Tillamook County Commissioner Erin Skaar is running for reelection to position one on the Tillamook County board of commissioners as her first term draws to a close.
In an interview with the Headlight Herald, Skaar highlighted her record promoting solutions to address the county’s housing and homelessness crises, saying that she believes projects currently under way will have noticeable impacts.
“There’s a lot of pieces in the works and this work will have to continue and grow but right now we’re probably in the worst of it in my mind,” Skaar said. “I think we’re right on the cusp of being able to make the progress once we have the shelter.”
Skaar was elected to the board of commissioners in 2020, moving to the role after serving as executive director of Community Action Resource Enterprises (CARE) in Tillamook.
Even before being elected to the board, Skaar was involved in the formation of the Tillamook County housing commission, work which she has continued as commissioner.
Since 2019, Skaar said that the county has added more than 100 units of affordable housing and 25 units of housing affordable to residents making between 60% and 120% of the area’s median income. There are also an additional 150 units of affordable and workforce housing in the works in the county, with a multi-family housing grant program supported by short-term rental license fees helping to partially fund further development.
Skaar also pointed to her work on the homelessness issue in the county as a point of pride, especially as the work has been accomplished using outside funding. This was made possible when the county was selected for a pilot program, through which it received $1 million in state funding to create a coordinated homelessness response system.
A committee was formed consisting of representatives from the county government and each of the cities therein as well as community partners addressing homelessness. The system is housed at CARE and work is underway on building a micro-shelter facility in downtown Tillamook that is set to open in the coming months.
According to Skaar, being selected for the pilot program and forming the committee has also paved the way for additional funding, with $1.25 million recently awarded for a services center to complement the micro-shelters.
“So, now when I leave office there is a whole new structure, if you will, for services for those experiencing homelessness,” Skaar said, “and that was done with outside funding so it didn’t cost the county money and in fact it added money.”
Skaar said that she believes the county is at a nadir in terms of the homelessness crisis but that improvement is on the horizon once the shelter opens, noting that law enforcement officials will then be able to cite people for sleeping on sidewalks.
“Is it going to suddenly just be fixed? No. Will it get better? Will there be more opportunities? 100% and we’ll continue to build on those opportunities,” Skaar said, mentioning the possibility of future shelters in north and south county.
Skaar also said that she felt there was a misperception in the community that she was unwilling to hold homeless residents accountable for crimes they commit. “If they’re engaging in criminal behavior, they’re a criminal and they need to be treated for that criminal behavior,” Skaar said. “I would never say, ‘just because they’re homeless you can’t hold them accountable.’”
When asked about contentions by her opponents in the election that the county is devoting too many resources to serving those experiencing homelessness, Skaar pushed back, arguing that other services haven’t been impacted. “I would love to know which services we’re not providing because the work that we have done focusing on homelessness has been done through community partners,” Skaar said. “It’s been work that we at the county supported, have advocated for but it’s not anything that has taken away from any services that we offer to our constituents.”
Skaar also pushed back on opponents’ complaints about inefficiencies at the county’s building department. She said that she had heard similar complaints when coming into the office, leading to the hiring of an outside consultant to review the office’s practices for possible improvements.
That consultant recommended that the county institute processes to allow for electronic submission of plans and permit applications, which they did, but found that otherwise the office was operating efficiently for the number of staff it had.
Skaar said that there was not room in the budget for more staff members and noted that Oregon’s land use regulations and geological and conservational concerns in Tillamook County complicated and slowed the review process.
“We’re doing everything we can, including bringing in experts to review our systems so that we can find out is there something that is being done in Portland or Lincoln City or somewhere else that we can implement to make it go faster here,” Skaar said. “And the answer was no.”
Another issue that has come to the fore in this year’s campaign is promoting economic development in the county and increasing the county’s revenues.
Skaar noted that she sits on the board of the Columbia Pacific Economic Development District, which has helped her to identify lack of housing, childcare and basic infrastructure as the greatest barriers to economic development on the north coast.
Skaar pointed to the previously discussed work on housing and said that the county is working with local business partners on solutions for the dearth of childcare. She also noted that the county had directed funding it received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to the City of Tillamook for a new wastewater management plan.
As for county revenues, Skaar sounded a less optimistic note, pointing to restrictions on the county government’s ability to implement new taxes or increase those that already exist.
Skaar mentioned that the board of county commissioners had recently began discussions about the possibility of increasing the county’s transient lodging tax (TLT) but said that it appeared they would need to seek voter approval for an increase. She said that she had reservations about an increase but ultimately believed that it would be necessary.
“Because we just did the short-term rental ordinance and the capping, I am slightly cautious about the increase of the TLT at this point. I think we have to do it; it’s the only tool that’s available to us, frankly,” Skaar said.
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