News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
With three Sisters city councilors stepping down over the space of four months and high turnover on the Sisters Planning Commission, City officials are considering what it takes to attract and retain qualified people to step into these volunteer positions in a challenging environment - and stay through thick and thin.
"The biggest thing is we have to be up-front with people that apply for the position(s) - that it's a tough job," said Mayor Chris Frye. "It's not a lot of pats on the back."
Meetings can be long and contentious, and councilors and planning commissioners sometimes have to wade through large amounts of background material in a short time-frame.
When the workload is heavy and criticism turns personal, it makes people question why they would want to volunteer for a turn in the barrel.
"It can get nasty," Frye said. "That's why a lot of people quit; because it gets personal... I've heard a lot of people who have served in the past say they don't miss it."
He says he's heard many people say, "I want to serve this community, but I'd prefer not to have that kind of abuse and that kind of workload."
Yet the work is critical - and can be rewarding.
Getting constructive work done and making the City a better place than when you started can make the job a rewarding and positive experience, Frye says.
Councilor David Asson, who is now the senior councilor and one of two remaining councilors who were actually elected to the post, plans to stick around.
He acknowledges that there are strains on volunteers. Sometimes, local politics can get rough.
He noted, for example, that the last council meeting - a hearing on McKenzie Meadows Village senior-living facility - ran three hours and featured some pretty vitriolic rhetoric from rival senior-housing developer Mark Adolph's attorney Michael Repucci.
And, he says, "There's certainly irritation from the so-called activists... If you're a sensitive person and like to work in calm surroundings, it's uncomfortable."
He said inexperience in leadership roles both among volunteers and staff can "compound problems" and allow issues to spin up.
However, he thinks the atmosphere is improving and he does not think any of the recent issues reflect bad internal relations.
"None of those are symptomatic of poor council relations, I don't think," he said.
Asson thinks training of new councilors and commissioners would be helpful, as would "more efficient planning and preparation for meetings."
He sees some definite positives, noting that "our outreach to the community has greatly improved."
Asson also thinks that newly appointed Councilor Amy Burgstahler has the temperament to "show people that this is a fun thing to do."
What makes being a councilor or commission member "fun"?
"What makes it fun and rewarding is when we accomplish things," said Mayor Frye.
Things like improving downtown and making the economic development manager position full-time. Things like providing community grants. And, tough slog though it can be, getting projects underway and completed.
And, the mayor believes, people are starting to understand that their neighbors and fellow citizens are volunteering for a tough job.
"I think people are seeing a little bit now what it takes to be a councilor, what it takes to serve in that capacity," he said.
Overall, he says, "I think things have gotten a lot better." And he is looking into ways of helping the community shift the tone.
"There might be avenues to improve the discourse, to add some civility back into it," he said.
In the meantime, the council will have to appoint another member to replace Wendy Holzman, who resigned last month, and get back to work on behalf of the citizens of 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.
Reader Comments(0)