Sodaville

The first thing I noticed about Sodaville Mayor Thomas Brady Harrington was that he didn't quite fit the stereotypical "Mayor" mold that I've gotten used to.  He's young, kinda scrappy, and friendly in more of a drinking buddy way than a statesman sorta way.  I met him in Salem at the Oregon Mayor's Conference and we talked a little about tubing down the Santiam outside of Waterloo, and a little about Sodaville in general.  He seemed like a nice guy and was definitely enjoying his first month of being the new Mayor of a town with just over 300 people.  

A couple months later I was in the Fairview Mayor's office and he asked me if I had met the "convicted felon Mayor."  I had no idea we had an Oregon Mayor that was convicted of a felony, and Mayor Weatherby couldn't remember what town he governed, so I just sort of forgot about it and went off to Canby for another autograph.  Well, a few weeks later I was talking with some folks from Lebanon, who told me the whole story.  Turns out, it's kinda interesting:

Sodaville, originally and ironically named for it's mineral water springs, was having a problem with their municipal water system.  Not enough water for the whole town, so they were having to truck it in from Albany and the city budget was in real trouble.  As the election for the new Mayor neared, the two names on the ballot were incumbent Ronda Bennett and Thomas Harrington.  Mayor Harrington won by just 13 votes, but after the election many of the townspeople admitted that they thought they were voting for Thomas Harrington Senior, the owner of a rock products place in town.  In a way, it's almost the same plot for the movie The Distinguished Gentleman starring Eddie Murphy.  Check out this news story about the whole thing.  It's kinda fun, and when you see Mayor Harrington's mugshots you'll understand why I felt he was a little different when he autographed our map.

There's a happy ending to this story presumably on the way.  With federal stimulus money, Sodaville may soon have the necessary $628,000 to upgrade their facilities.  The best news--for me anyway--is that convicted felons can still be Mayor.  Watch out in 2024, Woodburn!  I'm officially announcing my candidacy.  

  36 down, 206 to go.

Astoria

One of these days I'm going to quit my job and move to Astoria. I have been saving almost $70 per month since I got married, so at this rate I'll be there in 2108. Can't wait. I'll find an easily remodeled ranch in the South Slope neighborhood and teach old people how to kayak in Young's Bay. Seriously, Astoria has everything a transplanted Portlander would need: A natural foods store, a cafe that serves Stumptown, multiple places to enjoy a microbrew, a strip club, dive bars, and even the Columbia River just to remind you that you're never to far from home.
Hood River is a close second, but Astoria is my first choice for a place to lie low for an extended weekend. And there's no better place to do just that than the old Astoria Red Lion. That place must have been built just before the decline of the logging and fishing industry, and I imagine it must have been the jewel of the north coast after it was built. Every room has a sweeping view of the bridge and the marina with a deck right over the water. These days the attached restaurant has long been abandoned, and sometimes (when the maintenance people accidentally leave it unlocked) you can sneak inside and wander through the upturned mold-covered barstools and the rotting tablecloths while pretending you're in a post-apocalyptic version of 1980s Astoria. I once saw a mongrel pup limping out of there with what looked like a platter of potato skin apps, but it was late and I was just walking back from the Triangle Tavern so I could have imagined it. By the way, the smoking ban is all well and good but if there's any place in this state that you should be allowed to smoke, it's the Triangle. Two lawn chairs behind the building on a cold spring night just ain't going to cut it, especially since you can't bring your beer back there.
Astoria and its Red Lion have been with me through thick and thin. I spent two days there the weekend before I got married. Knowing my friends would throw me the world's most cliche bachelor party if I didn't get out of town, I hightailed it to Astoria and hid in the Wet Dog Cafe until it was time to tie the knot. Although technically littering, I took a friend of mine out there during one of the worst winter storms I've ever seen and we sent messages in bottles to his estranged girlfriend via the choppy Columbia and empty bottles of Henry's Blue Boar. To this day I'm sure you can find a dozen drunken missives addressed to Rita Tiwari at the bottom of the mooring basin. My ex-girlfriend downed a three-egg breakfast at the Pig-N-Pancake too quickly and had the most amazing upchucking experience I've ever encountered--barfing them up cleanly and neatly back onto the plate, a slightly different color but the exact same consistency. Good times.
I met Mayor Willis Van Dusen at City Hall, an amazingly beautiful building in historic downtown Astoria. Julie Lampi, the executive secretary, totally hooked me up with a Monday morning meeting and hung out with me while I waited. I had never met an executive secretary to a Mayor before, so I was relieved that she was so friendly. Before I walked up to the third floor where the Mayor's office is, I noticed that City Hall is attached to an abandoned hotel. Julie told me that it's called the Waldorf, and because Waldorf, Germany is the sister city of Astoria, it's slightly embarassing when one of their representatives visits to see that the Waldorf Hotel in Astoria is a neglected, boarded-up, yet gorgeous old building (for those of you keeping score at home, Waldorf, Germany is the birthplace of John Jacob Astor, for whom Astoria is named for). I wish I could afford to buy it and turn it into something. Oh, I should also mention that the poster for the movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" is prominently displayed in the grand hallways of City Hall. I bring that up only because I wanted to get through this post without saying anything about the Goonies.
Mayor Van Dusen showed up and graciously signed our map even though I think I may have made him late for another meeting. He was wearing an Oregon Ducks coat, which proves my theory that any coastal mayor north of Yachats is a Ducks fan. One of the first things he asked me was who the most unfriendly Mayor I had met so far. I was so taken aback by the question that I actually answered it without hesitation. What a random question, I thought, but was too surprised to hem and haw. I'm willing to bet that Mayor Van Dusen uses that tactic a lot in his mayoral duties, and he probably gets a lot of straight answers out of people that way. He had just dealt with the plane crash from a few days before, so maybe that was it.

35 down, 207to go.

Warrenton

I really do love living in Portland, but I love even more the opportunity to leave it. Laurie and Henry had to stay behind once again to take care of the chickens and the garden starts, so I rented a car downtown and hit Hwy 26 at full speed--fast enough to get a speeding ticket. Maybe it was the fact that my rental had Washington plates, or maybe it was just because I was going 72 in a 55. I like to believe it's because I subconciously wanted to have something in common with Vice President Al Gore, who in 2004 got a speeding ticket in the same place, driving a rented white Toyota Camry just like mine. Al Gore is the Mayor of awesome, so I'll pay the ticket.
I'll be the first to admit that I really haven't spent a lot of time in Warrenton due to the fact that Astoria is just over the Youngs Bay Bridge. I figure most people don't know that there's more to that town than just Ft. Stevens State Park and the wreck of the Peter Iredale. So I made a point of NOT visiting either of those two places and instead opted to hike the Skipanon River Peninsula Trail. Turns out Warrneton has a huge network of trails (and water trails!) that traverse the whole area.
I had called the Warrenton City Hall the week previous to ask for Mayor Gilbert Gramson's autograph on our big map of Oregon, and the City Manager told me that the Mayor has an open meeting every Monday morning at 9:30am. Perfect for skipping out on a Sunday night and just going to work late on Monday afternoon, I thought.
After strolling into City Hall on Monday morning and finding the right room, I was immediately offered coffee and donuts by some folks that looked like they may attend every one of these weekly meetings: Good civic-minded folks, I'm sure. By 9:37 the room was almost at capacity, which is relatively out of the ordinary according to the look on Mayor Gramson's face when he walked in and sat down. The first order of business was the vandalism to the park bathrooms. I never did figure out which park they were talking about, but apparently it's quite the problem as of late. The ideal solution, I learned, was to build new bathroom facilities in the style of the State Parks that are more easily maintained, but of course that's ridiculously expensive. Mayor Gramson brought up a plan to have park hosts that basically live there in their RV for the tourist season, which I thought was pretty brilliant. It seems like there is no shortage of retirees with RVs so I felt the idea was pretty Solomonesque.
After that business was over the Mayor asked who was next. When no one immediately spoke I stood up and volunteered: "I'm sorry to waste everyone's time, and I know you all have important matters to discuss, but I was wondering if I could get your autograph?" I explained to all present that we were visiting each town in Oregon to meet the Mayor, and everyone in the room seemed to think that was a cute idea. Mayor Gramson seemed especially intrigued and was happy that he got to sign before the Mayor of Astoria did. I love the fake rivalries these Mayors have with each other. I would totally be the same way.
34 down, 208 to go.