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Taylor wins commissioner’s seat by 152 votes By DAVID RUPKALVIS For The World

All of the votes have now been counted and it looks like Coos County will soon have a new commissioner. In the final results from the November 8 election released by the Coos County clerk’s office, Rod Taylor received 14,483 votes, or 50.14%, to 14,331 votes, or 49.62% for incumbent Melissa Cribbins. There were 70 write-in votes recorded in the Position 3 race.

The latest tally added 690 votes to the race, with Cribbins receiving 349 votes and Taylor 341, but Taylor maintained the lead he held after all the votes received by Election Day were counted. The vote count will not become official until county commissioner’s canvas the election December 5, but with no more votes to count, it appears Taylor will win the seat. No other local elections were still in limbo while

Downtown businesses damaged by fire

waiting for the final count. In the race for sheriff, Gabe Fabrizio easily won the contest to fill the seat being vacated by Sheriff Craig Zanni. Fabrizio received 19,223 votes, or 72.4%, while M.A. Kinnaird picked up 7,199 votes, or 27.11%. In North Bend, Mayor Jessica Engelke earned her second term as mayor, while Jenny Jones, Barbara Schultz and Larry Garboden were elected to the city council.

In Lakeside, Alan G. Pointer, Sara Coats and Alicia Douglas were elected to the city council, and Sherry Kinsey was elected mayor. In Powers, Robert Kohn was chosen as mayor while Kathy Rector, James C. Adamek and Bill Holland were elected to the city council. Coos Bay, Bandon and Myrtle Point also had municipal elections, but there were no contested races. Voters in Coos County also rejected a jail funding

levy, with 16,542 voters casting ballots against the levy and 13,303 voting in favor. Voters in the county, Coos Bay, North Bend, Bandon, Coquille, Lakeside and Myrtle Point all voted to prohibit the manufacture and sale of psilocybin. Voters in Bandon did vote to allow the city to set system development charges, and voters in Lakeside approved a measure to allow ATV route access.

ROD TAYLOR

It’s Christmas time in the city

By DAVID RUPKALVIS The World

Two downtown businesses were damaged when a blaze broke out the day after Thanksgiving, creating a difficult task for firefighters working to control the fire. The Coos Bay Fire Department reported 9-1-1 calls reporting the fire in the 100 block of Anderson Avenue started shortly after 5:30 p.m. Friday. The calls came as a large crowd was leaving the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Visitors and Convention Bureau. Police officers were the first to arrive and they noticed smoke coming from Nail Polish Spa and Darrell’s Devil Food. The smoke was in a three-story building and along the strip on Anderson Avenue that holds Photos by David Rupkalvis/For The World close to a dozen businesses. The Christmas season officially kicked off in Coos Bay on Friday when Santa Claus traveled to the city to greet children and help light the Police were able to block off An- city’s Christmas tree downtown. Above, Santa and Coos Bay Councilor Carmen Matthews are all smiles after lighting the tree. Right, Santa derson Avenue, and when firefighthugs a child before the tree lighting ceremony. Below, Santa greets a family. ers arrived minutes later, they found smoke coming from Nail Polish Spa and the windows at Darrell’s Devil Food were blacked out and hot to the touch, indicating an active blaze inside. The battalion chief in charge of scene upgraded the call to a confirmed structure fire and called for backup from the North Bend Fire Department and Charleston Fire Department. Firefighters forced their way into Darrell’s Devil Food in an attempt to extinguish the blaze. Initially, firefighters worked to keep the fire from spreading while waiting for backup to arrive. Inside the building, the firefighters ran into Please see FIRE Page A2

Council looks at raising fees to fund fire inspector By JULIE AKINS For The World

The city of Coos Bay gave the go ahead for its fire chief to continue exploring the concept of raising business fees and also fees to rental properties to fund a fire inspector. The plan, as discussed in Tuesday’s Coos Bay City Council meeting called for removing the city’s complex sliding scale based on the number of employees at businesses and the number of rental units owned by an owner to a fixed fee per business and housing rental unit. Currently, businesses with fewer than 11 employees will realize a slight increase to a $100 fixed fee. For businesses with 11 or greater number of workers, the fee will represent a break even point and

for bigger businesses there may be a cost savings. For rental units, the sliding scale is even more complex based on the number of housing units the owner acquires. The current scale begins at just over $15 per unit and moves up to $16.75 per residence owned. The recommendation was to change this to a flat fee of $25 to offset the cost of inspections on residential units and to ensure their safety. “It’s cheaper to prevent than to respond,” said Fire Chief Mark Anderson of the need for regular inspections. Councilors expressed some concerns that landlords might pass those costs along to tenants, many of whom are already finding themselves rent burdened or priced out of the market. Anderson responded, “Many of

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the units are not allowed to raise fees except incrementally under state law, but even those who can, it would only be an additional two dollars per month. The point is to make sure that housing is inspected regularly and safe.” Anderson went on to say that his team is looking to use the revenue to hire a fire inspector but they’d also like to create a position that can respond to complaints of tenants who are in substandard housing. Currently, they have no resources to do that. Councilors suggested as part of his research, they’d like to see a conversation with the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Association and other groups which represent businesses for their input. Mayor Joe Bonetti also asked for input from rental associations and property managers.

Councilor Carmen Matthews stated that as a business owner, he doesn’t find the new flat fee expensive. “I’ve always thought it was exceptionally low. This is how we can ensure public safety which is our number one priority.” The council approved Chief Anderson to continue looking into the idea. He promised to bring it back to the council in December. The Coos Bay City Council also heard a presentation regarding the 10-year plan for city parks and cultural facilities. They were asked if they wished to follow the priorities of public parks as expressed in a survey or if they preferred a different priorities plan. The council recognized that the top three amenities of Mingus Park, the Boardwalk and John Topits would remain important

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but would not necessarily follow improvement priorities because it’s unknown how that might change. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where improvements need to happen first,” the mayor acknowledged. “The priorities today may be different in ten years.” They also discussed parsing out the properties the city owns versus the museums and amenities that are maintained by others. They wanted to make sure to have language that says the city supports organizations tasked with using and maintaining them but not to assume the city would be in the business of seeking grants or maintaining buildings leased to other entities. The council urged its staff to continue taking input on the plan and bring it back for the council to consider in December as well.

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