OUR 115th Year
May 13, 2022 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
Seaside
names city
manager
finalists
Community feedback
sessions set
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Three finalists for city manager
will go before the public next week
as the city seeks to fill the role.
Spencer Kyle, Esther Moberg,
and Matthew Selby were announced
as the finalists on Monday after a
four-month search.
City Manager Mark Winstanley,
who has held the job since 2001,
will retire at the end of June.
Jensen Strategies, a recruiting
firm, conducted the search, with
candidate interviews, City Council
guidance, public surveys and listen-
ing sessions.
A former director of adminis-
trative services for South Jordan,
Utah, Kyle has 16 years of gov-
ernment experience. He has also
served as assistant city manager
and assistant to the city manager
R.J. Marx
Steve Wright, Marva Wertz, Bill Wertz and Teresa Taylor of the Seaside Museum & Historical Society at the rededication of the Seaside Signal
exhibit.
Recalling the
G LORY D AYS
See Finalists, Page A6
Planning
Commission
wants lower
vacation
rental density
Oceanfront homes
would be exempt
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The Planning Commission will
recommend lowering the density
from 40% to 30% in most permitted
vacation rental areas, while increas-
ing the density from 50% to 100%
on oceanfront properties.
The changes come as the city
seeks to encourage more long-term
housing.
At a meeting last Tuesday, the
Planning Commission proposed
a waiting period of 90 days for an
owner to apply for a vacation rental
permit after purchase, and a two-
year waiting period for vacation
rental licenses on new construction
in higher residential zones.
The commission also agreed
to recommend the extension of a
See Rentals, Page A6
Museum pays tribute to newspaper, sheds light on Seaside history
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
S
top the presses —
the Seaside Signal
exhibit at the Seaside
Museum & Historical Society
has a new look.
Thanks to contributions
from a former journalist, Bill
Wertz, and his wife Marva
Wertz, the prominent display
chronicling the paper’s early
days got a facelift in time for
the summer season.
The vintage 1936 Linotype
machine — used to print each
edition — arrived at the Sig-
nal in 1953, purchased from
the Vancouver Columbian,
Leah Griffith, a museum board
director, said at Saturday’s
rededication.
“It’s fascinating when you
can watch and see how it
works and the complexity,”
Griffith said. “It makes you
really appreciate how they had
to put that paper out.”
When it was operational,
there were 138 parts of the
machine that needed oiling.
Although the museum still
has the operating manual, the
machine is long out of oper-
R.J. Marx
Linotype machine once in the Seaside Signal office on Broadway. Photo on wall at right, Signal printer
and Linotype operator Wayne Brown.
ation. Jay Rosen of North
Coast Fix in Astoria repaired
and restored the original light
fixture.
The Signal, from its start
Gearhart budget looks beyond fire bond
City plans for the
future with reserve
transfers
Wertz paid a visit to the
museum at 570 Necanicum
Drive.
School district budgets
funds for playing fields
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Property taxes make up 22.5% of the city’s revenue.
would be an opportunity next
November or May to put another
measure before the voters, Hill
said. “If taxpayers do not support
the proposed measure, there may
be, if the council chooses, addi-
tional opportunities next year —
in November and May — to use
the appropriations.”
The budget advisory commit-
tee unanimously approved the
budget in amount of $23.5 mil-
lion last Thursday which includes
a permanent tax rate of 1.0053
per 1000 of assessed value, gen-
eral obligation debt service as
well as approved the Gearhart
road district proposed 2022-23
budget in the amount of about
$227,500 with the permanent tax
rate limit levy of .0602 cents per
$1,000 of assessed value.
The city’s general fund, at
$2,897,005, exceeds last year’s
amount of $2,568,201, a rate of
more than 12.8%. The permanent
tax rate is $1.0053 per $1,000 of
assessed property value.
See Gearhart budget, Page A3
See Exhibit, Page A6
SEASIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent
stresses ‘financial
stability’
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Whether Measure 4-213, a
bond to support a new fire and
police station passes on Tuesday,
the Gearhart 2022-23 proposed
budget keeps an eye to options in
the future.
The city has added both reve-
nue and expenditures to the pro-
posed budget in anticipation that
the ballot measure for the gen-
eral obligation relocation bond is
approved by voters. About $14.5
million for the new station will
be set aside should the bond pass,
Treasurer Justine Hill said.
If the measure fails, there
in March 1905, has been the
“constant chronicle of life here
in our town,” museum board
president Steve Wright said.
About a year ago, Marva
As the school district seeks to
meet the demands of a Title IX
Civil Rights settlement to meet
gender equity, improvements will
be necessary to the district playing
fields. This could involve renova-
tions at Broadway Field or devel-
opment of a new site.
A total of $6.3 million has been
budgeted for site acquisition and
building development of the fields,
outbuildings and the vestibule proj-
ect at the entrances to the high
school and middle school gyms.
The Seaside School District pre-
sented a draft of its 2022-23 bud-
get at the April meeting of the bud-
get committee. A second meeting
is scheduled for Tuesday, the target
date for approval by the committee.
The budget is expected to receive
final board approval on June 21.
The $49.1 million budget pres-
ents a less than 1% increase from
the 2021-22 budget of $48.9
million.
In her message to community
members, Susan Penrod, the dis-
trict superintendent, listed three
goals for the district in 2022-23, to
keep students in school throughout
the school year; to keep students
and staff healthy and to enable stu-
dents to thrive with families and the
community.
“The Seaside School District
remains committed to our core
See Schools, Page A3