Almanac Business and Community Resource Guide
Tillamook County 2023
Almanac Magazine Inside
Our Time • 2015 Our Time Spring 2023 •• 1 1
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2023
Our Time Special Section Inside
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Cultural and regional events coming up this spring
Christine Coiteux, owner of Likely Finds Antique Boutique
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Citizen West Elliott Boutique
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Kristy Lombard Pottery
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March 9, 2023
Narrowing the search
Juliet Hyams
Former City Manager files suit against City Neah-Kah-Nie School Board names of Garibaldi finalists for district superintendent Will Chappell
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Reporter
lawsuit seeking $1 million was filed against the City of Garibaldi in Tillamook County Circuit Court on February 16, by former City Manager Juliet Hyams. The suit alleges that Hyams was subjected to retaliation for whistleblowing and was the target of a public campaign by former Mayor and City Councilor Judy Riggs that led her to resign as city manager in July 2022. The city had received a letter of intent to sue in October of last year, as well as a demand letter seeking $300,000 in late November. Hyams began working for the City of Garibaldi in June 2021 and became aware of issues with the city’s financial reporting from the tenure of her predecessor, Geoff Wullschlager. At the time, Garibaldi was out of date on financial audits by two years, with 2019 being the last completed audit. The suit alleges that when Hyams began trying to address the financial issues, she met with stiff resistance and hostility from Riggs. Riggs had been mayor between 2019 and the beginning of 2021 when the financial issues arose and was a city councilor during Hyams’s tenure. Riggs began attacking Hyams’s job performance starting in December 2021, falsely accusing her of making unauthorized purchases, exceeding her spending authority and failing to complete financial reports, according to the suit. The suit says this treatment by Riggs continued through the first half of 2022, as she repeatedly made comments about Hyams’s performance at meetings where it was not on the agenda. These actions by Riggs are described in the suit as “a coordinated effort with others to undermine the plaintiff’s credibility and authority,” which led to Hyams’s resignation in July 2022. Hyams claims that the city is liable for the actions of Riggs as she served on the council and other members declined to push back against the false statements made by Riggs. Current Garibaldi Mayor Tim Hall declined to comment on the pending litigation, as did interim City Manager Jay Marugg. Hyams is seeking $500,000 in economic damages to compensate for lost wages and a further $500,000 for “humiliation, emotional distress and the
n See SUIT, Page A3
Kristi Mills
Martin Macias
Tyler Reed
fter completing a multi-state search, the Neah-Kah-Nie school board of directors is pleased to announce that three finalists have been selected for further consideration to be the next superintendent for the Neah-Kah-Nie School District. The three selected finalists are: Kristi Mills, Martín Macías, and Tyler Reed. Kristi Mills Ms. Mills has been with the Neah-Kah-Nie school district since 2002. She currently is the principal of Nehalem Elementary School and has served as principal at NeahKah-Nie High School. Prior to that she was a 6th grade teacher and took special assignment in behavior management at the Tigard-Tualain School District for six years. Ms. Mills earned both her Master’s Degree in Education Administration and her administrative credentials from Portland State University.
cation with Bilingual Cross-cultural Emphasis from California State University, Chico and his administrative credentials from Chapman University.
Meet the Candidates
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Martín Macías Mr. Macías has been the superintendent of Golden Plains School District since 2015. Prior to that he was the Director of English Learner Support at the Stanislaus County Office of Education. Mr. Macías earned his master’s degree in Edu-
Tyler Reed Dr. Reed has been the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment with the Tillamook School District since 2022. Prior to that he was a middle school principal with the Beebe School District in Arkansas. Dr. Reed earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in Education Leadership Arkansas Tech University. The school board will begin background and reference checks for the finalists over the next week. Each finalist will be invited for a “day in the district” on March 10th in Neah-Kah-Nie School District. At that time, staff and members of the community will have an opportunity to meet the candidates. The staff and community “meet and greets” will be held in the afternoon and evening, the time and location will be announced soon. Comment cards will be provided for participants to share thoughts with the school board after the event.
The superintendent candidate community forum meetings will be held on Friday, March 10, in the new board room at the district office, 504 N. Third Avenue, Rockaway Beach. The entrance is located across from the playground on the west side of the district office property. Staff and community members will be given a 3x5 index card on which to write their question along with a rating sheet. The questions will be given to Vince Adams, Search Consultant with Oregon School Boards Association. Mr. Adams will facilitate the question and answer session. At the end of the question and answer period the rating sheets will be returned to Mr. Adams. The time of these community forum meetings are as follows: • Martin Macias, 5:40 p.m. 6:20 p.m. • Tyler Reed, 6:20 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. • Kristi Mills, 7:00 p.m. – 7:40 p.m. These community forum meeting are in person only meetings.
Commissioners requesting federal funds for county projects Will Chappell
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Reporter
illamook’s Board of County Commissioners got the ball rolling on federal funding requests for a wide variety of projects across the county at their meeting on March 1, 2023. They also declared February “Problem Gambling Awareness Month” in Tillamook County and approved health contracts to support county residents. Janeane Krongos, Tillamook Family Counseling Center’s Prevention Specialist, told commissioners that according to the Oregon Health Authority around 84,000 Oregonians struggle with problem gambling. Problem gambling is defined as any gambling that disrupts or damages a person’s life, whether it be
their own mental health, interpersonal relationships with family and friends, or professional pursuits. Krongos said that the problem receives less attention than addiction to substances but that the repercussions of problem gambling could be just as severe. Commissioners approved two contracts for outside companies to provide supplemental service to the work done by the county’s health department. InSight Medical Group will be providing a licensed clinical social worker to the county at a rate of $100 an hour for 24 hours a week. The worker will provide services via telehealth and is contracted for a year. Synergy Health will be facilitating the services of a nutritionist who will help women, infants and children in the county for around 10
hours every week. Health and Human Services Administrator Marlene Putman said that the outside help was necessary due to staffing challenges faced by the county. The bulk of the meeting was concerned with approving nine requests for congressionally directed funding. This annual process identifies projects around the country for which local communities would like to see federal funding. County Commissioners identified four projects in the county’s purview for federal funding, requesting $2.3 million for the Shiloh Levee Project, $3 million in conjunction with the City of Tillamook for wastewater collection and treatment upgrades, $3 million for Kiwanda Corridor projects and $3.5
n See County, Page 3
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Nehalem Bay Health Dist. refers proposed bond measure to voters N
ehalem Bay Health District Refers Proposed Bond Measure for Health and Senior Services Tillamook County Ballot Measure #29-175 The Nehalem Bay Health District is implementing a comprehensive plan aimed at improving health and senior care and supporting health care and other essential workers. Plan implementation includes a proposed bond measure to be placed on the May 16, 2023 ballot that would partly finance: • Construction of a new, modern health center and pharmacy large enough to offer specialty and dental care • Major renovations and modernizations to the Nehalem Valley Care Center, one of the few skilled nursing facilities on the Oregon coast • Site preparation as a critical step in developing workforce housing, primarily geared for health care workers and other essential workers in our community The overall cost of these projects is estimated to be $15.5 million. If passed, the bond measure would raise $10.25 million. Thanks to Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden the health district has already secured $3 million toward the construction cost of the new health center and pharmacy. An additional $500,000 federal grant has been awarded to the Nehalem Bay Health Center and Pharmacy that can be applied to the construction cost. The District is actively seeking state government support, as well as foundation and private contributions to complete the full funding package. If the measure passes, bonds would mature in 26 years or less from the date of issuance and may be issued in one or more series. The annual average tax rate is estimated to be $0.37 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value. For illustration, a property with an assessed value of $300,000, and an annual average tax rate of $0.37 per $1000 of assessed value, may experience an increased tax of $170.00 annually, or approximately $0.46 per day. Actual rates may vary based upon interest rates incurred and changes in taxable assessed value. The projected tax cost for the measure is an estimate only, based on the best information available from the county assessor at the time of the estimate. Depending upon the success of foundation and other funding opportunities, the District may not need to levy the full amount requested in the bond measure. More detail on the plan • The proposed project would help preserve 75 to 80 current local health care related jobs at the Care Center and current clinic • If the bond measure passes, the new health center and pharmacy facility would be located on a 1.3 acre site in Wheeler, adjacent to Highway 101 and Hospital Road.
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