Asson in bid for another council term

Incumbent David Asson has thrown his signature black cowboy hat into the ring for another term as a Sisters City Councilor.

An accountant by trade, Asson has focused on budgets and on economic development during his tenure as a councilor. On some issues, he has butted heads with City leadership.

"I think the contribution has to do with putting some numbers, putting some facts and putting some hard background on some of the projects that eventually didn't get to groundbreaking," he said.

Although Asson initially voted with the rest of the council to tie up property for a proposed amphitheater, he became a critic of that project on financial grounds and based on the manner in which it was presented to the community. He believes leadership has attempted to "ram through" projects and "it creates a stigma in the city that is harming."

He puts that down to a problem with leadership: He believes the policy of the City is too staff-driven.

"The council is supposed to be running the policy of this town and it's not," he said.

Who is?

"Andrew (Gorayeb) and (Brad) Boyd, in my opinion," he said.

Despite his feelings, Asson said he is not interested in relieving City Manager Gorayeb of his duties.

"If I was king, I'd want Andrew to stay," he said. He believes Gorayeb "needs to approach the public more openly" and there "needs to be more council review on larger projects."

He said, if re-elected, "I'm not going to ask him to leave; I'm going to ask him to follow a different path."

He does not support current mayor Brad Boyd.

"I don't like his policy, his way of operating," Asson said. "He does a good meeting; he does good preparation, but it is my opinion that he is a captive to Andrew; it should be the other way around."

The councilor wants to see the City address its sewer and water funds.

"We do need to seriously address the sewer and water rates structures both from a billing charge and a fairness aspect," he said. "I've asked for that for more than a year. It's not a super-serious problem, but if we are going to grow and bring in new employers we don't want to be like Bend and say, "we should have done this years ago'."

Asson said he hopes to continue to work with Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) on his most important goal.

"My priority for the next two years is to have working families (in Sisters)," he said.

He hopes to accomplish this by luring entrepreneurs to Sisters. To do that, he says, "City government should concentrate on providing a safe environment, operating a clean water and sewer system, maintaining roadways, and beautifying our surroundings and attractions."

Asson acknowledged that recent beautification projects in Sisters have been successful and that town looks good.

In addition to his service on the Sisters City Council, Asson is treasurer of the Sisters Country Historical Society.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

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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