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Election Season: Bring on the Bond. Bring on the Candidates.
Port of Astoria Commission Race The anger of the anti-LNG crowd was focused into a drive to remove the three commissioners up for election this May, and even consider the recall of all five commissioners. As all this was happening, the proverbial shit hit the fan for the port. The Daily Astorian did an investigative report on port operations and recent deals, and found out there were some questions that needed to be answered. This led to the dismissal of the port director, Peter Gearin, and many changes in the port's procedures. The pressure continues on the commissioners to account for the port's problems with accounting and management, and dredging difficulties. The incumbent commissioners, Don McDaniel (commission president), Jim Bergeron and Bernie Bjork (who is finishing out the term of Glenn Taggart, who resigned about a year ago), each have at least one challenger. Bill Hunsinger, a longshoreman who has been pounding on the commission over dredging violations, wrongdoing and poor accounting for the last few months, is challenging Bergeron for Position 3 on the commission. Ted Thomas, the leader of the Clean Slate PAC, is running in a crowded field for McDaniel's position (#4). The colorful John Dunzer, who ran for Taggart's position last year and lost to Bjork, is back running against Bjork again (for Position 2). Here's the scorecard:
The incumbents support the current course of the port, outlined in their strategic plan, last updated in 2002 (the port is looking at updating the plan again soon). The goals of that plan are to: #1: improve and strengthen the port's transportation infrastructure to meet current and future customer demand on a competitive basis; #2: fully exploit the business and employment potential of the port's industrial and commercial real estate in partnership with community development goals; #3: expand infrastructure in support of traditional natural resource industries and related trades (forest products, fisheries and water-borne commerce; and #4: to attain operating self-sufficiency in lieu of dependency on property tax subsidies. Two Master Plans are being worked on currently – the Airport Master Plan Update and the Astoria Central Waterfront Master Plan, for the Uniontown area. Contact the Port of Astoria for more information on these plans. Contact information is available on their web site at http://www.portofastoria.com/. WHAT THE CHALLENGERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THEIR VISION FOR THE PORT OF ASTORIA: JOHN DUNZER PATRICK MCGEE BILL HUNSINGER JIM STROUP TED THOMAS KATHY SANDERS CLATSOP COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Like the case of the port commission, a single issue was the catalyst for changing the composition of the board. In both cases, the issue spurring the resentment of the ruling body was big – really big. Also in both cases, the candidates that decided to run had much more on their minds than the issue that prompted the opposition in the first place. Three of the four incumbents signed up for another run. Laura Harris, the current board member from eastern Clatsop County (Zone 1), decided not to run for re-election. Each of the incumbents running has one opponent, giving the following racesheet:
Again, the positions of the incumbents are known through the college's strategic plan, available on the college web site at http://www.clatsopcc.edu/about/STRATEGIC_PLANS/06-07/StrategicPlan2006-07.pdf. In addition, all three of the incumbents support the new bond measure. So let's focus again on the challengers. CLATSOP COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD CHALLENGERS: DIRK ROHNE STEPHEN BERK RAND DUFKA LOIS DUPEY CCC BOND MEASURE Employing the "when at first (and second) you don't succeed, try, try again" strategy, the CCC Board of Directors voted in February to go ahead with another bond measure, after failing in November to convince Clatsop County voters to move the college's main campus down the hill in Astoria to the high school football field. Armed with data from a poll of county voters, the board is convinced that the 3rd time will be lucky. And where is the new campus proposed to be this time? Well, in trendy Warrenton, next to the new Home Depot and the expanded Costco, down the street from strip malls and new housing developments by Highway 101, just east of SE Dolphin Avenue. The land is being donated to the college by Martin Nygaard, who seems to own just about all the land in Warrenton, and is part of a logging family of great respect in the area. Nygaard offered this same land to the college for the last go-round, and has continued his offer of 15 acres of pasture for the college to use for a new campus. Warrenton, you might remember, voted heavily against the November bond measure. Will the change in location make a difference in May? There's some talk about housing for students near the new campus, if the bond measure passes. Though a similar proposal to locate housing next to the Jerome St. campus was rejected several years ago, some think that student housing would be a draw for an expanded college. The college has stated that if residence halls are built they would not be a part of the bond measure. The college is talking about the possibility of student-oriented housing as part of Steve Olstedt's housing development recently approved by the City of Warrenton, which is slated for land adjacent to the proposed new campus location. The design of the proposed new campus is outlined in a brochure just published by the college called "Clatsop Community College Campus Replacement Project". Look for it in your mailbox soon, or you can download it from the web at http://www.clatsopcc.edu/campus/, the site detailing the bond measure and associated plans. The final design will be determined only if the bond measure passes, using funds from the measure. The college says that most of the design work from the original proposal (for John Warren Field in Astoria) can be used in the new location, so the cost for final design won't be as expensive as starting from scratch. LOTS OF QUESTIONS REMAIN. Some are questioning the additional costs to be borne by Warrenton taxpayers to provide security, access and other infrastructure to the new campus. The college says that Warrenton is willing to supply these services. Perhaps the infrastructure will be available for the nearby developments. How these capital costs will be paid for is not known at this time. What happens if the bond measure passes, but the state does not come through with the promised matching funds? There's been a lot of news lately about the possibility that the legislature will not fund community colleges at the levels requested by the governor. Will the bonds never be issued, and any property tax collected be returned? Or will the college use the bond money to construct a part of the proposed new campus? Could the bond funds be used for Jerome St. campus renovation if the new campus plan couldn't be implemented? If the bond measure doesn't pass, can the state matching money already distributed to the college ($7.5 million) be used to pay for renovation of the Jerome St. campus? The college has borrowed $7.5 million to give it $15 million in the bank for capital construction. Many have been asking what would happen to the old campus if a bond measure is passed, and the complete new campus package is built. The latest information from the college is that they are planning to sell the Jerome St. campus for $5.5 million. The conditions of the sale of the former city land to the college stated that the land would revert back to the city if it wasn't being used for educational purposes. Is this contract still in force? What are the exact circumstances that would play out from this contract now that the college has decided to sell the Jerome St. property? Would the sale of this land be the highest and best use to the city or the college? What role would Clatsop County residents have in this decision? Have there been any discussions with potential buyers of this property? The loss of this prime real estate to the private sector is a real issue with many local residents who have been fighting condominium and townhouse development further down the Astoria hill. And finally, what would be the disposition of the almost 40 acres of the college that is not developable? Much of the information released by the college to promote the bond measure has been refuted by the CCIG, using previous information generated by the college itself. The group has worked with local contractors, plumbers, electricians, and others to estimate the cost of bringing the Patriot/Towler complex on the Jerome St. campus up to current codes and solve accessibility issues. (After a walkthrough with college staff, it was determined that only the Patriot/Towler complex was in need of upgrades.) All necessary improvements, including new roofing, plumbing, mechanical (heating and air), electrical, general contracting (i.e. demolition and replacement of walls, flooring, toilets, etc.), elevator and paving, even with a generous contingency, comes to less than the college has available with the loan they took so that the state would match these funds, slated for new construction. Assuming this money could be used for renovation of the current campus, no new money would be needed at present to achieve the necessary improvements, according to the CCIG. More detailed information is available from the CCIG. This information, along with other information gathered from the college, local citizens and local media is being put onto the CCIG web site at http://www.collegeinfogroup.org/. If the bond measure passes and CCC joins the parade of new developments in the southeast Warrenton area, it will only exacerbate the traffic problems and other effects of this massive change in the area's balance of development. These and other land use and environmental issues will be featured in HIPFiSH next month. New college campus or no, the changes coming to our area will be significant, and have effects reaching far beyond Warrenton. Other races sometimes lack candidates You can get the full details on the May 15th Special District elections by visiting the Clatsop County Clerk & Elections web site at http://www.co.clatsop.or.us/default.asp?pageid=298&deptid=2. Or you can call the county at 503-325-8605, or even visit at 810 Exchange St. in Astoria. Ballots will be mailed out on May Day (May 1st). Candidate and issue forums are being organized by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The first forum is scheduled for April 18th in the Flag Room of the Astoria Public Library. For more information, contact Karen Kenyon at astoriaaauw@msn.com. |
It's deja vu all over again. Yes, just when you thought you could relax after voting in the historic November, 2006 elections that returned the Democrats to control of Congress and the state legislature, it's time to test your mettle with local candidates and issues. And speaking of deja vu, the Clatsop Community College (CCC) bond issue that failed in November is back! It's spring, and it's election season. We'll take stock of the Port of Astoria and CCC Board of Directors races, and go over the college bond issue again (see the September/October 2006 hipfish for a discussion of the bond issue in last fall's elections). There are all sorts of other races in the Special District elections taking place in Clatsop County, and we'll briefly cover some of those. Now, on to the details...
John Dunzer is from Seaside, has run for Seaside City Council, and as stated above, for the port commission before. He is currently the CEO of Columbia Biopower LLC, a company which is proposing to build a wood-waste power plant to provide energy to the Bradwood Landing LNG terminal to reheat the liquefied gas in order send it through pipelines. Dunzer believes the county should name the port to be the primary business developer for county and provide money for a leader that the state already gives to the county for that purpose. He thinks the port should implement the economic development portion of the county's general plan which he says has remained inactive. Business development programs at the port should center on ancilliary industries for wood, as the state has already developed this program with the wood products council, Dunzer feels. The port must resolve different dredging requirements among federal agencies with a governor-appointed omsbudsman, according to Dunzer. Being from Seaside, Dunzer feels the port should assist development projects in south county, like a resort, pier, and 18 hole golf course at Avenue U and the ocean in Seaside. He also feel the port should promote a major condo project and resort project on one of piers in Astoria. The port should drop LNG in Warrenton, Dunzer urges, and get behind the Bradwood Landing LNG site, and promote the expansion of the industrial site there. Further, the port should encourage new tourist attractions such as: helicopter tours, boats to the Columbia bar, a salmon aquarium, and a fly-in restaurant at the airport, cheers Dunzer. And the port could write a weekly column for the newspaper on what is going on at the port, he concludes.
Patrick McGee has 40 years in the construction development, design and management industry, and currently lives in Astoria. He questions the "obvious negligence of existing port facilities and physical properties management and upkeep apparently in preference to new construction". He points out that 4 out of 5 port commissioners are currently from Astoria, and asks, "Would it be wise to re-structure the port's representation to parallel...with the Clatsop County Commission's 5 districts and require representation from each district?" McGee sees Tongue Point as a premier property for the port to procure for its inventory, and find appropriate uses for this land. He asks, 'In what direction do we want "our port" to go? Shall we continue, as it appears is somebody's effort, to turn the Port of Astoria into what, in all appearances, is leaning towards a "business park", or, for whatever the proper definition, "a working port"?’ He is excited about the development and future of the cruise ship industry at the port. McGee is personally against LNG along the Columbia, but believes the citizens of Clatsop County and the region need to have their say about whether they want LNG in their midst, and thinks that at least for Clatsop County, it needs to be put to a vote. (email: pmcgee@pacifier.com)
Bill Hunsinger is a retired longshoreman and commercial fisherman. He is in the ILWU Local 50 in Astoria, and negotiated Port of Astoria maintenance workers' contracts. He's been president of the Columbia River Gillnetters Cooperative. And he's been a vocal critic of the port lately. Hunsinger's vision for the Port starts out reclaiming Pier 3 from the state Department of State Lands (DSL), and finding an alternative site for the dredge spoils now residing on Pier 3. He wants to see the Port attract industry that provides quality jobs, and live up to the leases it currently has. Though he's been labeled as a proponent for a container terminal at the Port, he says he has given up on that idea. More South County involvement is also on his list of priorities. (e-mail: bhunsinger@centurytel.net)
Ted Thomas is a former union boilermaker, who lives in Astoria and currently writes. Thomas is against the conversion of "viable marine industrial land into condos and garbage dumps forever". The tax revenue from condos "does benefit the city and county for sure," he says, "but that benefit is insignificant when compared to the benefit of creating secure, long term, family wage jobs, through assisting the establishment of a diverse marine industrial, travel and recreational area." Thomas waxes poetic about the port's location. "Other communities have different assets. Montana has coal, Iowa the best corn fields, we have access to the sea. It is our wealth. The legitimate activity of a Port Economic Development Commission is to aid and coordinate marine-oriented industry and commerce. This includes cargo handling (loading and of loading), sports fishing, commercial fish processing, becoming the point of embarkation and disembarkation by air and sea as well as a destination and more. I promise I will do everything to this end and listen to everyone who has notions that will further that goal."
Kathy Sanders is a former captain in the Air Force, where she managed air traffic control and landing systems. She is currently doing research for a non-fiction book, and is a member of the Astoria Writers Group. Sanders' first priority for the Port is to hire a reputable firm to do an exhaustive, detailed market and economic analysis and feasibility study of the area so that the Port would have the hard data necessary to initiate a strategic planning process. The study would include the areas of shipping, aviation and land-based industries. Then, according to Sanders, the Port Commission should initiate a nationwide search for an executive director that could implement the strategic plan, and put in place an effective management structure and organization. She is currently researching ways to solve the dredging spoils issue long-term, and this issue would be a priority for the Port if Sanders was a commissioner. As far as LNG goes, Sanders has a hard time envisioning a LNG plant as a viable, sustainable industry for the Columbia. As her statement says, "The amount of potential disruption to the shipping lane and the security measures required appear to outweigh the benefit of the relatively few jobs it would bring to the local area. Questions about costs to local law enforcement agencies and who would pay them, as well as overall safety concerns for the general populace are important issues as well. It is easier to picture a LNG facility along a heavily industrialized ocean-based waterfront, than a fresh water river. LNG does not seem to be a good fit for our pristine, beautiful river." Sanders has a breakfast open house at the Blue Scorcher Cafe in Astoria on Thursdays from 9 to 10:30 am. (e-mail: kathysanders99@gmail.com; campaign blog: www.kathysanders.blogspot.com.)
After the defeat of the second bond measure in four years in November (only 6 months ago), all eyes were on the college board to see what they would do next. The board had said that if the bond measure was defeated, they would make do with the current Jerome St. campus. But soon after the election, it was revealed that the board had hired a market research firm to 
conduct a poll amongst Clatsop County residents to find out why they voted against the measure, and to see what it would take to get a yes vote. At about the same time, a group calling itself the Clatsop College Information Group (CCIG) started writing letters to the editor and the college president, Greg Hamann, volunteering their skills in renovating the existing campus, and asking for information concerning spending on the ballot measures. After two packed board meetings and several letters, the college produced much of the requested information and agreed to conduct a tour of the Jerome St. campus so that CCIG members could get an idea of the condition of the buildings there. After a campaign to gain approval of the idea of putting a new bond measure on the ballot, the board and Hamann made the decision to go ahead with a new bond measure (more on the bond measure below). Realizing that the board had gone back on their word, the CCIG decided to recruit challengers to the four board positions up for a vote in May.
Dirk Rohne is a dairy farmer from Knappa, and unless there's a big write-in campaign, the new Clatsop Community College board member from Zone 1, which includes Knappa, Jewel and most of the county east of John Day and Olney. OK, so technically he's not a challenger, but he's not a current board member, so he gets to give us his vision for the college. And that vision is for the college to help people get practical skills (i.e. computer knowledge, welding, arts, etc.), improve opportunities for people who want to better themselves economically or otherwise, and create economic growth and a better tax base for our county. Rohne would like to see a magazine say Astoria is "the best place to get an education" in addition to "the best place to retire". This would draw young people to our county, stoking the economic engine that the college already is, according to Rohne. On the bond measure, he has heard both sides of the issue, and has come to the conclusion that a new campus would be an overall positive for the college. In Rohne's opinion, renovating the existing Jerome St. campus would be like "renovating a Ford Pinto (nothing against Pintos)". He related his experiences at OSU with older and newer buildings, and said he sees the newer facilities as a positive factor in a good education. He respects people's wish to not pay higher taxes, but feels that the college is worth the investment. If the bond measure passes, Rohne feels this will be an exciting time for the college. If it fails, he is still looking forward to working with the college board and administration team, which he feels is doing a good job. He believes the board should become more involved in advocacy for funding for the college.
Stephen Berk is probably best known to HIPFiSH readers as the author of the "Outside the Box" feature in HIPFiSH, a column devoted to contemporary social, economic and political commentary, usually on a national scale. Berk, a former professor at Long Beach State University in California, moved to Olney to retire in 2004. Berk sees the college’s main task at hand as attracting a broader, more regional population to the school. He thinks that the Jerome Street campus is inadequate for this purpose. The proposed new campus in Warrenton on the fifteen acre Nygaard donation is an important, even crucial first step in building a college that can really cope with and meet future workforce needs, Berk says. In a turnaround that surprised just about everybody, Berk now supports the May bond issue, for the above reasons. He believes the new campus, together with contemplated adjacent student housing (more on this below), can draw a significant number of students from outside the immediate county area, transforming it to a regional college and bringing back a population of full time students. Berk points out that Southwestern Community College in Coos Bay is a good model of a school that has built such a campus and now has a thriving, diverse academic and student environment. Berk would like to see the Environmental Science curriculum at the college augmented with a program in the science and engineering of alternative fuels, as well as new agricultural programs with emphasis on growing and retailing in expanded local and regional farmer’s markets. The marine science program at the MERTS campus, now largely focused on certificate programs geared to professional mariners, can be grown and connected with an expanding environmental science curriculum with courses in oceanography, estuary preservation and the science of fishing conservation through development of marine reserves, according to Berk. Further, he says, "A good part of the mission of CCC in the future will be to further develop and expand existing vocational training programs. They already have well developed curricula in nursing and health occupations. I agree with President Hamann’s belief that vocational certificate programs should be expanded in coordination with articulated needs in local business and industrial communities." Berk would like to see Clatsop diversify its offerings in areas such as foreign languages, anthropology, sociology, psychology and social work, history, geography, communications and theater arts, and the physical and biological sciences. You can contact Berk for a complete copy of his vision statement, "Future Possibilities for Clatsop Community College", or check out the web version of this issue at www.hipfishmonthly.com. (e-mail: seberk@earthlink.net)
Rand Dufka is a building contractor, architect and artist from Arch Cape. He is a member of the Arch Cape Coastal Design Review Committee. He believes the college needs better marketing of their services; the resources are there, but people don't know, especially in south county. The college has quality programs, Dufka says, and these should be maintained and improved. He believes that the Jerome St. campus is in a great location, and that the main campus of the college should remain at this prime location – the college helps Astoria, and Astoria is the best location for the college, due to its population density and business hub characteristics. The college should pay more attention to facility planning, he says, realize the incredible location they have in Astoria, and invest the resources into keeping up the facilities there, and at all the college's locations throughout the county. Dufka believes that the college should strengthen its connection with the community, and with the state education system. And he believes the college should put resources into a more classical education (i.e. the 3 Rs), to provide opportunities for those students that weren't able to get through the basics in the primary and secondary schools. Expanding facilities and services in south county would be great, since residents there currently don't get back in services what they pay in taxes, but generally expanding services to all parts of Clatsop County is a goal in Dufka's vision for CCC. (e-mail: randdufka@msn.com)
Yes, as was said above, it's back! This time, the location for the new campus has been changed (to protect the innocent?, or maybe the guilty??), and the amount of the bond has been reduced from $24 million to $22 million, evidently reflecting the lack of necessity to find new land for the Astoria High School football stadium, and the potential sale of college land at the existing Jerome St. campus. The measure can only pass if a majority votes for it and turnout is greater than 50% of registered voters in Clatsop County.