HONORING OUR VETERANS THIS
VETERANS DAY Calendar-A2
•
Church
News-A2
•
Classified
Ads-A6
•
Legal
Notices-A6
•
Obituaries-A2
•
The Chief
Friday, November 11, 2016
Opinions-A4
•
Page B1
Sports-A7-8
$1 Vol. 125, No. 26 12 Pages
Serving the Lower Columbia Region Since 1891
Old city hall demolished BY JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Theresa McLeod stood on the sidewalk on Nehalem Street by the old Clatskanie City Hall Wednesday, Nov. 9, as crews used a large excavator to pull down the building and the adjacent old city jail. “It’s bittersweet,” she said. “I have a lot of good memories at the old building, especially the people and getting to know the community and the people. I am a people person.” McLeod began her city career in the old city hall as a city utility billing clerk, advanced to the municipal court clerk and from there she transferred to the Clatskanie Police Department for 14 years. She will soon retire from city service. Clatskanie City Manager Greg Hinkelman began his city work at the old city hall in 2008. “It was built in 1952, so it was definitely getting toward the end of its service life,” Hinkelman said. “Before we vacated the building in 2015, I had ground water coming up on the floor in my office and soaking my carpet.” Hinkelman said the building also had a mold problem. “It was time to shut it down or pour a lot of money into it, and that could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars easily,” he said. Hinkelman said the old city hall
See CITY HALL Page A5
Pohl concedes, Brajcich ready to serve as new mayor “I wish Bob and the city all my best,” Pohl said early Wednesday, Nov. 9, following the election. Pohl couldn’t say what she thought led to her defeat. “I don’t know at this point,” she said. “Whatever it is, I believe it is the American way. People choose their leaders. That is how we are and that is a good thing.” Asked if she would Diane Pohl have done anything differently as mayor or in her campaign, Pohl said “No. I tried to lead in a very positive way, and no, I would not change anything.” Pohl said she isn’t sure what her future holds. “There are all kinds of horizons out there,” she said. “I am looking forward to what they are. I don’t know if I will stay involved in city politics. It is best sometimes to let the new leader take over and that is the best thing for the community.” Pohl said she will have good memories of her 10 consecutive years as Clatskanie’s Mayor. “It was an honor to have served the city as long as I did,” she said. “I appreciated the opportunity.” Pohl has received 176 votes or 33.33 percent. There were 352 writein ballots cast, or 66.67 percent of the vote in the Clatskanie mayor race. Brajcich told The Chief shortly after the second of three election result printouts by the county on Tuesday night that he was not ready to declare victory and he wanted to see the final unofficial results. “I am in pretty good shape, so it looks real promising,” he said. On Wednesday, following Pohl’s announcement that she had conceded the race, Brajcich said he was ready to go to work as Clatskanie mayor and had begun what he called his learning process. Brajcich said he believes there are two reasons that he was elected as mayor.
BY JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Clatskanie Mayor Diane Pohl has conceded her bid for re-election to an 11th consecutive term after writein candidate Bob Brajcich appears to have received the majority of votes, according to the final unofficial balloting results from the Tuesday Bob Brajcich Nov. 8 General Election. But Columbia County Election officials are quick to point out that they have yet to check all the write-in ballots in the race to make sure Brajcich is the actual winner. That review could take place before the end of the month. A review of the votes is automatic if the writein candidate gets the majority of the votes, according to Columbia County Elections Supervisor Don Clack.
See MAYOR Page A5
The Veterans
PHOTOS BY JEREMY C. RUARK / THE CHIEF
Area military veterans, including Frank Buchnerger, Rick Crist, Ron Monning and Les Galloway, met for a veteran’s breakfast hosted by the Clatskanie Middle/High School Honor Society at the school commons on Thursday, Nov. 10. See a special section honoring veterans inside this edition of The Chief.
Magruder elected as new county commissioner BY JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Scappoose resident and businessman Wayne Mayo and Clatskanie-area farmer and Rainier manufacturer Margaret Magruder squared off in the Tuesday, Nov. 8 General Election for Columbia County Commissioner Position 1 with Magruder receiving the most votes. The final unofficial balloting results shows Mayo with 11,221 ballots or 47.38 percent of the votes and Magruder tallying 12,305 ballots or 51.96 percent of the votes. “So it is not a mandate,” Magruder said. “But I feel comfortable with the vote and I am ready to take office.” Magruder used two words to describe her victory. “Hard work,” she said. But the victory also came,
Margaret Magruder
according to Magruder, because of her style as a caring person. “I am a very open and honest person and I think people appreciate that,” she said. “I am approachable and I have been available and that is very important to the citizens and I think they saw that and voted for me.” Asked by The Chief what her first
priority will be on day one as she takes office in January, Magruder said it will be all about building relations and learning. “It will be especially important to start building relations with the other two commissioners,” she said. “We will need to direct our attention to that and getting to know each other and how we can work together for the best interest of the citizens of Columbia County. And I also have a lot to learn.” Magruder said of upmost importance for the commissioners will be working to maintain the county’s core services. “We need to do that without raising taxes,” she said. “We also want to bring more employment and more tax revenues to the county.” Magurder also hopes to make sure all of Columbia County’s communities are served equally well by the county commission.