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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 | Vol. 136, Issue 50
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www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
City and county partner on homeless camp cleanup
Election Certified
Radio bond passes, Javadi reelected
WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
arly on the morning of December 4, employees from the Tillamook city and county governments led by Tillamook Police officers and Tillamook Sheriff’s Office deputies converged on a homeless camp north of Tillamook’s post office for a joint clean-up effort. By the end of the day, more than ten tons of solid trash had been hauled away in a dumpster and the property had been covered with grass seed and hay to begin its rehabilitation. All former residents of the site had found housing with the help of Tillamook Code Enforcement Officer Kenny Moreland and Tillamook Sheriff Sergeant Troy Jackson and removed their belongings from the property prior to the cleanup. Tillamook Police Chief Nick Troxel said that he had been extremely pleased with the process, from the interagency collaboration to officers’ hard work and the campers’ cooperation, and that he hoped to repeat the success at other campsites in the area. “I’m hoping that we’ll just continue to move north and help more people, because that’s truly the mission here is to help these folks,” Troxel said. “Like we do have compassion, we don’t want to put people in jail for this. That’s the hope is that we continue and I’m hoping that the partnership with the sheriff’s office will continue because we by ourselves don’t have the resources at the Tillamook Police Department to do this.” The camp in question had become a focus of public consternation in recent months after the neighboring post office was forced to close its lobby outside of business hours following repeated incidences of homeless residents defecating and using drugs in the lobby overnight. For Troxel, the tipping point came earlier this fall, when in quick succession one of the camp’s residents was bitten by a dog and an officer was forced to taze two dogs
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illamook County Clerk Christy Nyseth certified the county’s election results on December 2, confirming the success of the county’s emergency radio system bond question. While Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade is not due to certify statewide results until December 12, Republican State Representative Cyrus Javadi also still appeared on track to win reelection against Democrat challenger Andy Davis. Certified returns from Nyseth showed that 16,405 of Tillamook County’s 21,673 registered voters cast ballots in the November 5 election, representing a 75.7% turnout. The bond question seeking $24 million in taxpayer funding to support an upgrade to the county’s aging emergency radio system received 7,926 yes votes of 15,232 cast in the race, or 52.0%. Javadi received 54.9% of the votes counted in Tillamook County in the race against Davis and 52.1% across the entire district. United States Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici remaind on pace for an easy win over Republican challenger Bob Todd, having received 68.6% of the almost 352,000 votes across the district. Bonamici also won Tillamook County, but received just 49.1% of votes tallied, with Todd accounting for 47.8% of the total, and Libertarian Joe Christman 3.0%. At the top of the ticket, Tillamook County supported President-elect Donald Trump with 49.0% of voters casting their ballot for Trump and running mate J.D. Vance. Vice President Kamala Harris received 47.7% of the vote in the county, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr. garnered 1.5% and Jill Stein accounted for .7%. In races for the Tillamook County Peoples’ Utility District Board of Directors, Tamra Perman received 55.3% of the vote against 43.7% for Maile Rosa Samek in the race for subdivision one, while Lonnie Jenck won the three-way race for subdivision three, with 49.5% of the vote against 25.5% for Harry Hewitt and 24.1% for Justin Aufdermauer. Tillamook city council’s incumbents were all retained their seats, with Garrett Noffsinger, Nicholas Torres and Sylvia Schriber running unopposed and Brian Reynolds garnering 67.5% of the vote against 29.4% for challenger Richard Reidt. Bay City Mayor Liane Welch was unopposed in her race and Colin Jones, Tim Josi and Justin Howard were elected to three open seats on the council. Katie Findling was also unopposed in her bid to maintain the mayoralty of Garibaldi, while in a three-way contest for two open council seats, Cheryl Gierga and
Photo by Will Chappell
(Top) Smoke trickled from a fire as a final resident prepared to vacate the homeless camp north of the Tillamook Post Office before the cleanup on December 4.
Photo courtesy Tillamook Police Department
(Bottom) After the cleanup was complete, crews spread straw and grass seed on the property to prevent erosion and promote revegetation.
that attacked him while responding to a shots fired call. “I’m like man, this is really dangerous,” Troxel said. “This is a community safety issue and moreover a welfare issue, like we have to take action.” After consulting with City Manager Nathan George, Troxel See CLEANUP TO, Page A3
County commissioners award $1.7 million to NCRD for pool project WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
See ELECTION, Page A3
Tillamook’s Board of County Commissioners voted to award $1.7 million of transient lodging tax funding to the North County Recreation District on December 4, to aid in the completion of the district’s new pool facility. After multiple discussions with the district’s leadership in recent months, Commissioners Mary Faith Bell and Erin Skaar voted in favor of the grant, citing the project’s community support, large existing financial support and in-process status. Commissioner Doug Olson voted nay saying that while he would support a smaller award, the lack of decision-making process made him uncomfortable with the number approved. North County Recreation District
IN THIS ISSUE News Opinion Obituaries Sports Classifieds
A2-4 A5-6 A7-8 A9-12 A13-16
(NCRD) Board Chair Michael Howes and interim Executive Director Barbara McCann first reached out to commissioners in October and attended several work sessions with the commissioners in October and November to discuss the possibility of county funding for the pool project. The project, which will replace the North County Recreation District’s (NCRD) nearly century old pool in Nehalem, has received more than $16 million in support from numerous donors in the community as well as through a bond approved by district voters in 2020. However, cost escalations due to inflation have driven the project’s budget well over its initial estimate, leaving the district facing a $2.5 million gap to complete the pool facility with the installation of equipment, commission the new facility and decommission the old
facility. Construction crews are expected to complete the second phase of the project by January 15, at which point the facility’s interior will be finished. The next phase of the project, which will see the installation of pool equipment, will cost an estimated $1.7 million, is planned to begin in February and be complete by April, putting the facility on track for a June opening. However, the district has exhausted its previously secured funding and faced the prospect of demobilizing construction, which would have led to further cost escalations, if they could not show proof of funds to pay for the next phase by mid-December. With the county sitting on a $3 million surplus in funds from the tourist-supported transient lodging tax (TLT), Howes and McCann reached out to the board to request
the county’s support, kicking off a series of meetings. In the last meeting between the board and NCRD leadership on November 6, Skaar and Olson both voiced concerns about the award potentially being unequitable to other projects in the county, owing to the lack of process entailed by the district’s ad hoc request for a donation. Olson suggested that the county award $1 million to the project, in the form of a $500,000 lump sum and five $100,000 annual payments, while Skaar mentioned a $1.5-million grant with the same format. Bell concurred with the formatting of the donation but said she would support funding the project’s balance, citing past instances of the county making See NCRD TO, Page A3
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