Astoria City Council Regular Meeting – November 4, 2025
Astoria City Council Regular Meeting – November 4, 2025
On November 4, 2025, the Astoria City Council met in regular session in the Council Chambers, 1095 Duane Street, Astoria, Oregon. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. and adjourned at 7:04 p.m. Councilors present were Mayor Sean Fitzpatrick, Andy Davis, Andrea Mazzarella, and Elisabeth Adams, who participated remotely. Staff present were City Manager Scott Spence, Police Chief Stacy Kelly, Assistant to the City Manager Ryan Quigley, and City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard. Scott Spence led the Pledge of Allegiance. No changes were made to the agenda. Note: the agenda and minutes are dated Monday, November 3, 2025, while the supplied meeting timestamp is 2025-11-04; this summary uses the supplied timestamp date.
Proclamation
- Council proclaimed November as National Native American Heritage Month in Astoria, recognizing the contributions of Native Americans, the history of colonialism, discrimination, deprivation, and genocide, and honoring Indigenous people historically and currently.
Councilor Reports
- Councilor Davis reported receiving community feedback about anticipated SNAP benefit shortfalls and urged support for local food distribution through churches and Clatsop Community Action. He expressed interest in exploring whether city funds, including homeless-related resources, could assist if needed, and noted personal health struggles.
- Councilor Mazzarella reported similar conversations about SNAP benefits and food insecurity, shared information about a Clatsop County emergency food swap and pantry stocking event at the Astoria Armory on November 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and noted storm drain maintenance and seasonal infrastructure concerns.
- Councilor Adams reported that Mangler Bridge maintenance will cause single-lane traffic and possible delays, and joined remotely due to medical matters.
- Mayor Fitzpatrick reported on the grand reopening of the Astoria Public Library, thanked the Astoria Fire Department for raising the flag, noted strong participation in the downtown Halloween trick-or-treat event despite rain, reported meeting with City Lumber, observed progress at the Coastal Family Health Center construction site, and announced a November 21 fundraiser at the Larsen Center for the Performing Arts benefiting The Harbor.
Consent Calendar
- The Council approved the consent calendar as presented by a 4-0 vote, with Councilor Davis moving and Councilor Mazzarella seconding. The approved items were the draft City Council minutes of August 4, 2025; the draft Parks Advisory Board minutes of October 22, 2025; and the waiver of overtime parking fees in the Downtown Parking District for the holiday season. Voting for: Fitzpatrick, Adams, Davis, Mazzarella. Voting against: none.
Regular Agenda Item – Ward 4 Council Vacancy Open House
- City Manager Spence reviewed final details for the public open house / meet-and-greet scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, as part of the process to fill the Ward 4 Council vacancy established at the October 22, 2025 special meeting.
- Location: Peace First Lutheran Church, within Ward 4, was selected; its room can hold about 140 people. The Hampton venue was booked, and elementary school options were not suitable.
- Format: Council reached consensus on a hybrid format. The evening would begin with candidates being available at 5:30, followed by three-minute introductory remarks from each candidate; three moderated questions submitted by attendees, with the same questions asked of all candidates; two-minute responses per question; one-minute closing statements; and approximately 30 minutes of informal meet-and-greet. The meeting was estimated to last roughly 1.5 hours, with the venue blocked for about two hours.
- Moderation: Council agreed that a neutral city staff member, possibly a department head or librarian, would moderate the question portion rather than a council member.
- Candidate count: Two applications had been filed at the time, and at least two other people had indicated they intended to apply.
- No formal motion was required. No public comment was offered on this item.
New Business & Miscellaneous
- City Manager Spence previewed upcoming topics: the November 17 meeting would address council questions for Ward 4 candidates, a possible process to narrow candidates to two finalists, and whether public comment should be limited to Ward 4 residents and businesses. A November 24 work session was scheduled to discuss the city charter.
- Council discussed downtown camping enforcement and scheduling. Councilor Mazzarella suggested adding an additional monthly work session to address the backlog; Mayor Fitzpatrick noted holiday scheduling concerns. Council agreed to schedule a December 8 work session to continue discussion on homeless response with critical community resource providers.
Public Comments (Non-Agenda)
- Steve Fick (14th Street) expressed concerns about the impacts of homelessness on downtown businesses, public safety, and camping behavior. He urged Council to provide clearer direction and stronger enforcement tools and to explore approaches used in other cities. He also described a threatening encounter and a subsequent heart attack.
- Dawn (11th & Duane Street) commented on National Native American Heritage Month, noting that Native Americans went from 100% of the area's population to 0.5%, and questioned SNAP funding priorities, the timing of public comment, and the requirement of a physical address or a $6 fee for a library card.
- A resident identified in the minutes as Matthew Barish and in the transcript as Philip Barish (732 Alameda Avenue) described challenges encountered while constructing an ADU and requested Council review a sewer connection code requirement that mandates a separate sewer line connection, stating it creates financial and infrastructure barriers to housing development.
- Carissa Lynn (560 Jerome Avenue) asked whether an emergency warming shelter would be available this winter and whether the City would assist in addressing potential funding gaps.
- Lisa Morley (4908 Cedar Street) requested Council reconsider the three-minute public comment limit and encouraged regular town halls and ward-level meetings to allow extended community dialogue.
- Mary Eng (PO Box 12) commented on mental health court processes, plea bargaining practices, homelessness criminalization, pedestrian safety, and whistleblower protections within the county justice system, including a $500-per-day federal penalty reference and an upcoming trial.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved unanimously, 4-0.
- Final direction given for the November 19 Ward 4 vacancy open house: Peace First Lutheran Church location, hybrid candidate forum format, neutral staff moderator, and no formal motion required.
- December 8 work session scheduled to continue homeless response discussions with critical resource providers.
- Council discussion identified November 17 as the next Ward 4 appointment-process meeting and November 24 as the city charter work session; no decisions were made on those items at this meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good evening and welcome to the Monday, November 3rd meeting of the Australia City Council. For the time or for the record, the time is 6 p.m. I would ask that you please stand if you are willing and able. Mr. Spence, if you could lead us in the pledge. Pledge allegiance to the flag, the United States of America. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for. Thank you, Mr. Spence. If we could have a roll call, please. Councilor Davis here. Counselor Mazzarella. Here. Councilor Adams. Here. Mayor Fitzpatrick. Here. I would thank Councilor Adams for joining us online this evening. I would also note before we go to our proclamation that we do have an Astralia Development Commission meeting after the Astoria City Council. So at the appropriate time, we will adjourn the one and then take a break and then go into the other. So to start, we have a proclamation, and that is for National Native American Heritage Month. And I am going to read the first portion. Yes, great. So whereas Native American Heritage Month is observed by acknowledging the contributions of Native Americans long before the formation of the United States, which we recognize is inextricably woven into the history of this country. And whereas Native American Awareness Week began in 1976 and recognition was expanded by President George H. W. Bush in August 1990, designating the month of November as Native American Heritage Month. And whereas all Indigenous people are respected and celebrated as part of Astoria's community and history. Whereas in celebrating the traditions, cultures, and accomplishments of Native Americans, we also acknowledge our nation's history of colonialism that has inflicted discrimination, deprivation, and genocide upon indigenous people. And whereas we are aware of the historical importance of local and national tribes and the way Native Americans continue to enrich our heritage and add to all aspects of our society by sharing their customs and traditions and whereas we honor our native people, their ancestral homes, their religion, and recognize their contributions historically today and in the future of our community. Go ahead, Mayor. Thank you. Great. Now therefore, the Australia City Council does hereby put proclaim the month of November in the City of Australia a time to celebrate the rich cultures of indigenous people, honor their sacrifices, acknowledge the unique challenges Native Americans face historically and present, and recognize their continued significance in our community. Native American Heritage Month in the City of Australia is a time to celebrate the rich cultures of Indigenous people, honor their sacrifices, acknowledge the unique challenges, and recognize their continued significance in our community. So thank you for that. Next up, we would have reports of counselors, and we would start tonight with Counselor Davis. Sure. Thank you, Mayor. So I would say since our last regular session, uh, I got a lot of feedback uh on our work session. Uh and folks asking uh questions specifically about what can be done in our community uh to help with um predicted at least uh shortfalls for snap uh benefits. And I I just want to encourage people to reach out to the most of our many of our local churches are are running some sort of uh food distribution as well as uh CCA's food bank um to see if uh if they can give donations uh to those causes. Uh I also you know wanted to acknowledge that I think the city uh can conceivably pl play a role. There does seem to be some dispute right now because of uh a couple of legal cases that have gone through about what SNAP benefits will be dispersed in the month of November. Uh so I think as a city, my perception is uh that it's appropriate for us to to see how that sort of plays out. Um, but I think one thing that that folks have asked of me, and and I think I'd be interested in exploring as a council is whether or not uh we can use any of our sources of funding to help uh with shortfalls, especially since we got communication from CCA uh about their food bank that they didn't anticipate that they could handle the sort of volume that would uh be represented. Um so you know, just maybe exploring things like if we've got extra money and uh I know we've got a fund for uh homeless uh related like uh activities that the city would be trying to to help out with if we could talk about that in uh either tonight or future meeting. I know we've got two meetings tonight, so I'm not sure what our timing's like, but but that's what I was talking to people about. And in addition to myself, I've been going through some some health issues. Uh so it's been a difficult couple of weeks, but um, I'm happy to be here tonight and and hope we can have a good discussion around uh the Ward for uh council um appointment.
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