At its August 2025 work session, the Astoria City Council affirmed a council work plan focused on “housing for all Astorians,” a “thriving local economy,” resilience and livability, and directed staff to prioritize beginning a charter update so it could reach the fall 2026 ballot and to elevate the voter-approved library renovation as a top priority.

City staff presented the document as the product of the council’s retreat earlier in the year and said the plan groups council goals while flagging a smaller set of “top priorities” to match limited staff capacity. “This is organized now by housing for all Astorians, a thriving local economy, resilience as a community, and livability and quality of life for residents,” said Mister Spence, a staff member presenting the work plan. He recommended listing the library project as a top priority and noted “our mandate from the state to, fully develop a housing capacity analysis as well as a housing production strategy.”

Mayor (unnamed) said the library bond had “passed overwhelmingly” and called listing the renovation as a top priority a clear signal to constituents; staff said the project is expected to open to the public in October. Several councilors thanked staff for the work-plan draft and emphasized measurable deliverables and timelines as tools for tracking progress.

Councilors debated when to begin a review of the Astoria City Charter. Councilor Mazzarella said the council should make the charter review a top priority so other processes run more smoothly; Councilor Davis urged immediate action because “the clock is ticking for it to get on the ballot in 20 26 fall.” The Mayor then stated there was a majority in favor of starting the charter work this year, and the council directed staff to proceed with initial steps toward a charter update for a potential fall 2026 ballot placement.

The council and staff also discussed the need to balance the ambitious work plan with emergent issues, with staff asking that new agenda items be evaluated against the work plan to confirm available capacity before adding initiatives. The work session concluded with the council affirming the plan’s priorities and the majority directive to begin the charter process.

Staff and council clarified three distinct types of outcomes from the session: discussion of priorities and constraints, direction to staff (charter update initiation and elevating the library project), and affirmation of the council’s work-plan document. No formal motions or recorded roll-call votes were taken during the work session on the items summarized here.