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A few weeks ago, I took two of my grandchildren on a short hike at the Finley Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis. Molly and Roland were excited about the prospect of hiking with Grandpa and, as we began our half-hour drive, kept asking when we would be arriving at our destination. We eventually made it to the mile-long “Woodpecker Trail” and traveled about 100 yards before Molly, aged 5, decided the weather was too hot and wanted to return to the air conditioned car. I convinced her it would be cooler when we reached the shade offered by an oak grove … Continue Reading

I hope the title of this blog entry doesn’t mislead anyone. I do not play golf and have no desire to learn the game. Occasionally, I participate in a charity golf event called a “best ball” tournament. These tournaments are not real golf because individual scores are not kept and only the team effort counts. In the previous five or six tournaments I’ve played in over the past four decades, my partners were always somewhat competent golfers; so knowledge of my ineptitude was confined to a small group. I even won prizes for sinking the longest putt and placing a … Continue Reading

Recalls of elected officials are on the agenda in several Oregon cities this summer as residents in Portland, Baker City, and Grants Pass are gathering signatures to remove the mayor and/or city council members. Recall campaigns are relatively common in Oregon, although this is the first time I remember two concurrent efforts generated by the firing of city managers.

While I am sympathetic to my colleagues who have run afoul of council majorities, I reconciled myself many years ago to the idea that the city council is always right about

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Kate Porsche, our Urban Renewal Manager, stopped by my office earlier today and could not find a graceful way to avoid one of my monologues about economic and community development. I have a number of pet theories about this subject; and, apparently, my need to express them wasn’t satisfied by an audience of one.

I have believed for a long time that the best development strategy for a city is to make the community a great place to live. Communities that are always looking to improve themselves do better than those that are committed to maintaining the status quo.

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The fireworks on the 4th of July this year will remind me of how fortunate I have been during a long career working as a public servant.  We are celebrating and honoring the creation of an ideal that survives only by virtue of countless sacrifices and hard effort over the past 233 years.  Much of that effort is carried on today by people who work for government.

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