Mayor Don Williams, James Scrutton, Doug Wheldon, and Jim Davis were at the Meet and Greet event hosted by Lil Sambos Restaurant recently and I had the opportunity to interview the candidates for city council.
Mayor Don Williams said workforce housing (also known as affordable housing)Â was the biggest problem the city faced and that the three candidates, with close to 100 years combined building, contracting, and developing experience, could solve the problem. He wants us to vote for these three builders for city council but who are they and why should we?
Jim Davis is running for City Council Ward 1. He is an experienced builder who has a commanding presence. His interview was to the point and he had some great ideas about how to actually solve the problem of affordable housing. Off camera in speaking with Jim Davis I found him to be highly intelligent. Imagine General George S. Patton commanding armies and you get the idea of Jim Davis commanding contractors. He has sat on the council before so some  political experience is there.
James Scrutton is running for Ward 2. I enjoyed interviewing this guy. He’s easy to talk to and just an all-around good guy. James Scrutton is a great listener and genuinely cares about his community and neighbors. He has helped feed the homeless in numerous programs and if that wasn’t enough, he tries to talk to all of them and find out what their story is. He said he was ready to help the homeless in Lincoln City learn trades with new programs so they could rejoin society. Scrutton is also a retired contractor and he brings experience in all the different contracting trades.
Doug Wheldon is running for Ward 3. Wheldon went into great detail about what workforce housing is and ways the builders could create the much needed housing for people in Lincoln City. He seemed to know an enormous amount of information on the subject and I was impressed. I learned a thing or two from him. What I really liked about Doug Wheldon was how he presented himself. Something about his body language made me feel comfortable. He was a good listener and really knows everything about construction. He also showed a glimpse of his political strength by how he answered my questions from an average Lincoln City citizen standpoint.
Talking to these three men made me excited for Lincoln City. If they do get elected I have no doubt in my mind that they will tackle the problem of affordable housing and the city will benefit greatly when the dust settles.
Do they want to be voted in so they can profit by “building”?
James Scrutton is retired, and Doug Wheldon is semi-retired. Jim Davis is not, but all of them would need to declare conflict-of-interests, and abstain from voting, if they were to vote on something that they might personally benefit from. That’s the law.
Affordable housing is defined by the State of Oregon as housing costs (rent AND utilities) that are no more than 30% of 80% of the local median income. In Lincoln City, at the time of this posting, worked out to be no more than $676 per month. This seems to be a challenge to be able to meet and has been for some time. If these candidates so experienced in building affordable housing, why then is there not enough? Since it seems to be a challenge already for these builders to meet the demand of affordable housing, why then are they running for city council? It seems like it would take their time and attention away from where it’s needed most. Let’s keep our builders building!
Mac, together these three builders have over 100 years of experience building affordable homes. Now they want to do more than build homes, they want to make it easier for *anyone* to build affordable homes, as they know what the difficulties are (fees, permitting delays, etc.) and have concrete plans to overcome those difficulties.
Wasn’t this the same event where James Scrutton’s opponent, Riley Hoagland, found shelter for three homeless vets who were huddled across the street from Sambo’s? Who’s really looking out for Lincoln City? Not these guys, that’s for sure…
Hoagland’s a good hearted guy, but he’s done little in his 18 months on the Planning Commision. What proposals has he put forth to address our housing crisis? And why wasn’t he publicly interviewed for the Commission, as our Lincoln City Municipal Code 2.08.030.B requires? Why did Councilor Noriekis secretly choose Hougland to be his successor? Is that fair to our voters? I found the facts at https://www.tsole.org/support-our-mayors-fight-for-transparency-and-openness/
This does not look like the City Website makes me think hmmmm deception?
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This is a great example of biased reporting. It
wasn’t an information gathering event, it was political promotion!
Don’t shoot the messenger.
Think of the solution not the problem.
We all have positive and negative aspects in our life. Which ones we focus on plays a huge role in how happy we feel. People with a negative mindset are part of the problem. They make their own life more difficult, but they also make the lives of others more difficult. I encourage you to become part of the solution for yourself and those around you. Just saying
This is pure comedy. Three good ol’ boys campaigning in a restaurant with subtle racist overtones. A mayor that insists he is innocent, yet publicly apologizes and then refuses to release the report he was apologizing for which would prove his innocence. Add a little puppet master named Ross pulling the strings of all four of these clowns. Throw in a bi-polar trust fund baby, a sensationalist reporter and a city attorney who was only doing his job and is now the subject of non-stop harassment and you have the makings of a bad Lifetime movie.
I am sure that if someone did some digging all of this would come unraveled. But go ahead, vote these guys in and support the “Taft Warming Shelter” (who owns that building??) and watch your city continue to be the laughing stock of the Oregon Coast!