Headlight Herald
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2023
TILLAMOOK, OREGON • WWW.TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM
VOL. 135, NO. 44 • $1.50
For two night only the Kilchis River Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze was haunted. The night brought out those seeking a fright. Local haunters roamed the corn maze scaring all those who dared to enter. A portion of the profits were donated to Titans Outdoor ‘Lil Titans’ youth hunting program. PHOTOS BY CHELSEA YARNELL
Yamamoto discusses Golden Eagle apartments commissionership celebrate major upgrade and and retirement continued affordability
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
T
illamook County Commissioner David Yamamoto announced his plan to retire from his position at the end of 2023, a year before the end of his term, at the beginning of August. Yamamoto has served as a county commissioner since 2017, focusing particularly on natural resource issues in the county, and said that while he loves his job, distance from his wife and a desire to travel before they are infirm led to the decision to step down. “I love my job, I love what I do,” Yamamoto said. “But there comes a time when everyone has to come to a realization that you’re not indestructible, you can’t do this forever. It is time for me, it is. It was honestly the most difficult decision that I’ve ever made.” Yamamoto was born in 1953, in Selma, California, a town in the central valley about 20 miles south of Fresno. Yamamoto’s family owned a grape farm and he started working there when he was 11 years old. Yamamoto attended Fresno State University and began his career in the area, where he met his wife Terry, whom he married in 1987. His wife had a young son when they married and the couple now have two grandchildren in the Sacramento area. Initially, Yamamoto worked in the timber industry before later working as a long-term care insurance specialist and real estate agent. In 2006, Yamamoto and his family moved from the Fresno area to Portland and Yamamoto and his wife quickly began looking for lots
to build a retirement home on the Oregon coast. In his job as a long-term insurance specialist, Yamamoto covered a large territory across Oregon and would take drives to look at properties for sale whenever his work brought him to the coast. He found a lot in Pacific City Heights whose ocean view attracted him, and after bringing his wife for an inspection, the couple brought the property. Yamamoto says that even before building a house on the property they were blown away by the friendliness of the neighbors, which helped to speed up their planned timeline for moving. “We just owned a lot in Pacific City Heights and yet we were invited to all the Christmas parties and the summer picnics and all that and we just decided, people are so friendly, why are we waiting,” Yamamoto said. “So, we made the move and here I am.” Construction of the Yamamotos’ home took place in 2009 and 2010, and by 2012 the couple were fulltime residents. After moving, Yamamoto started to become engaged in various county government and nonprofit boards, councils and committees across the county. The first group that Yamamoto joined was the Tillamook County Futures Council, which introduced him to the county commissioners at the time as well as Shirley Kalkhoven, of Nehalem, who became his mentor. With Kalkhoven’s encouragement and guidance, Yamamoto went on to join the board of Tillamook Lightwave and had a hand in the formation of the Tillamook Working Lands and Waters Cooperative, one of his proudest achievements. Yamamoto first dipped his toe SEE YAMAMOTO PAGE A4
WILL CHAPPELL Headlight Editor
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esidents of the Golden Eagle II apartments in Tillamook gathered with members of the project team to celebrate their recently completed work at the apartments and cut the ribbon on the renovations on October 19. The $11-million purchase and restoration of 33 units in the complex by Northwest Coastal Housing guarantees that the apartments will continue to offer affordable housing to Tillamook residents, with a particular focus on housing seniors. “We’re really grateful to have been a part of this wonderful, thoughtful, caring process,” said Sheila Stiley, Executive Director of Northwest Coastal Housing. “I really believe in the people; this is about the people because without them it’s just apartments.” The saga began when the original owners of the complex that contains the Golden Eagle II apartments began selling off portions of the development. The development has entrances on Sixth and Ninth Streets in Tillamook and apartments had been offered at rates affordable to residents making 60% of the area’s median income since its construction in the 1970s, thanks to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing supporive loans. As parts of the development began to sell last decade, new owners renovated and converted the apartments to market rate rentals. In 2016, residents of 32 apartments received notice that their landlord was applying for a release from loan restrictions that kept their rents affordable in advance of a sale. Fearing for their housing security, residents called Erin Skaar, then the director of
Kitty’s Food & Spirits
Community Action Resource Enterprises (CARE) and began a legal fight to keep their affordable accommodation. The residents filed suit against the USDA, forcing them to follow the statutory process, which called for a sixmonth window when nonprofit organizations would have an opportunity to purchase the units and continue their affordable operation. An initial attempt by the Network of Oregon Affordable Housing (NOAH) to purchase the apartments fell through, at which point Stiley and Northwest Coastal Housing stepped in. Stiley said that representatives from the Oregon Housing Development Center (HDC) reached out to her about the opportunity and asked that she and her board consider becoming involved. Northwest Coastal Housing, which owns more than 200 units of affordable housing in Lincoln County, had already been interested in expanding its footprint to other coastal counties. Stiley was quickly convinced by a visit to Golden Eagle II that it was an excellent opportunity for that expansion. “This property may be little but it’s important,” Stiley said she remembered thinking when she first visited, “these folks are a representation of community.” The group at Northwest Coastal Housing quickly made an offer on the property, which was accepted, and began working on a funding package to support the purchase. They were helped in the effort by a group of companies and nonprofits that had already coalesced around the project including CARE inc, NOAH, HDC, the Tillamook County Housing Task Force, Carleton Hart Architecture and Enterprise Community Partners. The first attempt at building
a funding package fell through in 2020, but Stiley and her team persisted and secured a $1.75-million loan from the USDA’s rural housing program, that will be paid back over a 30-year term at a 1% annual interest rate. But for Stiley and Northwest Coastal Housing, that was just the start, and focus quickly shifted towards improving the aging property. Partnering with BDA Architecture and Planning and LMC Construction, Northwest Coastal Housing was able to put together a package of tax credits and other funding to undertake an $8.7-million remodel. Work began in March of this year and was comprised of completely redoing the buildings’ exteriors, replacing flooring, windows and appliances in all the units, rehabilitating and raising the complex’s sidewalks and adding a 33rd unit next to the property’s laundry room. Construction was staged so that buildings were affected one at a time for five-week periods. Shiloh Inn and Prestige Senior Living housed residents during their temporary relocations, while some were able to stay with family members. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 19, a group of residents gathered in the complex’s parking lot and celebrated the renovation and their successful efforts to preserve their community with members of the project team. Stiley and others spoke before cutting the ribbon, taking attendees on a tour and sharing a BBQ meal. The project’s tax credits require that Northwest Coastal Housing continue offering the units at a rate affordable to residents making 60% or less of the area’s median annual income for the next 60 years. SEE GOLDEN EAGLE PAGE A4
Buy 1 Meal, Get 1 Meal Free Every Thursday 1-4 p.m. No coupon needed
Open 7 Days A Week 204 Main Ave, Tillamook • 503-354-2463
Thursdays only in the dining room. Under 18 age friendly. Adult beverages available. *Second meal is of equal or less value to the first meal. Offer valid through Feb. 11, 2024.
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