News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Mayor Steve Wilson announced on Thursday, July 25, that he will step down from the Sisters City Council effective September 12.
Wilson and his family are moving outside the city limits to Tollgate. The city charter requires that city councilors reside inside the city.
"My family found their dream house and unfortunately it was outside the city limits," Wilson said.
The mayor is in his second term. The city council will appoint his replacement in September and seek applicants to fill his vacant position on the council.
Wilson said he plans to remain active in the community in some manner, though he said, "to be honest, I'd like to have a little break."
Sisters has undergone significant changes on Wilson's watch. The construction of a municipal sewer system was the major project under his regime and it is very near completion.
There are only two or three residential hookups remaining in the Buck Run subdivision. Wilson said he is pleased to have delivered on the construction of the sewer and on the promised $39/EDU per month service fee.
The mayor believes he is leaving a council and city government that are "more proactive," and has more of a sense of working toward long-term goals.
There are a couple of major issues on the horizon that Wilson believes the city will have to work hard to address.
He said he hopes the city and its residents will "be bold and courageous in addressing the transportation issue."
He believes the community should move forward as quickly as possible on creating a couplet on Hood and Main avenues before the traffic situation in downtown Sisters becomes unmanageable.
Wilson has been vocal recently in his concern that a new code allowing much smaller residential lots is too radically changing the culture of Sisters.
"I'm still concerned about the livability issue as it concerns the densification of Sisters," he said.
Asked if that played a role in his decision to move outside the city, Wilson acknowledged that changes had some impact.
His own neighborhood has changed with the development of Pine Meadow Ranch, a change he said he always knew would come.
Still, he said, the cabin on a cow pasture at the south end of Pine Street "didn't have the same ... draw to us that it did when we moved in" in the early 1990s.
Wilson said he looked in town when the opportunity arose to sell his current property, but "lots are pretty small," he said.
In addition to concerns about transportation and densification, Wilson said he hopes the city continues to advocate for preservation and public access on the "Squaw Creek corridor" south of town.
The area was involved in a proposed land swap recently.
He said that is an issue that he will continue to work on as a private citizen.
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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