Cheesemaker baseball starts league play strong, softball struggles
Candidates participate in forum Page A2
Page A9
Headlight Herald
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 | Vol. 136, Issue 15
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Garibaldi manager responds
Rau terminated from TPD
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
E
Criteser has led the farmerowned cooperative since 2012. Under his leadership, the beloved regional heritage brand has been transformed into one of the largest, most respected and fastestgrowing dairy companies in the country. “Our vision of becoming a premium, multi-category, national dairy brand has been realized, and the cooperative is optimally positioned to thrive well into the future,” said Criteser. “I have accomplished what I hoped to achieve for the farmer-owners of this amazing cooperative, so I’ve
mbattled Garibaldi City Manager John Schempf responded to allegations of poor behavior and resume inconsistencies at a special city council meeting on April 2. Schempf defended his actions, arguing that the vendors who complained about him had been taking advantage of the city and were upset that he had stopped them from doing so. Schempf’s lawyer, Larry Linder, also attended the meeting and attacked the council’s handling of the potential termination. Following the meeting, the council was scheduled to make a final decision on Schempf’s future with the city on April 3, but postponed the decision until another special meeting on April 8. Schempf started the meeting by saying that when he had received a poor performance evaluation in the week leading up to the letter of potential termination he had been caught completely by surprise. Schempf said that he felt the termination saga had been triggered by the poor performance evaluation and that the other reasons being offered were pretextual. Schempf then moved into a lengthy defense of many of the actions outlined in the packet attached to his letter of potential termination. According to Schempf, the two letters criticizing his interpersonal style from the city’s IT and engineering contractors had been in response to him standing up for the city’s interests. Schempf said that the IT consultant had moved out of state and left the work to a local employee who had another full-time job. When Schempf complained about the lack of timely response to the city’s needs, he said that the company had made the decision to terminate the contract. In the case of Civil West, which handles many of the city’s engineering needs for infrastructure projects, Schempf said that he had saved the city some $150,000 by reducing the scope of a contract for work on fourth street. Schempf said that he believed both the emails of complaint had been in response to his performing his job duties and trying to save the city money. As for the inconsistencies in his resume, Schempf took responsibility for inaccuracies surrounding his tenure with Colfax, California, but pushed back on the other inconsistencies as minor and argued they would not have changed Garibaldi’s employment decision. Following Schempf’s statement, Linder argued that the council had
See TCCA, Page A6
See GARIBALDI, Page A8
COURTESY TILLAMOOK SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Raymond Rau’s booking photo WILL CHAPPELL
The exterior of the newly renovated Turnstone Commons Apartment Community, which will be opening in May.
Headlight Editor
F
ormer Tillamook Police Chief Raymond Rau pled no contest to one count of official misconduct in the first degree and one count of official misconduct in the second degree on April 3. Rau was sentenced to ten days in jail and three years’ bench probation and ordered to pay an $800-dollar compensatory fine to the city of Tillamook and surrender his law enforcement credentials. The City of Tillamook also terminated Rau’s employment, effective the same day as the hearing, ending eight months of administrative leave for Rau and announcing that the recruitment of a replacement will begin forthwith. “I now have a better understanding of what it feels like to be completely broken, completely and utterly broken,” Rau told the court at the hearing. “This I believe is a lesson and I’ve been humbled.” The hearing was held on the day that Rau’s trial had previously been scheduled to start before a plea deal was agreed to in March. Rau was charged with the two counts of misconduct and one count of theft in the second degree and one count of theft in the third degree in late August last year. The charges followed an audit by the Oregon State Police (OSP) in spring 2023 that revealed evidence in 83 cases, consisting mostly of drugs and drug paraphernalia, had been mishandled or tampered with. At the hearing, Rau pled no contest, telling the court that he had disposed of evidence in two or three cases in a misguided attempt to protect his underlings from exposure to dangerous substances. Rau pled ignorance to the source of the other instances of evidence corruption, blaming department policies and a subordinate for allowing them to happen and go undetected for months or years while he ran the department. The hearing started with Judge Cheryl Bachart reading the terms of the plea agreement, in which Rau agreed to plead guilty to the two counts of official misconduct. The defense and prosecution agreed that Rau would serve three years’ bench probation, surrender his certification See RAU, Page A8
TFCC prepares to open 30 apartments WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
T
he Tillamook Family Counseling Center is nearing completion on a project that will add 30 affordable apartments in Tillamook, following the conversion of the Kilchis House into the Turnstone Commons Apartment Community. The project carries a total price tag over $1.75 million and is being paid for with funding from the Oregon legislature that aims to help those with mental health
challenges find stabile housing. “We know that there are challenges for housing across the county and this provides an additional resource that addresses some of those challenges that certain populations may have,” said Tillamook Family Counseling Center (TFCC) Executive Director Frank Hanna-Williams. Work on the project began last year, after TFCC was awarded $1.75 million out of $100 million that was made available through Oregon House Bill 5202. The goal of that bill was to give fund-
ing to community mental health programs across the state so that they could add housing to their offerings. After receiving the funding, TFCC identified the then-vacant Kilchis House as a good candidate for affordable apartments. Built in 1995, the building was formerly home to a senior living facility operated by Tillamook’s Community Action Resource Enterprises. The property sold to TFCC for $1.4 million in February 2023 See TFCC, Page A7
TCCA awarding 10 scholarships T
he Tillamook County Creamery Association will be awarding ten scholarships worth $2,500 each to studentsin Tillamook and Morrow Counties as part of its Excellence in Leadership Scholarship Program. With the scholarship, the Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) aims to recognize outstanding students from all backgrounds who demonstrate leadership through service to their school and community, participation in extracurricular activities and scholastic achievement.
Applicants are required to live in Tillamook or Morrow Counties or to be the dependent of a TCCA farmerowner or employee. Current high school seniors, undergraduates and graduate students may apply for the scholarship, with a 3.0 grade point average required for all groups. Seniors must have been accepted to a two- or four-year college, university or technical school program as a full-time, degreeseeking student, while undergraduates must be enrolled in one of those programs. Graduate students need
to have completed an undergraduate degree and to be enrolled full-time in graduate studies. One scholarship is reserved for the child of a current TCCA farmerowner and one for the child of a current employee, while the remaining eight will be awarded to qualifying students with permanent residency in the counties. Applications to the scholarship open are due by April 15. More information as well as the application can be found at excellenceinleadership. paperform.co.
TCCA president announces plans to step down TCCA Board of Directors Announces Successor and Plans for a Smooth Transition of Leadership
Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) President & CEO Patrick Criteser today announced he will step down later this year.
Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) President & CEO Patrick Criteser today announced he will step down later this year. The TCCA Board of Directors has selected David Booth, TCCA’s current EVP of Brand Growth & Commercialization, to succeed Criteser as President & CEO, with Criteser’s endorsement, and in alignment with the organization’s long-standing succession plan.
Tillamook Beekeepers Assoc. is featuring
Headlight Herald
Bee Days 2024
• Honey products & plants for pollinators for sale • Educational workshops • Enter to win a Bee Hive
Cosponsored by Tillamook County Solid Waste
s ndor e V New affles R Food d o Go ts Plan
Citizen • Food by Pacific Restaurant April 20-21, Sat 9-4 & Sun 11-4 Still booking vendors! FREE ADMISSION • Monkey Business 101: Lots of berry plants & fruit trees, FREE ADMISSION & PARKING Bee Day 2022 503-842-7535 monkey puzzle trees Tillamook County Fairgrounds • Garden Witch Goods: Plant starts including decorative flowers to veggies headlightads@countrymedia.net Spring into Home & Garden Savings at the annual Home & Garden Show 20% off new & renewing subscriptions of the Headlight Herald North Coast
Saturday, April 30 9 am to 4 pm
Sunday, May 1 11 am to 4 pm
Tillamook Beekeepers Association is Presenting
at Tillamook County Fairgrounds
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