Tillamook City Councilor pleads guilty to DUII Local election dates coming close

Staff

Two 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

Neah-Kah-Nie School Board names finalists for district superintendent

Aftercompleting 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.

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 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.