By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
The Yachats City Council appears ready to reach its full strength of five members when it meets Thursday morning.
The four-member council is seeking to select a fifth member to replace James Kerti, who took office in January 2019 but resigned last month with three years left on his term.
Councilors interviewed two candidates Monday and received responses to questions via email from a third and promptly said it was ready to appoint someone when it meets at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
Four council members used a set of seven basic questions to interview Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey and Ariana Carlson, following up with questions of their own and from the candidates’ applications. A third candidate, former council member Greg Scott, is traveling in India and responded Monday via email to the questions.
O’Shaughnessey worked for 35 years in various administrative positions at the University of Illinois before moving to Yachats three years ago. She has been on the Planning Commission for two years.
Carlson, who grew up in Corvallis and vacationed in the area since she was a child, moved to Yachats a year ago. She runs a web-based business and executive coaching company called The PNW Collective.
Scott has lived in Yachats for 17 years and was on the Planning Commission for two years before being elected to the council and re-elected twice before resigning in July 2018. He worked in the finance office of the city of Corvallis for 12 years and in the College of Business at Oregon State University for 16 years.
The council’s interview with O’Shaughnessey took the full hour allotted. Carlson’s interview lasted 35 minutes. Council questions ranged from why the candidate wanted to serve, their objectives, issues about which they feel conflicted and their vision of Yachats’ future.
What follows are notes, or full email responses, from their answers.
Mary Ellen O’Shaughnessey
Her three reasons for seeking the office were an instilled “responsibility to serve the community,” to use her experience working on human resource and policy issues, “And, I love this community. That’s the bottom line.”
Objectives included helping the city secure its water source, infrastructure issues, parking, and low-income housing. The lack of parking during Yachats’ tourist season is a “health, safety, and economic” issue for the community. “We have to solve this.”
She said she is ready to put in the work, and already knows about time commitments from her two years on the Planning Commission. O’Shaughnessey said she’s also prepared to make unpopular decisions. “You don’t become a member of the council to win a popularity contest. Go where the facts are.”
She said it’s important for council members to learn to listen, telling a story from her university days when she had to counsel herself to wait until two or three and eventually seven or more other committee members spoke first before she weighed in.
“I had to learn to listen. I also had to admit I didn’t know everything.”
She also said the council needs to gather information on issues, doing the proper research and learning from other municipalities.
“Don’t take a dart and throw it at the board. I have a problem with that. What’s the information and can you explain and defend it?”
Yachats also needs to acknowledge and manage the tension between its mostly retired year-round residents and the tourists who flood town four to five months a year – and provide the bulk of its revenue.
“They come here for the same reason that we live here,” she said. “They bring energy – but they mostly come in cars and they do bring some problems. We have two identities.”
“Develop a culture of gratitude, kindness and generosity that we share with visitors and residents alike,” she said.
O’Shaughnessey has previously criticized the council and city staff for not focusing more on developing a comprehensive code enforcement program. “It’s not a big secret that I’m in favor of a pro-active code enforcement program,” she said Monday, pointing out that the Planning Commission passes lots of ordinances that are unevenly enforced.
“I want someone who goes in and helps with solutions, not just shows up and says ‘You have a problem’.”
“I don’t come in with an agenda,” O’Shaughnessey said. “I will make decisions, after gathering information, for the health, safety and well-being of the community.”
Ariana Carlson
Carlson said she has been following Yachats issues since last fall when the council was debating vacation rental limits. “Yachats is on the cusp of a lot of changes right now.” Carlson, the only candidate or council member who is not retired, said she “represents a different demographic.”
Her main objective in running it to serve constituents, recognizing there are many views of issues facing the city that require “grace, nuance and compassion” to connect with the public.
“I’m really fascinated in learning how Yachats operates … and fascinated by how a little city can grow and sustain itself” while continuing to be a “beautiful, magical place.”
Carlson said she understood the policymaking role of the council from the two years she spent on the board of the Lane County Farmer’s Market.
She said the main issues she saw facing Yachats were water security, infrastructure issues and developing a “long term plan for vacation rentals that supports our residents and our economy.”
“It’s complex,” Carlson said of the vacation rental issues in Yachats. “It may be one of the most complex issues we’re facing. I certainly don’t have an answer.”
Being on the City Council, she said, would help her understand the city’s vacation rental policy better, while seeking community comments and perspective.
“It’s something I want to understand at the policy level before I make my mind up about it,” she said.
In response to a question about how she would gauge community sentiment, Carlson said she would conduct “walking surveys” to talk to people, use social media and hold public meetings.
“There’s a real hunger in town for a better connection with each other,” she said.
Carlson said she could be a good council “team member” when issues arise by working collaboratively with other councilors and the public. She illustrated that with an example from her Lane County Farmer’s Market days when she had to help solve an issue between the market, the owner of a private parking lot and the city of Eugene.
“Collaborative efforts almost always end up with a better result,” she said.
Greg Scott
Scott is on a photography trip in India and not back until March 8. The council sent its seven questions to him via email, which he answered after returning to New Delhi from the Himalayas.
Scott said he has long been involved in community affairs and after an 18-month break has “recharged my batteries and want to rejoin the conversation at the council table … and quite frankly, a lot of people have been lobbying me to rejoin the council.”
Scott said he believes he has a “clear understanding” of the city’s mission, goals, projects and needs.
“I would like to think my experience, skills, understanding of Yachats history would enable me to contribute to council discussions and decisions in a way that reflects the will of our community. I can say with certainty that I would not be a single-issue councilor.”
Scott said the council’s role is to set organizational goals, approve city policies, approve the annual budget and capital improvement program, approve contract awards above $50,000, hire and perform reviews of the city manager, city attorney, external auditors, and serve as the initial review appeal agency for some planning decisions.
“I also believe it is the role of every council member to keep community members informed about what the city is doing; to help the public understand the rationale about decisions and to serve as a feedback channel to the council as a whole.”
Scott said one of the main issues facing Yachats is that it is “landlocked.”
“We have no space to grow. Future planning and decisions need to consider this fact if we have any hope of creating new affordable housing and attracting the people needed that have historically contributed to the cultural diversity of our village.”
Scott said he would use a number of resources to help guide his decisions.
“Perhaps one of the most important is the 2008 comprehensive plan survey of over 300 Yachats residents. I believe it is important for all council members to maintain an active dialogue with residents and businesses about city affairs. For major decisions, I favor community meetings where facts can be presented and questions can be asked and answered.”
My guess is there has been quite a bit of turnover in the residents over the last 12 years since the 2008 survey mentioned above and a lot has changed in this town since then. Perhaps it is time to revisit the survey to ensure the voices and concerns of current residents are captured.