Interview with W. John Moore
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| W. John Moore |
WJM: We’ve been vacationing here for over ten years on a regular basis. We finally found a home early last year that we felt met our needs quite to a T, purchased it in June, and moved up in July. Love it up here.
TYG: Nice! So, what is your background professionally, and in government and organizational management?
WJM: I’ve worked my entire life in the private sector; I sold real estate for a little while, then went into banking and residential lending. I did that for 15 years or so, plus or minus, then left that to set up my own company—a mortgage company with a specialized FHA product, and did that for about ten years until retirement. But it’s all been finance related. I haven’t been involved with any government agencies per se, but I’ve been involved with numerous non-profits. I’ve been president of several non-profits and other service organizations over the years.
TYG: What’s FHA?
WJM: The Federal Housing Administration—a division of HUD, Housing and Urban Development. They’re federal agencies.
TYG: Alright, I just wasn’t sure. So, why do you want to be mayor?
WJM: I get asked that a lot. You know, when we moved up to Yachats, I wanted to stay active and connected to the city. There are various ways to do that, but after looking around for six months, I started looking at the various city commissions and committees, and had some discussions with members of the Council. They suggested Parks and Commons, because so much that happens around Yachats goes through that commission. So they did approve me for membership on both Parks and Commons, and the Finance Committee. I’ve been involved in both capacities for most of this last year. Recently, several people have sat me down and said, “You know, we really think you need to run for office.” We didn’t have a lot of candidates at the time; there was one candidate for mayor, and it was unknown at that point how many candidates we were going to have for City Council. I looked closely at the two positions, and I thought, with my background, that the position of Mayor was a better fit for me than a member of the Council. I’ve chaired enough meetings, Lord knows. [laughs]
TYG: So what do you think are the most important local issues?
WJM: Well, what I hear the most about is workforce housing. We have an awful lot of people who work part-time and full-time in Yachats, year ‘round, who live outside the city because there’s no place for them to find, either affordable or non-affordable, even. We have some people who are paid pretty well who can’t find any housing in the City of Yachats. That’s probably not an issue for the City to solve per se; I think that has to be done by local property owners. I have some ideas on that, and there are several business and property owners that I want to have a conversation with in the next month or two about that, picking their brain and seeing what thoughts they have. But I think the City can certainly be involved to the extent, where if zoning needs to be amended, if fees need to be looked at as an incentive to do that and create affordable housing here, then I think that’s appropriate to look at.
TYG: Do you support the bond measure for the new fire station?
WJM: I do! It’s totally separate from the Council of course; it’s a separate fire district, but yes, I absolutely support that. You know, those are folks—fire and ambulance—if we need them, I want them there.
TYG: Do you support the proposed tax on recreational marijuana sales?
WJM: I do! The way it was presented to the City Council was that it was their understanding that the State was going to tax it ... 20%? I may be wrong on the percentage. If the City wanted a share of that, up to 3%, they were entitled to do that as long as it was approved by the voters. It just makes sense to do that—I mean, why not.
Can I digress, and add more to an earlier answer?
TYG: Of course!
WJM: Back to when you were asking me about governmental experience: The only thing I might add to that is, while I didn’t have any direct governmental experience, my father served 49 years in elected, non-partisan office. So there’s a little bit of that that got rubbed off. He spent 37 years as Humboldt County Clerk, and 12 years as mayor of Eureka, on the coast.
TYG: So what are your views about the downtown sidewalks issue?
WJM: I would answer that the same way I’ve answered that with a lot of people: It’s been ingrained in me years ago that a prudent philosophy in business, in everything you do, is [to] start from where you are. Don’t go back and try and beat a dead horse, don’t do a what-if game; start with where you are. And where we are right now is starting the 101 Project, and it’s nothing I have any control over. I think a lot of that project is going to be very beneficial to people in Yachats, but I know it’s a hot button for a lot of people for various reasons, and I respect that. But we have it, it’s here—we just have to pay for it now.
TYG: What are your views about affordable housing and vacation rentals?
WJM: Let’s take them one at a time! The Fisterra project was a darn good project for the City of Yachats. The Council has been approached by a non-profit organization on that topic. There is a proposed addition to Fisterra that’s going to address that in large measure. The bigger concern, I think, because it hasn’t been addressed, is work-force housing.
And the second part of that was vacation rentals. A huge portion of this city’s budget comes from our friendly tourists. They’re important to us economically. The combination of transient occupancy tax at our hotels, at the vacation rentals, and the Food and Beverage tax is a huge part of this city’s income. There are neighborhoods where vacation rentals receive more criticism than others, and aren’t maybe appropriate. The Council has heard a number of arguments along the lines, and I suspect we’re going to have more discussion in the coming couple of years about that. I don’t have a two word answer for you!
TYG: What do you think about the plan for a new health clinic in Yachats?
WJM: I think it’s a darned good idea! I hope they can make it work. One of our concerns when we moved up here is a doctor! We got very, very lucky—we do have a doctor up in Waldport, and we’re grateful for that. But there are a lot of people in Yachats still on the waiting list, either in Florence, or Newport, or wherever. If a clinic can come in and make a go of it, and stay long-term: Hooray!
TYG: What do you think about the possible purchase of watershed property along the Yachats River?
WJM: Well, protection of the watershed is an incredibly important issue, there’s no question about that. Final answer on whether we should do that or not may very well depend on affordability at the time, and I think that’s probably my bottom line on that. If we can afford it, I think it’s probably a good thing to do to protect the watershed, because that’s critical to all of us.
TYG: How do you think matters of the state and national politics will affect Yachats?
WJM: Probably won’t.
TYG: What other changes or accomplishments would you like to pursue as Mayor? What is your vision of the future for Yachats?
WJM: You know, I came into this without an agenda. There’s nothing, no burning issue in particular that’s driving me to do this. I want to be involved in the City, help in any way I can, and a lot of people—and I agree with them—think that I would be a good Mayor and good for the city in that regard. Take the projects as they come!
TYG: So, is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
WJM: Just to say we love it up here! Not a day goes by that my wife and I don’t realize how grateful we are for finally moving up to Yachats. It’s a wonderful place to live.
TYG: Thank you so much for your time.
WJM: Thank you, Allen.
Interview with Gerald Stanley
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| Gerald Stanley |
TYG: So how long have you lived in Yachats?
GS: I’ve lived in Yachats 12 years—12 years this last August.
TYG: So, what is your background professionally, and in government or organizational management?
GS: In management? Well, my background is as pastor at two churches, both with a membership of around 4,000 people. I presently am the President of the Lincoln Community Health Center, which is the group that manages, oversees, 95% of the county’s health programs. In the interim, I also have experience as a shop steward in a union—I was elected shop steward. Not a lot of management there, but there were times, especially in presenting agreements to management. I’m missing something—I said I had five careers in my life... Well, I was Dean of a college, so that involved management too! I was coordinator of the hospital chaplains in downtown Seattle—all Christian denominations—so that was management there. I think that covers it.
TYG: Why do you want to be mayor?
GS: Well, it was an idea that came up on me—I’m trying to think what happened first. I was reading an AARP magazine, which said, “How do you cope when you get older in life?” Actually, when I came here to Yachats, I was pushing 70 years old, and I was not well. I thought that I would not get out of the 70’s, so I made the decision to volunteer. My main interest is mental health, so that was the first thing. Through that, I got involved in other social services, outreach in the county. As it became clear that my health was getting totally better, I thought well, this might be an interesting thing to do. After checking with the Mayor and all the council members that none of them were going to run (we have a problem in this county, as elsewhere, in that people don’t run for things), I thought: “Well, why not?” Because I have lots of energy, and I have a background in facilitation of issues, and I have a great deal of satisfaction that comes from doing that kind of thing. I thought it sounded like an interesting thing to do, so I did it!
TYG: So what do you think are the most important, current, local issues?
GS: I’m going to say two things—I’ve thought about this question before, because I knew it had to come. Let me say first of all—and this is in my experience, although it’s backed up in sociology—that any group that has a single leadership for a significant period of time (for instance, I was a pastor for nine years at one church), it is inevitable, right or wrong, when that period of time is over, that there are those who feel that they have been on the inside, and those who feel they were on the outside. It happened in my experience; it happens in any experience. So we’ve had a single city government here for eight years. That’s neither good nor bad, but it’s inevitable that there are people who feel they want to get back on board, or we hope they get back on board. I’m a good facilitator, and so number one is to facilitate and renew the energies of the town in a way that brings as many people back on board as possible. To do that, I have no political opinions about anything in the town, because it doesn’t fit the role of the facilitator. I used to, I do, but they’re not in the picture here. What’s in the picture on one issue is affordable housing and homelessness. I think the situation economically is so critical in the country, and so critical in Lincoln County and in Yachats to a certain extent, that I’m going to advocate for that. I hope, in the course, if I get elected Mayor, we’ll have some kind of a town summit here. We have wonderful leadership in profit people, non-profit people, and city people, that I think we could accomplish a great deal. Yachats already leads the county in what we’ve done for affordable housing. Not in homelessness yet, but in affordable housing.
TYG: Is it? I’m surprised!
GS: In the George Bush’s tenure program to solve the issues of housing and homelessness, Yachats was the first town in Lincoln County to provide any new housing, and we have now built 40 new units, Fisterra and Aqua Vista, and there are plans afoot to build 40 more, which I hope will take root. So yes, we’ve really led the way in the county.
TYG: Interesting! So, do you support the new bond measure for the fire station?
GS: Oh, I do very much. There would be no reason I wouldn’t. I think they know very much what they’re doing. There are some worries in the fact that they are so helpful in the town in so many different ways, that without them there, we’re going to feel a little lost. In the Visitor’s Center, where I volunteer, I have on a few occasions called on them when I’ve seen things like fights in front of the grocery store or around. I think we’re going to miss their presence in town. But I think their needs are very, very necessary to what they’re doing, and I fully support them.
TYG: I would think that even in their new location, you could call on them and they’d come down...
GS: Well, you can call on them, but you can’t walk around the corner!
TYG: [laughs] Well, that’s true.
GS: I have no doubt that their coverage will remain the same, and it won’t be hurt by [the move]. But we’ll miss them in downtown.
TYG: Do you support the proposed tax for recreational marijuana sales?
GS: I do. I see no reason for not having the State give us 3%. Whether anybody ever opens a marijuana store in Yachats—I don’t know if that will happen. But certainly I support the 3%.
TYG: What are your views about the downtown sidewalks issue?
GS: Well, you know, right now—and you go back to the earlier question—I’m now a person who wants to be a facilitator. So I have no position on that question.
TYG: What are your views about affordable housing and vacation rentals?
GS: Oh, I think that’s a very important [issue]. When my statement in the county booklet comes out, I make quite clear that the highest priorities here are the ability to have our town [continue to] having a sense of being a town where neighbors have neighbors, and that we will continue to have young families with young children that began coming to us, in my judgment, after the housing crisis fell in 2008. Yachats has been transformed by its young families, and a good number of them are not of great wealth. Those are the two big things. I applaud—not that I’m part of this, but it’s just absolutely wonderful that folks buy houses here in order to retire in ten, twenty years, and they rent them while they’re here. I would hope that maybe some would rent them as long-term rental rather than vacation rental, because I’m a long-term renter, and I feel I contribute to the town. So I think that those are the high priorities. If a problem can be solved by checks and balances and by people working with each other, then I don’t see the need for the City to have a City answer to it. But all along the coast, in all the towns, they’re all struggling with the same issue—except for Depoe Bay, I guess. As far as I understand that it forbids all vacation rentals. I think that if we can work it all out, without having anybody put under any kind of forbidding activities, I think it’ll be great. But we really have to keep the low-income families and kids’ families here. It’s been noted that one of the biggest problems with vacation rentals is keeping track of who’s actually operating them and who’s stopped operating them. The opinion has been suggested that if you ever got all the information, you’d maybe find that Yachats hasn’t gained in vacation rentals in the last three or four years.
TYG: What do you think about the plan for a new health clinic in Yachats?
GS: Oh! Being the president of the Lincoln Community Health Council, which is the one that manages the clinics and health centers, I’m very for it, of course. The original planning of the whole federally-qualified health centers, which came to its full size in 2006, from the very beginning realized that there was going to be need in south county. Staff, money, etc. At that time, by the way, the Yachats Health Clinic was still running. But it’s clearly a goal to have the Community Health Centers reach out to south county. With the coordinated care organization’s structure, health care in the state of Oregon, which we have here, it’s simply the fact that Samaritan and the county work totally together. We are helping one another and we’re both striving to reach out in every possible way. I consider the Waldport Samaritan clinic to cover all of south county, and I hope that our clinic will also, in its own way.
TYG: What do you think about the possible purchase of watershed property along the Yachats River?
GS: Oh, gee, I am not really financially adept at that level, although I’ve managed budgets. That’s a very complicated question, and worthy of a conversation with lots of people, because there are a lot of factors. There’s the factor of money, the factor of whether or not that property would help us in our water control, and I think there’s a lot there. I know we have experts to solve those issues.
TYG: Good, OK. So, how do you think current state and national politics will affect Yachats?
GS: Well, let me start with what I said originally: the main issue is the economic crisis. So I just hope, without giving any names or anything, I just hope that we find ways to transform and repair our economic system, because we are just heading off the deep cliff right now. One story: I talked with a woman in the Visitor’s Center, very recently. She came from Canada. She sold her home, and now she’s homeless because she thought she’d find a cheaper home in the Vancouver area, and she’s homeless. I just think it’s the issue.
TYG: What other changes or accomplishments would you like to pursue as Mayor? What is your vision of the future of Yachats?
GS: Well, that’s a great question, because as I’ve gone through this process of being interviewed, etc. etc., I’ve developed phrases that now become part of, if you will, the campaign. And the one is: Assessing the present, and planning the future. I hope that many, many, many citizens of Yachats—and when I say citizens, I don’t just mean people who can vote in Yachats; that’s important, in its own right. I mean people as far south as Ten Mile, people up the river, people who have lived here long before we even became a city, whose families have helped to develop and make this place what it is, all of us. I want people to get together and do that planning, listen to each other. It may take a long time, but it may be very, very productive.
TYG: So what is your vision for Yachats?
GS: Well, that’s in the mind of the citizens! First of all, the City Council has to do all sorts of work, which is required and is needed, and you can’t have public meetings about those things. But I foresee, in the course of the future, as we develop a future plan, modeled and related to the City’s present mission statement, using that concept and developing, I think we can come up with general views of the future which would really cause a great deal of energy and vision. I see myself as doing my part in two short years of beginning to see that take place.
TYG: Alright! So, is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
GS: Well you’ve had great questions! I think you’ve clarified my own mind in ways that are wonderful. I think that every time these things happen, my mind is clarified. No, I think you’ve asked the questions that, when the folks read this, I don’t know what more I will say when we have the public presentations between John Moore and me. In my mind, there are no competitors involved here. We’re two good people that the citizens of Yachats can choose from. To have a choice is wonderful because that will make the citizens more engaged in the decisions that they make.
TYG: Thank you so much for your time!
GS: You are wonderful! This is fabulous! I think I can go away for a month! [laughter]
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