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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2022)
OUR 115th Year March 4, 2022 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM $1.00 Businesses urged to prepare for overdoses Naloxone can be a lifesaver R.J. Marx By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Signal work at U.S. Highway 101 and Broadway. Winds knock out power at Roosevelt and Broadway Jenna King and Kathryn Crombie, of the Clatsop County Public Health Department’s harm reduction program, came to Sea- side last week to ask business owners to take a role in recog- nizing and responding to drug overdoses. Fatal overdoses can be pre- vented with the help of naloxone, an opioid antidote. “We believe everyone should have naloxone on them or nearby — not just people who use drugs and their families. People can think of it as something that is part of your first-aid kit, like an EpiPen (for allergic reactions),” Crombie told the Seaside Cham- ber of Commerce at an event last Wednesday morning. Seaside Signal H See Overdose, Page A5 Residents seek more input on new city manager ‘Seaside needs a new perspective’ By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal An informal group of Seaside residents are coming together to encourage input into the city man- ager hiring process. Rebecca Read, an election offi- cial, a former municipal employee and participant in the Zoom ses- sion urged members of the public to contact City Council members with their input. “I am not happy with the way in which people want to rubber stamp and just push things through without a proper open hiring pro- cess,” Read said. “Seaside needs a new perspective, someone who’s had success in other communities and who can bring a fresh perspec- tive without local biases. Someone who can look at Seaside’s poten- tial and have the energy to bring innovative ideas to the job. Some- one who can step in and start working at a high level of ability. See Manager, Page A6 Dale McDowell High winds disabled the traffic signal at the intersection of Roosevelt Drive and Broadway on Monday. igh winds knocked out the traffic sig- nal pole at the south east corner of Broad- way and U.S. Highway 101 on Monday, Feb. 28, Sea- side Public Works Director Dale McDowell said. The intersection reopened Wednesday morning. “This led to the Ore- gon Department of Trans- portation mobilizing crews to remedy the issue,” McDowell said. “Weather is playing a big part in get- ting everything back to normal.” The temporary loss of service with all signals at the intersection means that east and westbound traffic is closed temporarily and turn lanes in all directions will also be out of service for several days. While north and south- bound traffic proceeded as normal, the intersection functioned as a two-way stop sign until temporary repairs could be made. High winds pre- vented crews from using bucket trucks and other equipment. The new pole was installed and signal opera- tions mounted by Wednes- day morning, McDowell said. Lifting of mask mandate leaves park district in f lux By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal In-school masking will be lifted for the state’s schools on March 11, the Oregon Health Author- ity announced, as hospi- talizations drop and are projected to reach levels below those at the start of the Omicron surge. The date gives local communities time to pre- pare for the transition, the health authority said, and allows district and school leaders to take necessary actions to ensure students can safely remain in their classrooms. Whether the Sunset Empire Park and Recre- ation district will lift its indoor mask mandate then remains to be determined, executive director Skyler Archibald said. “No decision has been made at this time,” Archibald said. At the Feb. 24 park dis- trict board meeting, the members agreed to follow the state’s school guide- lines for in-school mask- ing at park district facili- R.J. Marx Entrance to the Bob Chisholm Community Center, with park district COVID protocols ties — at that align with the state’s ‘NO DECISION HAS time, March timeline.” 31. Right now, all BEEN MADE AT THIS “I wanted patrons and staff are TIME.’ to get some expected to wear general feed- masks in park dis- trict buildings, Skyler Archibald, executive director, Sunset back from the Empire Park and Recreation District including the Sunset board about a Pool, Bob Chisholm lot internally Community Cen- with the staff,” from the board was to line Archibald said. “It seems up with what the school ter and Sunset Recreation like the overall consensus district is going to do, and Center, he said, except when they are actively swimming. Archibald said that early on in the pandemic there was resistance to the mask mandate from park district patrons, but now most accept the protocol. After the mandate is lifted, other COVID pro- tocols will remain in place in park district buildings, including extra sanitizing stations and temperature checks for participants in youth programs. The park district may choose to keep a mask policy in place for those seeking to wear them or be around others wear- ing masks, he said, with a portion of the day where people can sign up to work out in a masked environment. Patrons could sign up for the pro- grams through a reserva- tion system. “There are a lot of sit- uations where you don’t know what’s going on,” board member Michael Hinton said. “You just don’t know what’s going on around you all the time. You’ve got to protect yourself.” Convention center general manager Vandenberg to retire By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Russ Vandenberg, gen- eral manager of the Seaside Civic and Convention Cen- ter, announced his retire- ment this spring. At last Wednesday’s Seaside Chamber of Com- merce breakfast, Vanden- berg, 65, said he would be leaving the role he has held since 2005. “I felt that time was right for me, my age in life and ready to enter the next chapter,” he said. “How honored I am to be part of the city and be part of this community that has welcomed me with open arms. I’m just extremely grateful.” As the center’s general manager, Vandenberg over- sees the day-to-day man- agement of the convention center that includes admin- istration, marketing, sales, operations, fiscal responsi- bility and approval of facil- ity contracts. With extended fam- ily in Southern Califor- nia — seven children and 16 grandchildren — he and his wife, JoAnn, are planning a move. They’ve already sold their home here and are staying in a rental in Cullaby Lake in the interim, probably until the end of May. Vandenberg has been involved in the public assembly facility manage- ment industry since 1982. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Saint Mary’s College of California.nHe worked at events centers in Irvine and San Diego before his role in Seaside. Vandenberg didn’t know much about Seaside before he applied, but the more researched the city and the center, the more exciting the position looked, he told The Astorian in 2005. He quickly settled into the community, and served as the president of the Sea- side Rotary Club. In his first year as gen- eral manager, the center’s economic impact increased 6%. By 2012, the center was pumping in $40 million in economic impact for Sea- side — up from $23 million when he started. See Retirement, Page A5 R.J. Marx Joshua Heineman, director of tourism marketing of the Seaside Visitors Bureau and Russ Vandenberg, general manager of the Seaside Civic and Convention Center.