The members of a City Council supervise the city departments, either directly or through a city manager or administrator. City Councilors pass laws, set policy, decide which services will be provided, and develop budgets; they negotiate work contracts and make hiring and firing decisions. A city officer must be a qualified elector under the state constitution who has resided in the city before being elected for a period of time that is specified in the city charter.Scappoose City Councilors are elected at large. Voters are asked to vote for a number of candidates equal to the number of open seats. They serve for a 4-year term (unless they are filling out a partial term) and are elected on a nonpartisan basis. In most cities, the City Councilors are unpaid.
Town Where You Live
Scappoose, OR
Your Experience/Qualifications
Former Scappoose City Councilor
County
Columbia
Term
4 Years
Term Expires
2028
Protecting the Scappoose floodplain and habitat for future generations by conducting a comprehensive hydrology study and formulating a no-build green zone.
The fact that 4 City Council votes and do either a lot of good or a lot of harm to a community. It is far better to be part of the solution than part of the problem.
Water, sewer, storm-water, and green space investments are critical to Scappoose's future. A combination of wise use of current financial resources and pro-active initiatives can finance community needs.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Town Where You Live
Scappoose, Oregon
Your Experience/Qualifications
Scappoose Planning Commissioner; small business owner; Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductee; Eagle Scout
County
Columbia
Term
4 years
Term Expires
2028
Scappoose needs to improve safety and traffic conditions, especially along US Highway 30 running through the center of town. This is a complicated matter that requires a long-term view and active dialogue with state and federal transportation departments. I would seek first to develop the city's relationships with these agencies. Fully staffing the city's police department is another urgent need and would be another way to increase safety by more thoroughly enforcing traffic laws. This will require securing additional funding, likely through a levy, or identifying waste and cutting costs. Scappoose also needs to attract industry; recently built out infrastructure near the airport can accommodate this, and we need to publicize this capacity.
I look forward to being in a better position to help shape the community in positive ways and to empower citizens to become more involved in local governance. One of my goals is to use the position to make city data more accessible to the community through web maps and other data visualization techniques.
The city needs far more sidewalks and better connectivity between its east and west sides. More sidewalks mean greater safety and a means to get people out of their cars and ease congestion on major thoroughfares. Scappoose citizens approved a modest gas tax in 2019 to fund sidewalks and street repair, but I think we could do a better job expediting these projects and could probably leverage federal infrastructure funds to boost our efforts. Connectivity is a much more complicated and far-reaching project and would require first a working partnership between city, state, and federal jurisdictions. Funding would be a conversation piece but wouldn't be an immediate concern, as we need to start to plan out possible strategies now.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
Candidate has not yet responded.
