Candidates participate in forum

Candidates in the primary elections for various county and statewide offices made their pitch to voters at a forum hosted by the Pacific City-Nestucca Valley Chamber of Commerce on April 2.

During the forum hosted at the Kiawanda Community Center, candidates briefly introduced themselves to the assembled crowd before fielding questions.

The event started with the introduction of candidates who are running unopposed in their primaries. Incumbent Tillamook Sheriff Josh Brown and County Clerk Christy Nyseth, both introduced themselves to the crowd and discussed their commitment to their positions.

“I still very much believe that I have to work to earn your guys’ vote this year,” Brown said.

The two candidates for Tillamook County Tax Assessor, KaSandra Larson and Kari Fleisher, then took the stage. Larson has worked in the assessor’s office for 21 years and is currently the office’s chief deputy assessor. Fleisher also works in the assessor’s office, serving as commercial appraiser, and is a member of the Neah-Kah-Nie School District’s board of directors.

Candidates for state representative spoke next. Incumbent Cyrus Javadi was joined by Republican primary challenger Glen Gaither and Democrat Logan Laity, who is running unopposed in the May primary election.

Javadi, a practicing dentist in Tillamook, touted his membership on the housing, healthcare, and economic and small business committees in Salem and voiced his strong opposition for the habitat conservation plan (HCP) for state forests recently passed by the board of forestry.

Gaither is a retired corrections officer from Seaside, who also voiced his opposition to the HCP and said that he did not believe legislation recently passed to address the shortcomings of drug decriminalization went far enough. Gaither said that he favored going after gang members for dealing drugs and that there was not enough money for treatment in the state.

Laity, who ran against Javadi in 2022, runs a company that consults with government entities and is currently doing work with the Netarts Water District. Laity said that housing was the number one issue on the coast and that if he was elected, he would work to make sure that everybody who wants to live in the district is able to.

In response to a question, Javadi and Gaither both voiced their support for increasing school choice in Oregon, while Laity said that he had reserves about its impact on public schools.

Finally, the five candidates for the two open positions on Tillamook’s board of county commissioners spoke. Incumbent Erin Skaar, Jeff Spink and Bruce Lovelin are competing in the race for position one, while Paul Fournier and Darcy Jones are facing off for the open position two.

Skaar touted her more than two decades in nonprofit jobs in Tillamook County as well as accomplishments in her time on the board of commissioners. She said that was proud of her work addressing the county’s housing crisis and would continue to focus on that work, if reelected.

Spink briefly described his history in the automotive industry and said that he felt his lack of experience on government boards would allow him to bring a new perspective to the board.

Lovelin said that as the owner of Happy Camp Hideaway in Netarts he was sensitive to the types of issues that members of the chamber of commerce and voters in tourist-dependent Pacific City cared about.

Jones discussed his perspective as a business owner in south county and said that he would favor rezoning property in south county to promote housing development.

Fournier said that he had gained experience across the county during his career, which included stints with the sheriff’s office and as an EMT for Adventist Health, and that he would prioritize increasing county government revenues if elected.