Marie Mills Taps New Leader
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Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2023
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
EXCLUSIVE
Throwdown for Education
ORIGINAL Special election will decide City of Tillamook Wards 2 & 5 results
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Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
esults from the November 2022 elections in Tillamook’s City Council Wards 2 and 5 were set aside on January 12, 2023, following errors in balloting in the initial race. Rebekah Hopkins will continue to represent ward 2, while ward 5’s seat on the council will remain vacant until the election can be contested again on March 14. Results from the November election indicated that incumbent Dean Crist had lost the ward 5 race to challenger Nick Torres by a twovote margin, while incumbent Hopkins beat challenger Paige Folkema by 24 votes. However, word of potential irregularities began to trickle out in the weeks following the election. By late November Tillamook County Clerk Tassi O’Neill told the Herald that she had identified at least one, two-person household that had received ballots for the incorrect city council race. Then, on December 19, two suits were filed in circuit court contesting the results of the election. Attorney Ross Day filed the suits on behalf of Sarah Dentel in Ward 2 and Sara O’Neil-Spellman in Ward 5. At the time, Day stressed to the Herald that he and his clients believed that the incorrect ballots were sent out mistakenly and were trying to remedy that error. On January 12, the sides lodged a settlement before Judge Mari Garric Trevino to set aside the results and hold the election again. In the judgement, O’Neill agreed that there were voters who should have received different ballots in both races and that the error was material to the outcome of the race. Oregon statute dictates that in cases of set-aside elections involving incumbents, the incumbent shall retain their seat until a new election is held if they won the set-aside election, but that the seat shall remain vacant if they lost. This means that Hopkins will retain her seat representing ward 2 until the May election, while the seat for ward 5 will remain vacant unless the council appoints someone to serve in the interim. The Tillamook County Board of Commissioners released a press release on January 13, detailing the facts of the case before concluding by saying a plan had been developed to address the discrepancies. “The Tillamook County Clerk’s Office has developed a plan to correct any address discrepancies prior to the special election,” the statement read. O’Neill declined to comment further. Please send any comments to headlightreporter@countrymedia. net.
EXCLUSIVE
City of ORIGINAL Tillamook named in $2.5 million suit
Contested races due to ballot errors
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VOL. 135, NO. 3 • $1.50
The first North Coast Throwdown Cornhole Tournament was a success as 30 teams converged at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds indoor arena to throw-down benefitting the Career - to - Career scholarship at TBCC. The event was hosted by the Tillamook Bay Community College Foundation. The tournament was a round-robin style with double elimination. There was plenty of food, beverages and fun. The Career-to-Career scholarship is a tuition scholarship available to qualified Tillamook County individuals. Students must have at least five years of work experience. As long as the student maintains his or her eligibility, Tillamook Bay Community College will award a tuition scholarship for the student to earn their first degree. This is an excellent opportunity for those returning to their education to complete a degree. Each student will work individually with the student services team through the application process. Applications are open each term. Headlight Herald photo by Joe Warren
Commissioners approve 5% pay raise for non-elected county employees A
Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
5% pay raise for Tillamook County employees was finalized in a series of votes by the Board of County Commissioners on January 11. The raise will apply to all non-elected county employees and was passed to help employees deal with the high rate of inflation. Funding for the pay increases is coming from money budgeted for positions that the county has been unable to fill. Commissioner Mary Faith Bell noted that most of the money was being redirected from funds allocated to pay for benefits for those empty positions. This means that the move will not preclude the county from filling those positions going forward, should candidates come forward. Commissioner David Yamamoto bemoaned the lack of applicants for positions and wondered where all the workers had gone. Commissioner Erin Skaar said that many mothers
who had stopped working during the pandemic had declined to return to work, baby boomers were retiring and the pandemic had inspired a surge in self-employment. Skaar said that these factors had combined to constrict the workforce, making employee retention crucial, hence the pay increase. The commissioners also proclaimed 2023 a “Year of Celebrating Adventist Health Tillamook.” This year marks Adventist’s 50th anniversary in the community and the commissioners all expressed deep gratitude for the work that the organization does. Skaar said that growing up in Eastern Oregon she had been forced to travel more than 40 miles for medical care and she especially appreciated Adventist’s proximity. Finally, the commissioners moved the date for the Sheriff’s property auction from January 31 to February 13. Please send any comments to headlightreporter@ countrymedia.net.
Tillamook Fire Chief ordered to rescind employment offer to firefighter EMT C
Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
ontroversy erupted at the Tillamook Fire District’s Board of Directors meeting on January 10, surrounding Chief Daron Bement’s hiring of a new firefighter EMT. Board members diverged in their remembrances of what they had cleared Bement to do regarding the hiring during a meeting on December 27, and by the end of the evening they directed Bement to rescind his employment offer. The drama started during the new business portion of the meeting when a letter from a concerned citizen was entered into the record. The letter writer was concerned that the department had hired a new Firefighter EMT in late December without going through an open search process. Instead, Bement had reached out to the second-choice candidate from the department’s spring 2022 search for a new training officer, who had
Tillamook Fire Chief Daron Bement. the qualifications for the new role. Board President Tim Hamburger said that Bement had asked for approval to make that move to expe-
dite the hiring process at the board’s meeting on December 27, and they had voted their approval. Director Leonard Ingles had a different memory of the night though. He said that in his recollection the board had approved space in the budget for the new Firefighter EMT position, but he did not remember any discussion of Bement making an immediate hire. Ingles said that he had heard from several volunteer firefighters who were displeased that they had not been given an opportunity to apply for the position and members of the public taken aback by the lack of an open hiring process. Director Chris Kell chimed in that she, like Ingles, did not remember approving the accelerated hiring plan. Director Allen Burris, who had been absent from the executive ses-
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Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
lawsuit seeking $2.5 million in damages from the City of Tillamook and several employees was filed in federal court in Portland on January 11. The suit alleges numerous, gendermotivated, discriminatory and retaliatory practices by the city government against former Tillamook Police Department Lieutenant Erica Bomar, whose employment was terminated in November 2021. “City Manager Nathan George has orchestrated this whole thing against these two women,” Randy Harvey, the attorney for Bomar and another former police department employee, Molly Folkema, said. Harvey said that he plans to file another suit on behalf of Folkema in the coming weeks, with similar allegations of discrimination and retaliation, as well as sexual harassment by a police officer. He expects to seek a similar amount in damages in that suit. In addition to the City of Tillamook, the already-filed suit names City Manager Nathan George, Police Chief Raymond Rau, Human Resources Manager Jamy Christensen and Lieutenant Nickalaus Troxel as defendants. The suit focuses on two separate issues: the alleged uneven treatment of Bomar in her termination and chronic underpayment relative to male subordinates. Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has issued findings on the claims, substantiating all Bomar’s allegations, as well as those levelled by Folkema in a separate report. The wage complaints arise from pay comparisons between Bomar and Troxel, who was a sergeant during Bomar’s time as lieutenant and replaced her as lieutenant upon her departure. Documentation provided to BOLI showed that Bomar earned $98,490.77 in her last year with the force, while her subordinate Troxel earned $99,294.11 in that same time period. When she was terminated, Troxel proceeded to make $62,554.22 in his first six months as Lieutenant. Bomar was the only female officer in the Tillamook Police Department during her tenure as lieutenant, as well as for most of her 20 years on the force. George attributed the discrepancy in Troxel’s pay as lieutenant to his departure from a union position necessitating the cashing out of accrued leave. “Lt. Troxel’s salary was and still is less than Lt. Bomar’s salary,” George said in an email to the Herald. In documents the city submitted to BOLI in response to Bomar’s initial complaint, the city points to Bomar’s non-union status and exemption from overtime as the source of Bomar’s frustrations. The documents also repeatedly state that Bomar made 8% more as lieutenant, than did Troxel as sergeant. Prior to becoming Lieutenant in 2020, Bomar had been a union employee, eligible for overtime. Upon receiving the promotion to lieutenant, which Bomar claims she did not want, Bomar left the Teamsters Union that represents Tillamook police officers. According to the city’s filings, that change of status also precluded Bomar from working overtime. However, Bomar was not informed of that fact until May 2021, when City Manager Nathan George
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