Our lives have changed dramatically in the last decade. Misinformation, fueled greatly by the internet, the pandemic, and those people who have nothing to do with their lives other than to promote negative fabrications are everywhere we look.

Blatant falsehoods and the distortion of facts are glaringly thrown at the public on a daily basis concerning COVID-19, vaccinations, and especially politics. There are those who spend their days looking for the bad and this can be seen at the federal level all the way down to the local level and even very small towns like ours.

It is difficult to discern what truth is and what lies are. Just surviving in today’s world and the challenges it brings, with tasks that used to be simple, such as grocery shopping and sending our children off to school, is compounded by the time consuming tasks of staying well, caring for those we love, and worry.

With this in mind I would like to share real information about those who work to serve the community on the Gearhart City Council.

Reita Fackerell

Reita Fackerell grew up in Washington, graduating from the University of Washington. She moved to Oregon in 1974 to work in the commercial fishing industry and captained her own salmon troller in the seventies. In 1980 she moved to Clatsop County and to the Gearhart area in 1982. Reita began volunteering at the Seaside Library in 1984. One year later she became a library assistant. In 1995 Reita became Seaside’s library director. Retiring in 2012, she has been very involved with the South Clatsop County Food Bank. Reita is in the middle of her second four-year term as a Gearhart city councilor.

Austin Tomlinson

Austin Tomlinson, a Gearhart Elementary School alum and Seaside High School graduate, went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Humboldt State University. Austin is currently a natural area manager for Columbia Land Trust where he helps to steward close to 40,000 acres of conservation lands throughout the lower Columbia River region. Prior to this appointment to the City Council, Austin served as a Gearhart planning commissioner for three years. Austin has worked for numerous governmental organizations and nonprofits, with an emphasis on wetland, forestry, and water quality issues in the Pacific Northwest.

Brent Warren

Brent Warren originally planned to become a teacher. While substitute teaching, he took a bank “temp job” which ultimately led to his 33-year career in the financial industry. Brent has experience in affordable housing, small business finance, low income housing tax credit investments, financial education, and bank grant administration. He has a long history of community service; some of which include the Habitat for Humanity of Oregon, the City of Portland’s Women/Minority Contracting Committee, and the Oregon Bankers Association’s Community Involvement Committee. Brent has served on the board of several northwest community development financial institutions and has operated his own small businesses.

Dana Gould

Dana Gould, newcomer to our council, joins the council with a great deal of experience. Early in her career she served as a county sheriff’s deputy and first responder in southern California, achieving the rank of captain before her retirement. Dana has experience writing policies at the local, state and federal levels and participated in the rewriting of the state of California Title 15 document. She acted with her county’s human resources and Health and risk management division. Moreover, Dana was involved in the remodeling of a number of facilities and has experience in grant writing.

The Gearhart city councilors are accomplished individuals who endeavor to represent you in a straightforward manner. When officially taking their oath, they pledged their commitment to represent you, not themselves, in their position of government.

This oath includes a commitment to the very town itself and its comprehensive plan, which states quite clearly its primary goal is “to preserve the low density, semi-rural character of Gearhart and to ensure that development occurs in a manner that is in harmony with the sensitive coastal environment that defines Gearhart.”

As your newly appointed mayor, I can tell you I am honest and hardworking. I have lived in Gearhart for 37 years and am a self-employed contractor. I will do my best to serve the community in a fair and just manner.

While I did not seek this position, I found myself stepping into it after the resignation of our previous mayor, Paulina Cockrum, because I was president of the city council. This November would mark my eighth year serving on the Gearhart City Council.

I want to work with those of you who are looking for the good in Gearhart. I am not infallible; I am human and I will make mistakes. However, I believe we can preserve the quality of Gearhart which makes it unique and a healthy place to live.

I hope to build a positive climate in Gearhart, one that fosters truth, candor and sincerity. Governing is a serious business. It requires compassion, compromise, and community. Toward that end, I will strive to work toward the promotion of a positive future for Gearhart.

Please join me in looking for the good that so many have to offer. Let’s move forward together.