To run or not to run: Deadline looms as terms expire for office holders

By Mary Owen

Contemplation seems to be the action taken by several local officials up for reelection on Nov. 6.

“I think the plan is to run, but I need to confirm that with my family and make sure they’re on board,” said Jennifer Niegel, a councilor with the city of Stayton.

“It’s a big time commitment, and I’ve got a lot of other work and volunteer obligations and a couple of cute kids (and a husband) at home that need me, too.

However, now that I’ve been involved in the council, it would be really hard to turn it over to someone else who may not have the same stance and approach.”

Councilor Brian Quigley echoed Neigel’s sentiments, saying, “While I have enjoyed serving on the council over the last 18 months, I really need to make sure I can extend my commitment to the position for another term.”

On the surface, Quigley said, it may not seem like serving on the council takes up much time, “but add it in with family, work, community and life’s other demands and it’s essentially a second job.”

Niegel and Quigley are two Stayton councilors whose terms expire this year, along with Councilor James Loftus.

Mayor Scott Vigil’s term also is up in December.

To date, none have re-applied for their positions, and Loftus and Mayor Vigil did not comment by press time.

“Given the current state of the economy, I believe the current council has done a good job of maintaining life services without any dramatic increases in fees or taxes,” Quigley said.

“We’ve worked together with staff to find additional resources for funding projects through various grants. We still need to focus on increasing our business environment and recruiting more companies and small businesses to Stayton.

We must tackle the issue of how we are going to rebuild and maintain many of our streets, which is an issue that has plagued many councils before us,” he added.

Quigley believes some continuity and familiarity with the issues is important when the council makes the transition between outgoing and incoming members.

“I have a strong desire to be involved in finding a solution to these challenges,” he said. “The only agenda I have is to strengthen our community. How can I best accomplish that will be decided in the coming weeks.”

Niegel said she enjoyed finding out more about what’s going in Stayton.

“I’ve been most impressed with the way the city has sought out grant funds to complete projects, enabling the city to get some things done it otherwise may not have been able to do – Santiam Park, 10th Avenue,” she said. “By leveraging grant money, we have funds to do other things and the city is able to get more accomplished.”

Niegel wants to do whatever she can to ensure Stayton continues to be a great place in which to “live, work and raise a family.”

“To me, that means continuing to sustain and improve our facilities, like parks, the pool and the library, and also our underlying infrastructure likes streets and sidewalks,” she said.

“It also means adequately staffing the police department to ensure public safety, supporting existing businesses and encouraging new businesses to spur economic development, and engaging service groups, citizens and volunteers to foster community involvement,” Niegel added.

Limited resources are the greatest challenge to the city, and Niegel said the council needs to prioritize all wants and needs and continue to seek grants as well as figuring out ways to get “the biggest bang for our buck.”

“Of course, each one of us has different ideas about what should be at the top of the list and how to get those things done,” she added.

“Another difficult aspect is getting various personalities to reach some sort of mutual agreement without a lot of unnecessary hostility.”

She hopes citizens will elect people who, while they may not always agree on things, will be able to work through issues in “a courteous, professional manner.”

Stayton’s filing date for the November election is Aug. 21.

The mayor will be elected to a two-year term, while the two councilors receiving the highest number of votes will serve for four years and the third councilor for two years.

Candidates and committee information as well as campaign finance information may be obtained by logging on to OregonVotes.com.

For information, contact Alissa Angelo, deputy city recorder and elections officer, at 503-769-3425 or [email protected].


Aumsville

“We have some goals to help continue to make Aumsville a great place to live,” said Mayor Harold White, who will run for another term. “I’d still like to stay involved in making our city a great place to live.”

White, who also acts as the city’s police commissioner, wants to see the First Street project to fruition as well as continuing to work on development and urban growth boundaries and the downtown plaza project.

“We continued to expand and improve our parks,” he said of his last term in office. “We want to still be doing that.”

White embraces goals set in the city’s Visioning Plan for future improvements to keep Aumsville vital and citizen friendly. He has applied for another two-year term.

Three four-year councilor positions are also coming open: Councilor Gary Dahl, Councilor Lorie Walters and Councilor Nico Casarez. All three plan on running again.

“We’re getting along better with builders in town,” Councilor Dahl said.

“We cut some of the fees down for a year to keep them going. It helps them a little bit.”

Now that he has his feet politically wet, re-applying for another term is just what Dahl sees as the way to continue helping the city he loves.

“We will just continue working together and do what we do,” he said of his fellow councilors and Mayor White.

A retired Marion County probation officer and deputy sheriff, Dahl walks about three hours a day, and views what needs sprucing up along the city streets.

He said another of his passions is to keep Aumsville a nice place to live.

Filing forms and nomination petitions are available at the Aumsville City Hall. Nomination may be made by filing a declaration of candidacy, accompanied by a $25 filing fee or by petition containing the signatures of not less than 25 qualified voters in the city.

The signatures must be verified by Marion County Elections before filing at city hall.

The filing deadline for all positions is Aug. 24. For information, call the Aumsville City Hall at 503-749-2030.

Lyons

The seats held by Councilors Danny Burroughs, also the library commissioner, and Lon Connor, the transportation commissioner, will be on the ballot this November. To date, neither has filed for reelection.

Deadline to file is 4 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Lyons City Hall.

Applications are available at the city hall, online, or can be picked up from the community board outside of the city hall upon request.

Sublimity

Mayor Gene Ditter plans to run again for the city of Sublimity. Busy with Relay for Life, he was unavailable for comment.

The city has a two-year mayor term and two four-year council seats up for grabs.

Robert Brundage turned in the first application for a city council position on June 18.

Ending their terms are Councilman Van Schoenborn and Councilman Brian Kauffman.

Packets are available at the Sublimity City Hall and must be completed and returned no later than 3 p.m. Aug. 24.

To be eligible to run for office within the city, a person must be a qualified elector and have resided in the city during the 12 months preceding the election.