News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Brad Boyd.
Brad Boyd is proud of the work the City of Sisters has done over the past couple of years. Continuing that work is his motivation for seeking another term on council.
Boyd serves as mayor - appointed by his colleagues on the council as Sisters' charter requires. He says the City's finances are in excellent shape, and that the City's infrastructure is improved and will continue to get more appealing and better-connected.
"We went from dipping into reserves to having appropriate reserves for every fund and basically running a surplus that we've reinvested in the community," he said. "I've lived here 25 years and never seen town look better."
Business is up and the jobs picture is improving.
"We're on a roll," he said.
He acknowledged that the roll hasn't always been smooth. The council had to pull back on a proposed amphitheater project and on a plan to refurbish Creekside Campground RV Park after large segments of the community expressed their unease with the scale of the projects and the sense that they were being forced upon them by an overly aggressive City leadership.
But Boyd says his council has listened to the public and learned from missteps.
"When people genuinely have concerns about the way we have done things, we changed the way we've done things," he said. "We can always do better on that front. We take these things to heart."
Boyd rejects the impression that policy is staff-driven and that he is overly influenced by City Manager Andrew Gorayeb.
"That's an interesting perspective," he said. "It's not one that I share."
He acknowledged the perception shaped by the amphitheater rollout, but said the circumstances tell a different story.
"The council voted 5-0 to tie up the land for the amphitheater," he said. "Even (Councilor) David Asson voted for that - before he was later against it... I don't think (Gorayeb) has exceeded his authority at all. We are the board of directors; he is the CEO - that's basically the way this goes."
Queried on the belief that he is thin-skinned toward critics and that there is danger of retaliation for critics expressing a negative opinion of his actions, Boyd responded, "I don't have a vendetta against anybody in this town. I have an open-door policy. People can talk to me at my business (Eurosports), they can come to council meetings. I'm certainly sorry anybody feels that way."
He said people's perceptions often change when they engage one-on-one and he encourages citizens to talk to him directly on any subject.
Boyd sees gains in prosperity for the people of Sisters as the economy improves and as the City works with other entities to make Sisters more attractive to visitors and potential residents and business owners. He wants to see the City develop a forgivable loan program to assist businesses.
"It's a tapestry of things that make this community vibrant," he said. "There's not one magic bullet."
For Boyd that means continuing to support Economic Development for Central Oregon in trying to attract traded-sector business, supporting strong schools, providing good transportation connectivity, supporting Sisters' signature cultural activities and making the town aesthetically appealing.
Sisters doesn't have transportation hub advantages or cheap land and lax zoning to attract business, jobs and people - it only has itself. And that, Boyd believes, is what will help the community thrive.
"We need to give people a good quality of life here," he said.
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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