A4 • Friday, April 8, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
SignalViewpoints
OP-ED
Firehouse bond makes fi nancial sense
GUEST COLUMN
MATT BROWN
W
hen I was mayor of Gearhart, we
sent out a survey about a new fi re
station. Among the voters sur-
veyed an astounding 82.5% supported a
new station with an impressive 79.4% sup-
porting a bond to pay for it. Over the last
several months I have gotten some great
questions from friends, neighbors, and
working families who are very support-
ive of a new station but want to know what
the real impact will be on their monthly
fi nances. With day-to-day costs of living
increasing, they want to have a budget plan
that supports their families over the next
several years. Many have inquired; what
will be the estimated net tax increases over
the course of the entire 20-year bond? The
good news is it’s easy to estimate, and I
want to go through an example for you so
you can make the right choice for you and
your family.
First, it’s important to realize that Gear-
hart has one of the lowest tax rates in Ore-
gon and on the Oregon Coast. A bond for a
new station will only increase the property
tax rate by a maximum of 1.213 per $1000
of home assessed value. It’s also important
to know that as our water bonds come off
the books in 2025 and 2031, we will save a
whopping .982 per $1000. This makes the
yearly and monthly average net tax increase
very low over the entire bond. It’s also
important to understand that because of our
unique tax structure of full-time and part-
time residents, we can fi nance a station for
very little net tax increases to our voters.
So, what will your estimated net tax
increase be to build a new station? Look at
your latest property tax statement, on the
left-hand side you will see your Total AV or
home assessed value. It’s much lower than
your RMV or the real market value of your
home. So, for example if your assessed
value is $300,000, you will have a net tax
increase in the fi rst year of $375 over what
you are paying now. As the water bonds
come off , that number will go down to $198
in 2025 and only $93 starting in 2031. That
is a total net tax increase of $3,631 over the
life of the bond or only $181.55 per year or
an extra $15.13 per month. That is less than
the price of a Netfl ix subscription, a few
extra lattes at Starbucks, or a couple marti-
nis at your local watering hole.
I am using this simple method to bud-
get my expenses over the life of the bond.
I look at it as an investment in Gearhart’s
future that will help generations of residents
and families. And for me, I have no prob-
lem cutting a streaming service or elimi-
nating a few gin and tonics per month at
the Great Wall to help pay for it. I believe
a new fi re station is the right choice for our
community at a great value to our voters. I
encourage you to use this method to deter-
mine if it’s the right choice for you as well.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Firehouse delay will
only increase our taxes
I am a full-time Gearhart resident
living on a fi xed income. I am a fi s-
cal conservative, which is a nice way
of saying I am cheap and suspicious of
new taxes.
I am a retired law enforcement
veteran of 30 years. Throughout my
career I managed projects to remodel
and build emergency response facil-
ities. I was also a commander of a
small fi re camp. I share my back-
ground to illustrate my training and
experience in order to qualify my
opinion that a yes vote on measure
4-213, the Gearhart Police and Fire
Bond, is the best way to limit my tax
exposure.
Gearhart’s fi re and police stations
do not meet modern industry standards
in either profession, and it is obvi-
ous to even a layman, a new facility is
required. The costs associated with the
project have grown signifi cantly since
its conceptualization, and will con-
tinue to increase the longer we delay.
There are some who are justifying a
no vote with the misguided belief that
the proposed structure is too large. In
my professional opinion it is not.
It is also my opinion that elimi-
nating proposed space will not sig-
nifi cantly reduce the overall cost of
the project, and certainly not enough
to negate the overall increase a delay
will cause. Meeting current OSHA,
EPA, ADA, and critical infrastructure
building regulations, as well as stud-
ies and permits, will absorb much of
the budget.
This project is unavoidable, and
a delay will only increase our taxes.
Please vote yes on Measure 4-213.
Dana Gould
Gearhart
Vote yes, support our
fi rst responders
The Gearhart Volunteer Fire
Department Station Open House is
a great opportunity to learn the facts
about the necessity of voting yes for
Measure 4-213.
On Saturday, April 16 from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m., please visit the fi re depart-
ment at 670 Pacifi c Way. See the sta-
tion with your own eyes, listen to the
fi refi ghters with your own ears. I am
repeatedly asked, “Who votes against
supporting fi rst responders?”.
We’ve all read and heard the disin-
genuous battle cry of, “Voting no does
not mean you don’t support our fi re-
fi ghters.” Well, what the heck does it
mean then? You expect them to con-
tinue to work under current danger-
ous and substandard conditions? What
happens when OSHA visits the sta-
tion? How can they support our com-
munity without the tools to keep them-
selves safe? If not the new Highlands
location, where? If not now, when?
Our community has been jerked
around enough! Supporting our fi rst
responders and supporting our com-
munity requires a clear “Yes, I support
our fi rst responders and I am voting
yes on 4-213.”
Disinformation is rampant. Peo-
ple are working hard on social media
and telling lies to divide our commu-
nity. You, the voter, part of our com-
munity, owe it to yourself to think crit-
ically about this important vote and
educate yourself beyond the disinfor-
mation campaign that is being waged.
I hope to see you at the open house —
the hot dogs are delicious and we have
a wonderful group of volunteers to
visit with. Support our fi rst responders
— vote yes on 4-213.
Sheila Nolan
Gearhart
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Time to give fi refi ghters
a modern building
The time has come for a new Gear-
hart fi re and police station.
For generations, Gearhart’s police
and fi re have taken your calls 24/7
whether for a fi re or anything else
when you needed their help.
Now we’re calling on you to take
one call for them by supporting a bal-
lot measure that improves the safety
of our fi rst responders in the event of a
Tsunami.
Your support ensures our respond-
ers get a strong and resilient facil-
ity located in an area that is out of
the Tsunami inundation zone. With-
out such a facility evacuation, shel-
tering and transportation will be
compromised.
Like other coastal cities, Gearhart
has researched and developed alterna-
tive locations for over 10 years. Now
is the time to realize this project before
interest rates and infl ation run out of
control.
Our proposed new location for the
fi re station off ers abundant space for
a city park; something that residents
have expressed a strong desire to have
during past consultations.
The current building has outlived
its purpose from what volunteers built
back in 1958. Now is the time to give
Gearhart police, fi refi ghters, and res-
idents a modern building at a safer
location.
Now is the time for Gearhart res-
idents to step up and help our 1st
responders who are asking for our sup-
port on this important issue.
Vote yes on Measure 4-213!
Dave Hurley
Gearhart
Contact local agencies
for latest meeting infor-
mation and attendance
guidelines.
MONDAY, APRIL 11
Seaside City Council,
7 p.m., 989 Broadway.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
Seaside Convention
Center Commission, 5 p.m.,
415 First Ave., Seaside.
TUESDAY, APRIL 19
Community Emergency
Response Team, 5 p.m., 989
Broadway.
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, work session, 6 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
Seaside School District,
6 p.m., https://www.seaside.
k12.or.us/.
Gearhart City Council,
special meeting, 6 p.m.,
cityofgearhart.com.
FIREFIGHTER-
IN-TRAINING
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20
Tourism Advisory Commit-
tee, 3 p.m., 989 Broadway.
THURSDAY, APRIL 21
Michael Dunlevy
Leo Dunlevy, 2 1/2, learns the ropes at the fi rehouse with Chief Josh Como.
Leo and his family attended the March 26 department open house.
Transportation Advisory
Commission, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
Gearhart Fire is
there when you need
them, vote yes
I wholeheartedly support Mea-
sure 4-213 and to encourage others to
join me with a “yes” vote on May 17,
2022.
In 2020 we hired a chimney clean-
ing and inspection at our home on N.
Cottage Ave in Gearhart. We were
shocked and horrifi ed when chimney
inspector revealed we had been living
with a fi re hazard and our chimney was
in need of a full interior rebuild. Each
time we lit a fi re we were in danger.
Our chimney/fi re box rebuild was
scheduled for future date into 2022.
Six months later we were awakened
in the night by fl ashing emergency
lights responding nearby. An acciden-
tal house fi re was fully underway with
fl ames moving dangerously along the
shake roof ridge line.
Were it not for the rapid and skilled
response of the Gearhart Volunteer
Fire Department there surely would
have been expanded damage, loss and
tragedy. Their execution was noth-
ing short of heroic and has been well
reported in your news publication.
It is inexcusable that we relegate
these public servants to the unsafe,
unhealthy and inadequate facility
that they currently operate in. I fi nd it
appalling that the worthiness of pro-
viding an adequate and well equipped
facility for our fi refi ghters and police
is being questioned. As Gearhart citi-
zens we should proudly support pro-
viding a high-quality facility for our
Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department
and local police department to work
in to provide essential public safety to
all our citizens. How can this type of
provision be possible without the sup-
port and contribution of everyone they
serve?
Maxine Johnson
Gearhart
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
ADVERTISING
REPRESENTATIVE
Haley Werst
R.J. Marx
Seaside Museum board members and volunteers Robin Montero, Leah Griffi th, Teresa Taylor and Steve Wright.
Museum: A blast from the past
Continued from Page A1
Along with new exhibits,
visitors will see familiar gal-
leries featuring the Seaside
Fire Department, the Seaside
Signal’s original printing press
and a diorama depicting Sea-
side as it was in 1899. There’s
also a remembrance of the
1959 visit to Seaside by John
F. Kennedy, a U.S. senator at
the time, when he spoke to
the national conference of the
American Federation of Labor.
Visitors to the museum will
see details on the 100th anni-
versary of the Prom, a look
back at the Seaside Hotel and
a revived and expanded Lewis
and Clark exhibition, high-
lighting Seaside’s role as the
end of the Lewis and Clark
Trail.
The library and research
facilities are also well-used.
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
CONTRIBUTING
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff TerHar
The library and research facili-
ties are also well-used.
In 1984, Butterfi eld Cottage,
formerly located downtown,
was moved next door to the
museum. It has been restored
to be used as a museum depict-
ing a beach cottage and room-
ing house in 1912, inspired by
consultants and women’s mag-
azines of the time. The cottage
is famous for hosting annual
gingerbread teas every holiday
season for more than 30 years.
In a new exhibit, designer
Robin Montero has recreated
the House of Roberts, the cus-
tom design millinery and hat
shop that opened in the build-
ing in 1958.
On the grounds, mem-
bers of the Sou’wester Gar-
den Club donate thousands of
hours each year to create a her-
itage garden, featuring fl ow-
ers and shrubbery that would
have been common more than
a century ago.
“People come who have
just bought a house and they
want to know more about the
house,” volunteer and museum
board member Leah Grif-
fi th said. “They come because
their family was living here at
the time, and they want to fi nd
out about their family or where
they lived.”
People stop and study
almost every section of the
museum, Griffi th said. “They
are intrigued by things over
the Butterfi eld. I didn’t think
the logging area would be that
popular, but I get a lot of peo-
ple who stop and look at things
there.”
The museum is open Fri-
days and Saturdays. Check
their website for more infor-
mation and hours, https://www.
seasideoregonmuseum.com/.
Seaside Signal
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