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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 2
Oath of Office
Tillamook welcomes interim city manager
Season Over
THS girls’ basketball season canceled after player walk-out
WILL CHAPPELL
K
Headlight Editor
evin Perkins assumed the role of interim city manager for the City of Tillamook starting on January 6, after most recently having served as assistant city manager for the City of Monmouth. Perkins told the Headlight Herald that he plans to serve in a caretaker capacity in Tillamook, focusing on preparing a budget for fiscal year 2025 and supporting ef- Kevin Perkins forts to address homelessness so that the permanent hire will have a strong foundation on which to build. “There may be some things that we can get started and changes maybe we can make,” Perkins said, “you know, get some foundations laid for the next manager so that when they come in, they’ve got a good place to start.” Born in central Oregon, Perkins grew up in Roseburg before attending Oregon State University for his undergraduate degree and beginning his career in court operations in Linn County. After seven years working in the justice system, Perkins pivoted, taking a position as the records manager for the Benton County board of commissioners. While working for Benton County, Perkins pursued a master’s degree in public administration at Portland State University and served as the interim city manager for Monroe. Perkins said that public administration appealed to him because of the wide breadth of topics it allows him to learn about and the opportunity to help citizens address issues. “I just like the fact that, you know, when somebody comes in for help, a lot of times I’m two chairs from the person who can provide it,” Perkins said. “I love being there to be able to help with it, that we can step in and really do some good.” In 2018, after more than a decade with Benton County, Perkins decided to move into city governSee MANAGER, Page A3
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WILL CHAPPELL
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ordinance. Though the communities favored waiting to enact changes, Absher said that a clear consensus already existed in favor of lowering the cap in each. In Oceanside, Absher helped the community to map the concentration of STR properties in the central village area against the outlying areas, determining that the village had a much higher concentration, matching with residents’ reports of issues. Neskowin residents told Absher that they might support removing condos in the community from the cap and Cape Meares residents said that since their community has consistently fallen below their quota for properties, they would like to see the cap reduced to reflect the actual number of STRs operating. Residents of Pacific City, how-
ollowing a 5-0 start, the Tillamook High School girls’ varsity basketball team has not played a game since December 19, and their remaining games this season have been canceled. The canceled season was caused by a group of nine players refusing to continue to play for Head Coach Chris Coach Chris Lee Lee after he was reinstated following an investigation triggered by a November complaint against Lee by those same players. Circumstances around the contents of the complaint have remained murky and this article was written based on public communications from the school district, emails provided to the Headlight Herald by team parent Jack Mulder and an interview with 2023-2024 team member Peyton Rawe. What is clear is that the complaint was filed on November 17, the day before tryouts were set to begin for the season, triggering Lee’s removal from the classroom and all school activities the next day, as he was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the district. One of the complaints apparently revolved around Lee’s use of the Remind app to communicate with players. In an email on December 26, team parent Nikki Brown complained that following Lee’s reinstatement he continued to use the “unsanctioned” app, complaining that use of the app had been included in the original complaint because it did not include all players nor any parents or administrators. Another point of contention, according to Rawe, was religious activity in which the team participated as a group. Rawe said that when she was questioned by the investigator looking into the complaint, she was asked if she had felt any pressure from Lee to attend church. Rawe, who defended Lee vociferously, said that, in fact, she had been the person who led the team’s church outings last year and said that Lee had simply joined the team activity when invited. Rawe said that her Christian faith was important to her and that as the team grew closer last year, she believed her teammates could benefit from church services and invited them to attend with her. As the investigation was being conducted, Assistant Coach Claudia Maciel stepped into the head coaching role and the team got off to a hot start, winning their first five games. By mid-December the investigation had concluded and Superinten-
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See WALK-OUT , Page A3
Officials elected to office in November began taking their oaths of office in early January, with countywide leaders sworn in at a ceremony at the courthouse on January 6, presided over by Judge Jonathan Hill. (Top)After taking their oaths (left to right) Commissioner Paul Fournier, County Assessor KaSandra Larson, Commissioner Erin Skaar, Clerk Christy Nyseth and Sheriff Joshua Brown gathered for a group photo. (Bottom) Tillamook County Commissioner Paul Fournier takes the oath of office administered by Judge Jonathan Hill.
Commissioners create STR cap exemption zone in Pacific City WILL CHAPPELL
T
Headlight Editor
illamook’s Board of County Commissioners approved a cap-free zone for short-term rental properties west of the Nestucca River in Pacific City at their meeting on January 9. The decision came in response to community feedback after a 2023 update to the county’s shortterm rental (STR) ordinance that established a cap on the properties in unincorporated areas at 1% above the number licensed in each at the time of the ordinance’s adoption. Commissioners also approved increases and changes to the fees for county parks and approved a $276,876 contract for design work for an expansion to the health and human services department’s main clinic. Sarah Absher, Tillamook County’s Director of Community
Development, attended the board meeting to provide an update on her discussions with the various unincorporated communities in Tillamook County since the update to ordinance 84 last July. The ordinance update established a process for the commissioners to implement a cap on STR licenses but left the setting of the cap to a board order to make changing the cap easier to allow the program to evolve in response to community feedback. Absher told the commissioners that she had met with residents of the unincorporated communities that were heavily impacted by STRs and that in every community except Pacific City, they had agreed that changes should be delayed another year. Absher said that this was because the ordinance update’s use-it-or-lose-it provision for license holders is only taking effect this year and because of litigation filed challenging the
Headlight Editor
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