Current Listing

Construction of the so-called sheep barn should have resolved the issue of providing City employees with the workplace the City Council claimed was a vital community need. Citizens might now be curious as to why our City Manager is showing up to her new workplace only about 20 hours per week. How many of you reading this were or are managers in the private or public sector and believe that showing up part time at your place of work is a successful management style? Just my opinion as a former City Manager, but there is value in setting expectations by example with staff in being among the first to show up in the morning and last to leave each day. Being readily available for in person interaction with citizens and staff whenever City Hall is open is also not an unrealistic expectation in a small City like Manzanita.

Employment as a City Manager in Manzanita has never looked so good. A new City Hall, a record number of Administrative staff to ease the workload, not required to live in Manzanita and experience life as a resident in a neighborhood surrounded by short term rentals and a total annual compensation package of approximately $230,000. Oregon City Managers in cities with populations of 5,000 or less who show up every day for a full day of work at their respective City Hall would have difficulty understanding what’s happening in Manzanita.

The Council has been reluctant to produce a summary of the total cost of our new City Hall. Tabulating the property purchase, construction cost, City staff indirect cost charges, construction interest costs and the final 20 year debt service costs, brings the total cost to over $10 million dollars. If there’s still something with City Hall that’s preventing the City Manager’s attendance, perhaps the Council could explain what it is and that they know where the City Manager is during the week and that they do not see any problems with part time appearances.

You need to do 80 hours each month of work or approved activities through:

Paid work or self-employment
Volunteering
Trading work for housing or other needs (bartering)
Joining a SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) Program
Any mix of the above

Proof of work activities

If you work or volunteer on your own, you’ll need to provide proof.

Proof can be a pay stub or signed letter from:
Your employer
A volunteer coordinator
The person you trade work with
The letter should include:
Your full name (and SNAP case number if you have it)
How many hours you work each week
When the work started and if it will continue
Name, contact information and signature of the person writing the letter (if we can’t confirm the information, we may contact them to check)

If you already meet the work rules

If you already meet the work rules, you may just need to provide proof.

You may meet the rules if you:

Work 30 hours a week, or earn at least $935.25 a month (before taxes)
Are self-employed and earn at least:
$935.25 a month (with no business costs), or
$1,870.50 a month (with business costs)
Volunteer or do community service
Trade work for housing or other needs (bartering)
Get unemployment benefits (or have applied and not been denied)

www.oregon.gov/odhs/food/pages/snap-time-limits.aspx?fbclid=IwdGRleAQUHaxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeUo-aMuhDDi3L42vFHBY4EHIDylld_Nn2-l3TWRKVpiX-H0pQ2_VH_MGuO5c_aem_NoTbtS_EmIB…

What Members Need to Know

In July 2025, the federal government passed the House Resolution 1 (HR1) budget bill. HR1 is also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. HR1 requires changes to Oregon Health Plan (OHP, also known as Medicaid).

These changes will not affect all OHP members.
Changes due to new federal rules, like work requirements, will take effect in 2027.

Please continue to report changes and respond to renewal letters.

The major changes will be:
More frequent renewals
Work or other activity requirements for some adults

More Frequent Renewals:
Most OHP members renew every two years. Starting in 2027 at the earliest:
Some adult OHP members will need to renew every six months.

Other OHP members will need to renew every year.
OHP benefits can end sooner if you report changes that mean you no longer qualify.

Work or Other Activity Requirements:
Starting in 2027, some adults will need to meet work or other activity requirements to qualify for OHP. There is nothing members need to do now. This change will be for applying or renewing in 2027.

This change will not apply to many groups, including:
Children,
Caretakers of children under 14, and
People who qualify for OHP programs based on disability.

The federal government has not released many details about more exceptions. OHA will continue to share more information.
Other Federal Changes with Less Effect
Other federal changes will have less effect due to Oregon law.
Changes based on immigration status: Some OHP members will automatically move from federally-funded OHP to Healthier Oregon. Healthier Oregon is an OHP program funded by the state. These members will keep the same full OHP benefits. We expect this will begin in October 2026.

Gender-affirming care: Oregon law requires continued coverage of gender-affirming care services. Learn more at OHP’s Gender-Affirming Care page.

Have Questions?

The federal government has not released details about all these new requirements. As we learn more, OHA will share information about what members need to do to navigate these changes.

Here’s how to get help:
To learn more about federal changes to health care in Oregon: Visit Oregon.gov/Together.
For questions about qualifying for OHP, renewals, or to report changes: Call 800-699-9075, go to ONE.Oregon.gov or visit your local Oregon Department of Human Services office.

For questions about using OHP benefits: Contact your coordinated care organization (CCO). If you don’t have a CCO, call OHP Client Services at 800-273-0557. Learn more at OHP.Oregon.gov/Benefits.

OHP.Oregon.gov

Oregon state democrats should be ashamed for first introducing the transportation bill with excessive increases like almost half a dollar per gallon of gas (it was multiple raises over several years, but it didn’t change the headline). They lowered it to one 6 cent rise. Were they trying to give us sticker shock so we might feel better when they lowered it? Seems like a one-sided negotiation.

Oregon state republicans should be ashamed for playing political games with the transportation bill by using misleading narratives, like the general term “payroll tax” devoid of the details it is tiny and temporary. They’re playing to the fact that Oregonians don’t like taxes in general. Also their talking points are framed as though everybody believes the republican line. Don’t be left out, subtle and manipulative.

We voters should be ashamed for expecting a free pass on road maintenance when everything else is getting more expensive, not only for us but for the state too. New car prices skyrocketed and we still bought them. We’ve been driving more too – remember the battle charge “revenge travel”? More importantly for road maintenance, there’s trucks on the roads in part because we’re ordering more stuff, including groceries, online.

So I’m hoping we’ll vote on this sooner rather than later, and we remember there’s no free lunch. Driving is a privilege.

– Dave

SNAP Work Rules for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD)

More people with an ABAWD status must now meet work rules to keep SNAP for longer than three months. The expanded age now includes people 18 to 64 with no children under 14 on their SNAP case.

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed House Resolution One (H.R. 1). This law expanded the ages of people who need to meet SNAP work rules. People who don’t meet the work rules may lose SNAP benefits after three months.

People ages 18 to 64 who:

Don’t have a child under age 14 on their SNAP case, or
Don’t live in an exempt area, or
Don’t have any other exemptions

If work rules apply to you:

You need to do 80 hours each month of work or approved activities through:

Paid work or self-employment
Volunteering
Trading work for housing or other needs (bartering)
Joining a SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) Program
Any mix of the above

SNAP time limit

Some people can only get SNAP food benefits for three months in a three-year period without meeting work rules. The current three-year period is Jan. 1, 2025 – Dec. 31, 2027.

Some people don’t have to meet SNAP work rules. You may be exempt if any of these apply to you:

A child under age 14 gets SNAP with you
You are pregnant
You are in school at least half-time
You care for someone who can’t care for themselves
You are in alcohol or drug treatment
This does not include Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) sup​port groups
You get unemployment benefits (or have applied and not been denied)
You work at least 30 hours a week
You earn at least $935.25 a month
You get money because of a disability
You can’t work because of a physical, mental or behavioral health reason
You are in a federal refugee training program
You are meeting TANF work requirements
You are Native American or Alaska Native and meet Tribal eligibility​
You get care from Indian Health Services or a Tribal or Urban Indian clinic
You live on waived Tribal land
You live in a county that is exempt

www.oregon.gov/odhs/food/pages/snap-time-limits.aspx?fbclid=IwdGRleAQUHaxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeUo-aMuhDDi3L42vFHBY4EHIDylld_Nn2-l3TWRKVpiX-H0pQ2_VH_MGuO5c_aem_NoTbtS_EmIB…

This includes specific developments proposed for this readership’s North County area: Wheeler, Nehalem and Manzanita.
The Housing Commission meetings are open to the public, either in-person or online. For details, please use the link below:
www.tillamookcounty.gov/bc-hc