Charity Drive begins Feb. 10 See full schedule of events on page 8
Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2023
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
Charity Drive starts Feb. 10 with hopes of raising $200K T
Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
illamook High School’s annual Charity Drive will be taking place from February 10th to 20th, with a wide variety of opportunities across the community to support students’ fundraising efforts. This year marks the 70th for the tradition, and students will surpass $4 million raised over that period, with donations this year supporting Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and local projects. “It’s just really cool to see how much the community gets together during this time period and has some fun,” said Berniece Harris, a senior at THS and one of the four student chairs in charge of organizing the drive. Harris is joined by fellow senior Gabriella Garcia and juniors Peyton Rawe and Shayla Hillstrom in chairing this year’s drive. The four are excited for the packed schedule of events that should raise around $200,000, as it has in past years, through an intergrade competition that the juniors won last year. Students raise funds through a variety of initiatives, including takeovers of local restaurants, pop can and scrap metal collections, an online auction, a princess-for-a-day event for young girls, a cornhole tournament, sales of take-and-bake goods and Valentine’s Day grams, among many others. “Being able to raise upwards of $200,000 in 10 days, that’s pretty incredible,” Rawe said, “we have a lot of things to give to our community for that.” Half of the funds raised each year are donated to Doernbecher Chil-
dren’s Hospital in Portland. Of the other half, 20% go towards scholarships for THS graduates, while 80% goes towards local grants. A committee, including the two senior chairs, decides on grant recipients from applications received in April. Last year, the grant was awarded to the Tillamook Senior Center for a remodel of their kitchen. In addition to the philanthropic efforts, the drive’s schedule also features a bevy of activities for students and members of the community to have a good time. Harris said that she was particularly excited for the Mr. THS show, which will feature 34 contestants vying for the title in a skills competition on February 12 at 7 p.m. “It’ll be a really cool opportunity for them to show off their talents and what they’ve been working on,” Harris said. “They’ve been working really hard.” Garcia highlighted the “stud muffin” volleyball tournament that will pit teams of boys from each of the classes against each other as well as a squad of staff and one from the YMCA. Rawe said she was looking forward to the hungry hippo tournament. Inspired by a social media trend, the tournament will see competitors mount scooters and attempt to corral balls in laundry baskets in an homage to the children’s game. The People’s Utility District and Fire Department are both fielding teams for the February 16 event. Each of those events, as well as the home basketball matchup against Seaside on February 11, will feature concessions stands staffed by students, which will bolster fundraising efforts.
County approves $80K for workforce housing project in downtown Tillamook
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Tillamook High School’s annual Charity Drive will be taking place from February 10 — 20, with a wide variety of opportunities across the community to support students’ fundraising efforts. Donkey Basketball, always a crowd pleaser is being replaced this year by a variation of Hungry Hippo. See the full Charity Drive schedule on page 8. Headlight Herald file photo. This year’s restaurant takeovers will be happening at The Fern Cafe, The Schooner Restaurant and Lounge, Nani Papa’a Hawaiian Food Truck and the Pacific Restaurant. Each class hosts one of the events, purchasing supplies for the restaurant for the day, staffing the restaurant outside of the kitchen and adding the proceeds to their total for the drive. The drive is capped by the alumni basketball game on February 20, which also features the coronation of a prince and princess who
announce the results of the drive. The chairs all said that Charity Drive was one of their favorite times of the year and they appreciated the community support and involvement. “It’s just a different feeling during charity drive week,” Rawe said. “Even when I was younger, I remember being so excited to go to all the events and now being on this side of it, Im think it’s more fun.” Please send any comments to headlightreporter@countrymedia. net.
School Board on track in superintendent search Compensation package of $195K to $225K approved
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Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
he Tillamook School Board approved a timeline, search criteria and salary range for the recruitment of a new superintendent for the district on January 31. Those decisions brought the first stage of the search process to a close, and the application period will open shortly. Robyn Bean and Kathleen Rodden-Nord from Human Capital Enterprises, the firm facilitating the search for a new superintendent, shared the results of public feedback with the board and detailed their recommendations for the timeline, criteria and salary range. Human Capital Enterprises gathered feedback from 187 members of the community throughout January, at focus groups, through an online survey and in one-onone interviews with the board. 60% of the respondents were parents or concerned citizens, 35% were teachers and 5% were students. In their feedback, community members shared with Human Capital the positive programs and aspects of the district that would help attract a candidate, as well as some potential hang-ups. The district’s dual language program, workforce and university preparedness initiatives, extracurricular programs, staff and solid financial footing were identified as assets in the recruitment.
Questions swirling around the sudden departure of the last superintendent, difficulties hiring teachers and community distrust of the district’s board were mentioned as possible complicating factors. Human Capital also solicited public input on desired areas of improvement, with test scores and rising hunger and homelessness in the student body mentioned as areas of concern. This feedback was used to develop a list of 11 criteria to guide the search for a new superintendent. The top four priorities identified were finding someone who has a bold vision for increasing academic achievement, an understanding of the rural perspective and track record of bringing people together,
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outstanding communication skills and integrity. The board unanimously voted to approve the list, which will now be used during the search process to guide decisionmaking. Directors also approved a timeline for the recruitment process that will see applications open from February 6 until March 20. The selection process that will follow is scheduled to lead to the announcement of a new superintendent on May 1. Finally, the board discussed a pay range for the new position to be included on job listings. A survey of the compensation packages of superintendents of ten similarly sized districts in Oregon revealed that they are earning between $169,000 and $208,000 this year when all benefits were
considered. The survey recommended that the district advertise their position with a total compensation package between $195,000 and $225,000. Members of the board discussed this figure, noting that while it might sound like a large figure, the job was a difficult one for which there were high expectations. They said that they wanted to be competitive in the hiring process and sought assurances that the figure was attractive. Both Bean and Interim Superintendent Jim Mabbott assured the directors that the number would be competitive when compared to other districts of the same size. Bean also said that the range was not final and the board could revisit it at a future date if there was a candidate that they felt warranted it. Satisfied with these answers, the board directed Bean to advertise the position with that pay range before adjourning. Please send any comments to headlightreporter@countrymedia. net.
Opening in your neighborhood February 27
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“Switching to 1st Security Bank was one of the best financial decisions we’ve made.” Supriya Jayadev, Executive Director, Clallam Mosaic
Will Chappell Headlight Reporter
illamook’s Board of County Commissioners approved an $80,000 grant for workforce housing at their February 1 meeting. The multifamily housing grant is the second awarded by the commissioners in 2023 and will help in the construction of four apartments above the Oregon Coast Dance Center in downtown Tillamook. Lisa Greiner, the owner of the Oregon Coast Dance Center as well as the building that houses it on Main Street, has been working to bring the project to fruition since 2019. The $80,000 from the county constitutes just part of the almost half million dollars in grant funding which Greiner has received for the project. Commissioner Erin Skaar explained that the funding for the grant came in equal parts from American Recovery Plan Act and the county’s short-term rental license operator fee. Skaar said that the fee was assessed to short-term rental properties in addition to the cost of the application for the license. 25% of the fee is earmarked for public safety with the remainder going towards housing. The new development will include three two-bedroom apartments of approximately 1,000 square feet and a 700-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment, with planned completion this spring. To qualify for the grant, Greiner has agreed to offer the apartments at rents affordable to renters making between 80% and 120% of the area’s median income for 20 years. Zac Mallon, Coordinator of the Lower Nehalem Watershed Council, then delivered a presentation on his group’s work to the board. The council manages projects to maintain the lower Nehalem’s watershed, with a special focus on fish passage. Mallon shared several projects that the council has completed recently, including riparian plantings along several riverbanks and the replacement of a culvert with a bridge over Coal Creek. He also told commissioners that he has been working to increase cooperation between his council and the councils representing other watersheds in the area. David McCall, Solid Waste Program Manager, delivered a follow up on a complaint regarding a property on East Beavercreek Road that the commissioners heard in December. The south county property had come to county officials’ attention after the resident amassed several hundred used tires around the property. After ignoring repeated requests to remediate the issue from other officials, the man agreed to comply with commissioners’ order that he remove the tires within thirty days. McCall said that when he visited the property in the last week of January many tires had been placed into a dumpster provided by the county. However, when he returned the day before the meeting, the dumpster had not been emptied and the situa-
n See COUNTY, Page A3