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Tuesday, June 17, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 24
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TLT Hundreds protest Trump in Tillamook reform moves M ahead in Salem No Kings Rally WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
ore than five hundred people gathered in downtown Tillamook on June 14, to join in a nationwide day of protest against Donald Trump and his administration at a No Kings rally. A handful of citizens organized by We the People Tillamook County participated in a simultaneous demonstration nearby, with organizer Tiffany Jacob saying that it was not a counterprotest but a celebration of Flag Day and Trump’s birthday. The No Kings rally was organized by Indivisible Tillamook County, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization that relies on citizen engagement to organize protests against Trump’s policy agenda, according to Don Backman, who helped organize the June 14 rally. On the day of the protest, citizens began arriving before the scheduled noon start time, checking in at Sue H. Elmore Park, where signs were available, and taking up positions on both sides of Highway 101 on the bridge over Hoquarton Slough up to First Street. Volunteers in safety vests escorted participants through crosswalks and Backman and other organizers circulated among the crowd, working to maintain a peaceful environment. Backman said that the message of the protest was very simple: no kings. “What we are having is a peaceful protest that just says no kings in the United States,” Backman said. “If you take a look at what’s happening in the United States right now, Donald Trump is basically making himself a king and he’s ignoring the courts, making arbitrary decisions, arresting people without probable cause and without
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percent of the total votes cast for and against the measure, in this case 18 votes. Tillamook County Election Board Members Joni Steel, Diane Colcord, Heidi Heidenreich and Barb Aufdermauer gathered at Nyseth’s office on the morning of June 11, for the recount, while former County Commissioner Doug Olson, who campaigned in support of the measure, and a representative from the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging association, which campaigned against the measure, observed. Nyseth said that the purpose of the recount was to validate the results from the tabulator, explaining that incorrectly marked ballots had already been reviewed by the board during the initial tabulation and corrected in line with Oregon’s state laws that allow corrections to match voter intent in instances where, for example, a ballot box had been checked or incompletely filled. “The recount is just that we’re going back and we’re doublechecking that the tabulator is correct,” Nyseth said. “And that’s the whole point of it, we’re verifying that the tabulated results are right, which usually happens.” To recount the votes, the board members went precinct by precinct, dividing the ballots between two two-person teams, before first counting the ballots to confirm they
ollowing four closed-door meetings with stakeholders in recent weeks, a bill to restructure the statutory restrictions on city and county spending of transient lodging tax dollars passed out of the house revenue committee on June 12, in Salem. Representative Cyrus Javadi, who has been pushing for a change to the tax throughout the session, said that he is hopeful that the latest proposal, which would allow cities and counties unrestricted control over 60% of transient lodging tax (TLT) funds, will move forward, though the situation is fluid. “I wish I could say that this was a done deal,” Javadi said, “but this is going to be a day-by-day type of situation.” Javadi’s attempts to reform the spending restrictions of House Bill 2267 that passed in 2003 and established the current regime for TLT spending have been ongoing since the beginning of this session. Javadi and leaders in counties that receive high levels of tourism argue that the current restrictions requiring 70% of funds from the TLT go towards tourism promotion or facilities leave jurisdictions without sufficient revenues to meet the cost of serving visitors, especially as it relates to emergency services. Initially, Javadi introduced two bills, one proposing a change in the percentage of funds restricted for tourism use from 70% to 50% and the other proposing a change to the definitions of tourism-related spending to add law enforcement and tourism facility maintenance in the allowed expenditures for the restricted funds. Both of those proposals fizzled and died in the general government committee early in the session, but Javadi continued his quest and in early May, Democratic Representative Jules Walters revived the discussion, dedicating one of her five priority bills to redefining the allowable uses of restricted TLT funds. From there, Javadi and other legislators convened a series of closeddoor meetings over the past month, bringing representatives from the Oregon Restaurant and Loging Association (ORLA), which opposes changes to the law, local destination management organizations that oversee tourism promotion and development for their areas, county commissioners, mayors and heads of local chambers of commerce together to discuss the proposal. Javadi said that during those meetings, ORLA’s representatives made it clear that while they did not support a change to the spending restrictions, they would prefer a change in the percentage of funds restricted as opposed to a change in how the funds could be spent. Javadi said that this was driven by a desire to give the destination
See TLT, Page A3
See REFORM, Page A3
Will Chappell/Headlight Herald
Protesters lined Highway 101 on the bridge over the Hoquarton Slough and up to its intersection with First Street on June 14, demonstrating against President Donald Trump. More rally day photos on page 2.
due process and trying to kick them out.” Protesters’ signs addressed a variety of concerns, including threatened cuts to public broadcasting and food banks, though most stuck closely to the no kings theme. Backman estimated that almost 400 people had arrived by 12:15 p.m., with more still waiting to sign in at the park, and organizers announced by megaphone that by the end of the protest more than 500 people had participated. A sister protest in Manzanita drew a crowd estimated at several hundred by one attendee. On the other side of Highway 101, a smaller group gathered at
Hoquarton Park and lined the west side of the highway’s southbound lanes with several American and Trump campaign flags. Jacob, a local organizer with We the People Tillamook County, stressed that the event was not a counter-protest, but a celebration of Flag Day and Trump’s 79th birthday. “Our perspective is we love America and we’re out here for Flag Day,” Jacob said. “We want to wave our flag proud. It’s also our president’s birthday, going to give a little bit of love there too.” When asked about the adjacent protest’s no kings messaging, Jacob pointed to the fact that Trump had
been duly elected, saying that he wasn’t a king. Jacob said that while she would like to see more cuts to the federal budget, she understood the pressures preventing them, and was happy overall with Trump’s actions since resuming office in January. “I am happy with how things are going,” Jacob said. “I would like to see our budget cut, but I understand that things have to go the way they are and I think DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) did a good job and I would like to have seen some follow through with the work they’ve done.”
Recount confirms TLT increase fails by 12 votes WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
our members of Tillamook County’s board of elections gathered at the county clerk’s office on June 11, for a hand recount of votes on Ballot Measure 29-183, seeking to raise Tillamook County’s transient lodging tax from 10% to 14%. After a process that lasted until noon on Wednesday, all 9,000 votes in the contest were recounted, confirming the results from the tabulator, allowing Tillamook County Clerk Christy Nyseth to certify the Will Chappell/Headlight Herald
Members of the Tillamook County Board of Elections counting ballots in the race for Measure 29-183 on June 12, with Tillamook County Clerk Christy Nyseth overseeing.
election, with the measure falling by a margin of 12 votes, with 5506 against and 4494 for. Measure 29-183 sought to increase Tillamook County’s transient lodging tax (TLT) rate from 10% to 14% and was advanced by county commissioners in response to a budget crunch in the county government. A concerted campaign was mounted against the proposed measure by members of the lodging industry, who argued that the increase would negatively impact their already-tight bottom lines. The vote on the measure was nip and tuck from the get-go, though
the no side always led, with 21 votes separating the responses in the first round of vote results released on election night. The margin shrunk from there, falling to 20 votes two days after the election and just 11 votes once all votes had been counted on May 29. After 22 voters with unverified or absent signatures corrected their ballots by June 10, the tabulator’s results stood at 5506 against and 4494 for. This margin fell within the threshold for an automatic recount, required by Oregon statute in any election on a ballot measure where the margin between yes and no votes is less than one fifth of one
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