NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: A Hard Week for Lincoln County

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

11/17/2025

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The announcement Wednesday night that a federal agency is no longer seeking to lease space from the City at Newport’s airport for a possible ICE detention center was encouraging to the 800 people attending the special council meeting. But it does not mean the matter is resolved. In response to resistance from the City, we now understand representatives of an unnamed federal agency are instead reaching out to private property owners with land close to the Coast Guard Air Station.

Residents in Newport gathered at a meeting at City Hall on November 12th. City Councilor CM Hall asked the crowd to use silent applause by raising and waving their hands so it would not slow down the evening’s proceedings. (OPB)

Here is what we know.

The Coast Guard rescue helicopter, so vital to marine safety and emergency response along the central coast, is gone. We don’t know when or if it is coming back. The air rescue operation was quietly relocated to North Bend and is now making occasional patrols along Lincoln and Southern Tillamook Counties. But the longer response times from Coos County or Astoria to an ocean accident mean help will likely not arrive in time to help those stranded in our cold waters.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard property at the airport remains vacant.

My office has learned in the past week that local businesses are still being solicited to provide services at the airport that include filling tanks with drinking water, removing thousands of gallons of human waste each day, trash removal, and housing. We also identified online job postings for detention agents and bus drivers (which have since been removed) and medical support (which have been increased).

No one will tell us what is planned. Requests from our U.S. senators and Congresswomen have been ignored. Inquiries from the Governor’s office have been snubbed. And my own public demands for honesty and transparency have gone unanswered.

You can listen to a good overview of the situation on OPB here.

Lucy Tamayo, who works with the organization Centro de Ayuda, stood up to hug Abril Aldama when she became tearful recounting her father’s detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to the Newport city council and an overflow crowd at city hall Wednesday night. (Lincoln Chronicle)

On Wednesday night, people filled the Newport Council Chambers and spilled out into the hallway where monitors had been placed. Three rooms at the nearby recreation center were also crowded. And for more than two hours, people came to the microphone to passionately share their concerns and outrage that the quiet removal of the helicopter puts lives at risk, and that an ICE detention center is not welcome here. We heard from fishermen worried about safety, businesspeople troubled about the effect on our hospitality industry, and most poignantly, from fearful immigrants and a young woman whose father had been arrested.

In my own remarks, I said that the removal of the helicopter is a threat to lives and safety, and that a possible detention center is “inconsistent with local values, incompatible with our local economy, contrary to our stated city goals, and likely in conflict with local zoning – not to mention that the airport is just a few feet above the tsunami inundation line”.

“If, in fact, the helicopter is gone and an ICE complex is planned, it means that somewhere, someone is more interested in detaining lives than in saving lives.” I renewed my demand that the federal government share its plans so that Newport can decide its own future.

While no one appeared to support ICE activities, I am well aware that there are a variety of opinions about immigration and ICE across our district. Rumors have the potential to divide us, which is why I’m continuing to press for transparency, openness, and honesty from our federal agencies. Good government demands nothing less.

I will believe this matter to be concluded when our helicopter returns to Newport and we get a definitive response indicating that the federal government has no plans here.

I am calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Trump Administration to explain themselves to our community. If you want to turn Newport into the West Coast epicenter of your immigration plans by December 1, then at the very least, you need to explain your plan and communicate with the people who you were sworn to serve. This isn’t how good or honest government operates.

You can listen to the meeting, my remarks, and the response of the Council here on KYAQ. You can also watch the hearing here. You can watch Abril at 47:30 and my appearance at the 1:13:00 mark.

Rogue Ales & Spirits, which has seen its beer sales drop and owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent and back taxes, abruptly shut its massive Newport operations and all of its restaurants on Friday.

For over 30 years, Rogue has been one of the better-known brands in Oregon’s vibrant beer industry and one of the Top 10 of the state’s craft beer companies. The 47,000-square-foot South Beach building is where the company’s beers, ales, and spirits were produced before they made their way to distributors in all 50 states and more than 50 countries.

More than 60 people were employed at that facility. Friday’s closures also included Rogue’s pubs in Astoria, West Salem and Southeast Portland.

Rogue Ales & Spirits, which has been operating in Newport since 1989, abruptly closed all of its businesses Friday, affecting 60 local jobs.

When the announcement arrived, my office immediately contacted the Oregon Employment Department to begin mobilizing resources available to workers faced with unexpected, large-scale layoffs.

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission, in collaboration with the Employment Department and local workforce development boards, hosts the “Rapid Response” program, which aims to address large-scale layoffs as quickly as possible.

While work is still underway this week to mobilize Rapid Response Teams, please know that I am here to assist any folks who may be impacted by this closure. Whether you are seeking help with unemployment insurance or finding new opportunities for work, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office if you need assistance getting in touch with the Employment Department.

If you have been laid off, you can register for WorkSource Oregon services at: http://bit.ly/WSOregistration. Once registered, you will need to either come into a WorkSource Oregon center near you for a conversation with staff as your next step or contact them virtually through https://www2.myworksourceportfolio.org/.

I will be sure to keep folks updated on this ongoing situation.

Legislators will return to Salem this week for a series of quarterly hearings and meetings. From stabilizing the state budget and maximizing the effectiveness of public services to examining housing production and child care options, legislators will use the November committee days to prepare for the upcoming 2026 legislative session.

Committee agendas will include:

A look at automatic license plate readers and privacy | Senate Judiciary – Monday, November 17, 11:30 a.m.
Overview of Oregon’s estate, inheritance, and gift taxes, as well as a review of past tax reform discussions | Senate Finance and Revenue – Monday, November 17, 8:30 a.m.
Update on vote by mail | House Rules – Monday, November 17, 2:30 p.m.
Importance of SNAP and other nutrition assistance | Senate Human Services – Monday, November 17, 2:30 p.m. and Senate Early Childhood and Behavioral Health – Tuesday, November 18, 2:30 p.m.
Recap of the 2025 fire season | Senate Veterans, Emergency and World Affairs – Tuesday, November 18, 8:30 a.m.
Growth of the Blue Economy, developing economic growth around sustainable marine and freshwater environments | Senate Energy and Environment – Tuesday, November 18, 11:30 a.m.
Impact of liability insurance on child care providers | Senate Early Childhood and Behavioral Health – Tuesday, November 18, 2:30 p.m.
Understanding Oregon’s Home Insurance Market | House Housing and Homelessness – Tuesday, November 18, 2:30 p.m.
Post-wildfire housing recovery | House Housing and Homelessness – Tuesday, November 18, 2:30 p.m.
Accountability for ODOT megaprojects | Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight – Tuesday, November 18, 5:30 p.m.
Support for reproductive health care and cancer treatment | Joint Emergency Board – Tuesday, November 18, 5:30 p.m.
Financial scam prevention | House Commerce and Consumer Protection – Tuesday, November 18, 11:30 a.m.

You can watch these hearings live or review the recordings later at the links shown.

I’m grateful to utility workers who climbed into bucket trucks and confronted winds and rain this past month to keep power on. But all that work costs money, and rates continue to increase.

Some electric utilities have increased rates by 40% since January 2022. If Pacific Power’s latest rate proposal is approved, they’re looking at a 50% increase since January 2023.

One of the major factors that’s pushing up rates is climate change.

In addition to higher energy use for customers during cold snaps and extreme heat events, the changing climate is also affecting wholesale energy prices. Because wind and solar are not always reliable energy sources, energy supply is often tight during extreme weather events. This means energy prices rise exponentially during high-demand periods – a cost that eventually is passed on to customers.

Longer hot, dry summers are also having an effect. Many utilities are now spending millions on trimming trees and vegetation near power lines, burying power lines, investing in better weather monitoring, and taking other measures to harden their equipment and prevent wildfires.

Wildfire mitigation is the biggest driver of Pacific Power’s proposed rate increase – it includes a proposed “Catastrophic Fire Fund” to cover the utility’s liability for wildfires. A jury in Oregon has found the company was grossly negligent and reckless, awarding millions in damages. One of the big questions is whether customers should pay the cost of wildfire litigation.

Regulation is also an issue. Oregon law requires PGE and Pacific Power to reduce their carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. This means getting rid of coal and natural gas and relying 100% on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

Oregon lawmakers have passed legislation that aims to make utility bills more affordable, lead to fewer rate increases, and prohibit rate hikes in the winter when families already struggle with higher bills. House Bill 3179, which I co-sponsored this year, mandates more transparency from utilities — requiring them to produce annual reports indicating upcoming rate increases, what rate increases will be for, and analyzing the impact of increases on their customers. The bill also changes when newly approved rate hikes take place.

As the winter months inch closer, thousands of Oregonians were at risk of losing federal heating and cooling assistance due to the ongoing government shutdown.

In Oregon, more than 114,600 people receive help with their home energy expenses through the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Oregon Housing & Community Services (OHCS) says they have not yet received contract funding for the program due to the now-concluded shutdown.

The program helps low-income Oregonians with bill-payment assistance, energy education, case management, and home weatherization services, according to OHCS.

Energy assistance programs across Oregon can be found here. Oregon’s two largest electric utilities said Friday that they will halt service disconnections for qualified low-income and medically vulnerable customers until the end of the year.

Most of my time was taken this past week on meetings relating to the Coast Guard helicopter and ICE. That included a sit-down with the Yaquina Bay station commander, who expressed continuing concerns about people confronting Coast Guard crew in and around Newport. Let’s remember that the Coast Guard are our friends here!

I met with Family Promise of Lincoln County and the President of OSHU to discuss ongoing primate research. I was pleased to attend the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce Award Banquet and celebrate the Siletz Tribal Restoration with tribal leaders and visiting dignitaries as part of the annual Restoration Pow-Wow.

Finally, Saturday, Susan and I carved out some personal time for local music, warm friends, craft brew, and even a bit of dancing Saturday evening. I needed the break! This past week was busy, and the coming week will be as well.