, he
said.
Typically in the past, permit-
ting has gone through the visi-
tors bureau. “When we took own-
ership of the property, we asked
them to continue that,” Archibald
said. “We didn’t feel like we were
as equipped and people know to
go to the visitors or the Chamber
of Commerce building to acquire
their permit for that thing. Now
they’re not supposed to be sleep-
ing in their vehicles.”
Hinton said he wondered how
the situation is going to progress.
“It’s pretty clear that the vis-
itorship to the city is diminished
because of the transient problem,”
he said.
Celeste Bodner, the park dis-
trict board’s vice president, said
it was easier for the park district
to fi rm up boundaries and poli-
cies than it is to be lax and recover
later. “I agree with Mike,” Bodner
said. “We could save ourselves a
much larger headache by some
proactive measures.”
Continued from Page A1
“It’s hard to know this
time of year exactly how
many there are because of
the transient nature of that
lifestyle, unfortunately, so
I know that the need will
likely exceed what we have
available,” he said.
The warming center,
which will open in winter
months during inclement
weather, is fully funded for
at least one year. An over-
night staff member will be
assisted by one or two vol-
unteers to oversee the shel-
ter. Men will be separated
from women and children.
The park district will
work with the shelter to pro-
vide vouchers for shower
access. The passes will
enable free showers at
the Sunset Pool 13 hours
a week — 5:45 to 8 a.m.
Mondays and Wednesdays
and Tuesdays and Thurs-
days from 5 to 6 p.m. “We
try to set those times where
the pool isn’t used as heav-
ily and there’s not a lot of
children around,” he said.
Shower vouchers can be
redeemed at any time.
“We do have some pro-
tocols in place for some of
City manager:
Winstanley was named
city manager in 2001
R.J. Marx
Parking lot at the Sunset Recreation Center.
Continued from Page A1
Car park: ‘We need to stop ignoring what is going on’
Continued from Page A1
Police ticketed the cars
along the roadside, and, over
the summer, many vehicles
migrated across the street to
a city-owned lot near Good-
man Park.
Petition
In October, neighbors
presented a petition protest-
ing the encampment and
seeking its shutdown. They
returned to the City Council
last Monday with additional
signatures.
“We now have a total of
over 107 residents that have
signed the petition to move
or relocate the homeless
camp that’s on Necanicum
between 12th and 10th ave-
nues,” Roxanne Veazey said.
“We’re wondering if we
really indeed want Seaside
to become a model commu-
nity for the homeless?
“Did we have a vote on
this?” Veazey asked. “Is it
compassionate to encour-
age the homeless camp
where there is no electric-
ity for heat? No lighting,
no running water. Where
does someone go to use the
restroom? And no waste
bins for trash.”
Local businesses depend
on tourism, Veazey contin-
ued. “Visitors do not need
to be confronted with home-
less people lingering in our
town.”
Neighbor Colleen Gould
Gascoigne said she did not
see an end date in sight.
“Nothing. ... I’d appreciate
some kind of acknowledge-
ment for the locals so that
we all know how long this is
supposed to infringe on our
lives.”
the potential challenges that
might accompany them as
far as their personal belong-
ings or pets,” he said. “I feel
really confi dent in the abili-
ties of staff to interact with
that group.”
While a shower pro-
gram is already in place,
Archibald anticipates it will
get more use than it has in
the past.
Along with the shower
program, the park district
will work with the other
partners to provide a sack
lunch or dinner for when
people check in. “We’ll be
working with our founda-
tion and possibly with our
nutrition coordinator to fi g-
ure out exactly how to do
that,” he said.
“Unfortunately,
this
(homelessness) isn’t a prob-
lem that we can solve, but
I think providing a hot
shower and a towel is some-
thing that really will help
their health,” Archibald
said. “There’s probably
going to be some chal-
lenging experiences to be
had. But with proper train-
ing and good protocols in
place we’re going to try
and embrace and help those
folks as much as we can.”
Seaside’s new city manager
eff ective July 1, 2022,” Bar-
ber said. “It is the responsi-
bility of the City Council to
fi nalize this search, identify
the fi nal candidate and to
take the steps to enter into
a hiring agreement.”
According to the city’s
website, the responsibilities
of the city manager includes
professional leadership, rec-
ommendations of solutions
to community problems for
council consideration, bud-
geting and goals, among
other duties.
Winstanley started with
Seaside as fi nance direc-
tor in September 1985 and
was named city manager in
November 2001.
Over the years his job
has encompassed the role
of budget offi cer, human
resources manager and staff
liaison to the City Council.
His current salary is
$130,620.
Following the review
and consideration of any
internal applications, the
council will decide whether
to expand the search. If
the council implements a
regional or national search,
they would retain the ser-
vices of a professional
search fi rm.
City Councilor Tita Mon-
tero urged hiring a search
fi rm early in the process.
“What I would like to see
is that we retain the services
of that professional search
fi rm now to guide us through
the whole process,” Mon-
tero said. “They’ve already
got the experience that we
don’t have to learn. And also
it puts us at arm’s length so
that there’s a neutral party
that is organizing this.”
Steps ahead include a
formal job announcement
and application process,
an updated job description,
compensation ranges and
deadlines for application
and hiring.
“This will again be on
our agenda come the fi rst of
January,” Barber said. “The
process will get started.
We’ll be presenting the job
announcement draft, the job
description draft, the appli-
cation process draft. All of
this has to be approved by
the council. And so we’ll be
keeping you apprised as we
move forward.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
R.J. Marx
The city hopes to relocate the RV and car parking along Necanicum between 10th and 11th.
For many neighbors, it should have never been allowed in the fi rst place.
‘Limits of
existing law’
Mayor Jay Barber said the
city is working on options
and alternatives. “We feel
your pain,” Barber said. He
said that he too is aff ected by
homeless issues at his home
in south Seaside.
In his letter to the
Veazeys, Van Thiel said the
city was cognizant of the
concerns of the neighbors
in the area of 10th and 11th
Avenue in Necanicum in the
city.
“The city is attempting to
do whatever it can to resolve
this matter but it must do so
within the limits of existing
law,” Van Thiel wrote. “The
property to which you make
reference is public prop-
erty. The courts have ruled
that people that fall into
this homeless category may
camp and stay overnight
basically to sleep on public
property. If these individuals
are in violation of any other
law, then they can be cited
appropriately by the city.”
City Councilor Tita Mon-
tero, who hosted a series of
think tanks on homelessness
this year, said the city needs
to take responsibility for
what happens on that prop-
erty. “Whether we like it or
not, it belongs to us. And we
need to assert our authority
on that property. We need to
put up a sign with rules on
it.”
She said those living in
the encampment will make
sure those rules are followed.
“There’s a lot of things that
we can do, but we need to
take over responsibility.”
She commended the
work of Paul Knoch, a Sea-
side police community ser-
vice offi cer, who has been
administering safety and
sanitation measures.
While the city insists the
encampment isn’t perma-
nent, fencing or screening
could mitigate some of the
eff ects for neighbors.
Some of the noise at night
comes from local residents
seeking to disturb those in
the encampment.
“For the last week or so,
cars have been pulling into
the middle of the lot and in
the middle of the night when
there’s no lights on,” Mon-
tero said. “That is unsafe.
We know that there are res-
idents who have been doing
fi gure eights and running
past there at high speeds
with their horns on because
they don’t like what’s going
on. So they think, ‘Well, I’m
bothering the people who
are in these motorhomes.’
They don’t think about how
they’re bothering the rest of
the neighborhood.”
Montero said the city
needs to fi nd a place that
“fi ts the law” so that those in
the encampments can have
accessible land in Seaside.
“We have our chal-
lenges,” Montero said. “But
while we’re facing them, we
need to stop ignoring what is
going on.”
New Year’s Eve
party at the
American Legion
The American Legion
hosts dinner and music on
New Year’s Eve. Seaside’s
Bruce Thomas Smith
brings “Transplant Rock”
and cool blues to welcome
in 2022. Music starts at
9 p.m.
There is no door charge;
champagne and party
favors are
available
for $5.
Prime
rib
or
salmon
dinner will
be served
Bruce Thomas
from 5 to
Smith
8 p.m.,
$35 with
advance tickets and $40
at the door. Dinner guests
will be provided with a
stamp that entitles them
to free party favors and
a champagne toast at
midnight.
The event is open to the
public 21 and older.
The Legion is located
at
1315
Broadway;
503-738-5111.
Shasta is looking for a
good home. For more
information,
contact
Clatsop Animal Assistance.
Happy Tails
fundraiser set
The Clatsop Animal
Assistance 2021 annual vir-
tual fundraiser, Happy Tails
Holiday Fundraiser, runs
through New Year’s Day.
Log in directly at www.
dogsncats.org or text
CAANOW to 44-321.
Clatsop Animal Assis-
tance provides help and
hope for the homeless dogs
and cats in Clatsop County
and covers veterinary costs
for the shelter animals,
from wellness checkups
for kittens to major surger-
ies and follow-up care.