THE OCEANSIDER – Op/Ed: IT’S OUR FUTURE – Let’s shape it together, starting tomorrow June 12th!

This Monday June 12th (tomorrow at 4 pm), Oceansiders will gather at the Community Hall (and by Zoom) for the second of three workshops aimed at developing a “10 Year Investment Plan” for Oceanside. Bruce Jaeger of the private group Oceanside Action Partnership (OAP) is the driving force behind the meetings, which are being led and sponsored by Nan Devlin, Executive Director of the Tillamook Coast Visitors Association (TCVA). These meetings grew out of study group gatherings led by Jaeger and Oceansider Cynthia Miller and facilitated by the Oceanside Neighborhood Association.

So far, the OAP’s brainstorming sessions have produced a wish list familiar to those who’ve attended similar planning round-robins over the years. It ranges from pedestrian/bike paths and parking/traffic management to improved roads, a cell tower and storm drains.  The list also includes local playgrounds and nature signage.

What comes next, however, is new!  In these final two meetings, Nan Devlin will proceed further to facilitate a group discussion that will coalesce and refine these ideas into a prioritized “Investment Plan” – as she has for other communities. We’ve never reached that planning stage as a community before. The work that the OAP and TCVA have put into these meetings sets the stage for Oceanside to take things to the next level – an infrastructure agenda shaped by community consensus. Oceansiders share a common bond in their love for our special village. We should not miss this chance to frame a common vision for its future.

To be sure, the resulting ‘Investment Plan” will not be legally binding on anyone. Nor will the projects it lists be the exclusive province of any one group, including the OAP (see below). That is not its purpose or its value. The real benefit of such a plan is in how it is perceived, both internally and externally. Internally, the process of forging community consensus on infrastructure may help mend village relations left frayed by the acrimonious campaign to discredit the infrastructure funding proposals offered by incorporation supporters last year.  Externally, when competing with other communities for funding (from the County Commissioners or other sources), we stand a better chance if they are presented as interlocking components of a comprehensive, community-supported plan. Oceanside will not reap any of these benefits unless we set aside our differences and muster broader participation in these last two OAP/TCVA workshops.

For what it is worth, your friendly Editor will be attending these meetings, and I hope to see you there.  Here is a Zoom link for those who cannot attend in person:  Zoom Link to OAP Workshop

That said …

Attracting involvement and support for a community Investment Plan is just the first phase of a two-part initiative promoted by the Oceanside Action Partnership group. Once the Investment Plan is in place, the OAP leaders aspire to form a private foundation with a mission to “pursue funding and oversee project management of community projects.”  To this end, they have selected a Board of Directors, filed articles of incorporation with the state and adopted bylaws. They have also submitted an application for 501(c)(3) status with the IRS and await its ruling.

The Oceansider has publicly raised questions about the feasibility of this aspect of the OAP’s initiative that remain unanswered, but they can wait. For now, we can all applaud the creativity, civic spirit and hard work that these groups have put into a community-driven Investment Plan. Until such a plan is actually drafted and in place, we can reserve judgment on the options for funding and “overseeing” its implementation.

Jerry Keene, Editor