Friday, March 25, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Businesswomen: Working together
Letters
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She began spreading the
word on social media and
walking into Broadway
businesses, adding inter-
views with Sadie Mercer of
Maggie’s on the Prom and
Tina Eilers of the Seaside
Civic and Convention Cen-
ter and Stephanie “Stevie”
Stevenson of Cotton Club
and Rascals.
“Don’t ever give up!” was
Stevenson’s advice to young
women seeking a career in
business. “Keep pushing for-
ward and if someone doesn’t
like the way you’re doing
something, keep doing it the
way you think you should do
it. Because women have the
most amazing intuition —
just believe in yourself.”
Library director Esther
Moberg off ered this pro-
fessional advice: “Don’t be
set on one area,” she writes.
“Open yourself up to new
experiences, new possibil-
ities. Be willing to grow
and be willing to learn from
others.”
Since the county started
unlawfully permitting
STRs in Cove Beach, STRs
now comprise an alarming
30% of the neighborhood’s
homes, the region’s high-
est percentage. The com-
missioners’ April 13 vote
to retrofi t the code may
drive STR growth to 70%
or more of the homes, con-
verting our neighborhood
into an undesired resort.
STR investors are
amassing Cove Beach
properties, infl ating hous-
ing prices, displacing
responsible long-term rent-
ers, elbowing out prospec-
tive residents from aff ord-
able housing options, and
making a lucrative profi t.
What power STR business
owners, who reside out-
side of Clatsop County,
wield over the commission-
ers that makes them deaf
to their constituents’ pleas
and heedless of the county
Planning Commission’s
ruling against the proposed
code change!
If the board proceeds
headstrong with its unethi-
cal retrofi tting of the Land
Use code and votes to
allow an unrestrained pro-
liferation of STRs in our
county’s unincorporated
residential neighborhoods,
Clatsop residents like us,
like you, will fi nd their
neighborhoods unrecogniz-
able and uninhabitable.
If this seems wrong
to you, email our com-
missioners: commission-
ers@co.clatsop.or.us and
ask whom they really
represent.
Jeff and Denise Davis
Cove Beach
Members of North Coast
Neighbors United
Images from the Seaside Chamber of Commerce Instagram
page.
Emmerling wrote that
she would tell her younger
self “not to be afraid to try
things. Just plunge in, and if
it feels right, it is right.”
“It’s been very eye open-
ing,” McCloud said. “This is
just the beginning. We don’t
want to lose this.”
She plans a web page,
committee, resources for
women and businesses and
scholarships for women
entrepreneurs.
The number of responses,
available via Facebook and
Instagram, continues to
grow daily.
The social media reach
has been “fantastic,” cham-
ber CEO Brian Owen said at
the chamber meeting.
“Everyone has amaz-
ing answers,” McCloud
said. “And they’re all a lit-
tle diff erent. Some are the
same, because we all strug-
gle with the same things as a
woman. But they’re all just
incredible.”
BRIEFS
Learn how to paint
a seascape
Learn to paint a seascape
in watercolor, all materials
provided at the Trail’s End
Art Association Gallery as
it off ers its fi rst in-person
workshop since the begin-
ning of the pandemic. Linda
Gebhart presents “Paint-
ing a Watercolor Seascape,”
April 9, 10 a.m. to noon.
The workshop is $30 for
TEAA members and $35 for
non-members. Participants
will have a completed and
matted piece at the end of
the workshop.
Gebhart paints seascapes,
architecture, and landscapes.
She uses recycled materi-
als for matting and framing
when it fi ts. Photos and En
Plein Air to bring true col-
ors into her work. Register
at trailsendart.org or at the
Gallery.
Trail’s End is located at
656 A St., Gearhart.
Help snowy plower
survive at nesting
time
Beachgoers are urged
to help recovery eff orts
of the threatened western
snowy plover by staying on
the wet sand at snowy plo-
ver beaches during nest-
ing season, March 15 to
Sept. 15. Beachgoers will
see ropes that identify sen-
sitive plover nesting areas,
as well as signs that identify
restrictions to protect the
small shorebirds during this
period.
Plover beaches remain
open to foot and equestrian
traffi c on wet, packed sand
throughout the nesting sea-
son. All other recreation on
plover beaches is off limits
on both wet and dry sand,
including walking your dog
(even on a leash), driving
a vehicle, riding a bicycle,
camping, burning wood or
other materials, and fl ying
kites or drones.
Trail’s End
Linda Gebhart presents “Painting a Watercolor Seascape,”
April 9, 10 a.m. to noon.
These small birds nest on
open sand along Oregon’s
beaches. Nests, and espe-
cially chicks, are well-cam-
oufl aged. During the nesting
season, human disturbances
can fl ush adult plovers
away from their nests as
they attempt to defend their
young. Left alone too long,
or too often, eggs or chicks
can die from exposure,
predators, or people.
Recreation
restrictions
occur in designated plover
management areas: small
stretches of beach along the
entire coastline where plo-
vers are nesting or could
potentially nest. These areas
collectively comprise about
40 miles of Oregon’s 362
miles of shoreline.
Detailed maps can be
found on the Oregon State
Parks website (oregon.gov/
plovers).
April ArtWalk in
Seaside
pen-and-ink artist Brit-
ney Drumheller, and mixed
media artist and curator Jan
Rimerman. Artist talks at 5:
30 p.m. Neal Maine, natu-
ralist, biologist, and photog-
rapher, lectures at 6 p.m.
Participating
galler-
ies include SunRose Gal-
lery, 606 Broadway; Tiger-
Lily Gallery, 613 Broadway;
Pacifi c Heirloom Art and
Collectables, 608 Broad-
way; Fairweather House
and Gallery, 612 Broadway.
Additional shops include
The Whet Spot, 12 N. Hol-
laday; Starry Night Inn and
Art Hotel, 811 First Ave.;
Tommy G, 609 Broad-
way; the Seaside Coff ee
House, 3 N. Holladay; Sea-
side Fiber and Yarn, 10 N.
Holladay; Tea Artist, 737
Broadway; Seaside Antique
Mall, 726 Broadway; and
Rust and Dust Vintage, 810
Broadway.
Free and open to the
public. Courtesy parking
is found on Holladay and
Oceanway.
Celebrating the arts since
2004, Seaside First Satur-
day Art Walk is a journey
through the Historic Gil-
bert District. The upcoming
event is on April 2, between
5 to 7 p.m.
Fairweather Gallery pres-
ents a reception for “Life
Forms,” featuring Seaside
artist Dorota Haber Lehigh,
coastal maker Emily Miller,
Pacifi c University emer-
itus professor Jan Shield,
Firehouse plan
ignores county
land goals
Gearhart’s bond mea-
sure to build a new fi re sta-
tion near Highlands Road
has several land-use issues.
To off er free land for the
construction of the new fi re
station, funded by Gearhart
taxpayers, we are enabling
a developer to ignore the
Clatsop Plains Community
Plan.
Gearhart plans to move
the land into the urban
growth boundary. Gearhart
water would allow devel-
opment and the change of
zoning from 2-acre county
lots to 10,000-square-foot
Gearhart lots.
In Clatsop County,
developing the land
requires involving the
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife and the
Department of State Lands
for managing salmon hab-
itat and wetland boundar-
ies. Bringing it into Gear-
hart and allowing it to be
developed in smaller lots
will impact the groundwa-
ter aquifer with denser sep-
tic systems.
The proposed area is
potential silverspot but-
terfl y habitat. North Coast
Land Conservancy has the
goal of reintroducing the
silverspot butterfl y on 40
acres at the Reserve to the
west.
The entire parcel that
Gearhart and the develop-
ers want to build on con-
tains the viola adunca plant
that is necessary for the
butterfl y’s survival, accord-
ing to a 1997 Nature Con-
servancy survey map.
I have long supported
the fi re department’s desire
to build a new station, but I
don’t like this location. I do
not support the over-devel-
opment of the area for the
benefi t of a developer at the
expense of Clatsop Coun-
ty’s long term planning.
Please reject the $14.5 mil-
lion bond measure.
Deanna Mancill
Gearhart
Gearhart got a
new school, now it
needs a fi re station
The present day school
for Gearhart and Seaside
children was built in 2020
in the foothills of Seaside.
It is important to remem-
ber that the new school was
moved because the resi-
dents of these communi-
ties, including many with-
out school age children,
saw the value of protect-
ing our children, teachers,
and school workers if a tsu-
nami hits.
We now need to protect
Gearhart as a whole, and
build a new fi re station.
Here’s why, Here are the
facts :
1. Our present day Gear-
hart Fire station was built
in 1958 by a coalition of
fi refi ghter volunteers. It
was made of hollow cin-
der blocks and like the old
school is in a tsunami inun-
dation zone and will not
withstand an earth quake
let alone a tsunami mak-
ing it useless in a natural
disaster.
2. Our fi re station is also
too small and cannot eff ec-
tively accommodate our 8
women and 19 men volun-
teers. Currently there are no
separate restrooms, show-
ers or dressing rooms.
3. Modern day fi rst
responders require a facil-
ity that has space for equip-
ment, storage, training, and
decontamination, none of
which is available in our
existing meager fi re station.
It is crucial that we
know these facts as we
vote. Just as we moved our
school to high ground, we
must now do the same with
a new fi re station. Please
vote yes on Measure 4-2-
213 and protect our volun-
teers who in turn protect us.
Wilson Mark
Gearhart
Show support
for public safety
workers, vote yes
It is an undeniable fact
that fi refi ghters save count-
less lives and billions of
dollars in property dam-
age every year. Not hav-
ing a safe and adequate
fi re station that can support
our volunteer fi remen and
women should be cause for
concern for all who have
chosen to live in a tsunami
inundation zone on our iso-
lated stretch of coastline.
In addition to two paid
staff , Gearhart is fortunate
to have 27 volunteer fi re-
fi ghters and EMTs, many
of whom have spent count-
less hours in fi re, medical,
and emergency response
training. In some cities fi re-
fi ghters spend large sums
of money and time in train-
ing and are well paid for
their eff orts. Gearhart’s fi re
brigade is primarily vol-
unteer, eight of whom are
women. This is something
to be proud of. A new fi re
and police facility would
provide separate bath-
rooms, showers and chang-
ing rooms for women and
a place for volunteers to
work out in preparation to
safely do their jobs, some-
thing they don’t have right
now. It would also pro-
vide for around the clock
on-duty staffi ng, adequately
sized gear lockers, and ded-
icated decontamination
space for equipment.
Let’s not forget these are
unpaid volunteers. We’re
lucky to live in a commu-
nity where so many are
willing to step up to serve
others. Why would any-
one oppose such a positive
and proud endeavor as a
new resilient fi re and police
facility? Let’s all vote
“yes” for Measure 4-213
on May 1 and show our
public safety workers the
support and encouragement
they deserve.
Diane Speakman
Gearhart
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