Lineup takes shape for November election

Aug. 31—Voters on the North Coast will choose city leadership in the November election, with issues such as housing, homelessness, child care and economic development likely to dominate the campaigns.

Ballots will feature contested races for mayor in Warrenton and Cannon Beach and for City Council in Astoria, Gearhart, Seaside and Cannon Beach.

Voters will also weigh several ballot measures, including improvements to the Astoria and Warrenton libraries and temporary bans on psilocybin in Seaside and the unincorporated parts of Clatsop County.

The last day for local candidates to file was Tuesday.

Along with the city elections, voters will decide who will represent the region in Salem in the state House and Senate.

Astoria

In Astoria, three of the five slots on the City Council were open after Mayor Bruce Jones, City Councilor Joan Herman and City Councilor Roger Rocka chose not to run for reelection.

Sean Fitzpatrick, who owns Wecoma Partners and serves on the Planning Commission, is uncontested for mayor.

Elisabeth Adams, the owner of Wild Roots Movement & Massage, and Kris Haefker, a general contractor and housing provider, will run in Herman's downtown Ward 3.

Andy Davis, a senior research analyst for the Oregon Health Authority, and Geoff Gunn, the chef and general manager of Bridgewater Bistro, will vie for Rocka's Ward 1, which covers the Port of Astoria, Uniontown and the western edge of downtown.

An $8 million bond would help finance a $10.6 million renovation of the Astoria Library. The tax rate is estimated at 57 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The renovation project would make the library more accessible and upgrade infrastructure in the 55-year-old building on 10th Street.

City leaders have stressed that designs for the renovation are conceptual and could change with public feedback if the bond measure is approved.

Warrenton

In Warrenton, Mayor Henry Balensifer and City Commissioner Rick Newton will compete for the top post.

Balensifer, a sales and marketing manager at JBT AeroTech who was elected to the City Commission in 2012, was appointed mayor in 2017 and elected to a four-year term the following year.

Newton, a former NAPA Auto Parts store owner, was elected to the City Commission in 2014. Over the past year, he has clashed with Balensifer and other commissioners over the city's direction and resisted calls from fellow commissioners that he resign over his behavior.

Paul Mitchell, the chairman of the Planning Commission, is uncontested to replace Newton in Position 4.

A five-year local option levy would fund operations and community programs, support staff and extend hours at the Warrenton Community Library.

The levy, which would raise the tax rate from 33 cents to 38 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, would generate nearly $1.5 million.

In 2017, voters approved a jump in the tax rate from 9 cents to 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value following the library's move to a larger location on S. Main Avenue.

The city is also asking voters to approve the transfer of a preschool building on S.W. Third Street that has become a financial burden.

Community Action Team, an agency that combats poverty in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties, would take over the building. The space is used for Head Start, a federally funded preschool program.

Because the property's real market value exceeds $100,000, the city has to receive voter approval for the transfer.

Gearhart

In Gearhart, the aftershocks are still being felt from the failed bond measure for a new firehouse in May and the resignation of Paulina Cockrum as mayor in June.

City Councilor Kerry Smith was chosen to replace Cockrum as mayor.

Dana Gould, a former sheriff's deputy and emergency responder, was appointed to Smith's Position 1 slot. Gould will face Anne Mesch, a former teacher, for a four-year term on the City Council.

City Councilor Brent Warren, who was appointed to Position 3 in 2020, is up against Preston Devereaux, a former fire chief, for a four-year term. Warren was one of the leading advocates for the firehouse bond, while Devereaux was among the critics of the project.

Seaside

In Seaside, Mayor Jay Barber and City Councilor Dana Phillips opted not to run for reelection. City Councilor Steve Wright chose to run for mayor instead of reelection in Ward 1, leaving three open seats on the seven-member City Council.

Wright, the board president of the Seaside Museum & Historical Society, is uncontested for mayor. He was appointed to the City Council in 2016 and elected in 2018.

Steve Dillard, the owner of the Sandy Cove Inn, and Duane Solem, a postman, will compete to replace Wright in Ward 1. Dillard ran unsuccessfully for the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners in May.

City Councilor Tita Montero, who was appointed and first elected to the City Council in 2010, will run for reelection to a fourth term in Ward 2. She will face Dan Schorr, a former project manager.

The contenders to replace Phillips in Ward 3 and Ward 4 are Seth Morrisey, a former city councilor; Seamus McVey, who works with the homeless on addiction and mental health issues; and Marcus Runkle, the owner of a consulting firm.

A five-year local option levy would fund fire equipment and personnel. The levy — an estimated 33 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value — would generate $2.3 million. It would replace a levy set to expire at the end of the fiscal year.

The city is also asking voters to approve a temporary, two-year ban on psilocybin manufacturing and service centers.

Measure 109, passed by Oregon voters in 2020, legalized the psychedelic — found in so-called "magic mushrooms" — for therapeutic use by people 21 and older at state-licensed service centers.

Clatsop County also placed a temporary ban on the ballot for unincorporated areas.

The moratoriums would give Seaside and the county time to work out regulations on psilocybin that could go beyond the standards adopted by the state.

Cannon Beach

In Cannon Beach, Mayor Sam Steidel and City Councilor Mike Benefield are completing their second, four-year terms and are unable to run again because of term limits.

Barb Knop, a retired teacher who serves on the Planning Commission, and Erik Ostrander, a hotelier, will vie for mayor.

Along with the mayor's race, there are two at-large slots open on the five-member City Council, which go to the top two vote-getters.

City Councilor Robin Risley, who was elected in 2018, will run for reelection.

The other contenders are Lisa Kerr, an attorney and former planning commission; Gary Hayes, the owner of a media and marketing firm; Deanna Pauli-Hammond, the owner of Cannon Beach Bakery; Laurie Simpkins, the owner of Healthy Hub Massage & Wellness in Seaside; and Jenee Pearce-Mushen, who works for a Gearhart security company and is a member of the city's public works committee.

State House and Senate

Betsy Johnson's decision to launch an independent campaign for governor had a ripple effect in the state Senate and House districts that cover the North Coast.

State Rep. Suzanne Weber, a Tillamook Republican elected in 2020, chose not to run for reelection in House District 32 so she could campaign in Johnson's former Senate District 16.

Weber, who was unopposed in the Republican primary for Senate in May, will face Melissa Busch, a home health nurse from Warren, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook dentist, won the Republican primary in May to replace Weber in the House. Logan Laity, a small-business owner and community organizer in Tillamook, was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

House District 32 was redrawn after the 2020 census and now covers Clatskanie to the east and all of Tillamook County to the south.

Ethan Myers, Erick Bengel and R.J. Marx contributed to this report.