Friday, July 15, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Gray: Hopeful has roots
in Virginia politics
Continued from Page A1
Gray, 71, grew up in a
political family in Virginia,
where his father Frederick
Thomas Gray was a legislator
and served as state attorney
general in the early 1960s.
Rick Gray attended the
University of Virginia and
went to law school. After
receiving his master’s degree,
he worked with his father for
three years in the Legislature,
taught and practiced law. He
served as secretary to the
Commonwealth from 1979
to 1981, resigning in 1981
in solidarity with striking air
traffi c controllers.
In Virginia, Gray taught
history
at
Midlothian
High School in Chester-
fi eld County, William Mon-
roe High School in Greene
County and the Appomattox
Regional Governor’s School
in Petersburg .
After several years of car-
ing for his mother, he turned
to the West Coast following
her death in 2011.
“My best friend had a
two-bedroom apartment,” he
said. “She was getting over
a divorce. She said I should
come to Cannon Beach
because it’s a healing place.
The rest is history.”
He hopes his experience
in Virginia will translate to
Oregon.
He bypassed a run at city
government, which, he said,
typically leads to “a bias
toward consensus. Nobody
wants to step too far outside
the circle.”
He sees himself as a dis-
senting voice.
“A legislature I under-
stand,” Gray said. “I’ve been
around them and legislatures
start with a combat and work
toward compromise. But in
the process, a lot of times,
you do get to explore ideas,
amendments — there’s ways
to shape proposals into some-
thing that makes sense.”
Gray describes himself
as “a moderately progres-
sive Republican” of the type
popularized by former U.S.
Sen. John Warner, a Virginia
Republican whose campaign
he worked on.
“I thought he was likable,”
Gray said. “I also liked his
approach to things.”
He said education was at
the top of his agenda, with a
need for funding at all levels
and additional assistance for
students.
“One of the things I
learned when I was teaching,
all around the country there
are way too many kids who
have spent fi ve or six years
before they graduated from
college,” he said. “It doesn’t
bother the college if they have
to stay an extra year, because
they get another year’s worth
of money. It really increases
the cost of education. That’s
another year you’re paying
out and you’re not starting to
earn it. We should really do
an audit of that.”
In fi ghting homelessness,
Gray said there is a tendency
to push people along. Oregon
could learn from other states
and cities, citing Houston and
Salt Lake City as examples of
positive results.
R.J. Marx
Cecil Capoeman in front of “Thunderbird + Killer Whale” at the convention center art unveiling.
Center: Artists present Northwest-themed work
Continued from Page A1
Schaerer’s work, and
that of other artists repre-
sented in the show, refl ects
the nature and the beauty of
the area that we live in, Frost
said.
“Some folks that come to
the convention center come
from all over the world,
and maybe they won’t get a
chance to go out and enjoy
some of the beautiful spaces,
but they will have that here,”
she said. “It really honors
the nature and the beauty of
the space that we live in.”
Stirling Gorsuch, an
Astoria-based printmaker
raised in Cannon Beach,
said his work was inspired
by Japanese wood-block
prints from the 19th century.
The Seaside High School
graduate’s work has been
shown throughout the North
Coast and beyond.
“It’s nature-inspired by
the forests on the coastline,”
Gorsuch said. “They’re
playing with diff erent light,
diff erent weather, diff erent
seasons.”
Cecil Capoeman, based
in Hoquiam, Washington,
carved “Dragonfi sh,” based
on a Salish tribal legend.
The piece, 60 inches in
diameter and 2 inches thick,
is carved from yellow cedar
and acrylic painting.
“The general story is
when, when the thunder-
storms are here, that’s when
thunderbird comes out from
the mountains and hunts the
killer whale. And the thun-
der and lightning you hear
is the thunderbird throwing
a lightning bolt down and
spearing the whale.”
Capoeman is the son of
artist and Quinault Indian
Nation President Guy Capo-
eman. In 2019, Guy Capo-
eman delivered a 10-foot
welcome pole that now
stands in Cannon Beach.
“He taught me every-
thing I know,” Cecil Capo-
eman said.
Work was selected by a
committee of fi ve and Frost.
“We brought an expert
in to help us,” Vanden-
berg said. “We gave her our
vision, bringing Northwest
beauty into the building and
encouraged her to use local
and regional artists as much
as she could.”
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you all in mind if in the
future I am put in a position
of making a similar choice.”
Originally from Belling-
ham, Washington, Gould
served as a county sheriff ’s
deputy and fi rst responder in
S outhern California, where
she also acted with her coun-
ty’s human resources and
health and risk management
divisions.
Family ties brought her
to Gearhart, where she has
lived since 2018.
She said she was “hum-
bled and excited” by the
council appointment. “I’m
interested in helping if I can
help with providing help to
the council with a strong
background in project man-
agement for government
entities and buildings, mostly
law enforcement-type proj-
ects, ” she said.
After the meeting, she
said she was honored by the
appointment. “Gearhart is
a fabulous little town and
as evidenced by the recent
Fourth of July parade and
street dance, its citizens care
deeply for each other,” she
said. “I see it in social media
postings. I see it when com-
munity volunteers come
together to assume personal
responsibility to resolve
community problems such
as beach cleanup or Ridge
Path upkeep. I see it when
neighbors greet each other
on the street or in their gar-
dens. I believe we all want to
retain Gearhart’s old world,
small-town charm, but we
also understand the modern
world has delivered some
very serious challenges to
our doors. I believe it would
be a real shame if our com-
munity’s future successes
came at the price of our
camaraderie.”
Smith’s appointment was
held in City Hall chambers
via Zoom for security rea-
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Dana Gould joined Gearhart’s
City Council this month.
sons after reports of poten-
tial gun use at a council
meeting.
“Each day, our world
has become complicated
and convoluted,” Smith
said. “This is true for a
small town like ours, indi-
vidual states, our country
and the entire globe. Much
of the fear and hate-mon-
gering and misinformation
can be blamed on the inter-
net. Some ideas have sim-
ply been fostered by word-
of-mouth communication.
My wife and I do not use
Facebook, Twitter or any of
these internet sites. We text
our children and email the
old-fashioned way for busi-
ness. This is where I would
like to ask you all to take a
deep breath and step back as
we learn to work together
amongst ourselves to move
forward.
“Moving on, I believe
that the failure of the resil-
iency bond clearly shows
that voters like Gearhart are
not interested in what was
put forth for their approval,”
Smith said. “Not every voter
had the same reason to vote
‘no’ and many voters were
on the fence. I also believe
the majority of voters do
feel we need a new fi re hall
and that is a matter we need
to discuss together. I hope to
have an informal survey in
the near future.”
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