TAPA Presents ‘Things My Mother Taugt Me’
Tuna Classic Nets Big Dontation
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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 8
www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
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Merkley, Bonamici sound alarm on ‘constitutional crisis’ at town hall WILL CHAPPELL
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Representative Cyrus Javadi
Javadi pushes TLT reform in Salem WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
ith 2025’s long legislative session in full swing in Salem, Representative Cyrus Javadi is working hard to push for a change to Oregon’s transient lodging tax allotment requirements. Counties along the coast have been clamoring for a change in the allotment as their budgets are stretched tight by restrictions on property tax increases coupled with a growing number of visitors who are straining public safety and infrastructure resources. Javadi said that though similar proposals have failed in the face of withering opposition from the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA), he feels like there is a strong chance for a change this year, as more legislators become familiar with the issue. “As we started having those discussions in the building here at the capitol, it was clear that there were a lot of legislators who would like to see something changed with the transient lodging tax,” Javadi said. Passed in 2003, House Bill 2267 established the current regime for transient lodging tax (TLT) collection across the State of Oregon. The bill allowed city and county governments to institute a TLT in their jurisdiction and required that the revenues generated by the tax be split, with 70% dedicated to the construction of tourism-related facilities or tourism promotion, while the remaining 30% could be used See JAVADI, Page A3
Headlight Editor
s 450 concerned constituents packed the Neah-KahNie High School gymnasium on February 22, Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici sounded the alarm about the Trump administration’s early actions. Merkley said that the moment represented a constitutional crisis and both exhorted worried citizens to contact representatives and join politically active groups. “Our system is built on an understanding the executive will obey the laws, and when the executive stops obeying the law, everything starts to crumble,” Merkley said. “That is a constitutional crisis right there that we have to confront in a very fierce fashion.” The town hall, one of 36 that Merkley hosts each year in every Oregon county, was moved from its traditional location at the Officers’ Mess at the Port of Tillamook Bay in anticipation of large crowds, after recent town halls have drawn crowds of hundreds, several times larger than in past years. Throughout the hour-long meeting, around a dozen constituents asked questions of the representatives, with all focused on concerns about the Trump administration’s actions and the Democratic response. Merkley and Bonamici both defended their party’s response to the Trump administration’s aggressive actions, while pointing out that being the minority party in both the Senate and House of Representatives limited their options. Merkley mentioned several recent marathon budget committee hearings where he and fellow Dem-
Photos by Will Chappell
(Top) Merkley and Bonamici both implored constituents to stay engaged on concerns they had about actions by the Trump Administration. (Bottom) Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici field questions from the large crowd at Neah-Kah-Nie High School on February 22.
ocratic senators pushed Republicans on the budget being proposed, which included cuts to Medicaid and other social programs. Merkley said that he and his colleagues had gone amendment by amendment to force committee Republicans to show where their priorities really lay. They also proposed an amendment saying that the budget would not include tax cuts for mega millionaires but were rebuffed. “The whole night just put in stark relief what the real plan is for See MERKLEY, Page A3
Salmonberry Trail planning progresses in Rockaway Beach WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
onsultants working on the design of a three-mile section of the Salmonberry Trail being planned for Rockaway Beach gathered community feedback on the trail’s alignment at meetings on February 19. Mike Rose, from Alta Planning and Design, led the meetings and solicited input on the trail’s placement in its southernmost section between Washington Street and South Third Street from potentially impacted homeowners. Rose began the day’s first meeting, which was hosted virtually while the second was held in-person at Rockaway Beach city hall, by giving attendees a brief history of the project. Rose said that the team working on the project has completed the planning phase, which included an existing condition summary, public outreach and a 10% cost estimate for the project. The project’s next phase, currently in progress, will see those plans developed more fully to a 30% cost estimate, as well as geotechnical, environmental and other necessary surveys undertaken, and will
allow the city to apply for grants to support further development and construction. The survey conducted by the project team last summer received 153 responses, according to Rose, with one third coming from city residents and the remainder coming from area residents or visitors. Half of respondents indicated that they would use the trail occasionally, less than once a month, with 40% saying they would use it more frequently and 10% indicating they would not use it at all. The total budget to complete the three sections was estimated at $6.6 million including a 30% contingency. The section from Washington to South Third Streets is projected to cost $1.5 million, the section between South Third and North 20th, $2 million, and the section north of North 20th, $3 million. Rose said the high estimate for the northernmost section was due to several creeks that would need to be bridge in that area. As part of the design process, the team divided the trail into three sections, one between Washington Street and South Third, one from South Third to
North 20th, and the third from that point to Beach Street, across from the high school. Originally, the team had planned to have the southernmost section of trail on the east side of the railroad tracks, adjacent to Highway 101, but during the 30% design phase they had realized that either side of the tracks would be suitable, according to Rose. Upon realizing this, the team decided to seek additional input on the alignment, with a focus on engaging nearby property owners, whose backyards would be in close proximity to the trail, leading to the meetings. The asphalt trail will be ten to 12 feet in width with its edge nine and a half feet from the center of the rail line, along which it will run in the Port of Tillamook Bay’s right of way, according to Rose. Rose said that siting the trail on either side of the tracks would be feasible and safe but that putting it on the west side, away from Highway 101 would be safer. Meeting attendees then weighed in, with several saying that they felt an eastside placement of the trail would not be
safe given drivers’ habits in the area, especially around Pronto Pup at South 6th Street. They said that they felt placing the trail on the west side would slow traffic down as it crossed the tracks and provide a more inviting trail experience for users. Other property owners asked if there was a plan for a fence or vegetation to provide properties privacy from the trail. Rose said that the recent identification of the possible westside placement meant the team had not had time to develop a plan for such facilities but that they could be added. In the virtual meeting’s chat, several attendees voiced their preference for an eastside placement and by the meeting’s end, the response seemed to be evenly divided. Rose said that the decision on the southern section’s alignment would need to be made in the next month. He also estimated that the earliest construction might begin would be summer 2026 and said that grants being applied for to support the trail would only contribute to the northern section near the high school.
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