A2 • Friday, May 27, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Seaside police log homeless
response and mental health
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
It was no coincidence
that Seaside police deliv-
ered their annual report at
the May meeting, with Peace
Offi cers Memorial Day on
May 15.
“Our law enforcement
offi cers are the guardians of
life and property; defenders
of the individual right to be
free; warriors in the battle
against crime; and are ded-
icated to the preservation of
life and property,” Mayor
Jay Barber wrote in the proc-
lamation read by Chief Dave
Ham.
The 2021 end-of-year
report showed the rising
response level and expanded
roles of Seaside’s police
department, with almost
10,000 calls for service in
2021, up 3% from 2020 and
a 5% increase from 2017.
Those calls could be any-
Dave Ham
thing from a criminal report
to a log entry and a response
to a dog barking, Ham said.
Total
traffi c
stops
increased 17%, to 2,856,
though infractions dipped
18%, 230 accidents were
reported, up from 173 in
2020.
Of more serious part 1
crimes, the city recorded
136 assaults, 27 burglaries
and 13 motor vehicle thefts.
Larceny increased 7% year
to year, with 332 in 2021.
Police made 33 drug law
arrests, down 13% from
2021.
Of part 2 or misde-
meanor crimes, there were
43 charges for driving while
under the infl uence of intox-
icants and 260 disorderly
conduct arrests.
The city recorded more
than 700 responses for
homelessness and 570 men-
tal health contacts in 2021.
The city will often work
with county agencies prior
to making an arrest, Ham
said. “If we’ve got some-
body in crisis needing help,
that is really something that
may not very well be a police
issue,” he said.
The
department
—
nine full-time patrol offi -
cers and eight communica-
tions personnel — operated
throughout the COVID-19
pandemic.
“Most of our services
off ered were operational
with some limitations,” Ham
said. “Our lobby remained
closed with the exception of
some short in person busi-
ness occurring within the
building, while maintaining
social distancing and mask
use. Our patrol operations
continued with little negative
impact to our community.”
Offi cer Evan Edwards and
Justin Gagnon each earned
promotions to corporal.
The department hired
Jason Johnson as a patrol
offi cer and Paul Knoch as
community service offi cer.
“Both are working in a
solo capacity and we are
again excited to have them
on,” Ham said.
The city’s proclamation
also paid tribute to Jason
Goodding, the Seaside police
sergeant killed in 2016 in the
line of duty, and marked the
“valor, service, and dedica-
tion of all police offi cers.”
OBITUARIES
Gary Wesley Georgeson
Astoria
Feb. 23, 1946 — May 12, 2022
Gary
Wesley
Georgeson, 76, of Astoria,
passed away May 12, 2022.
Gary was born to Gilbert
and Wanda Georgeson
on Feb. 23, 1946, in San
Francisco.
He spent a lot of time in
California and on the Ore-
gon Coast.
Gary served in Vietnam
with the Army.
Gary was an outdoors-
man. His passions included
kayaking, hiking, camping,
archery and black powder
shooting clubs.
Gary was the kindest
man, who was always will-
ing to help anyone in need.
He was loved by many,
and his friends were like a
family to him and his wife,
Jane.
Gary is survived by his
wife, Jane Georgeson, of
Astoria; brother, Harvey
Georgeson, and his wife,
Sharon Georgeson, of
Carson City, Nevada; his
daughter, Kellie Georgeson
Kerr, of Tacoma, Wash-
ington; his stepson, Stuart
Arnold, and his wife, Tami
Arnold, of Astoria; and
eight grandchildren and 16
great-grandchildren.
He will be greatly
missed by so many, but
we know his beautiful soul
has moved on to the next
chapter.
In lieu of fl owers, dona-
tions can be made to the
Alzheimer’s Association,
act.alz.org, in honor of his
soul mate, Jane.
DEATH NOTICE
Lawrence Albert Holt
May 6, 2022
HOLT, Lawrence Albert, 77, of Astoria, died in
Astoria. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
Clatsop County
names new public
health director
Seaside Signal
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Astoria said staffi ng issues have improved at the 911 dispatch center.
Astoria emergency dispatch ends
temporary merger with Seaside
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Sheriff Matt Phillips
the end of summer,” Hipes
said. “We’re just going to
have to make it through
summer and then we should
be able to handle our pres-
sures a little better without
necessarily having to have
assistance from our sur-
rounding agencies.”
He said that as the police
department continues to
address the staffi ng chal-
lenges, answering emer-
gency calls will be the pri-
ority. That means people
calling the nonemergency
line may have to wait a lit-
tle longer than usual until
someone picks up.
Eric Halverson, Asto-
ria’s interim police chief,
said the department is also
continuing to look at dif-
ferent technologies that
could be applied to reduce
some of the pressure on
dispatchers.
“Ultimately, the goal
is to continue to add staff -
ing and that’s what we’re
focused on, but we’re still
looking at other options,”
Halverson said. “We have
to be conscious of the need
for employees to have
time off and those kinds of
things. Right now, we’ve
put together a schedule
where we’re able to do that
and so we’re defi nitely in a
better place than we were
six months ago, but we
have room to grow, too.”
Conversations
about
consolidating Astoria and
Seaside’s dispatch centers
are ongoing.
Sheriff Matt Phillips,
who has advocated for con-
solidation, has said that the
temporary merger demon-
strated the model can
work. He believes a single
countywide 911 dispatch
center would be in the best
interests of the public and
emergency responders.
Over the years, sep-
arate studies that ana-
lyzed emergency dispatch
in the county encouraged
consolidation. The stud-
ies suggested a single cen-
ter could maximize staff -
ing and resources, improve
call times and enhance
coordination.
Phillips said a team has
been assembled that rep-
resents the police and fi re
agencies from around Clat-
sop County to determine
what consolidated dispatch
could look like.
The group meets twice a
month, and are working on
what the governance struc-
ture might look like, the
sheriff said. Most of the
consolidated dispatch cen-
ters formed under intergov-
ernmental agreements have
two boards and an execu-
tive director, Phillips said,
adding that the group is
drilling down on the roles
and authorities.
“This is a major proj-
ect that will take signifi -
cant time,” the sheriff said.
“Once the process is com-
plete we will be able to
determine if consolidation
provides better service to
the citizens and the public
safety users than our cur-
rent system.”
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E
RIL Y’
S
Emergency dispatchers
returned to Astoria earlier
this month after temporarily
merging with Seaside over
the past several months.
The move to Seaside
was prompted by staff -
ing shortages at Astoria’s
911 dispatch center, which
reached a critical point
last fall. The merger, ide-
ally, should have been a fl ip
of the switch, but instead
it exposed defi ciencies in
technology and interopera-
bility that left many emer-
gency responders on the
North Coast frustrated.
The challenges also
revived talks about whether
Astoria and Seaside should
combine emergency dis-
patch centers into a single
countywide 911 dispatch
center, a conversation that
has occurred off -and-on for
more than 20 years.
Jeremy Hipes, Astoria’s
emergency
communica-
tions manager, said staff -
ing is improving, and he is
encouraged by the appli-
cants and people in train-
ing. The cities are also
continuing to coordinate
on upgrades to improve
interoperability.
Seaside has agreed to
temporarily assign a dis-
patcher to Astoria until a
new hire is fully trained.
Astoria is still working
toward hiring and train-
ing fi ve additional staff -
ers to meet the dispatch
center’s minimum for full
operations.
“The hope is that we’ll
be in a much better place by
‘THIS IS A MAJOR PROJECT THAT
WILL TAKE SIGNIFICANT TIME.
ONCE THE PROCESS IS COMPLETE
WE WILL BE ABLE TO DETERMINE
IF CONSOLIDATION PROVIDES
BETTER SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS
AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY USERS
THAN OUR CURRENT SYSTEM.’
Clatsop County has
chosen a new public
health director.
Jiancheng Huang, the
former director of the
Oswego County Health
Department
in
New
York, is slated to step
into the role in July, the
county announced on
Monday.
He replaces Margo
Lalich, who in March
2021 took over as interim
public health director for
former director Michael
McNickle.
Huang also directed the
Maine Immunization Pro-
gram, as well as worked
for the Maine Bureau of
Health and the University
of Pennsylvania’s Scheie
Eye Institute, the county
said
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