Phil Arlen

Age: 65
Years in Bandon: 3 years, visited previously
Family: wife, two kids, three cats and a dog
Occupation: own two used bookstores; previously was an attorney for 5-6 years, and was a judge for 15 years in Ventura, Calif.
Education: Bachelor's in English from UCLA; one year of a 2-year master's of business program that I didn't like; then went to work, then got a law degree.

Past political experience: Was president of a homeowners association for six years in Ventura. It was a mess when I was elected. Then it settled down. We worked together, had votes, and were civil. I just know how to run things, how to lead. Several people said I should run for mayor, but I thought that was a little nervy (for a 3-year resident).

I have good experience. I'm good at working out a mess, resolving things, working together. Either reach a compromise or vote on it and move on.


Questions:
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city right now?

I've been spending most of my time listening. I think that's what I need to do. I don't have an agenda. I'm not getting on the board to accomplish any one thing. When I was a judge, you took cases as they came to you. After you hear the evidence you might do the opposite (of what you thought initially). You don't decide based on opinions or what happens outside. You decide after you've heard all the facts. One of most important things is to get people working together. People fight on the council; (there are issues involving the) council vs. the planning commission, merchants association vs. planning commission; there are different opinions about the Chamber of Commerce.

I had one appearance before the city planning commission that was absolutely dreadful. For a little 1x1 store sign. The enforcement officer got a complaint. So, we went to ask for a hardship exemption (for placing our sign). Two people tried to speak in our favor because the sign is set back and you can't see it. It's the only store on the street.

The chairperson went into a frenzy - said we are not here to support the merchants.

Finally, I spoke for two minutes and said that if I have to pull the sign, I have to close the store. The commission didn't seem to care, and ultimately referred it to staff.

Staff decided not to enforce the sign ordinance (in this case) until the planning commission made a decision. This is not good. And the chairman's anger was out of proportion with the issue.

It's inappropriate to decide in advance. I don't care for closemindedness or people who think of things as all black or all white.

Factions in the community do not work together.


How would you address that issue if you are re-elected (or elected) to the City Council?

Since we can't seem to get unanimity on the council even, why don't we have 1 or 2 people from the council, the planning commission and other (groups) get together and have a retreat and discuss things? Maybe we need a unifying thing above these factions/groups/commissions?

This is a tiny town. What is Old Town? Drab, brown. It needs reviving. Something to bring people here. All these issues: TOT issue, tree issue, Bi-Mart issue.

These four or five groups aren't together, and I think that's a problem. But I don't have an agenda. We should work together. Maybe a retreat or a lunch with 1 or 2 people from each group; see if we can get some cohesiveness going.


What would you like to accomplish if elected (re-elected)?

I want to see people working together more. And I would want to know that it's done in a civil, proper manner. That people are allowed to speak; all are heard. If people want to speak, I wouldn't let them be turned down. I want to hear what they have to say.


What do you feel is the most important job of a City Councilor?

Listening to people and making all the right decisions; hearing all sides and then making the right decision.


Why should I vote for you?

Because I've always been really good at working with people, getting people calmed down. As a judge, I managed to keep things civil and never had to hold anyone in contempt.

You can tell when things are getting tense, and you lighten it up a bit. Give people a chance to vent.

I'm not dictatorial, I don't have all the ideas.

What do we have to accomplish and how do we get there in a civil manner? You don't shut them down or holler at them. I'm open-minded to suggestions that work. If what we have isn't practical, let's modify it. I don't believe in black and white, and I don't hide behind a rule book.


How would you address the issues of affordable housing and family wage jobs?

I'd want to find out what our goals are. What have we done in the past? Is there any planning set up for 10 years in the future, and how can we encourage practical business that desires to come in here?

The Bi-Mart issue. If you don't want Bi-Mart, what do you want? I haven't seen any questionnaires asking voters what you want to see in this town. Something like, here's several ideas, give us your opinion. You also want to get the silent majority. Do you want big box stores, or small stores?

What does Bandon do to make people come into town?

They should remember Bandon for something when they leave town - restaurants, jewelry stores, art galleries. What is there that makes it memorable for people to be here?

Brighten up the town. Old Town is quaint, but there's nothing bright or attractive about it.

We built at end of cul-de-sac. When the construction was done, we found for sale signs everywhere. What planning went into that? We thought we'd have a nice quiet place at the end of a cul-de-sac.

We've got to decide what we're doing. What do the people want this town to be?

The average family wage earner is who I have in mind. How do people earn a living here? What do we want a city to be? Can the average Joe play at a multimillion dollar golf course? We can't make this city into Beverly Hills. It can be a nice small pristine city if that's what we want. If we want to expand, what about the average family wage earning? What about the kids?

Is there no impetus to get a job? Are there no jobs here to get? We should think about what we want this town to be. Like Beverly Hills or quaint with services and job opportunities that people need.

Someone has to lead. A majority will give you some ideas that are solid. From that, you coalesce.

If you insist that one person can't paint their house a certain color, the the next guy paints the wrong color on a Saturday.

(The city is) charging $14,000 to get a permit to build a house. Are we trying to make this an unaffordable town? What are we doing for the average wage earner? Where do kids get jobs? We should be asking and listening to people about this stuff.


Do you have any ideas of how the city would deal with decreased revenues in a declining economy?

Look at what are the long-range goals and where can we cut? It's not right to demand more and more of merchants and homeonwers without knowing where we're going.

What do you want to do in 10 years? Keep dinging the same group for more and more? SD fees went from $500 to $14,000 to build a house.

Either bring in new business and new homeowners that know it's going to be costly to come in here, or we find other ways of getting revenue. You cannot tax the people that live here out of their own homes. We're not Santa Barbara. They can't sell their little shacks for a million bucks. I don't think we should go in the direction that we're going to be a town for rich people, which I think some of the leaders in this town seem to want.

You have to be open-minded to do this job i think.

Anything else you think is important for voters to know before making a decision on who to vote for?

I'd like to see what people are thinking. Do we have any plans? Another hundred condos? Do we have (building) height restrictions? Where's Bi-Mart?

I'm not beholden to any particular group and I'm not telling anyone how I'm going to vote. I want to hear everything before I vote - all the opinions, pro and con. I don't want anyone to think that just because I'm doing something with a particular council person, that I'm wedded to any certain group. My decisions will be my own and I don't even know what they will be.

Geri Procetto

Age: 77
Years in Bandon: 13
Family: married 53 years to husband, John; have one living daughter, lost a daughter earlier.
Occupation: retired 28-year court reporter; had been a secretary previously. Twenty years associated with 4H, member of Bandon Welcome Club, Red Hat Society, involved in church Education: high school graduate and completed court reporting school.
Past political experience: was a successful write-in candidate for council in 1996; total of 12 years Bandon City Council; former 10-year school board member in Merced, Calif.

Questions:
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city right now?

The most important issue I think would be that we have to get the zoning ordinances changed, get setbacks straightened out so they don't build too many great big houses. We have to define buildable lot.

Complete upgrades to water treatment plant. Still have to work on a neighborhood park at Bills Creek and Harvard Street. Hope to complete the South Jetty Road/Madison Avenue pedestrian pathways; First Street sidewalk up to Edison Avenue; try to get wires undergrounded; they've been very good at installing handicapped sidewalks; riparian areas should be preserved, but we have to define the 50-foot (setback) - protecting riparian areas along Bandon's various streams while also respecting rights of private property owners to utilize their property.

For example, we have four lots, but could only build on 1.5 because the rest of (the property) slopes. If we wanted to build, it would be a problem because Gross Creek is underneath that - at bottom of our slope.

How would you address that issue if you are re-elected (or elected) to the City Council?

Matt Winkel is an excellent city manager. He always keeps us apprised and lets us know what needs to be done and how. He makes recommendations and if we don't like it, we make changes. We make the policy and he follows it. The policy is based on what he's knowledgeable in. We make sure there's follow-through.

I don't micromanage. We have a city manager and department heads. If the job isn't done right, then we interfere. I'm not there to run this city through each department. Hands-off policy.

You learn about problems by receiving complaints from the public. If anybody has a problem with anything happening in the city they could call me or Matt. I attended a few coffees with councilors and very few (citizens) showed up.

What would you like to accomplish if elected (re-elected)?

The Bandon Community Development Foundation has been formed to develop workforce housing; I would like to see that accomplished.

We need setbacks for new construction that's coming.

What do you feel is the most important job of a City Councilor?

Listen and make wise decisions, and don't get personal about it. When I came on to the council, I had no agenda other than what's good for the people of Bandon.

Why should I vote for you?

I feel that I've been here for 12 years and I stand on my record.

We accomplished water upgrades during my term; I went door-to-door to get people to vote for it.

I helped in the Old Town sidewalk and street lighting project.

During my tenure, we installed sidewalks on the north side of 11th Street from City Park to the hospital.

(Upped) system development charges so developers would pay their fair share for sewer, water and streets when they're built.

We obtained extra watershed property to protect the city's water supply.

We dedicated land and money to the library, upgraded the community center, completed parks master plan. I don't think I've made many enemies.

How would you address the issues of affordable housing and family wage jobs?

As long as property values are so high, I don't know how the city can do anything, unless Matt comes up with some magic formula. I know we need workforce housing here because a lot of our police officers don't live in town.

Everybody says if we have more facilities for Internet exchange, we could have more jobs, because they could come here and use the Internet.

Do you have any ideas of how the city would deal with decreased revenues in a declining economy?

We'd have to check each fund we have and see what we can do. Top of the line, we're not going to reduce the police force. In fact, we would like to get another officer.

Anything else you think is important for voters to know before making a decision on who to vote for?

I don't have anything personal involved. I do not have an agenda. I'm just doing it because I enjoy working with people and I feel good knowing that I'm helping keeping things going.

I'm not anti-growth, but I think we need to grow in the proper way. Systematic and doing it properly is good.

The council, as a whole, we're all independents. We don't rely on each other on how we're going to vote. We might not agree, but we respect each other's decisions.

Claudine Hundhausen

Age: 62
Years in Bandon: 9 years
Family: husband, son, daughter, two grandchildren
Occupation: homemaker; 15 years in real estate business - resident sales, multifamily housing, commercial prop management Education: some college, a lot of experience
Past political experience: 8-year Bandon library volunteer, Bandon Library Friends and Foundation board member for 5 years; active in Scouting - den mother; president of PTA in previous home town.

Questions:
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city right now?

Water. A few years ago, the city determined that we have adequate water for an additional number of housing units. And we are now, for what is currently built and planned, about 100 from that limit. So we need to be thinking in terms of how we're going to do this in the future - and need to be planning financially for the kinds of changes and additions we're going to need to make to the current system.

Planning for future development is really important. We have a world-class location, beautiful stunning beaches and areas to enjoy the outdoors. and we have a gorgeous small town, the kind of place a lot of people would like to live in. Instead, have to live in cities close to their employment. we need to find ways as we grow to enhance and protect what we have.

How would you address that issue if you are re-elected (or elected) to the City Council?

Water: The CB-NB area has about 3,000 acres of watershed land that's completely protected. a lot of our watershed area is currently on private property, so we need to think in terms of how to acquire lands that will remain protected and free of development so that we can have water for the future.

Little towns have not a lot of money to work with really. but sometimes we have to make tough choices. we can't expect people not to make use of the lands they own, so we need to find how to own what we need.

Planning: currently the plan comm is reconsidering ideas that have been proposed in the past - about setbacks, heights. frequently the emphasis that comes to mind for people is the idea of who's going to get to see the ocean, who's going to have the view. since the property on the ocean side of most view locations is the front row seat and it costs more money, people think that if they pay for that they should be entitled to control that particular area. but if you look at it in a more enlightened way, you realize that if you can consider others in the process and our visitors to the area, we can have a town thats really beautiful and pleasant for a lot of people to live in.

A view also is not just about seeing the ocean or not seeing the ocean, sometimes the view is a dogwood tree or a hydrangea or a place for a bird bath or something like that. so when we're planning how development occurs if we can find a way to create places for these kinds of things we can make life more pleasant and improve the value and the livability of our town.

through true leadership - requiring that our citizens involvement committee, planning commission, beautification committee all work together to try and achieve these goals.

What would you like to accomplish if elected (re-elected)?

My goals would be to work in every way that I can think of to get people in Bandon talking and working cooperatively. we have a fabulous community in terms of the people who live here. that and the location are the two great things Bandon has to offer.

I read a statement recently from a local business person about there being no shirkers in Bandon. They are dedicated and work really hard. that's one of the most true things I've ever read about Bandon. Sometimes we tend to be polarized on some issues, but if we make the best effort to communicate and work together we can come up with some great solutions and wonderful results for our goals. We're a very small town, but we have one of the best libraries I've seen anywhere, we have a lovely hospital, good schools, a group of people working on finding a way to get us a swimming pool - facility would be great for a very broad age group.

What do you feel is the most important job of a City Councilor?

Leadership. helping people to achieve their goals by helping them network and find common areas where they can succeed.

Why should I vote for you?

No. 1, I think I have proven patience and tenacity and persistence in my efforts to serve the Bandon Public Library. And I genuinely like people and I never give up.

I don't have a special interest. I want to be concerned about all aspects of Bandon community life - the business community, residential community, academic community. I want to represent people who really live here full time.

How would you address the issues of affordable housing and family wage jobs?

Family wage jobs: The two things that I see as primary components in creating new business are finding people who have the skills and the money, and helping with the money or (otherwise) to get their projects off the gorund. And they should be businesses that will serve the local people. And as the cost of fuel gets higher, we need to think in terms of southwest Oregon or southern Oregon in general.

I think it's general knowledge we're probably headed for some really difficult times. People are going to be making more choices about where they're going to be vacationing, perhaps may take fewer trips, will want to know that it's to a special or memorable place for their family or friends. We want to make Bandon that kind of memorable place. The council certainly can help to educate people about what opportunities are available and what the needs are.

We've talked about in the past the fact that the cheese factory is (noticeably absent). I would like to see the council take a very active role in finding solutions. How do we recreate this? The cheese factory was a good employer.

Affordable housing: I'm not sure what the council can do in that regard. My background is real estate and I know how important it is to have affordable housing in any community. Often the people that have modest incomes are retired. They give more of themselves than just about any group - because they have the time and they take an interest. The council, I think, has to take a proactive stand in protecting modest housing. There's currently a group of people attempting to form a (non-profit) to create affordable housing. The council needs to pay attention to what they're doing and assist in ways that are practical.

Do you have any ideas of how the city would deal with decreased revenues in a declining economy?

If your income is reduced because of circumstances you can't control, you have to tighten up. Learn how to do things more efficiently, and cut out the frosting. Actually, it doesn't really hurt us to face these kinds of circumstances from time to time because it makes us stronger. We find out new ways to do things that we didn't know we could do. Our grandparents worked hard and shared and helped each other. I really believe in kids...

Anything else you think is important for voters to know before making a decision on who to vote for?

There are population pressures from all directions in this day and age. So growth is pretty much a given. But we only have one Bandon and only so much land connected with that. And we need to learn to use it wisely so that it'll be something good for our children and grandchildren.

We need a council that has the courage to stand up for what's right.

Chris Powell

Age: 43
Years in Bandon: 10 1/2
Family: Wife, Kim; three daughters, Ashley, Alison and Mauri; one grandson
Occupation: Small business owner, baker Education: AA degree in accounting, Butte College, Calif.
Past political experience: Architectural Review Board four years; City Council five years; city Budget Committee; Ocean Crest Elementary School site committee; Bandon Chamber advertising committee; Old Town Merchants Association

Questions:
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city right now?

It's probably a toss-up between water (supply) and the city's rate-setting authority for utilities.

Water is probably No. 1. As our population keeps expanding, we're going to have to find some better sources for water. Honestly, we're really not a city government. We're a municipality. To have to go to the voters every time we need a rate increase. It's a tricky situation. Matt has managed the rate increases very well. It's better to raise it 1 or 2 percent a year, than 25 percent every few years.

We have the cheapest water rates anywhere, a very good bargain. But with gas and food prices, I'm sure it's tough for (retirees).

How would you address that issue if you are re-elected (or elected) to the City Council?

Water: They've already started looking at a couple of spots for water. We need to hammer that out and get the rights for water. I feel that people are going to start moving here again; so our water (supply) is getting lower and lower.

Rate setting authority: Most likely a ballot measure. I feel the council has proven its trust to citizens. We have been good stewards and we will be good stewards. I think we need to educate the voters a bit more on the budget and where all that money goes.

Take the TOT, we're taking 80 percent of that to run all the general stuff. The rest goes to the Chamber. A majority goes for police protection. Then, all the sudden you've got a shortfall - and you can't raise the electric rates to meet a shortfall. (That would impact police protection.)

What would you like to accomplish if elected (re-elected)?

In the last election, there was this idea that the citizens weren't able to communicate with city government. (Some councilors) meet with people on Saturdays. I'm at the bakery six days a week.

I don't really see that the citizens aren't being allowed to have their say. If that's the situation - that people feel they don't have a say - they need to communicate that.

For example, a lady told me that the doors to City Hall were too hard to open for a woman with a walker. So we got push buttons to open the doors.

We need to have people trust this body. We're not like Salem and Washington. We live here, we work here. We're basically benefiting like everyone else. We're not going to do something that's going to screw up this place, because we have to live here too.

We need to work to try and get the trust of the people behind us.

Whenever anybody comes to me to complain, I try to explain it to them. Like, SD charges are for new construction only. It's not something that goes on everyone's property tax bill. New growth will pay for new services.

People have been watching the council films, so some people are seeing a little more.

What do you feel is the most important job of a City Councilor?

Respect everybody and listen to them, and make the people feel like it's important what they say. Be in tune with what the citizens are talking about.

We have to spend the taxpayers' money wisely. I think Matt does a great job with the city budget. Everything is spent wisely. We have a good staff.

Why should I vote for you?

Because I don't have a set agenda. Unfortunately, right now, it seems that a couple of people do have a set agenda, and are trying to get more (people elected) with a set agenda.

I don't ever make up my mind before I get there. I weigh everything out before making a decision. I always go with whatever the code said. If someone had to play by that set of rules, then everyone else has to. You follow the rules. I've always tried to do that.

How would you address the issues of affordable housing and family wage jobs?

That's a tough one. I think the market really needs to decide that. We don't need to spend money for a house (and sell it cheaper) or subsidize rents for somebody.

Jobs: Try everything in our power to get people to come here. The population (of Bandon) is increasing in age.

I don't see Bi-Mart coming in here, if they can't make it in Coquille.

Some of the regulations could be made easier. Delay SDC (payments) maybe, spread them out over the years. That's probably about all we could do.

Do you have any ideas of how the city would deal with decreased revenues in a declining economy?

Probably the first thing you'd see is services cut back - police or electric department or water department. When we've had weather/storms in other places I've lived, we lost power for a week. Here, it was probably only 45 minutes.

I would hope to come up with ways not to (cut services). That would be a last resort.

I've heard from motels that revenues are down some, but I don't know how much.

Seminar recently at League of Oregon Cities - art grants available. (Some communities have programs involving) searching for art on beaches to draw people to town over the winter. (If we had something like that) it would help TOT and, thus, the city. That would be especially nice from November through April or May. With a grant, it wouldn't cost us anything and we could get advertising for free.

Amazing the amount of grant money that's out there. My bakery probably breaks even or loses money in January. With more people coming through, it would be worth it to stay open that month.

People may not have taken as many vacations this year, but there's a lot of people that took a vacation no matter what. They were moving.

Anything else you think is important for voters to know before making a decision on who to vote for?

One thing is that I was instrumental in getting the state to put those (safety stripes) at crosswalks on the highway.

And I'm usually always available, although it may be busy at lunchtime. I'm available to sit and talk about people's problem or concern; the door's always open.

I really think the citizens have trust in us, it's just a matter of going that extra mile to get rate-setting authority back.

Previous water measure - we called everyone in the book and it passed handily.

I think staff and employees and council do a good job.

Brian Vick

Age: 58
Years in Bandon: 30
Family: daughter, son-in-law, two grandhcildren
Occupation: real estate sales broker and antique dealer Education: Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from California State University - Fullerton, specialized in the immigrant experience and how that relates to small communities
Past political experience: three terms on Bandon City Council, two terms as council president; one term as mayor; current hospital board member; 11 years on city budget committee; Friends of the River chairman; Rotary Club past president; Bandon Historical Society board member; past president Bandon Chamber of Commerce; was city's Census 2000 coordinator; attended dozens of League of Oregon Cities training sessions.

Questions:
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city right now?

That's a very difficult question, based on the economic situation the entire country is facing. I've always felt the most important issue that Bandon needs to be on top of is our infrastructure. One reason I'm running - I have had a storied past in city infrastructure - is that I was instrumental in getting our sewer and water plants built. I was a water committee member, getting new plant built and finding new source of water; was instrumental in getting new clarifier built.

We went out and passed the bond measure, one of only two cities to pass a money measure in that election, with a 50 percent mandate. The citizens of Bandon have always been responsive when we have a need. Keeping our infrastructure up to date is the best way to spend tax money. And with all the water, sewer, paving and other improvements, our taxes haven't gone up. Property taxes have stayed relatively the same because we've expanded our (tax) base.

There are a lot of people in the community that have always been afraid of growth. But market forces are in play now - vacant homes, people losing homes. This may have an effect on our population; we may lose some people. But school enrollment is up; that's encouraging.

How would you address that issue if you are re-elected (or elected) to the City Council?

One reason I'm running is because I was really disturbed to find out (after not being re-elected last time) that the engineer came in with the plan for replacing the clarifier, but didn't include the settling tubes. The clarifier would work a lot better if we had settling tubes in it, but they were left out. I think we need to keep our eye on the ball and get them put in.

As a result of all this, Bandon has some of the best darn drinking water in the entire state. You can't hardly pick up a local paper - articles about cities of Powers and Coquille needing to build new sewer plants, water plants, at great expense. Other area cities the same. The Bandon council and citizens have kept on top of our infrastructure, so we're not looking at these huge expenses.

What would you like to accomplish if elected (re-elected)?

Obviously, one of the main goals is to keep our eye on the infrastructure, make sure settling tubes are installed; also want to maintain good working relationship with city staff. We have excellent employees, one of best staffs in the state; they're paid well, work with them, compliment them.

What do you feel is the most important job of a City Councilor?

To represent the needs of your constituents, talk to the people, be available to people.

I think that this contest will be an example of what can happen when ideology replaces objectivity and public office is used to pursue private agendas. In the Coffee Break (there was) an ad for coffee with council members Claassen and (candidate) Hundhausen, talking about opportunities for change with another progressive. Progressive doesn't necessarily correspond to progress.

For example, I have a strong background in the community's water needs. I volunteered for the Water Committee. Councilors Claassen and Drew refused to appoint me. It's absurd. You should look at a person's qualifications first and appoint the best person for the job. (I was finally appointed to water task force.)

Another example, the 4 Ports group - on ocean preserve issues. The council was semi-reluctant to support it. I thought they should have jumped right on that. They did, with reservations. My problem is there was an interesting article in Bandon Western World by Geneva Miller, which really didn't quite clarify what was going on. The public wasn't invited to Our Ocean's meetings. No one (other than a short list of invitees) knew a thing about these private meetings. There should be more public input. There will probably be dozens of people at the port's public hearing on Oct. 22.

Everything should be up front and in the open, period and end of story. That's another reason I'm running.

Why should I vote for you?

Because, No. 1, I have experience; No. 2, I'm available. Call my office or my home any day of the week. I live here in town. Anytime someone wants to come and knock on my door, they're welcome to. I will make myself available to any group who asks. I've been here 30 years. I love this town. My personal credo: The success of a community is directly related to the involvement of its citizens.

And I'm involved. I only named a few of the things I've been involved in here.

For example, I was a Cranberry Festival board member, was involved with the Rotary Club Exchange Program. I just have done a lot of stuff here.

I'm involved with the Bandon Historical Society. I always had a very strong feeling for preserving Bandon's past and have always worked really hard to keep the museum going in the right direction. I was instrumental in Urban Renewal forgiving (the Historical Society's) debt for their building and getting their parking lot paved. We need to not only look to the future, but preserve Bandon's past.

How would you address the issues of affordable housing and family wage jobs?

I felt that the infrastructure question answered that, although these are going to be some trying times. I'm really concerned with family-wage jobs in Bandon. With the national economy, it will be difficult to get grants to do infrastructure projects. Our growth is going to come to a screaming halt.

Today in Bandon there are several nice houses on the market for $150,000 to $175,000 dollars. I don't know if you want to call that affordable, but it probably is in that range (for some). The problem is getting a loan. You can still get 100 percent financing on a VA loan. I think the market will deal with the affordable housing situation more than anything else. You can buy a lot in Bandon for $50,000 to $60,000 now. That's just the reality.

What the city might look at is doing something with the system development fees, perhaps Bancroft those or forgive them for a low-income situation. (30 year finance - bancroft) It's something they could look at. But I kind of have a problem with the city itself trying to create affordable housing. We've had affordable housing programs here in the past (Farm Home program). The same thing happened there. People could get in with practically nothing down. When the (housing) market crashed in the 1980s, they walked away from it. Other people that held on were able to take advantage of the market later, which was good for them.

Do you have any ideas of how the city would deal with decreased revenues in a declining economy?

First of all, Bandon is really unique in the way that it obtains its revenue. Bandon is one of only 12 or 13 cities in Oregon that run electric utilities on a not-for-profit basis. It's driven by public service, not profit for stockholders. We're accountable to citizens and customers, not a manager in some other county.

Where we get a good deal of our revenue is from our utility tax, also from the Urban Renewal districts. Urban Renewal is essentially how we paved our streets. We only get about $100,000 a year, I think, from property taxes. Our property tax rate is 45 cents/per thousand, one of the lowest in the state.

We're a utility, so we have to get new customers. One reason I got involved with water issues is that back in the mid-1990s, a mayor suggested putting a moratorium on hookups outside the city. Why? Because that wouldn't leave enough hookups for us. What we need is to find a water source and increase the customer base.

We may not be growing as rapidly as we were, but we're going to have to be more cost-efficient on how we spend our money. Tighten the budget. I think we'll be in for some tough times.

TOT tax goes into the city's general fund. Back in the 1980s, I think, I moved to increase the percentage to the Chamber of Commerce. But you have to remember, the recent (motel) group withdrew its request for more funds, because that would cost us a couple of policemen. Every dime we spend is spent cautiously.

Really scrutinize. We won't be able to do as much as we did in the past, because we're not so dependent on property taxes. But people need electricity, sewer and water, so that money will be there. And the UR money will be there. I'm not looking at increasing system development fees. What I think will be really interesting in 2010 will be the census.

The biggest problem I have is that the makeup of the community seems to be changing. We have a lot more second-home owners now than before. There are a lot of vacant houses here in the winter. With national events, and people losing money in their retirement programs, we may not see as many retirees coming up here as we have in the past.

The city needs to do everything it can to help small business people. That's not to say change all our ordinances or re-do things that have been fairly mainstay in the business community. But there's nothing wrong with taking a fresh look at things and doing what we can to help businesses survive. I would love to see a Bi-Mart here.

Anything else you think is important for voters to know before making a decision on who to vote for?

I'm just doing this becasue I really feel I can blend in well with the council people; I'm not ideological driven; we need to work together for the community. I love the town and want to serve it.

Joe Briscoe

Age: 73
Years in Bandon: 12 1/2
Family: 38-year partner and three grown children
Occupation: financial consultant, Realtor, executive director of Bandon Community Development Trust Education: MBA University of Tulsa, Okla.
Past political experience: Bandon Planning Commission 4 years, Bandon City Council 4 years in January, Southwestern Oregon Community College Foundation board 5 years, chair of Coos Curry Douglas Business Development Corp. 6 yrs, Bandon Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee.

Questions:
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city right now?

It's always money in any jurisdiction in today's world. Making sure you have adequate funds for essential services. Any city must provide fire and police protection, infrastructure, including electricity, sewer, storm water, certainly water. And we have franchises for television, telephone and broadband.

How would you address that issue if you are re-elected (or elected) to the City Council?

I'm not sure a lot of people know it, but the city of Bandon runs on its electric utility. We buy electricity at wholesale from BPA, we mark it up modestly and distribute it. We maintain all infrastructure, lines, buried lines, etc, then sell it to the public. Our rate is still approximately half what it is in other places I've lived. It's 7 cents per kilowatt hour here; I've lived where it was 12 cents per kwh.

The city gets 46 cents (per thousand dollars of assessed valuation) as its base rate property tax, which was frozen by Measure 50. Whereas, other cities in the county have $6 and $7 per thousand for a base rate.

Of course, the overall tax rate is much higher than 46 cents - about $11.52 including the port district, schools, hospital, etc.

We need to continue to carefully monitor the spending, the side we have the most control over. Because of Measure 50 we can only raise it a certain amount. The real crux of the matter is we have to control our spending. In my opinion, the city is run extremely efficiently. The staff, in my opinion, is doing an excellent job. Making sure that nobody is too put upon.

What would you like to accomplish if elected (re-elected)?

I would like to get the city's emergency planning completed. City Planner Charli Davis has done an excellent job, worked diligently, attended seminars. But there are still some things I think we need to do.

For example, I think fewer than half the people in Bandon know where to go in case of a tsunami. Don't go south; don't go toward Coquille. Go to City Park - it's as high a ground as you'll find. Certainly don't got to the jetty. We need to get that information out to all residents.

There are other things in emergency planning. Every city needs to have a hierarchy. Who's in charge in case of an emergency? Who's next in line? We also need to have a list of telephone numbers, addresses, ways to contact people so, if an emergency happens, we can go check on so and so.

Who can declare an emergency? We had a mechanism in place to track damages from last winter's storm (Tammy Smith in Public Works), so we recovered all our eligible expenses from FEMA. I think it was about a quarter-million dollars, because the expenses were carefully tracked.

All these things need to be memorialized in a pamphlet that city leaders and newspapers and radio and TV have access to.

Very high in order of priority.

Lesser priority: Complete the city's revision of its comprehensive plan, which was last completed in 1991. The plan was modified in 1995, but never accepted. It was modified by me in 2001, and parts were adopted, but it's still not formally completed.

The comprehensive plan is the basic plan on which all your ordinances and activities by the planning commission and City Council use as your basic planning. It should be important to keep that plan updated. Certainly Bandon has changed in 18 years. I know I have.

The planning commission stays busy, but this is something they could deal with in pretty short order.

What do you feel is the most important job of a City Councilor?

Outside of the budget - Matt provides an excellent outline and recommendations, so we generally don't change too much except state dedicated funds. Usually, it's so well done (by staff that) there's little we should/can do.

After the budget, I think it's legislative. It's a legislative/judicial body. Passing ordinances and regulations is the most important job. And it's very difficult to do, because on controversies, the public has the right and need to input. We change no ordinances without public input. Resolutions can be changed, but they're usually relatively minor issues.

I think it's especially important for councils and all who serve on committees for the city to have an overview of what's important, not a specific limited agenda.

For example: Some people wanted to ban certain dog breeds about a year ago, pit bulls. If some councilor really had that totally in his sights and would log-roll anything else in order to get that ordinance passed, that would be a narrow view. The same with trees, the view, whatever. Any agenda that's limited in scope. I think it's essential councilors have an overview of what's good for the city.

Why should I vote for you?

Probably the one thing I've got going for me is years of experience, not only four years here as a councilor and plannning commissioner, but experience in a number of industries and a number of towns. I've lived in eight different cities and seen successes and failures there.

We have the best trash service I've ever seen, as an example of something that works here. I've been in a number of industries and, in each one, my particular effort was toward finance, creating budgets and managing the expenditure of those monies. I sat on a number of boards; worked on the animal shelter in one town.

In many cases, continuity is important in councils or commissions. I would hate to see a big turnover. Some continuity would absolutely be critical. If you don't know what happened, you don't know what worked and what didn't work.

How would you address the issues of affordable housing and family wage jobs?

That's my other job, what the Bandon Community Development Trust is attempting to do: build housing for the workforce, teachers, city and county employes, hospital workers. Literally hundreds of those people are living 30 to 40 miles away.

This is a job for private industry, but the City Council can do certain things. Like considering putting SD charges into a fund so it becomes part of a mortgage payment and can pay out over a 20-year period. You wouldn't have to pay up front.

There's not much else that I think the City Council can do to address housing except in some of its ordinances. You could change ordinances to allow smaller lots, more flag lots, mother-in-law structures, things like that, in certain cases. It needs to be carefully monitored, because you don't want to create a monster. It would have to be carefully studied.

The possibility exists with the PUD ordinance, and the bar is pretty high to get changes approved - and should be. But that's the only kind of thing I think the council can do. I don't think it should do tax abatements - do away with any charge that puts a burden on a different group (instead). For example, you don't lower SDs for one group, because then others would pay more.

We can pay the city employees competitive wages, and I think we generally do. The City Council has control over that. That's where it starts. The city sets the example, then the hospital, the school board.

We should do whatever we can to lower the impact on businesses. For example, we can establish a big enough planning department that if a company wants to build a warehouse, factory or store, they can get prompt, consistent decisions. Promptness has always been a complaint with every city. They need the staff so they have time to address these issues.

We have a small loan fund for emerging businesses. It's not very big, but it may need to be investigated and see how much has been paid and not repaid in the last 15 years.

The Chamber of Commerce does a lot of advertising for the city, information about coming to Bandon. The motels wanted a little more.

As a general rule, I don't think enterprise zones or tax abatements are a good idea. But, as long as they do it in Texas, we need to do it; as long s they do it in Clackamas County, we need to do it in this county. There's been some enterprise zone designations that probably weren't necessary. It needs to be carefully monitored.

Do you have any ideas of how the city would deal with decreased revenues in a declining economy?

Very little of the city revenue is created by anything that has to do with the current economy. For example, we don't get a tax on home sales, other than the (property) tax base.

The declining economy may be a push for Bandon. People may come to Bandon instead of going to Disneyland.

Obviously, if the economy declined to a point where there were fewer demands on city services, we would have to prune the services. If ‘X' department no longer has as much business, we would have no choice but to lay off the last hire. We have to do that; we can't operate in a deficit.

There are a few operations things I'd hate to see diminished. Certain things would be dangerous to cut back on - water, police, fire, sewer, electricity - essential items. The list of options is quite thin.