OUR 115th Year
August 12, 2022 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
GEARHART
Council seeks
gun ban at
City Hall
Offi cer to be assigned to meetings
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
R.J. Marx
Jim Kuhn, Pam Bierly, Daff ne Mejia, Bill Montero, Mary Blake, Dale McDowell, Nancy Holmes and Tom Horning
of the Parks Advisory Committee.
Seaside parks committee
looks toward the future
‘It’s All Connected’ at open house
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
“I
t’s All Connected” was
the message of the Sea-
side Parks Advisory
Committee. The group held
an open house Thursday at the
Bob Chisholm Community
Center, with committee mem-
bers showcasing city parks in a
series of exhibits.
The exhibit includes a new
interpretative sign with the
message of connectivity and
will be placed on the banks of
the Necanicum Creek in Broad-
way Park this summer, com-
mittee chair Nancy Holmes
said. New photos and informa-
tion will be incorporated into
the 2017 parks master plan.
The sign, 3 feet by 5 feet, was
illustrated by science and wild-
life artist Nora Sherwood with
the assistance of local residents
Pam Bierly, Brandy Hussa and
New interpretative sign to
be placed in Broadway Park.
Neal Maine.
The Seltzer Park exhibit
comes with photos of Dick and
Tom Smothers — known as
“The Smothers Brothers” to the
Baby Boom generation. They
pitched in when the park was
built, playing a benefi t concert
at the convention center with
country music legend Willie
Nelson in May 1995. Today a
bench with their names marks
their contributions.
Nearby Sailor’s Grave Park,
with its monument “Known
only to God,” is preserved as
the fi nal resting place of sailors
See Parks, Page A3
The Gearhart City
Council moved forward
with an ordinance to pro-
hibit weapons at city
meetings, but rejected a
$5,000 purchase of a
metal detector and hand-
held wand to screen
visitors.
A police offi cer will be
present at city meetings to
address potential threats.
Firearms, bows, cross-
bows, BBs, darts and
knives, excluding legal
pocket knives under 4
inches, are among weap-
ons included in the ban.
Courthouses and many
cities throughout the state
require visitors to pass
through metal detectors,
Peter Watts, the city attor-
ney, said. “I don’t think
any of us ever thought
that Gearhart would be
one of those. But given
the increase in shoot-
ings nationally, and that
information that people
believed that other people
were bringing weapons
to City Council meetings,
probably a conversation
that that City Council
needs to have.”
The measure comes
after what the Clatsop
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce
deemed a false gun threat
in June, when conversa-
tions from private Face-
book groups administered
by local residents led to
reports of potential gun
use at a council meeting.
See Gun ban, Page A3
McBride wins
role as city’s code
compliance offi cer
Code compliance offi cial role was
established in 2020
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Anne McBride, the
city’s emergency pre-
paredness
coordinator,
will take on an added role
as the city’s new code
compliance offi cial. On
July 14 McBride replaced
Jeff Flory, who was named
planning director after
the retirement of Kevin
Cupples.
The compliance offi -
cial, part of the Commu-
nity Development Depart-
ment, is tasked with
vacation rental ordinance
enforcement,
dwelling
inspections and dealing
with all city issues related
to the city’s more than 400
vacation rentals.
“This is a new assign-
ment for me and one which
I have been involved with
in a support role since
I started at Commu-
nity Development almost
four years ago,” McBride
said. “Many of the prop-
erties are familiar, and I
am well acquainted with
the ordinances that gov-
ern the short-term rental
policies.”
See McBride, Page A3
Montero, McVey to Volleyball returns for 40th year in Seaside
run for City Council
Between 1,400
Phillips will
not pursue a
fourth term
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Dana Phillips, who
serves as the at-large coun-
cilor for Ward 3 and Ward
4, will not run for another
term on the City Council.
“I truly love this com-
munity and feel good
about all that we as a
council have brought to
fruition during my time on
the council, but it is time
for me to step aside,” she
said.
Phillips is a former
president of the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce,
See Council, Page A3
to 1,500 teams to
compete in event
SEASIDE’S
VOTING WARDS
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Councilor Steve Wright
serves Ward 1, or Seaside
south. Tita Montero is
Ward 2 councilor, and
Tom Horning represents
Ward 3. Ward 4 is repre-
sented by councilor Da-
vid Posalski. The city has
two at large positions,
Randy Frank in wards 1
and 2, and Dana Phillips,
in wards 3 and 4.
Ward 1, with 1,783 resi-
dents, begins at the city’s
south end and covers much
of the western part of the
city south of Avenue F.
Ward 2, with 1,786 peo-
ple, covers from Avenue
G and north.
Ward 3, with a popula-
tion of 1,796, covers the
area west of Highway
101 and area east of U.S.
Highway 101.
Ward 4, with 1,789 resi-
dents, is mostly east of
Wahanna Road.
Jeff TerHar/The Astorian
Logan Webber goes high for a kill attempt in the 2021 men’s
open championship.
Seaside Beach Volleyball
returns for its 40th year this
week, with between 1,400
and 1,500 teams competing
this year, the chamber’s act-
ing CEO, Katie McCloud
said.
The tournament is the
Seaside Chamber of Com-
merce’s largest program.
“Last year after a year
off from the pandemic we
had 1,200,” McCloud said.
“We don’t expect to grow
anymore than where we are
because we don’t want to
diminish the experience for
our players.”
The tournament launched
on Sept. 4, 1982, with 57
teams and 215 competi-
tors from Oregon, Wash-
ington state and California.
By 2012, the event drew
between 8,000 and 10,000
participants during the tour-
nament, a number that has
grown since.
In 2016, Bad Boys Open
Volleyball partnered with the
chamber to oversee organi-
zation and management of
the tournament. Organiz-
ers Deng Thepharat, Mike
Griffi n and P.T. Thilavanh
brought more teams, age
groups, national sponsors
and streamlined play. Griffi n
and Thilavanh continue to
participate through Bad Boys
and Northwest Asian Sports.
In 2019, the tournament
featured about 1,600 teams
playing among three divi-
sions, including doubles,
quads and sixes. Organizers
put up 184 volleyball courts
on the beach, about 20 more
than in 2018.
The tournament returned
in 2021 after a year’s hiatus
as a result of the coronavirus
pandemic.
The fi rst day begins
with youth players dou-
bles pool play, and will
See Volleyball, Page A5