North Coast Oregon

District Attorney and Commissioners Trade Staff Accusations

by Carrie Bartoldus

Astoria, Ore – In an exchange of emails last spring between county manager Scott Derickson and District Attorney Josh Marquis words got heated with Derickson finally telling the commissioners that he could no longer continue communicating with Marquis via email because of the hostility of Marquis’ emails.

A new Clatsop County Planner Jennifer Bunch, whose mother, Peggy Tomlin, recently retired as the District Attorney’s trial assistant, has allegedly made similar accusations against Commissioner Richard Lee.

Building Permit Conflict Gives Lee Family Chills

by Carrie Bartoldus

Denial of Permit Breaks “ Camel’s Back”

Astoria, Ore – The Moore family returned from a Christmas trip to a cold home. After a week of trying to repair the faulty oil heater Mike Moore made the decision to go to gas.

When the plumbing company went to the Clatsop County Building Department to get a permit for the house they were informed that permits could not be issued to that residence.

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Neighborhoods Important to Communication Projects' Future

by Carrie Bartoldus

Astoria, Or – At a special meeting with the Astoria city council on January 22nd, Sgt. Brad Johnston and Lt. Bob Johnson presented a plan to upgrade and consolidate the communications systems throughout the county. Basing it on a combination of a plan already in progress with the county, and using sites located in Astoria, Johnston and Johnson helped pull together the knowledge and resources of multi-jurisdictional agencies to present a plan which has the potential to consolidate 911 dispatch and help all communities throughout the county.

The thing that people found the most frightening throughout the storm was the inability to communicate. Neighborhood after neighborhood watched as lights went out and darkness spread. Reaching for phones to check on one another we found our lines were dead, our cell phones unable to send, and our radios were the only source of our information and connection to the outside world. All too soon everyone knew, on the coast we were isolated.

Neighbors relied heavily on one another for physical support as well as companionship and comfort in the chill and dampness that the next days would bring, and the devastating aftermath that followed. Often it was through the intervention of a neighbor that food came to a hungry one, heat supplied to any elderly person who had run out of wood, medication run to a needy diabetic or a group trip to the grocery store taken. Neighborhoods could be relied upon to pull together. Chain saws buzzing, cutting one another free from downed trees, clearing driveways, gutters, patching windows and rounding up stray animals. We did it together.

Now, once again, it will be our neighborhoods that we must rely on as they decide the fate of where, or if, our communication tower can be moved to a better and more accessible location.

Commissioners' Priorities: You First, Us Last

by Carrie Bartoldus

The Clatsop County Board of County Commissioners held a work session with the County Parks Department Director Ed Wegner, Parks Foreman Steve Meshke and Glenn Ahrens from the OSU 4-H Extension Office to discuss how the assessment and management of the county parks after the December 2007 storm was coming along.

Commissioner Jeff Hazen was appointed liaison between the BOCC and the Clatsop Care Center. Dr. Roy Little made a presentation during the business from the public section of the meeting asking for the support of the BOCC in looking to develop a long term site for the care of the senior citizens in the community.

Approval of Oregon Department of Homeland Security Grant and Adoption of Resolution and Order Amending 2007-08 Emergency Services Budget (Per the Interoperable Communications Plan). This is a $107,000 grant split between two functions.

The Community Action team had asked the BOCC to send a letter to the state representatives and state senator thanking them for sponsoring the bill to assist rural communities with funding to develop local plans to deal with the homeless situation.

A letter in support of a request for federal funding for a railroad line was approved for the 2009 Transportation Appropriations Bill for the Portland & Western Railroad Astoria Line between Scappose and Port Westward.

The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) reported that sixteen separate donors had contributed $21,455.00. OCF granted $32,145 from both the Clatsop County Endowment fund and the Betty Lou Roberts Fund to fulfill $53,600 in approved grant requests.

Chief Deputy Paul Williams made a presentation to the BOCC in favor of directing Staff and the Communication Subcommittee of the Emergency Preparedness Committee to study the feasibility of establishing a new county emergency operations center and consolidating dispatch center.

Senator Wu sent a framed award commending all five commissioners for the excellent leadership during the December storm.

Commissioners made closing remarks that revealed continued work was anticipated as personalities conflicted in a recent work session the day before.

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Hands of Peace held for MLK Jr Day

by Carrie Bartoldus

Representatives of AmeriCorp Oregon presented the First Annual Martin Luther Martin Luther King, Jr Day Community Celebration at Astoria High School, Monday evening. This year’s theme was “Hands of Peace”.

Peggy Ross, Director for the Governor’s Affirmative Action Office, read a letter from Governor Kulongoski, praising the City of Astoria and the AmeriCorp group for creating an annual celebration recognizing diversity and a commitment to actively working towards a unified community.

Local art was displayed around the room and school children read poems at the event. Dyani Lopez, Nicole De Penning, and Nate Hawkins read their own compositions. Leah Telen, Morgan Fruiht, Allison Vilday were unable to attend but their compositions were read by the Master of Ceremonies, Joemal Bonneau.

Unified Community Approaches Mitigation Planning Together

by Carrie Bartoldus

Administrators throughout Clatsop County have learned a lot since FEMA came to town. The top thing learned was that progress can only be made with a focused effort of cooperation between all departments and agencies and a supreme effort of teamwork. The good news for the people of Clatsop County is that it can be seen at all levels of local government.

“We are looking at where we are at now and where we are can go from here,” Astoria City Manager, Paul Benoit asserted.

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Election Clerk Reminds Voters about party registration

by Carrie Bartoldus

County Clerk Nicole Williams said many callers are asking about Oregon’s closed primary election and whether they need to change their voter registration in order to vote for their chosen candidate.

Only voters registered as a member of the major political party can vote in that party’s primary. Democrats can only vote for Democratic and non-partisan candidates, Republicans can only vote for Republican and non-partisan candidates.

New voters or voters changing their political party must return their registration cards by April 29 to the Clatsop County Clerk’s Office, 820 Exchange St., Suite 220, Astoria, OR 97103.

MOA Shows Clatsop County Is No Slacker in Disaster Planning

by Carrie Bartoldus

Clatsop County signed a Memorandum of Agreement to implement a Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, partnering with Community Service Center’s Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (Partnership), Oregon Emergency Management (OEM), and City County Insurance Services in 2006. Initiation of the process of drafting a FEMA approved Disaster Mitigation plan may be an important factor in obtaining the federal funding that is needed for various local agencies and non-profit organizations if they are planning Hazard Mitigation projects.

Dennis Sigrist, State Hazard Mitigation Officer with Oregon Emergency Management, said that he has offered nothing but enthusiastic support for the efforts of the current leadership of Clatsop County. “I am pleased as punch that Clatsop County and Lincoln County are completing plans. Oregon is one of the few states in which all of its counties will have a FEMA approved Disaster Mitigation Plan in place. In regards to the rest of the states, are they doing as good as Oregon? I don’t think so. Some might be, but not many.”

Sheriff Starts Election Year Under the Weather

by Carrie Bartoldus

Astoria, Or – When Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin filed in November for re-election in the May 2008 primaries, little did he realize a storm of hurricane force magnitude was forming off the coastline, waiting to hurtle itself on his community and that he would be standing at the epi-center of its aftermath.

After the destruction of a storm, along with sorting out the debris comes sorting out accountability. While the December 2007 Storm itself was handled aptly by Emergency Operations Center, which in turn is managed by the Sheriff’s department, the community began to rebuild but rebuilding might not go as smoothly as hoped.

The phrase people began hearing over and over again was that Clatsop County did not have a FEMA approved Disaster Mitigation Plan registered with the federal government, and, inevitably, people wanted to know why one wasn’t filed and who to blame.

Putting it into Perspective: Disaster Planning in Clatsop Co.

by Carrie Bartoldus

Astoria, Or – The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) under the Federal Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) provided new and revitalized approaches to mitigation planning. A significant opportunity to reduce the nation’s disaster losses through mitigation planning was introduced through DMA 2000, in concert with other sections of the Act.

The planning process also provides a link between State and local mitigation programs. Both State level and local plans should address strategies for incorporating post-disaster early mitigation implementation strategies and sustainable recovery actions.

Simply put, mitigation planning is a process for States and communities to identify policies, activities and tools to implement mitigation actions. Mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from a hazard event.

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