14
Wednesday, May 13, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
CouNCIL: Three
councilors sat for
interviews
Continued from page 3
development as being impor-
tant for the city to grow but at
the same time, “we need to be
environmentally sensitive.”
Ryan views Sisters as “a
volunteer-based city.”
“How do we keep (the
citizens) energetic and moti-
vated?” he wondered.
Ryan believes that the role
of a City Councilor is multi-
faceted and that the Council
acts as a board, “taking input
from different sectors, and
making informed decisions
without bias or special inter-
est, for the benefit of the city.”
He sees a functioning Council
using teamwork, reaching con-
sensus, and having credibility.
If selected, Ryan would
look forward to being an
active team member who
could serve as a resource and
offer unbiased opinions.
Relative newcomers to
Sisters, Amy Burgstahler, her
husband and son, are build-
ing a house in Pine Meadow
Village. She loves living here,
has experienced “amazing
warmth” and the sense that
“people have your back.”
Sisters feels to her like a safe,
neighborly place and now that
her son is in school she wants
to “find ways to give back to
the community.”
Burgstahler describes her-
self as having a good tem-
perament and being a good
listener. She would use her
consensus-building abilities
and strong communication
skills to get in front of issues.
“Through leadership and
communication” she thinks it
is possible to “win buy-in and
make others evangelists for
Sisters.”
Her background as a cre-
ative director, marketing and
community-relations coor-
dinator and journalist helped
when she was asked what the
Council can do to maximize
community awareness, under-
standing, interest and feedback
on issues and decisions which
must be made. She sees The
Nugget as a natural avenue
for communicating with the
citizens, as well as the radio
station and regular public-
relations alerts about Sisters.
She views the City website as
a possible “news center” and
a place to “talk vibrancy” and
looking forward.
Burgstahler believes that
trust-building and honoring
our heritage are important
considerations for the Council
when making decisions. When
looking at issues she thinks
Sisters faces over the next sev-
eral years, she mentioned the
Barclay/Highway 20 round-
about, of which she is in favor.
She sees the need to “peel back
the emotions and talk logi-
cally” about the roundabout.
Trade-sector growth and
increasing residency are two
factors she sees as necessary
for the health of the com-
munity while ensuring that
the economic development
is guided by “smart growth.”
She thinks making the citizens
feel they are heard is key to
getting their support.
Bill Hall, who has served
for the last year as the chair-
person of the Community
Assets Committee (CAC),
said he would like to continue
to contribute now that he will
have more time, as the work of
the CAC winds down.
With 40 years in engineer-
ing and project management,
Hall sees himself as a realist
who is able to exercise judg-
ment. He describes himself as
a persistent hard-worker who
“stays in the trenches through
a whole project.” He makes
his decisions analytically,
based on facts, not emotion or
supposition. He has a strong
background in problem-solv-
ing and process improvement.
Hall said he would be able
to “hit the ground running” as
he has read the past minutes
of Council meetings to bring
himself up to speed on current
issues before the Council.
Being retired, he has the
time to devote to Council
duties. When asked how
he would handle the stress
of being in the public eye,
Hall replied, “I enjoy it. It
decreases boredom in life. It’s
how we mature.”
He added, “I learn a lot
from people I disagree with.”
Council will discuss the
candidates and make their
selection at the 6 p.m. work-
shop on Thursday, May 14.
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LETTErs
Continued from page 2
members who called or emailed us with mes-
sages of support and those voters who took
the time to contact us for clarification of the
issues. And certainly we thank the folks who
sent financial contributions to help fund signs
and newspaper ads. We could not have done it
without you.
John Thomas
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To the Editor:
There has been some chatter regarding my
intent to serve out my term as a board member
at Cloverdale Fire District.
I have served as a support volunteer from
1995 to 2001 and as a board member since
2001. My goal was, as well as other board
members, to provide the best, safest and most
cost-effective way to provide fire and medical
protection to our constituents. The 20-year plan
that has been approved has been gone over with
a fine-tooth comb and submitted to our voters,
and was well-accepted by a large majority.
It is time now to go forward with this plan
with the winning team that has so diligently
prepared it and presented it to our district.
We have come a long way and have a long
way to go to implement the plan, see it through
the construction phase and final completion. To
change the board members at this point in the
overall plan would not be in the best interest of
our fire district.
To return to the ridiculous insinuation that
I intend to step down and resign my position
after the election, (it) is not factual.
Should I not be able to complete my term
because of illness or other reasons, I would
certainly notify the board of my intention and
make a suggestion regarding the person I feel
would be suitable to complete the unfilled por-
tion of my term.
It’s very sad for me to hear and read about
the unfair and unjust accusations that have
been made regarding the capability of our cur-
rent board to follow through with this plan in
the best interest of our district and our faithful
constituents
Tom Barrier
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To the Editor:
As a volunteer with the fire district I have
attended most of the Cloverdale Fire District
Board meetings over the last five years. I’ve
looked over some of the old minutes of the
Board meetings, all of which are public record.
I found that as far back as 2011 Director
Keith Cyrus has voted along with the rest of the
board members present at each meeting on any
motion that has come up, with the exception of
abstaining from voting on the funding of the
purchase of the new pumpers. According to the
minutes he has not cast a dissenting vote. In
fact, he voted to approve the building plans that
he says lacked sufficient review, along with the
three other board members that were present.
After reviewing the architects’ proposal at
the August 13, 2014, special board meeting
Director Cyrus seconded a motion to retain the
architect for the station remodel/replacement.
That proposal specifies the remodel of station
601 with two new bays and a new building
with six bays for station 602.
I have personally spent over 200 hours
working on the specifications of the new
pumpers under the fire chief’s supervision.
Firefighter Spencer Cashwell and I made a pre-
sentation to the board at the February 18, 2015,
board meeting about the new engines. This
presentation included engineering diagrams,
photos, and specifications on the new engines.
At that meeting the other four board members
voted to accept the specifications and fund the
purchase of the engines. I have brought a copy
of the 126-page specification sheet to several
board meetings.
The fire chief has a copy in his office. I
am sure that any board member could look at
this document at the fire station. If not, I’d be
happy to share it with any of them.
Clinton Weaver
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To the Editor:
I’m puzzled by Rob Malone’s run for the
Cloverdale Fire District Board. He has no fire
experience and hasn’t found time to volunteer.
He wants to replace Jerry Johnson who was
a firefighter for 30 years. This sounds like a
really bad idea. I’m voting for Jerry and Alycia
(Downs).
Bruce Berryhill
To the Editor:
The recent (Cloverdale Fire District elec-
tion campaign) mailer from Alycia Downs
and Rob Malone uses the words “Appropriate
Oversight, Fiscal Accountability, Transparency
in Actions” to define their campaign.
As a volunteer firefighter and director of the
Friends of Cloverdale Firefighters PAC who
campaigned for the overwhelming passage of
the fire district bond, I shall provide transpar-
ency through the smoke and mirrors.
The Rob Malone and Alycia Downs cam-
paign is being funded by the Friends of
Cloverdale FIRE DISTRICT PAC. The name
is coincidentally similar enough to miss the
difference, but it’s being supported by Keith
Cyrus, who didn’t actively support the bond
campaign, and refuses to believe Cloverdale’s
primary structure fire engines are substandard
and unsafe.
Facts are facts whether you believe them or
See LeTTeRS on page 16