Bailey Thompson | News Editor

13 candidates — two for representative, four for mayor, and seven for city council — gathered together on the evening of Oct. 5 to discuss key issues that were concerning to the citizens of Monmouth and Independence, as well as students of Western Oregon University.

A partnership between Western and the Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center, the forum gave candidates the opportunity to hear from their community about the subjects that matter to them.

Of those in attendance, Representative Paul Evans (D) and Selma Pierce (R) are running for the House District 20 seat; Cec Koontz and Kevin Chambers for mayor of Monmouth; John McArdle and Jack Waddell for mayor of Independence; Stephan Howard, Chris Lopez, Roxanne Beltz, Steve Milligan and Jon Carey for Monmouth city council; and Shannon Cockayne and Marilyn Morton for Independence city council.

Dr. Mark Henkels, professor of political science, mediated this forum, which centered largely around infrastructure, relations between Monmouth and Independence, reducing debt and community growth.

The questions that were asked of the House District 20 candidates mostly focused on their positions on certain house measures, but there was also some dissension about negative campaigning and the relationship between opposing political parties.

“In the last seven weeks, somewhere between $350,000 and $550,000 has been spent by my opponent and her supporters on billboards, TV and mailers calling me everything but a nice person,” said Representative Evans about Pierce.

Pierce, on the other hand, declared that “I am not involved with any of those negative ads. I am busy being the best candidate that I can be… if you look at my Facebook page or my web page, there is nothing other than about myself or about policy.”

For the Monmouth candidates, there was one debated issue that may be surprising to anyone who isn’t familiar with local politics: the maintenance of sidewalks.

Although the current Monmouth ordinance states that homeowners are responsible for maintaining the sidewalk in front of their own homes, a task Beltz said can often cost “upwards of four and five thousand dollars,” there are several of the candidates who would be eager to rescind that ordinance.

“This is more than just about sidewalks — this is about ADA accessibility issues, this is about the safety of our town and this comes down to the place we want to call home,” said Lopez.

One other issue which became important in the forum was the debt associated with MINET, Monmouth and Independence’s public utility provider.

“All things come to an end, as will the MINET debt… we are on the right track, and I would like to see us get all the way there,” said Lopez.

$Current Monmouth mayor, Steve Milligan, stated that “it was one of the smartest things that we did. It may have had its risks…but it’s reaped rewards for all of us…we are MINET and we’re paying for our investment.” Because of MINET, Milligan also said that “the university can thrive, and research and invest in all our futures.”

Other questions regarding the prosperity of Monmouth and Independence caused the mayoral candidates to assert competing visions for the future of both towns.

“There’s been multiple projects that have just put our city in a lot of debt — millions of dollars of debt,” said Jack Waddell about Independence. “I just feel as if what we need to do is stop the bleeding and figure out what we can do to increase our chances of success with the new projects that are already underway.”

Contrasting this reaction, current Independence mayor John McArdle upheld that “We’ve done a bunch to help our economy. We’ve invested in infrastructure…and MINET is also part of what makes Independence a wonderful place.”

Moving to the Monmouth candidates, when asked about involvement with students, Koontz said, “I work in the school district, so students are a huge part of my life. And the students here at Western are also a huge part of my current volunteer time… my whole goal in doing that is to improve the lives of our students and to improve their success.”

Her opponent had a slightly different perspective on the issue.

“I’m involved with a church plant here on campus called Resonate,” said Chambers. “I get to talk with soon-to-be-graduates about how hard it is after you graduate… I’m still young, so I can relate to the issues we face.”

If they have registered to vote, students can make their voices heard by voting for the candidates of their choice on Nov. 6.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton