By Mary Owen
Prioritizing city needs and finding outside funding for projects was Gerry Aboud’s platform in seeking his fourth term as Stayton’s mayor. Now a few months later, he is tackling city issues head-on with input from the public and council.
Public roundtables to examine and discuss city issues, including Aboud’s top priority: road repairs, will take place Feb. 10, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Stayton High School’s library and Feb. 12 in the Santiam Memorial Hospital auditorium.
“The public has made it clear that they’re not happy with the condition of the streets,” Aboud said.
“We’re working on that now.”
He said there are several funding options before the Stayton City Council.
“Everything from putting more from the city budget toward street repair to a gas tax to some type of bond levy,” he said. “Part of this issue is when and how to do it. The real question is what the public wants and what are they willing to pay for. Once we determine that we can move forward.”
Another issue facing the city is how to maintain a healthy budget when franchise fees and property taxes may be going down.
“The city has started trimming and is looking at options that will let us become more efficient,” Aboud said.
“We have to keep government services from expanding and do what government presently does well before we take on any additional responsibilities. And we have to make it a clear policy that we will be able to pay for any new fund or project without taking from existing programs that are essential.”
Aboud also wants to help the city find funding to purchase the Longhorn Property across from Dairy Queen to deal with storm water control issues.
“The city should look into buying the property now,” he said. “Longhorn has about 19 of the 35 acres needed to deal with our stormwater.”
State and federal mandates already require the city to review the amount of mercury in local streams, water temperature as these streams enter local rivers, and bacteria, which can adversely affect local fish habitat.
“Part of the way to treat stormwater is for it to settle out into open plains,” Aboud said. “The north end of town east of Cascade Highway is dumping into that watershed now, as will all new development. Everything from oil from cars to pesticides from people spraying their plants and fertilizers will end up in the streams.”
Additionally, the lack of vegetation does not allow streams to be cool enough to substantially support any fish habitat, he said.
“We need to be good stewards of the land,” Aboud said. “It’s all of our responsibilities to do whatever we can to keep the streams clean.”
The stormwater master plan needs to be adopted and is just one of several plans before the city to be modified and implemented. Parks and planning are also in the mix.
“The time is coming when we will need a new city hall/police complex,” Aboud said. “And part of the parks issue is to buy property while it’s still available and affordable.”
Aboud also wants the city to continue to be “business friendly.” And he wants citizens to share their concerns and ideas with him or any city council member.
“Also remember that the council is an elected body to represent everybody in the city, not just specific groups,” he said. “We’re looking to do what’s best for the common good.”
