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Goals For Clatsop County Government in 2008

by Tryan Hartill

So I’m not a Commissioner, but I can pretend to be…right?

Here are some Goals that I would pick for 2008…..

  • Finish the Mitigation Plan

Whatever who said what when or where, this thing is going to have to get done right away, unless of course you agree with my editorial a few weeks ago. Which I know none of the Commissioners do, so now is the time to go full speed ahead.

  • Work out something with Josh Marquis

Yeah I know this is a very tough issue to tackle, but it’s time to push the egos aside and come up with something that will put this issue behind us.
The people of the County need to put this to rest.

  • Put Meeting Audio Online

2 reasons for this. One, it will be very hard to spin anything said or not said. Two, someone is already writing up meeting notes and posting them on the website. This person could easily record the meeting and even separate every issue into 5-10 minute sound bites as they are recording. Yeah you won’t be able to charge the outrageous fee of $5 for the audio, but I still think it’s worth it.

  • Get The Downed Timber

The County is way behind at this point. There really is nothing done along the lines of figuring out what to do with the downed timber. Sure it’s not worth much, but it will be a pain in the rear to deal with 12-18 months from now. The City of Astoria will be ready to remove their Timber by June and probably sooner if they really had to. That article I linked to above is already on the Timber Buy Sell website and is sending potential logging outfits to NCO to read about it.

  • Save Money

I know things look OK for the next Budget year, but after that, even the most positive forecast looks pretty grim.

Things that can move off the list

  • By-Pass

Really is any explanation needed? It isn’t gonna happen, so don’t worry about it. If you really want it, then call for higher gas taxes so ODOT has the money to fund it.

  • Drugs

Yeah I’ve read the hype, but the reality is that drugs are not “Destroying the County” like some say. Local drug use is a little higher than the rest of Oregon and Oregon is a little higher than the rest of the country, so what? The only people that are making the noise are people that have a financial stake, or those that are trying to score political points. You know who you are.
And if you must “Do Something” give money to places like Thugz off Drugz, we know they need it.

Jan 19, 08:33 pm | Tryan Hartill
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11 comments on this article (post your own)

1 On Jan 19, 09:35 pm, pamela wrote:

Mr. Hartill, perhaps you SHOULD be a commissioner. Currently you live in Hazen’s district, don’t you? You could always move to District 3…......

2 On Jan 19, 09:41 pm, THartill wrote:

I’m in 3…and no I don’t want to be a Commissioner….So I can just sit back and bitch about it!

3 On Jan 19, 09:42 pm, I need some KY Im tired of being dry humped wrote:

Hey, is it legal to cut firewood on County land, because Im sure there are potentially hundreds of Clatsop County Residents that would be willing to help clean up the mess free of charge.

4 On Jan 19, 09:51 pm, THartill wrote:

Legal in some places with a permit, but we are talking major acreage here. And there is no doubt legal issues with the public cutting some of the splintered trees….you know how dangerous dealing with some of that stuff is. People are not even allowed on the City of Astoria’s downed timber sites for fear of lawsuits if someone gets hurt.

5 On Jan 19, 10:07 pm, I need some KY Im tired of being dry humped wrote:

It is very dangerous, you wanna see some devastation, go behind some of those ugly white gates and have a good look see, you have not even seen 1/4 of the timber down. I unfortunately have to work and look at this stuff everyday. Who would a person have to speak with to find these permitable areas?

6 On Jan 19, 10:24 pm, THartill wrote:

Oregon Department of Forestry 325-5451

7 On Jan 19, 10:55 pm, Carrie wrote:

Um, Mr. Hartill, sir, can you suggest a way to finish the mitigation plan before Mr. Sigrist says it can be finished in Sept ‘08? Otherwise, really, it is already a goal, and it is already slated to be finished, and everything that can be done is, um, being done according to those involved. It couldn’t be set as a definitive goal before the OEM set up the training schedule since they are the ones that have the info as to what is required for a county plan to meet FEMA requirements, from the info I have currently gathered and as I understand it. Maybe you have a different understanding?

I think you’re dreaming about moving the By-pass off the list. I hear it is back on various lists throughout the area, if not county’s certainly many of the cities and maybe even ODOTs – though not 2008(?!?).

Audio. Sure, they can do the audio but you still don’t see what people’s faces are or what it is they are reacting to, and that is needed. When I was on the radio, people said I had a long pause a few times which “obviously” meant I was covering up something, when in actuality I was searching for information in my notes. Also, I have been at meetings and watched as Commissioner Patrick rolled his eyeballs at Commissioner Lee, or waved his hand at him or folded his arms in disgust, or completely turned away during a vote without answering when Lee asked repeatedly what his vote was. If you didn’t see that but just heard on an audio Lee’s voice getting louder and louder you’d think Lee was attacking Patrick and you wouldn’t have any idea that a lot of provoking behavior was actually occurring.

8 On Jan 19, 11:29 pm, THartill wrote:

The way I understand it is that we have one guy working on it part time and it’s slated to be done in 19 months…how about 1.5 people on it?

If not finish it, at least set some kind resonable goals with it….IE have this this and this done by this time….turn in these 4 documents to the State and these 2 to the Feds by these dates etc etc.

Traffic is not nearly bad enough for a by-pass….we might need it 10 days a year. Other areas in Oregon need new roads 300 days a year and ODOT knows it.

So are you suggesting video? I would like that also, just thinking that audio would be a more realistic goal. We have been talking about video at meetings for what 3 years now?

9 On Jan 20, 09:27 am, Patrick McGee wrote:

Astoria City Council meetings were videoed for a while and shown on Cable Channel 7 but, it never took.

You want documentation, use The City of Astoria minutes as a model and on top of all else those minutes are available, pretty much, just days after each meeting and Tryan you should be able to vouch for concise and accutate minutes for CofA Planning Commission.

The worst example of minutes I see are from Port of Astoria which are current last time I checked November, 2007 and I believe purposely done so and then context id pretty much just an overview from, I guess, the minutes taker.

Actually, a public posting of all pertinent local minutes might just be better than audio/video as many people’s system seem to always be a bunch of slow-generating and “iffy” hurdles and time to cross to get them to work plus having to sit and listen to or watch an entire meeting.

10 On Jan 20, 10:55 am, carrie wrote:

There’s Crest, DOGAMI, and 14 other locals, including 1 from each city, working on the plan, according to Sigrist. And Sigrist said it was going to be sent to FEMA for approval in Sept. 2008 for approval. I believe it was said it takes 19 months for the whole process, however Strong had initiated the process over 2.5 years ago and in working with CREST, DOGAMI, and Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience w/University of Oregon, Strong has now been able to expedite the process.

My question would be why was Strong’s requests to U of O regarding when is training going to take place ignored? From what I have been able to research it appears that two years ago less than one quarter of the counties had mitigation plans. Even today, when you check the mitigation plans that have been approved less than half of the counties show that their’s has been but Sigrist says the site is not updated, yet. So, in the last two years a lot of trainings were being held around the state.

Apparently, trainings are specific to the area you live in, they are not general. As you are trained you are developing your plan and they want as many local jurisdictions as possible involved. It appears to me that our area was not “slated” until now to get the training, maybe because we did not show an interest (or perhaps “enough” interest) when it was first put out there eight or nine years ago. Totally speculation.

In the same manner that our area was “offered” a by-pass what, decades ago and passed on it then and fight for it now (some). In the same manner that Seaside had the money for their highway redo and then voted not to do it and will have to fight for those dollars to come back their way. Opportunities come and, for whatever reason are passed on then that seem incomprehensible to us in hindsight. How many pieces of mail cross the desks of these people and how many storms have we weathered without major catastrophes? Which thing do you grab? Which staff do you cut to take up trainings for something you might not ever need?

We want all this timber logged before it rots on the ground. Which route are those trucks going to be taking? How many trucks are going to be taking which routes? You know what damage those trucks are going to be doing to our roads? I cringe at the thought of them going over the Walluski Bridge, brutally assaulting the already damaged bushings, it sounds like we live next to a freight trainyard whenever a car drives over that metal bridge. You can casually say, “get the timber up” to all the agencies involved but there’s a lot more involved than just that. How many of those trucks are going to be traveling through Astoria? Are those streets ready? Before or after ODOT starts putting in those lights? Before or after the 8th st. 9th st traffic “jam” is solved?

11 On Jan 20, 06:05 pm, Patrick McGee wrote:

That By-pass will not die because, my theory, it will be a condition of a major retailer coming to the area out in Miles Crossing area.

Maybe the by-pass, itself will be way off in the future but, a commitment to the project and partial infrastructure/improvement(Warrenton/Richard Lee Parkway) will get approved and in place.

Any takers?

The only stumbling block will be Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen who has his mind set on a different location, crossing a new bridge and dumping out near Astoria High School, I believe.

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