OSHA investigation wraps up

Published 8:41 am Wednesday, January 14, 2026

City of Seaside pays fines, takes classes

The Oregon Occupational and Safety and Health Division, an agency that regulates workplace safety and health, has concluded an investigation of the city of Seaside that began last fall. The city was cited with six “serious” violations and one “other than serious,” resulting in fines totaling $6,690. In addition, safety training was mandated for city staff and employees. 

The complaint to OSHA was filed on Aug. 14 by business owner Randy Anderson, who owns Anderson Painting, which is located on Avenue S.

Because of the juxtaposition of Anderson’s workplace, he said he had a front row seat to “nearly two years of mismanagement by the city” of the Avenue S homeless encampment site.

The final straw

But what spurred Anderson to file an official complaint with OSHA was when he witnessed the cleanup of the site in the aftermath of its relocation to Avenue V. On Monday, Aug. 11, as a city public works crew began to clean up the site, they were exposed to dead rats, human waste and hazardous materials, including drugs and needles, said Anderson.

Anderson said he saw crews working without personal protective equipment (PPE), such as poke-resistant gloves, grabbers and face shields, as they were exposed to vermin and “buckets of excrement (feces) and needles.” 

In addition, the city had stopped their regular cleanup of the site.

“They used to come every two weeks and then they stopped doing it and it accumulated and accumulated. You could smell it,” Anderson said. 

“The city put their public works employees in extremely hazardous conditions with no regard for their safety and the public’s health and safety.” 

The citations from OSHA came as no surprise to Anderson.

“I knew they were going to get cited,” he said. “There was never a doubt in my mind they were going to find stuff.”

The investigation

After receiving the complaint, OSHA conducted an investigation Sept. 5 to Nov. 18, said Aaron Corvin, public information officer for Oregon OSHA and the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. During the investigation, Brandi S. Davis, an OSHA health enforcement manager, conducted interviews with city of Seaside employees and reviewed a number of documents to determine the agency’s findings. 

When the investigation was over, Anderson filed a records request with OSHA and subsequently got a copy of the investigation and its findings, a 216-page report. In a follow up letter to Anderson, Davis summarized the results of the investigation, which Anderson shared with The Astorian. 

Citations were issued to the city for: 1) not properly informing employees about personal protective equipment (PPE) and what kind of PPE was appropriate for them to wear during the cleanup; 2) not giving employees blood born pathogens training; and 3) not properly disposing of, and not giving employees the proper information for disposing of infectious waste (medical waste, syringes). 

After OSHA grouped similar issues together then broke them down into individually itemized infractions, the actual number of citations issued to the city was seven — six serious and one “not serious.”

“We took these findings seriously,” said Seaside City Manager Spencer Kyle via email. He said since the investigation, the city has taken a number of steps to improve safety.

Actions taken

“While the citations carried a fine, more importantly, they also came with a clear opportunity to improve,” said Kyle. 

He listed a number of actions the city has taken, including: contracting with  a certified third-party specialty firm to manage biohazard waste separation and disposal; purchasing additional PPE for city staff involved in cleanups; completing a thorough job-site hazard assessment; and launching a comprehensive training program “so our employees are fully equipped and protected moving forward.”

Anderson said he is glad he filed the complaint. 

“Justice was served,” he said, although “I don’t think they were fined enough.”

Anderson said the scrutiny from OSHA forced changes for the good and, hopefully, the city will better value its employees going forward. “I’m pretty sure they’ve learned their lesson this time,” he said. “But if I see something, I’ll turn them in again.”

Kyle said the city is ready to move on.

“One of the city’s highest priorities is to protect both public health and employee safety, and we are proud of the progress we’ve made,” said Kyle. “We’re close to finalizing our follow-up report to OSHA — and are committed to maintaining compliance going forward.”

The homelessness plight: Mills Pond to Avenue S to Avenue V

As reported previously by The Astorian, in 2022, Seaside opened its first sanctioned homeless encampment, located at the Mill Ponds Park. But in the winter of 2023, the city decided to relocate the camp to Avenue S due to flooding.

Neighboring residents and business owners said the move was unexpected; the city knew it was a rash move, but felt that it was urgent and something had to be done.

Because it happened so fast, the city was not able to seek public input prior to taking action, which resulted in frustration from the neighboring community.

“We were given no notification. Nothing,” Jorjett Strumme, a neighboring resident, said. “The way I found out was one morning … I opened my kitchen shade and my kitchen window is facing right into a homeless camp. I immediately emailed the city council, the city manager, (and) didn’t get any information telling me why, how, or what was going on.”

Kyle said he regrets not communicating with the community, but that it likely would not have changed the overall decision.

‘This has been so traumatic’ — Years of rats, drugs, and more

Residents said their lives were turned upside down shortly after the relocation.

“Next thing I know, because I had no idea how having this camp would be, (or) how it would affect my life, everything under the sun was stolen,” Strumme said. “My lawn furniture was stolen, my wheel barrels were stolen, hoses were stolen. I mean you name it. I had to turn off all my outside water because they were coming and running my water and not even turning it off. I had people on my back step charging their phone and nothing was being done about it.”

Anderson described a similar situation.

“I’ve had nothing but issues with vandalism, theft, defecating on my property, graffiti on my property and vehicles,” Anderson said. “I had one guy come on my property and do drugs and OD’ed and died.” 

Kyle said he could not help the residents with the vandalism and trespassing issues, so he referred them to the police. 

According to records obtained by The Astorian, the Seaside Police Department received 314 calls relating to the Avenue S site between Nov. 15, 2023 and Aug. 12, 2025. 

The community also encountered a rodent infestation.

“We all of a sudden (were) battling rats and we’re talking cat-size rats in our building … we’re catching three (to) four a day,” Doc Shaw, owner of Doc’s Auto Repair, said. 

Community members called for an exterminator and according to Kyle, the city also set up rat traps and bait stations. 

Business owners Shaw, Brian Olson, owner of Beachcomber Vacation Homes, and Dave Koller, who owns a self-storage facility on Avenue S, said the camp affected their businesses because customers and staff viewed Avenue S as unsafe.

“It just made running a business there not viable,” Koller said. “We (Seaside Self-Storage) had people move out because they didn’t like coming to their storage.” 

Mismanagement and complaints

From the time the Avenue S site opened to when it closed, community members said they had been outspoken about the alleged mismanagement and unlivable conditions of the camp.

“Just from the very beginning of that camp being there, it was absolutely filthy … there was no management of the camp,” Koller said. “It just quickly became a fentanyl, mental health crisis camp that nobody was managing.” 

Kyle said the city would receive complaints about the Avenue S camp on a daily basis.

Some community members alleged the mismanagement of the site was because camp rules were not enforced — which Kyle confirmed.

Some of the camp rules included having one bicycle, one tent and one cart, according to Shaw.

“Pretty much (camp rules) were just not adhered to at all,” Kyle said. 

Koller said Avenue S became an area people wanted to avoid. 

Several fires and deaths onsite

“Avenue S became very, people walking in the street all the time, garbage around, I mean we had several fires in the camp. (It) just became an area you wanted to avoid.”

One person died from one of the fires. A male camper, 53-year-old Rocky Alan Guerrero, died on Jan. 22, 2025. According to records obtained by The Astorian, Guerrero was known for lighting candles underneath his blanket to keep warm.

Kevin Matthew Bachtel, 40, also died inside the camp on Nov. 27, 2024. Bachtel died of an apparent drug overdose, according to records.

While Kyle agreed there are things that might have been handled differently, he said he disagreed with all statements alleging mismanagement of the camp.

“I wouldn’t say we mismanaged the camp,” Kyle said. “We did the best we could with the site we had, the constraints that we had within the law, and the tendencies, practices and conditions of the campers themselves.”

Going forward with due diligence

In August, the city relocated the campsite a few blocks down from Avenue S to Avenue V and handed over the management of the Avenue S site to Clatsop Community Action, a nonprofit agency that services low-income residents in the county. 

Kyle said the city has struggled with “the homelessness crisis” over the last several years working diligently “to find thoughtful and compassionate responses … “balancing the needs of our unhoused residents with the concerns and well-being of our broader community.

“Since 2022, Seaside has operated a sanctioned homeless camp as part of our strategy to provide safe and structured alternatives to unsanctioned camping,” said Kyle. “ The journey hasn’t been easy, and earlier sites, while necessary at the time, were never ideal. The move to the Stepping Stones Community in August 2025 was a significant turning point.”

In addition to moving the camp to a “more suitable location,” there were several other actions that have denoted progress, Kyle said. The layout of the camp was redesigned “to promote individual responsibility and better maintenance of personal sites,”  new policies were adopted “based on lessons learned” and a helping hand in the form of Clatsop Community Action, came on board. 

“Each of these components has played an equally important role in improving safety, structure and overall conditions,” said Kyle, “both within the camp and in the surrounding neighborhood.”

— Former reporter for The Astorian, Ysabella Sosa, contributed to this story.