News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Current Council President Nancy Connolly is stepping up to serve another term on the Council. She, like the other two candidates for open positions, is running unopposed.
That status does not please the councilor, who first ran for office in 2014.
"I was very, very disappointed that nobody else chose to run," she said.
Nevertheless, she is not serving grudgingly - she has work she wants to see completed. With a new city manager coming on board, she thinks it is important for the City Council to maintain "continuity and stability." And she wants to see the work of the Sisters Country Horizons visioning project brought to fruition.
"Because I'm involved in that, I want to see that through," she said. "The future is ours to seize and mold right now, so why wouldn't you want to be part of that?"
Like every public official or candidate in the region, Connolly is acutely aware of the pressure to address the question of housing affordability. She expressed satisfaction with the City's recent $300,000 investment in a project providing affordable apartments, and she is open to the idea of creating a pool of funding to support workforce housing.
Like the other councilors, Connolly has her eye on the 2020 expiration of the City's contract with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. She wants the council to ask some fundamental questions regarding of the level of law enforcement presence they desire, how best that can be delivered and to plan for the future.
She is not looking to make immediate changes and said that overall she is satisfied with the service the City receives from the sheriff's office.
"I am," she said. "I wish we had more tickets issued, just because I think speeding is getting out of hand."
She believes that property crimes, which have occasionally spiked in Sisters over the past year, are "crimes of opportunity" and that the City may need enhanced police presence at certain times.
"I think for now we're OK, but when we start negotiating that contract a year from now, I think we need some changes," she said.
One of Connolly's greatest satisfactions may sound prosaic, but it's vital. She is very glad to see that the sewer main that is attached to the Highway 20 bridge across Whychus Creek is going to be buried - a significant safety enhancement.
"I'm thrilled that that piece is happening," she said.
Traffic and its impacts are a significant issue in Sisters, and Connolly is hopeful that the City can get a grant for a mini-roundabout at Locust and Cascade Avenue as it lays the groundwork for a large roundabout at the east end of Sisters.
Though the councilor has a full-time job in Sisters schools, she has a reputation for always being prepared and doing her homework before meetings, and she serves on a large array of committees and as a liaison with other governmental and quasi-governmental agencies.
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)