Tillamook Air Museum Director steps down
Get running with Ultimook Youth Track Club
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Downtown business owners talk parking Page A3
Headlight Herald
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 | Vol. 138, Issue 20
$2.00
www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Guarcello hired as Tillamook superintendent; DA issues subpoenas for board briefed on bond projects sheriff, Will Chappell
whistleblower records
Headlight Editor
At their meeting on May 11, the Tillamook School District’s board of directors approved a three-year contract with Jennifer Guarcello, who has been serving as the district’s interim superintendent this school year. The board was also updated on progress on projects being paid for by a $23.35-million bond approved by voters last year, which are scheduled to begin this summer. Guarcello’s hiring as the district’s long-term superintendent came after she was appointed to the position late last summer following the resignation of Matt Ellis. Guarcello is a third-generation local of Tillamook, who graduated from Tillamook High School before attending Pacific University and beginning her teaching career with a decade in Colton and the Dalles. After starting a family, Guarcello moved back
Will Chappell
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Renderings of the new field house slated for Tillamook High School and new gymnasiums at East Elementary School and Tillamook Junior
See schools, Page A7 High School, all set to start construction this summer and open next fall.
DA responds to investigation report Will Chappell Headlight Editor
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Headlight Editor
ollowing last week’s story on the report regarding an investigation into complaints against her office in the Headlight Herald, Tillamook County District Attorney Aubrey Olson reached out to respond to the report’s findings. In an extended interview, Olson took issue with many of the findings, arguing that those complaining represented a small minority within the sheriff’s office and community partner organizations and chalking the difficulties in those relationships up to misunderstandings and a failure on their part to communicate expectations. Olson similarly contended that complaints from victims’ families or partner agencies’ advocates could be chalked up to unrealistic expectations of her office. Olson did acknowledge the shortcomings in several of her deputy district attorneys’ (DDA) trial preparations as related to preparing witnesses for testimony and said the issues were being addressed. As for her charging and pretrial release decisions, Olson defended her judgment on the former and argued that the latter had been necessary to impress the importance of timely report writing upon the sheriff’s office. Olson said that looking forward, she hoped that those with complaints would communicate them with her directly and representatives from the sheriff’s office and community partner agencies would be open to mending broken relationships. “I would just ask, you know, hopefully that those members, the sheriff and the people from his office and other community partners will be willing to come
to the table,” Olson said. “A lot of them I’ve been able to really work together with and a lot of our community partners and I value those relationships and so I will continue trying to do that.” Olson said that she was surprised in November of last year when she was summoned to an executive session at a board of county commissioners meeting and told that there were complaints into her office and offered no further information. Olson said that she had hoped to be involved in the investigatory process and disappointed that when she cooperated no information was shared with her. Olson said that the lack of communication and initiation of an investigation without adequate attempts to address issues with her has been the most disappointing part of the process. “That’s where I’ve been disappointed is that they, instead of communicating their expectations in us and being able to have a conversation about it, that they instead decided they didn’t feel comfortable with me, and I don’t know why that is,” Olson said. Regarding the report’s finding that her DDAs had been “incompetent” in their unwillingness to prepare witnesses for testimony at trial out of a fear of uncovering new information, Olson said that she had been surprised to learn of the issue in the report. “I was aware that my DDAs were cautious about talking to victims alone,” Olson said. “I was not aware that they weren’t even getting the witnesses or victims to tell them, you know, to at least answer those questions. That came as a surprise to me.” Olson said that given that the DDAs had more prosecutorial experience than her and after only hearing great feedback about their work from victims’ assistance and
seeing meetings with victims on the calendar, she had not thought it was necessary to observe their trial preparations. “I didn’t have a reason to go and sit in with them on their trial prep to see exactly how they did it,” Olson said. Now that she has learned of the issue, Olson said that she has instructed DDAs to bring somebody from victims’ services or a law enforcement agency with them for those meetings and to more thoroughly prepare witnesses. “We’re all trying to work together to be consistent and to ensure that we are thoroughly prepared for trial and to ensure that we’re not going to actually be surprised at the trial,” Olson said. As for changes to victims’ assistance, Olson said that she had been working to retool the office’s approach to victim’s assistance even before she entered office, as the previous model had seen one full-time employee overworked while several part-time employees were unreliable in their availability. Olson said that she had begun her restructuring by looking at what was legally required of the office in statute and by the grants from the federal government that support victims’ assistance positions. In going through those, she found that her office’s staff were required to provide access to services to victims, not the services themselves, meaning that in the case of accompanying victims to court, it was their responsibility to make sure that the court did not prevent victims having a supporter present. “They’re not required to actually be the person; they’re just supposed to make sure that they (victims) are allowed to have someone of their choosing,” Olson said, adding that if a victim requested a staffer accompany them to court, they would do everything
they could to accommodate. Olson said that she had also shifted the focus for victims’ assistance staff towards providing information about restitution payments and away from spending time listening to victims talk. Enforcing victims’ rights first “means we hound people about their restitution paperwork,” Olson said. “We will spend more time trying to track people down and get information that we need than maybe we spend on the phone with somebody who wants to tie up two hours of somebody’s time just venting to them.” When it came to her relationship with Sheriff Josh Brown, Olson acknowledged the longstanding issues but said that they had largely arisen because of miscommunicated expectations and misunderstandings. Olson said that tensions began when she tried to set boundaries about sheriff’s deputies visiting her office unannounced, saying that she felt Brown’s email responses had carried a “hostile” tone. Following a face-to-face meeting, Olson said that she had been optimistic that the relationship was on the right track, but that she did not believe that was true today. Matters escalated following Olson’s decision not to charge a crime in July 2023, when, in an incident cited as an example of retaliatory behavior by Olson, she responded to a request for a meeting by Brown with a date more than 50 days in the future. Olson defended that response, arguing that it was an incredibly busy time for her office, which was understaffed and handling a murder that had recently occurred in Cape Meares, leading to a crowded schedule. “Looking back on it, to be chastised See da responds, Page A2
n response to an investigation into complaints against her office, Tillamook County District Attorney Aubrey Olson has been fighting back in Tillamook County Circuit Court for the past several months. Olson first served the county with a notice of intent to file a tort claim in February, before ramping up her efforts in April by using subpoenas to attempt to access documents related to the investigation, as well as the whistleblower who initiated it and Tillamook County Sheriff Josh Brown. The county is vigorously contesting the latter subpoenas, with Ashley Cadotte, the lawyer representing the county in the case, arguing in a motion to quash that the subpoenas had been improperly obtained, as they are unrelated to a criminal investigation, in an attempt to retaliate against those who participated in the investigation. “DA (district attorney) Olson has failed to make a sufficient showing as to how the records sought are even relevant, let alone material See subpoenas, Page A2
Election Day is here Will Chappell
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Headlight Editor
oday is the final day for voters across Oregon to return their ballots for the May primary election, and in Tillamook County, residents are weighing in on a bevy of offices and a local fire district merger. Ballots must either be postmarked today or dropped in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. tonight, with election authorities recommending the latter option to ensure your vote is received on time. Tillamook County Commissioner Mary Faith Bell is running for a third term, pointing to her record of bolstering the county’s emergency preparedness and efforts to boost the local economy, against a challenge from Jeff Spink who hopes to use his business experience and new perspective to the county’s benefit. With State Senator Suzanne Weber ineligible to run for reelection, a crowded field is jockeying for a place in the November election to replace her representing District 16. On the Republican side, Clatsop County Commissioner Courtney Bangs has received Weber’s endorsement, and is up against Rockaway Beach businessman Tripp Dietrich and retired engineer Frank Mansfield. See Election, Page A4
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