New Commissioners Take Office

Today marks the end of the government fiscal year and with July first comes the new Clatsop County Planning Commission. Ordinarily the county commissioners would appoint new members for those whose terms had come to an end but this year the county commissioners voted to replace all seven members. This morning we broadcast a news special focusing on the last commission meeting where those appointments were made including the discussion surrounding the controversial move.

There are at least a couple of points that came up that don't jive with the actual events. Former Clatsop County Commissioner Ann Samuelson testified that she had acquired emails between commissioners Birkby, Hutula, Rohne,and, the County Manager that indicate there was some consensus reached between those commissioners that it would be appropriate to make a last minute addition to the agenda to consider removing all the planning commissioners. Samuelson further stated that Birky brought the county ordinance establishing the the right for commissioners to remove any committee or commission member to the table and that when it was clear she had argued her point for the dismissal successfully she stated "glory be!

The item was added the day before the county commission meeting. The Planning Commission was meeting that evening and apparently were not informed officially at that point because they all expressed surprise and argued that they had little if any opportunity to defend themselves, or at least have a conversation of any kind with the county commission. Planning Commission President Cary Johnson told me that he had no contact from the newly seated county commission, nor had any other planning commissioner. County Commission Chairman Dirk Rohne said that he sent a letter that was intended to be completely respectful informing the planning commissioners of the decision and encouraging them to reapply. He said he personally contacted PC Mike Autio to ask him to reapply. That was unlikely to happen as Autio's term was to end this year anyway. Commissioner Peter Hutula, at Rohne's request contacted PC Pat O'Grady to ask him to reapply. Both declined. In fact the seven member panel all signed a letter to Rohne declining to reapply and detailed the reasons why.

Commissioner Patricia Roberts explained (again) how important it is to have public discussions and to do business such as this in public. She pushed to have the decision reversed. The motion died for alack of a second and during the appointment process she abstained from voting on the new membership for the Planning Commission.

It's clear that Dirk Rohne is tired of the discussion. He lashed back at those who have made it their business to oppose the replacement of the planning commission by pointing out that OPB interviewed him on the controversy taking the issue to Portland listeners. He said he got many phone calls in support. He thanked the opposition for making him more popular statewide.

It has been rumored that Rohne has political ambitions beyond county government. It is said that he has become a favorite up and comer among those in local Democratic leadership.

Rohne stated that since the Planning Commissioners acted unanimously in their reaction to the dismissal that indicates that there was a lack of diverse opinion on that body which represents a justification of the dismissal decision. That's a pretty broad statement. It will be interesting to see how the new PC functions in light of that comment.

The Times They Are A Changin'

Maybe.

Weed, Dope, Doobies, grass, smoke, MJ, Marijuana. Whatever your favorite pet name may be the people who support it, love it, grow it and ingest it in various forms are making the attempt to go mainstream in America and Clatsop County is right there at the forefront.

In fact, the State of Oregon is now looking to make it's only legal use a cash bonanza during these difficult budget times by bumping up the fee to be issued a medical marijuana card to $200.

When Astoria's first shop specializing in indoor gardening opened it's doors people were winking and nodding then. Now there is a club that has opened it's doors to those with medical marijuana cards in Astoria along with another similar operation in Seaside. It's unclear just what these clubs do that would be legal.

A local advocate who bills herself a activist and journalist is inviting the public to Seaside City Hall on June 25th for what she calls a "Cannabis Conversation". The forum will feature a couple of speakers who are leaders in the effort to legalize pot. Those on the other side of the fence have been invited. Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, who takes a very dim view of these trends, has declined the invitation telling reporters that marijuana advocates are badly informed, do not know what they are doing and he intends to shut down these operations in the county as illegal.

While you can pay that $200.00 to have a medical marijuana card (that is if you can find a doctor to sign off on the paperwork) It is still illegal to grow it, own it, transport it, deliver it or for that matter be in the same proximity. People say that you can have it in small amounts but unless you have a $200 card it's still illegal and you can be fined. If you have more than an ounce it's a stiff fine card or not. Growers and transporters face prison time and fines up to $300,000. All convictions carry with them the potential for property seizure and your driver's licence goes away.

Cannabis supporters argue that all those controls just make it easier for the drug cartels to make big money. It doesn't stop anyone from getting their hands on the stuff. It never has.

The Oregon Legislature has really messed this up by dipping a toe in the water. If this session's action in seeking more money from medical marijuana users is any indication the state is on a track that has to lead to some legal method of supply but then how do you write the law to exclude the criminal element while still profiting on the popularity of the drug? The answer is that you can't.

A Good Man Gone

I was saddened to hear that my friend Marty Wertz passed away while I was gone. I need to say a few words about Marty here.

I first met him when he came to work for my company several years ago. He and his wife Krickett were both involved in the film industry in Hollywood. Marty worked for the biggest post-production house in L.A. and was in charge of the Disney account. His team took an entire floor of the Ascent Media offices. They both came to a point where they wanted something else and found Astoria as the answer.

Marty came to work for us in sales and he was the kind of guy you just liked right away. He loved baseball. He needed MLB on line on his computer or life wasn't complete. I loved his stories about L.A. and people he knew there from the artists who would prepare every frame of a film to go to DVD and the restoration work they did on old feature films in danger of being lost forever to the studio big shots he did business with on a first name basis. Even though he was here the phone calls from movie people never stopped because he had the biggest rolodex in tinsel town and often could connect people who were working on a project. When he left us he went back to post production sales but was so valuable to them he worked from Astoria as he pleased and only had to travel to the home office occassionally.

He loved music and played guitar. He would talk about his love of the California desert and his younger days exploring them. He loved Astoria and made many friends, like me, who will remember him.

Goodbye my friend.

In Astoria? Wow!

The Clatsop County Historical Society is doing something remarkable. The venerable organization known for careful preservation of artifacts and historic buildings that are it's museums and a generally conservative, traditional approach to museum display has stepped out of the box creating Oregon's first 21st century example of superlative storytelling. The Oregon Film Museum redefines the museum experience in a compact space that is at once a real place used in movies and historically a place that actually served the function of a county jail.

The film story in Oregon is a big one to tell. The state has provided the backdrop for over 400 movies since the inception of silent films in the 1920's. That list grows every few years. The number of television shows and commercials making use of the state's generally welcoming attitude and ideal shooting locations is huge. Calling itself the film museum representing all of that is an imposing responsibility.

The decision was made early on to limit the story to feature films just to provide a focus. Then there were lots of questions that needed to be answered. Principal among those was how best to tell the story of film making in Oregon. The major studios jealously guard the rights to show much more than a few seconds of any of the films and have further restrictions on the venue and most would not allow anyone to charge for admission to see them without an expensive process. So while it might appear the best approach would be to gather clips from as many films as possible and show them along with a collection of encased memorabilia and posting signs to link the two it's not a practical approach. This is probably why there isn't a place that celebrates this important Oregon industry.


That is until today.


The CCHS approach is a thoughtful and well executed one with Society Director Mac Burns at the helm and a supporting cast of Directors who have trusted Mac to deliver something special. Here's a short clip of one of the unusual features of the museum with credit to Chelsea Gorrow
for the camera work:





The clip shows two of three "Hot Sets" in museum where you can actually make your own movie. There is also a post production room where you can then edit your film and staff will upload it to youtube and you could email a copy to yourself. This is a new piece of technology designed specifically for the Oregon Film Museum. It works through the use of a movie pass card that identifies each scene with the same user. You can then call all the scenes up in the editing room and cut and splice your final movie together. While you are doing that you can listen in on a real-life film crew via walkie talkies that are actually playing a recording of crew that was working on the coast and agreed to record all their communications for the new museum.

The museum layout includes jail cells used in The Goonies with a planned fourth digital video camera aimed at the infamous cell two where one of the Fratelli brothers escaped. If you want to reenact that moment you can film yourself doing so.

Surrounding all this are reminders of the films made in the state. Movie quotes fill the walls and clipboards with production notes offer explanations of the displays of memorabilia.

This is just the second phase. In the next phase Burns tells me he envisions a Goonies cave scene that would include the skeleton of "One Eyed Willie".

This museum could easily be mistaken for a theme park attraction but, in the great tradition of Disney rides, this one also educates, enlightens and delights.

As to the future, Burns has his eye on where to go next as the museum's inevitable popularity will demand more detail, more display, more interaction.

Congratulations to the CCHS board for supporting this vision and to Mac for delivering.

Just Vacation

Just traveling back from Orlando, Florida today. If you have been trying to post comments I ask for your patience as it will take a couple of days to catch up. For radio and streaming listeners, I'll be back on live Wednesday morning. Did I miss anything?