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Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2023
Down to three ...
Local election Neah-Kah-Nie School Board names dates finalists for district superintendent coming A close Kristi Mills
Tillamook City Council Special Election and County Special Districts deadlines loom
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Staff
wo important local election dates are coming up. The first date is Feb. 14, election day for a City of Tillamook Special Election to determine the winner of Ward 2 and Ward 5 city council race. The special election is the result of a ballot error on those two wards and a lawsuit that followed contesting the election back in Nov. of last year. City Council Wards 2 and 5 results were set aside on January 12, 2023, following errors in balloting in the initial race. Rebekah Hopkins continued to represent ward 2, while ward 5’s seat on the council remained 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 a glance: March 2023 3rd Certification Test of the Ballot Counting Machine 9th Last day to mail ballots 14th Election Day April 2023 10th Last day to certify election results The Elections office in the Tillamook County Courthouse will be
n See ELECTION, Page A3
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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
Martin Macias
and her administrative credentials from Portland State University.
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 Education with Bilingual Cross-cultural Emphasis from California State University, Chico and his administrative credentials from Chapman University.
Tyler Reed Dr. Reed has been the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment with the Tillamook School District since 2022. Prior to that he
Tyler Reed
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.
Commissioners requesting federal funds for county projects T
Will Chappell Headlight 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
Tillamook City Councilor pleads guilty to DUII
upgrades, $3 million for Kiwanda Corridor projects and $3.5 million for continuing work upgrading fiber broadband connectivity in the south of the county. Commissioners also approved a request for state funding to the Shiloh Levee Project, which will cost a total of $4.6 million and could be completed by the end of 2024 should funding from both sources materialize. They also signed letters of support for a further five projects that are in the county or connected to it but which are being administered by other organizations. The Salmon Superhighway project that aims to increase salmon passage in the Tillamook and Nestucca Bay watersheds is requesting funds to aid in that effort. Tillamook’s Community Action Resource Enterprises is applying for funds to build a new homeless services navigation center in their lobby in Tillamook. Tillamook’s YMCA would like to purchase the Tillamook Bowling Lanes, with the goal of converting half of the center into a free,
John Sandusky
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illamook City Councilor John Sandusky pled guilty to one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants on February 13, 2023, in Judge Mari Trevino’s courtroom. Sandusky was sentenced to two years’ probation and a year-long driver’s license suspension, while being ordered to pay a $1,255 fine to the court. “I was foolish and wrong to drive under the influence of alcohol,” Sandusky said in an email to the Headlight Herald. The incident which led to Sandusky’s DUII charge took place on or about November 18, 2022, and marked the second time that Sandusky was caught driving intoxicated in Tillamook County. Sandusky was charged with DUII in 2007 and took part in a diversionary program, after which the case was dismissed. The terms of Sandusky’s probation prohibit him from drinking alcohol or entering bars or other establishments selling alcohol and require him to complete 80 hours of community service. Sandusky has been serving as representative for Tillamook’s Ward 4 since he was appointed to the vacant seat in December 2020. He ran unopposed for election to the seat in the November 2022 general election, extending his term until the end of 2026. Sandusky is a social science instructor at Tillamook Bay Community college, where he has worked for more than 30 years and where he won the Teaching Excellence of the Year Award for the 2021-2022 school year. “I would like people to know that there was no collision, no one was hurt, no car was damaged, and I am complying with the law,” Sandusky said. Please send any comments to headlightreporter@countrymedia. net.
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