EDITOR’S NOTE: With the open Tillamook County Board of Commissioners position due to Commissioner Yamamoto’s early retirement, the Pioneer has sent the finalists selected for the position our “Questions for the Finalists.” Even though community members won’t vote on who fills the seat and finishes the one year left in the term (County Commissioners Bell and Skaar will select the person to complete the term), we thought the community would like to get to know the finalists. The County Commissioners will host a Candidates Forum on October 12 from 5-8 p.m. at the PRI Building in Tillamook. A second forum on October 16, from 5-8 p.m., at Tillamook Community College, will be a panel interview conducted by the County Commissioners themselves. We know that not everyone will be able to attend (there are remote audio options available.)
We will post the answers from each finalist as we receive them.
Tillamook County – meet Jerry Keene
Are you planning to run for Commissioner in 2024, regardless of if you are selected?
I do not foresee running for election to a full term in 2024. Rob (my husband of 35 years) and I have been retired for over a decade, so an extended return to professional work would entail a major reworking of our life plan. That said, should the Commissioners choose to appoint an “interim”
Commissioner, I would readily undertake a year-long sabbatical from retirement to serve the people of Tillamook County for the balance of Commissioner Yamamoto’s term, undistracted by long-term ambitions or campaign considerations
Relevant experience, qualifications for position:
Here is a link to the Resume the county requested in support of my application for the BOCC vacancy. I am also including a link to my Letter of Interest which further describes the skills and experience I would bring to the position. Here is a streamlined list:
• Native Oregonian
• Univ. of Oregon (B.A.); Northwestern Univ. (law degree)
• Attorney licensed in Oregon and Washington (retired)
• 30 years of experience in state agency and legislative proceedings
• Member of Tillamook Co. STR Advisory Committee (6 years)
• Founder and Editor, The Oceansider newsletter (published countywide)
• Past President (5 years) and current Vice-President, Oceanside Neighborhood Assn.
• Treasurer/Member, Netarts-Oceanside Sanitary Dist. Board of Directors
• President, Oceanside Protection Society 501(c)(3) community foundation
What is your WHY – Why did you apply for this position?
The county asked us to address this in our applications. Here again is a link to my Letter of Interest with a full response. In a nutshell, since retiring from law practice more than a decade ago, I have developed a genuine interest in civic involvement: what an old political mentor once described as “that nagging urge to serve.” As President of our community association, I started out by working on what I thought were purely local concerns, such as contentious zoning disputes, inadequate neighborhood communications networks and short-term rental friction. As it turned out, my efforts to explore solutions for those concerns have consistently led to work on those same issues at a countywide level. I view the chance to address these issues on the BOCC as a natural extension of my previous civic involvement.
More importantly, it offers the chance to bring a seasoned local perspective to bear on countywide issues and concerns.
I also applied for this position to provide the Commissioners with at least one available and qualified candidate for an interim appointment in the event they decide that voters should choose from among the long-term candidates at the next election in 2024. My professional background, previous BOCC interactions, familiarity with county systems and established working relationships with county staff would reduce the time and training required for me to become an effective and productive interim Commissioner.
What do you see as the top 5 priorities for the Commissioners this next year?
The Board of Commissioners has retained the PSU Center for Public Service to assist them and their Leadership Team in developing a long-term strategic plan this year. I endorse that effort and hope that it would include the following priorities (not necessarily in order of importance):
1. Consolidate and implement the short-term rental reforms enacted by the BOCC this year, including their commitment to modify the new STR “caps” for individual communities based on local input.
2. Act upon County Treasurer Blanchard’s recent warning that state-imposed reductions in timber harvests and continued emphasis on short-term priorities will precipitate a deficit crisis in the near future.
3. Continue our nationally recognized efforts to expose the disastrous consequences to coastal communities if FEMA follows through on its proposed regulations to implement the “”Biological Opinion”.
4. Follow through on recent proposals to finally fund effective code enforcement in Tillamook County by adopting a county surcharge on the Transient Lodging Taxes paid by short-term rental visitors.
5. Double-down on successful efforts by the Department of Community Development and Housing Commission to jumpstart workforce housing projects
How should the county be addressing the mental health/substance use disorder crisis?
I wish I was confident about how much our small county can do to effectively address this societal crisis of national scope. We are still suffering the effects of drastic reductions in federal mental health treatment funding tracing to the 1980s, and federal court decisions have severely limited the measures local governments may employ to manage their homeless populations. Those problems became even more difficult to solve when Oregonians more recently voted to decriminalize most drug possession and end compulsory rehabilitation as a component of drug crime sentencing. The mix is daunting. In the short term, our best option is to continue to support the OUR Tillamook Coalition in its effort to design a comprehensive approach to the issue. I also support continuing the county’s current efforts to provide safe and humane alternatives to street camping. Finally, I would advocate careful, advance planning for how to best make use of funds the county is anticipated to receive from the proceeds of national class
actions and other litigation currently being prosecuted against manufacturers and marketers of addictive pain medications.
Commissioner Yamamoto has focused on specific issues – such as logging/forestry, the FEMA BiOp, and wind energy; what is your stance on the Oregon Dept. of Forestry’s Habitat Conversation Plan? Wind energy?
Commissioner Yamamoto’s singular focus on natural resource issues will be tough to replace.
Hopefully, he will remain available to counsel the BOCC on how best to build upon his efforts. As noted above, our county is already a nationally recognized leader in highlighting the calamitous impact of FEMA’s proposed “BiOp” rules. I would urge ongoing support for Community Development Director Sarah Absher’s pioneering work on that issue. I was disappointed with the State Board of Forestry’s recent decision to proceed with implementation of the Habitat Conservation Plan despite new forecasts an even more drastic impact on the timber revenues that Tillamook County relies on to fund essential services. While major policy changes from Salem are unlikely given the Legislature’s current makeup, elected officials from coastal counties must continue to press our case with key state legislators, the Governor’s office and agency heads. I committed to engaging in such outreach during my interviews with the Commissioners.
Housing continues to be a challenge in Tillamook County. The county is just completing a yearlong process of updating the STR ordinance, and is facing a lawsuit from STR owners over “caps”. What is your view of how the BOC has addressed housing and STRs?
I have served on the county Short Term Rental Advisory Committee since 2017 and played a role in crafting the new rules. Despite my personal reservations about some aspects, I believe the new ordinance generally reflects a thoughtful, creative and conscientious effort to balance property rights and livability concerns. I am also among those Tillamook County residents who are participating as “intervenors” in the current LUBA litigation to help defend the new ordinance against the legal challenges being pursued by aggrieved STR operators. There is more to do, however. In particular, I remain committed to tailoring the STR “caps” applicable to each community based on local input from the upcoming round of community meetings conducted by Director Absher. Finally, as noted earlier, I remain impressed with how the new county Housing Commission has progressed from an idea to a workforce funding resource that is making a real difference. That is an initiative worth continuing.
What is your vision for Tillamook County in the future?
In the long term, Tillamook County’s future depends on breaking free of our reliance on the two T’s (Tourism and Timber) to fund the bulk of our county services and infrastructure. Given the state’s tenacious focus on conservation, our county’s timber revenue will inevitably spiral downward. Tourism revenue cannot make up the difference and, in any event, would entail development that is at odds with our livability values. In my view, we have put more than enough effort into describing our dilemma and should be preparing to actually manage the impending socio-economic developments that might break us out of this doom cycle.
Nationally, employers, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are increasingly looking to relocate. This is a logical response to (1) increasingly destructive weather patterns, (2) post-pandemic interest in decentralized workplaces or “working from home” and (3) a decline in the livability of many urban areas – especially in Portland. Viewed in that light, Tillamook County will increasingly be a target of such relocation interest. We are a sparsely populated and minimally developed county that features ample buildable land, reasonable land use regulations, minimum business regulation, a mild climate, unmatched natural beauty/recreational opportunities, a quality school system and convenient access to urban amenities in the Valley. We are also currently engaged in a robust, federally-funded initiative to expand broadband access throughout the county. These features read like a shopping list for 21st century businesses and entrepreneurs who, thanks to technological advances, are finding it both desirable and feasible to relocate their operations. Our challenge is to proactively plan how we can attract and facilitate such new development (and the significant revenue it will bring) while managing it in ways that does not undermine the very quality of life that makes Tillamook County such a magical place to live and work.