News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Six Sisters residents will square off at the polls November 3 to fill three open seats on the Sisters City Council.
Dave Moyer served on the city council for nearly 20 years before being defeated in the 1996 election. He hopes his past experience will help maintain Sisters' infrastructure in the face of growth.
Moyer, who works for the Sisters Ranger District, emphasized his background in pushing for a sewer system and his experience in helping to design Sisters' water system.
He is particularly concerned with enhancing Sisters' water storage capacity and developing new main lines to ensure consistent water pressure.
"I think we're going to have to build another reservoir closer to town to help maintain the flow," he said.
"We have a good water system right now, but we can't neglect it for growth," Moyer said. "We need to dump a lot more money into it and get more grant money, especially with all the growth in the industrial park. If we get another subdivision, we really need to look at the water system."
Moyer also wants the city to aggressively pursue grant money to see through the completion of a sewer system.
Moyer said he is concerned about Sisters' traffic and favors local solutions that get local traffic off Cascade Avenue. But, he said, the city can't handle traffic issues alone.
"We can't put all the burden on one little entity," he said. "We need to have a joint agreement (between state, county and city)."
Wayne Kimball, too, thinks Sisters needs to take action to deal with traffic.
"We've got to do something to regulate traffic through town or we're going to have someone killed," Kimball said. "I think traffic lights are inevitable and that's what I'd work toward if I get elected -at least one at each end of town."
Kimball, a retired U.S. Army Colonel and part-time Sisters COCC instructor, believes that a highway by-pass is the long-term solution to traffic bottlenecks in Sisters.
"We don't want to become a destination; we want to be a stopping-by," Kimball said.
That means the city shouldn't encourage more lodging places and other attractions that encourage people to stay, according to Kimball.
He also thinks the city should be restrained about drawing business to Sisters, allowing commercial development, particularly industry to gravitate toward Redmond.
"I'm for light industry," Kimball said. "I'm not really for trying to attract great amounts of light industry; I think we should prepare for what's coming."
Candidate Libby Bottero doesn't think the city needs to encourage business development.
"Our industrial park is expanding and I think that's fine," she said. "My impression is that (light industry) is coming in on it's own."
Bottero believes many citizens are concerned that Sisters may end up with fast-food restaurants and highway strip development.
"I think we need to look carefully at the kinds of business we want to attract - business and industry," Bottero said.
Her priorities include establishing parks and transportation plans and seeing that the city's long-delayed comprehensive plan is acknowledged.
"I think that will help us plan better for the future," Bottero said. "Now that (the city) is growing, I really want to make sure that the infrastructure is in place."
Bottero, a registered nurse, is also one of the authors of the November 3 ballot initiative that would create a charter amendment requiring maximum allowable systems development charges.
Lon Kellstrom said he wants to help "fine-tune and upgrade the management expertise" on the city council.
Kellstrom, a self-employed construction contractor and former hospitality industry manager, believes his greatest strengths as a candidate lie in his broad experience in "fiscal affairs and people management."
Kellstrom said he is committed to making sure the city finds enough grant money to fund the sewer system at the rates promised by the city.
"There is an implied contract between the voters and the city and my intention would be that we'd live up to that contract," he said.
He also believes that the city should schedule the installation of the sewer in a way that will cause as little disruption as possible for residents and businesses.
Kellstrom believes that systems development charges should not be addressed in the city charter.
"They belong in the ordinances," he said. "That kind of question needs to have public debate."
He also believes the impacts of SDCs on homeowners should be explored.
"I do view SDCs as something of a regressive tax," he said. "You get the same SDC on a 1,200-square-foot house as you do on a 3,000-square-foot house. They do tend to fall harder on those who are less able to pay."
Maggie Hughes wants to see more Sisters residents involved in their local government.
"I don't know that people understand that they have that option," she said. She wants citizens to know that they can come to their city council and give their opinion on any issue.
She also wants to see the city reach out to the voters with workshops and living room meetings.
Hughes emphasized that citizen involvement is vital to good council decisions.
When developers come before the council to explain their aims, she said, "the councilors never hear the other side of the coin except from people who are so anti-development that it's hard to know how many people just want balance."
Hughes, co-owner of Lonesome Water Books, believes that Sisters needs to attract businesses in order to be a healthy, vital community.
"I'd like to see a town where several generations can live in the same town and have extended families," she said. "I think it's going to have to mean jobs."
Tim Clasen is the only incumbent running for city council. Clasen, a self-employed landscape contractor, was first elected to the Sisters City Council in 1996 to serve a two-year term.
As a councilor, Clasen said he wants to ensure that the city plans for future growth, particularly in the wake of voter approval of a sewer system.
"Since the sewer was voted in, it seems that people's attitudes have changed a bit," Clasen said. "They seem to be willing to sacrifice the small-town no-growth or slow-growth attitude."
With greater acceptance of growth, Clasen believes the city must work with developers to maintain the features that create Sisters' charm.
"I'd like to see each developer have at least one neighborhood meeting (to get input on their projects)," Clasen said. "I sort of think developers have a responsibility to do that."
Clasen also believes that the city should continue to annex land only on a property-by-property basis because doing so requires developers to sell their projects to the voters.
"One nice thing is (case-by-case annexation) is going to slow things down a bit," he said. "Get the concerns out early, get the information out early - it just makes for a better development."
Clasen said he believes "The skyline and the open space arewhat keeps Sisters a small town."
Clasen said he would use his influence in an effort to dissuade PMR DevCo. from building a 45-foot-tall hotel on their property outside Sisters.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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