The City of Astoria has endorsed the grant request for a new fire boat as of this morning.
This was the result of our report on the sequence of events that began with Tuesday's Port Commission meeting where it was revealed that Astoria had not signed onto the necessary grant application. That same evening KAST news reported that in a conversation following the city council meeting the city manager was under the impression that his staff did not have adequate data including a cost/benefit analysis critical to any decision the council might be asked to make.
When Mr. Benoit received a call from a member of the team working to secure a number of regional quick response vessels for the state and was told the deadline for a decision was 48 hours away he called mayor Van Dusen. With the Mayor then under the impression that there was no data to share with the council he had nothing for the council to use to make a decision and therefore had to direct the Manager that the city would not be able to sign off on the agreement.
Reasonable decision on his part considering the circumstances involved. That is if indeed there was no information on the proposal. Not the case.
After our report and the discussion on our morning talk show things started happening rapidly. It turns out that all of the information necessary to make a good decision was in Astoria city staff hands after all. Our report and a follow up phone call to the Mayor by State Senator Betsy Johnson are credited with turning things around.
Just after 11am this morning I got a phone call from the Mayor as he was coming to our studios to hand deliver a letter confirming Astoria's participation in the grant process. The Mayor said that when we rebroadcast that portion of a report we aired the morning after the 6th street fire in December of 2010 where he heard Chief Hanson wishing he had a fire boat because his crews could not reach the outer pier area and his own comments about the loss of those historic buildings he realized something had to be done. He said Betsy was rather direct in asking why the decision was made as it was.
Communication is always an issue in any organization and that was the issue here among city staff according to the Mayor.
This will be a new fire boat, by the way, not a used boat from Portland as was rumored. That's good news too. Once the grant goes through it will pay the cost.
Port Director Jack Crider has stated , for the record, that the Port has offered mooring space, and will pay the insurance among other things. I have that recorded from the Tuesday Port meeting.
That apparently came as a surprise to the city as well.
No worries. I'll remind them.
I
This was the result of our report on the sequence of events that began with Tuesday's Port Commission meeting where it was revealed that Astoria had not signed onto the necessary grant application. That same evening KAST news reported that in a conversation following the city council meeting the city manager was under the impression that his staff did not have adequate data including a cost/benefit analysis critical to any decision the council might be asked to make.
When Mr. Benoit received a call from a member of the team working to secure a number of regional quick response vessels for the state and was told the deadline for a decision was 48 hours away he called mayor Van Dusen. With the Mayor then under the impression that there was no data to share with the council he had nothing for the council to use to make a decision and therefore had to direct the Manager that the city would not be able to sign off on the agreement.
Reasonable decision on his part considering the circumstances involved. That is if indeed there was no information on the proposal. Not the case.
After our report and the discussion on our morning talk show things started happening rapidly. It turns out that all of the information necessary to make a good decision was in Astoria city staff hands after all. Our report and a follow up phone call to the Mayor by State Senator Betsy Johnson are credited with turning things around.
Just after 11am this morning I got a phone call from the Mayor as he was coming to our studios to hand deliver a letter confirming Astoria's participation in the grant process. The Mayor said that when we rebroadcast that portion of a report we aired the morning after the 6th street fire in December of 2010 where he heard Chief Hanson wishing he had a fire boat because his crews could not reach the outer pier area and his own comments about the loss of those historic buildings he realized something had to be done. He said Betsy was rather direct in asking why the decision was made as it was.
Communication is always an issue in any organization and that was the issue here among city staff according to the Mayor.
This will be a new fire boat, by the way, not a used boat from Portland as was rumored. That's good news too. Once the grant goes through it will pay the cost.
Port Director Jack Crider has stated , for the record, that the Port has offered mooring space, and will pay the insurance among other things. I have that recorded from the Tuesday Port meeting.
That apparently came as a surprise to the city as well.
No worries. I'll remind them.
I
Thanks Tom !
ReplyDeleteSo.....Perception tells me "The Port" has a chance at a pretty-much free and brand new fireboat on a grant only "The CofA" can apply for and "Port" starts jerking "City's chain to get a move on, as usual, it appears, at short notice and completely out of "Public Process" and how much "Due Diligence" if any?
ReplyDeleteIs that what's going on here Tom?
Funny how the old "Steinback"(sp), decommissioned, lingered for so long out on a back corner of "Pier 3" and then just disappeared how long ago was it and not much mention of another fireboat till the Cannery Pier/Number 10 6th Street fire, after the fact and no more noise till now and all of a sudden it's urgent?