2024 Year in Review
The year 2025 will see key changes in leadership, with Bubba King becoming new Yamhill County commissioner and Kim Morris the new mayor of McMinnville. Their election and other local political changes in 2024 are just a few of the highlights in our look back at topics the News-Register covered in the past 12 months. Our pages were filled with stories concerning youth, neighborhoods, the local economy, the homeless and community facilities, to name a few. Drug law enforcement, recreation facility and downtown McMinnville planning, and zoning and growth are among topics likely to remain in the spotlight in 2025. See the Dec. 30 and Jan. 3 editions for more year-in-review coverage.
Elections bring big changes to county board, Mac city council
The 2024 election season in Yamhill County was headlined with contentious, for the most part cordial, and very expensive races that concluded in changing of the guards at both the county and city levels.
After winning election in 2020 and escaping a recall effort soon after, County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer met her match in Newberg businessman David “Bubba” King.
King, former owner of Honey Pie Pizza, farmer with his wife outside of Newberg and president of the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce, narrowly missed an outright win in the May primary. Needing 50% plus one vote, King garnered 14,433 votes (49.6%) to Berschauer’s 13,154 (45.2%). David Wall, who’s made it a habit to run for commissioner but do no campaigning, finished with 1,423 votes (4.9%).
King’s strategy was to target younger voters in the county and present an unaffiliated, nonpartisan option to counter Berschauer’s strong Republican support she built in the few years she’s lived in Yamhill County. King also set out to outspend the incumbent.
By the general election, King amassed a whopping $150,000-plus in campaign contributions. Berschauer spent about $120,000, in what was easily the most expensive local election in history.
King triumphed in November, receiving 27,602 votes (51.13%) to beat the incumbent with 26,304 (48.73%).
In January, King will join Mary Starrett, who is halfway through her third and final term, and Kit Johnston, halfway through his first term, on the county board.
In McMinnville, the city council was reshaped with two new councilors and a new mayor.
Kim Morris laid the groundwork for a campaign to challenge Mayor Remy Drabkin in 2023 by chairing a community task force focused on local crime and visible vagrancy throughout the city. After announcing her intent to run in April, Morris consistently attacked the city’s fiscal practices.
While holding differing views on how the city should operate, the two women had much in common on their candidate resumes. Both are McMinnville natives, longtime business owners and celebrated nonprofit leaders and community volunteers.
Morris’ call for change ultimately resonated with the majority, and she won the election with nearly 55% of the vote.
Two new councilors also earned seats at the table, replacing outgoing councilors Adam Garvin and Kelly Menke.
Planning Commissioner Dan Tucholsky ran unopposed, while local restaurateur Scott Cunningham beat out Chaz Gibbons, a member of Morris’ task force, with a little more than 57% of the vote.
Homelessness remains major concern, yet landscape changes
Homelessness remains a major issue in the city of McMinnville, but 2024 saw a changing landscape regarding public camps, and some relief is on the way with the long-awaited opening of a 36-bed Navigation Center planned for early January.
The year started with debates over camping buffer zones around schools between members of the McMinnville Community Task Force, city council and McMinnville School District.
In April, council approved 250-foot camping buffers around schools, while also making a code change that would lead to major changes in enforcement of city camping rules.
The city changed its definition of “established” in regards to campsites to work around a state law requiring 72 hours’ notice prior to abatement. The change required campsites to be in one location for five days before qualifying as established, allowing for immediate abatement for those violating camping rules.
Popular camping areas such as Marsh Lane (which was restricted in February by the McMinnville Water & Light installation of boulders lining the street) vanished following the new rules.
McMinnville P.D. reported a sharp decline in homeless related calls in July after the rules took effect in May. By August, there were reports of increased campers in the downtown area, which would continue despite increased enforcement efforts.
The city continued efforts to provide more housing, working through new rules for transitional housing (which represents a step between living on the streets or in an emergency shelter and permanent housing) through several city committees, with a final vote expected by city council early next year.
The opening of the joint city and Yamhill Community Action Partnership project AnyDoor Place Navigation Center has been a headache for council and city staff throughout the year. Originally planned for completion over the summer, the renovation of two buildings and construction of a third at 327 and 329 S.W. Adams St. was beset by delays regarding the improper installation of a sprinkler system and other issues.
In November, city council begrudgingly agreed to a $75,000 settlement agreement with contractor Fackler Construction to finish the work, and the center is set to open Jan. 2.
The year also saw the retirement of Howie Harkema following decades of homeless advocacy work. Harkema was operations manager at the Soup Kitchen at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church from 2007 to 2015, serving about 100,000 free meals during that period. Harkema was honored by city council in August.
Mac parks and recreation planning comes into focus
McMinnville’s Parks and Recreation Department had a busy year, taking several steps to set the stage for an even bigger 2025 that could impact the next 50 years of physical activity in the city.
In June, city council approved the Parks, Recreation and Open Space master plan, a guiding document for 20 years that calls for nearly $35 million in capital projects for existing parks and nearly $80 million to purchase and create new park land.
The PROS plan used extensive public outreach, including nearly 4,000 survey respondents, focus groups with stakeholders and 11 meetings with city boards. The plan emphasizes equity for every community member for park access and department programming.
The plan has a five-year project list at $15.8 million that calls for new play equipment at six parks, new restrooms at Joe Dancer and West Hills parks, an amphitheater at City Park, a new boat launch at Kiwanis Park (part of Joe Dancer) and a bike skills course and pump track at city-owned, undeveloped Quarry Park on West Second Street.
Lots of behind the scenes planning occurred throughout the year for the planned $152.5 million Culture, Parks and Recreation municipal bond, which; if approved by voters, would be used to construct a new $115 million rec center and provide improvements to the library, senior center and city parks.
In December, city council approved the purchase of 27 acres on Riverside Drive from McMinnville Water & Light for $3.8 million as a planned location for the future recreation center. Known as the “Miller property,” the parcel stretches from Marsh Lane to Northeast Miller Street along Riverside Drive.
Parks and Recreation launched a public outreach campaign for the bond over the summer following polling that showed 52% support from the community. There are questions now whether the city will go forward with putting the measure on the May ballot or hold off until the November general election following a recent dip in polling and estimates that rec center operations would cost the city an additional $600,000 annually.
Growth, redevelopment projects keep city busy
The city of McMinnville continued its growth in 2024, moving along a major redevelopment project in the city center and preparing potential new city land in its expanded Urban Growth Boundary.
Construction likely remains at least a year away for the redevelopment of the former Ultimate RB property the city purchased for $4.25 million in 2023. Much of the year was spent identifying a development partner to turn the 3.25-acre property on Alpine Avenue between Northeast Eighth Street and Northeast 10th Avenue into a mixed-use high density residential and commercial development.
The city received a record number of responses from developers when a Request For Qualifications was issued in July. The project received eight formal bids in September and that number was whittled down to three finalists after interviews with staff and consultants. One of the three teams ((Ethos, Guardian and Palindrome) will be chosen early in 2025, but it could take up to a year to negotiate the sale and final design of the property, with groundbreaking expected in the spring of 2026.
The city originally intended to sell the property this year and is paying approximately $20,000 per month in interest payments.
Plans for land inside the UGB that expanded in 2020 continued to move forward with the city approving an area plan for the Fox Ridge Road region in March.
The area plan for 230 acres currently outside city limits near Fox Ridge Road in northwest McMinnville provides an outline for placement of housing, parks, trails, infrastructure and other needs for an area before annexation or development takes place.
The city is preparing to tackle the second of four area plans in the southwest area of the UGB in 2025. Despite the first plan approval, City Manager Jeff Towery indicated it could be up to two years before new homes are added to the city tax rolls in the Fox Ridge area and three to five years for the Southwest Area.
A major subdivision expansion was approved in the West Hills at council’s final meeting of the year; the project will construct 392 homes. The subdivision was originally approved in 2007 and will move forward thanks to $2 million in state funding that will be used to activate a pump station for water access to the area.
As part of HB 4134, developers agreed to deed restrict 20 units for 130% area median income (AMI) or lower for 10 years.
County puts ‘deflection’ in place after Measure 110 rollback
In April, HB 4002 was signed into law recriminalizing possession of hard drugs in small amounts which made the charge possession with the intent to deliver the same level of crime as it had been before Measure 110. The bill includes additional funding for local treatment and allows individuals charged with a crime to avoid jail time by agreeing to treatment.
Measure 110 rollback took effect Sept. 1 and Oregon counties were expected to have deflection plans for drug possession in affect.
“We were one of only 10 Oregon counties that had a deflection plan up in running by Sept. 1,” Yamhill County District Attorney Kate Lynch told the News-Register in an October interview.
Lynch said intent to deliver charges are an important tool to more effectively prosecute drug dealers. HB 4002 also gave enhanced penalties within certain geographical distances to parks, treatment centers and shelters.
Lynch said this change in legislature was hugely important to get the poison that is drugs out of the community and provide the tools to effectively prosecute drug dealers.
In August, U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas said when Measure 110 was passed in 2020, “We didn’t have the infrastructure for it to work and I’m fearful that the same thing may happen this time.”
As of Oct. 10, Yamhill had 35 individuals with drug enforcement misdemeanors of drug possession charges were referred to deflection. Five of those individuals were deemed ineligible for deflection, four entered into scheduled treatment and only two are following through with treatment.
Third Street plans refined, project start delayed
The 30% design phase of the plan to redevelop Third Street was slated to end over the summer but will continue into 2025 as the project continued to evolve throughout the year.
In February, McMinnville city officials cautioned a groundbreaking on the nine-block project could be further off than the previously planned 2026 start, but the project received good news a month later in the form of $850,000 in federal funding.
Over the summer, project consultants determined the total project would cost north of $20 million and the public learned nearly all of the 145 street trees wouldn’t survive the project.
Following an arborist survey, the Project Advisory Committee determined only 22 trees would likely be preserved, with 28 due to poor health, 58 due to lifted roots and 37 that conflict with project plans.
In July, when the phase was planned to wrap up, the PAC decided to look at more “flexibility” for the future corridor by making large changes to previous designs including removing curbs, changing landscaping, adding more hardscape surfacing and adding parking spaces that could be reserved for businesses during events.
The work continued throughout the year and the design phase is expected to wrap up in early 2025, but many questions remained during a public forum in December, including how stormwater will be collected on a curbless street, who will eventually pay for landscape maintenance and how the iconic street will maintain its historic character.
Construction isn’t expected to start before 2028.
Tragedies among youths prompt multi-agency prevention efforts
Several area students died by suicide in 2024, prompting local schools and agencies to redouble their efforts to prevent such tragedies and help people who are struggling.
McMinnville schools hosted a “Safety Summit” in March with presentations about suicide prevention, drugs, bullying, vaping, social media use and other topics led by speakers from schools, agencies and nonprofits. In October, the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners approved $75,000 in state funding for youth mental health services in the Newberg-Dundee School District.
The board earlier delayed a request from Health and Human Services Director Lindsey Manfrin to approve the Oregon Health Authority funding. But after questions about parental notification were answered, commissioners approved it unanimously.
The Newberg site is one of three School Based Health Centers the county offers. The others are in McMinnville and Willamina.
Deaths by suicide are likely underreported, according to Kelsey Murray, suicide prevention coordinator with Yamhill County Public Health. But statistics show it causes more than 700,000 deaths a year. For each death, she said, there are about 25 more attempts.
It is the 11th most-common cause of death in Oregon, the second-most common for those aged 10 to 24, she said.
Each time such a tragedy occurs at a school in the McMinnville School District, extra counselors from other schools, the Willamette Education Service District and the county are made available to students and teachers. Substitutes are available to take over grieving teachers’ classes if necessary.
“Our goal is to address the immediate need and help with the crisis” for the whole school community, said Kourtney Ferrua, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the district.
School, county and other responders are particularly concerned with keeping other students from hurting themselves. Instead, they want to help them to work through their problems with help from family members and other adults, and to assist their peers in doing the same. Staff members try to control rumors, as well.
They communicate with law enforcement and other officials to verify facts.
School district staff members are trained in a suicide prevention program called “Question, Persuade and Refer.”
“We need to normalize talking about this,” Ferrua said.
Tensions arise between county board and YCAP, health director
In 2024, the County Commissioners had several conflicts with the Yamhill Community Action Partnership and feuds with the Health and Human Services department.
Yamhill County Commissioner Mary Starrett was voted off of the YCAP board in late January after trying to force the board to let her bring Newberg officials to a board meeting.
On Feb. 1, County Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer wrote YCAP demanding Starrett be reinstated. YCAP Executive Director Alexandra Ball wrote that YCAP is not under the direction of any municipality in Yamhill County nor required to acquiesce to the whims of elected officials.
Berschauer responded that she would have no choice but to advocate YCAP no longer receive public money, calling Ball’s statement “tone-deaf,” since the county is a financial supporter.
In March, YCAP invited County Commissioner Kit Johnston to serve on the board of directors; however, the county commissioners voted to re-appoint Commissioner Mary Starrett to the liaison position.
Starrett remains off the YCAP board.
In February, the commissioners ruffled some feathers with Health and Human Services Public Health as they approved a policy banning the promotion of vaccines and pharmaceutical product messaging on social media as to not attempt to influence people for or against a particular product or intervention, emphasizing individual choice and informed consent.
HHS Director Lindsey Manfrin voiced concern with the policy as it could put the county at odds with state law and its contracts with the Oregon Health Authority.
County Treasurer Kris Bledsoe resigned over the decisions of the county budget committee to make financial cuts to the HHS without Manfrin participating in discussion, including eliminating the professional grant writer position within the last hour of the meeting.
Bledsoe called the decision “unprofessional” and although she was set to run as treasure unopposed at the November election, she decided she “cannot be part of a ‘team’ that is favoring administration (adding personnel) over real service.”
In November YCAP pushed back on criticism on lack of funding transparency and delay in construction for the 36-bed McMinnville Navigation Center from the commissioners and members of the unhoused community in October.
The 2022 audit is posted on YCAP’s website and shows revenues of approximately $14.2 million in grant funding, $700,000 from contributions and $1.75 million in in-kind contributions.
YCAP Deputy Director Amber Hansen-Moore noted a majority of YCAP’s funding is from grants which have a strict set of guidelines and often involve program monitors to visit YCAP.
The 22-bed Navigation Center in Newberg has also experienced construction delays related to the installation of a trailer on the rear of the property designed for confidential client meetings; this was partly due to drawn-out land use approvals with the city, according to YCAP Development Director Laverne Pitts.
OMI sale highlights news of public facility changes
The year 2024 saw important renovations and moves for public facilities, and this month’s major announcement of the $19.2 million sale of the Oregon Mutual Insurance buildings to Yamhill County.
The county had moved its Planning Department into OMI, under a lease, in February 2024. Now, the county is making plans to move many of its departments into the complex, which takes up the full city block between Fourth and Fifth and Baker and Davis streets. Included will be the commissioners’ offices and the administration (which includes finance, human resources, economic development), IT, assessor, clerk, treasurer, and Health and Human Services administration and Veterans’ Services departments, along with the board chambers currently located in the courthouse basement, according to Huffer.
The purchase will allow the county to discontinue the leases and sell up to eight properties to further offset acquisition costs.
In November, the county Public Health Department moved out of the aged facility at Fourth and Ford streets and into a renovated building at 310 N.E. Kirby St.; the county Women, Infants and Children program remained temporarily in the Fourth Street building through December 2024.
In Carlton, construction concluded mid-year on the new civic center, located at 191 E. Main St., on the site of the previous city building, demolished in 2023. During more than a year of construction, the city operated out of temporary offices next to Wennerberg Park.
The new two-story, brick civic center replaced the small, 50-year-old city hall building, which had been torn down in 2023. The new structure features a custom brick color known as “Carlton brick.”
In addition to police headquarters and city offices, the facility includes a 1,600-square-foot community room on the ground floor that can be divided into smaller spaces, and a kitchen.
Yamhill-Carlton High School’s 1961-built Laughlin Stadium was reopened after a two-year renovation project. Y-C boosters gave $65,000 and bought in more than $200,000 in donations toward the renovation.
Donors included members of the Laughlin family, for which the stadium is named.
In Amity, extensive renovation was completed on the 1965 wing of the school, with asbestos abatement, classroom upgrades, flooring, seismic refitting and more. Work continues over winter and spring 2024-25 on new middle school and high school gymnasium.
Police gets a new chief, fire gets a new building
McMinnville Fire District’s first chief, Reed Godfrey, was hired in January 2024. What was formerly the fire department completed its first full year as a separate fire district, following voter approval of the district in 2023.
At McMinnville Police Department, in January 2025 Matt Scales steps aside as police chief after 30 years with the department and Cord Wood was hired in December as chief, to start work in January.
“I have high expectations and I think you guys are going to all be pleased with the level of service that you get from him,” Scales said of Wood, a five-year Oregon State Patrol veteran who also worked for the cities of Corvallis and Independence.
The city declared Dec. 16 Chief Matt Scales Day during an emotional sendoff for the departing police chief.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work in the same organization as at least a dozen chiefs or sheriffs over the course of my career, and most of them were incredibly accomplished, completely dedicated professionals, and I can tell you I’ve never worked with one better than Matt Scales,” City Manager Jeff Towery said
The police and fire agencies’ stations are located across Southwest Adams from each other, at Second Street. The fire district added a new location in November, following the $4 million purchase of 3.89 acres of land and a structure in southeast McMinnville.
Originally constructed in 1980, the three-floor office building at 3850 S.E. Three Mile Lane, near the McMinnville Municipal Airport, was formerly owned by Evergreen Aviation. It underwent a $3 million renovation in 2017 and features offices, conference rooms, a professional kitchen, cafeteria, gym and over 100 parking spaces. The building will be first used as offices, and can be eligible for operations once seismic upgrades are complete.
The ability to purchase and operate additional fire stations within five years of the creation of the MFD was a selling point to voters and has now come to fruition, said Michelle Teed, MFD administrative services director.
In addition to the new facility, the district approved $1,036,502 for two new Freightliner pumper trucks from Pierce Manufacturing to replace its aging engines that all have “significant mechanical problems,” according to Godfrey.
After-school program faces an uncertain future
It was a rocky year for McMinnville’s after-school care program, with sudden program closures, provider turnover and a debate over whether the city or school district should run the program.
Two joint work sessions were held by city council and the McMinnville School District on funding for program scholarships after the fund formally generated by the now-defunct Mayor’s Ball nears empty. The two entities have a joint agreement to run the program that expires next year.
In August, program provider Camp Fire Columbia abruptly closed operations at two of the five elementary schools.
In November it was announced the YMCA would take over program operations in January, but scholarship funding and which entity will oversee the program remains up in the air entering 2025.
Arctic storm brings ice to Yamhill County in January
A massive arctic storm brought temperatures in the low teens and dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain across Oregon on Friday, Jan. 12. Another round of snow and sleet hit Tuesday, Jan. 16.
With nearly half an inch of snow on roads and continuing extremely low temperatures, many businesses and offices were forced to close or delay their openings. With law enforcement authorities cautioning people not to travel, many holed up at home for several days before temperatures rose above freezing late in the week.
Fallen trees led to power outages. Burst pipes in some homes and businesses kept plumbers busy. Volunteers kept emergency warming shelters open at the McMinnville Fire Baptist Church and other locations.
Schools across the county were closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Parents and business owners helped clear parking lots when classes finally resumed.
But two local elementary schools were damaged because of the extreme temperatures.
At Dayton Grade School, a sprinkler head broke, sending water into a hallway and three classrooms. Another broken pipe flooded the main office with 2 inches of water and caused major damage. Technology equipment and library materials were damaged, as well.
Staff members scrambled to make repairs and get classrooms cleaned up, with help from Rapid Restoration & Remodel LLC.
At Grandhaven Elementary School in north McMinnville, a fire sprinkler line froze and ruptured Sunday morning, Jan. 14. It spewed water and damaged carpet in seven classrooms.
McMinnville firefighters shut off the water, and district custodial and maintenance crews came in to vacuum it up. Rapid Restoration helped remove and soggy carpet, which, along with some ceiling tiles, was later replaced.
Gebrayal guilty verdict leads the list of 2024 criminal cases
Years of neighbor disputes and civil lawsuits involving George Gebrayel ultimately led to a guilty verdict and, given his age, 80, and health status, likely a life sentence in a murder-for-hire case that topped this year’s crime and courthouse stories.
Following a four-day trial in March, Gebrayel was found guilty by a jury of two counts of first-degree attempted murder and two counts of solicitation to commit murder. On April 9, Judge Ladd Wiles sentenced the longtime rural Sheridan resident to 15 years in prison.
Gebrayel was arrested in 2023 for hiring a friend to murder a neighbor and a Yamhill County code enforcement officer. The man he hired was an informant with the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office. The defense argued that Gebrayel was induced by law enforcement to order the hit and he eventually tried to call it off. But recordings between the two played in court proved too damning, leading to the conviction.
The two victims in the criminal trial, and another neighbor claiming to be another target of Gebrayel’s scheme, each filed civil lawsuits of $3 million and $3.6 million.
Gebrayel appealed the case, as he has done with dozens of civil and criminal cases over the years.
Other crime and court stories to make headlines this year were:
- In August, Former Mac RV Sales owner Ruben Bernt was found guilty of 26 counts of first-degree aggravated theft, and sentenced to 20 years in prison for scamming customers, most of them elderly, in his consignment recreational vehicles business. He was also ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution.
- In November, the Oregon Supreme Court overturned a Court of Appeals decision that may have upended civil forfeiture throughout the state. The court ruled that Yamhill County legally seized the Yamhill property of Sheryl Sublet, who was convicted on methamphetamine delivery charges in 2018.
- Another high-profile theft case will continue into 2025, when a trial is scheduled for Cheryl Campos, who is accused of stealing around $170,000 from the Greater Yamhill County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4015, an organization she co-founded. Allegations were also discussed that she stole $1.7 million from the statewide organization, where she works. But no charges related to that have been filed.
- Parts of a high-profile child sex abuse case from 2019 were retried in December, and Vaughn Monagon, a former McMinnville mortgage broker and church youth leader, was acquitted by a jury of six counts of sexual abuse in the first-degree. The original decision was appealed due to a non-unanimous jury decision. He is 21 months into a 75-month sentence for other convictions in the 2019 trial.
- The case of a two-person crime spree throughout Newberg in November 2023 ended, as Dylian Simkins and Elizabeth Moser each pleaded guilty to theft and burglary charges and were sentenced to eight years in prison. Moser fled the state in the winter, and was arrested in Arizona and extradited to Yamhill County in June.
- McMinnville and Newberg massage businesses were raiding in July and August and prostitution charges were filed against workers there. While the cases were similar, authorities said they were unrelated. In each instance, sex trafficking was believed to be a factor, which led to unique scenarios of defendants being jailed while also be considered victims.
Comments
NJINILNCCAOR
$115MILLION rec center. No way.
What we need are nice clean parks.
Not a monument to city leadership egos.
CubFan
The Rec Center sounds cool .. but it's at a cost that's out of my league. They estimate over $50 a MONTH on property taxes. Who can afford that??