Wednesday, January 13, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
RYAN: Retiring mayor
most proud of Sisters9
visioning process
Continued from page 1
under City Manager Cory
Misley, has a highly quali-
fied staff that keeps the City
humming, and boards and
commissions peopled by
qualified citizens selected
from the largest pool of can-
didates to ever step forward to
volunteer.
The City is in a strong
financial position and able
to make plans for the future.
The successful completion of
the Sisters Country Vision,
championed by Ryan, laid the
groundwork for the Sisters
2040 Comprehensive Plan
update currently underway.
In response to questions
posed by The Nugget, Ryan
offered his assessment of
the work done by the City
Council under his leadership,
and the health of the City as
he leaves office.
What are you most
proud of?
Without a doubt, I am
most proud of our visioning
process for Sisters Country.
I have always been a for-
ward planner and this pro-
cess provides exactly that for
our community. All the key
organizations of the city and
county, along with commu-
nity volunteers and consul-
tants, came together to make
the visioning a serious pro-
cess that has already achieved
great accomplishments and
has the potential for even
more significant progress.
And the best part of the
visioning is that it is a com-
munity plan with 20 key strat-
egies the community voted
for as the most pressing needs
for Sisters Country. I look
forward to the continuation of
this progress and the updated
Sisters Comprehensive Plan
which will use many of the
facets of the visioning in its
formation.
I am proud of the prog-
ress we made in expanding
affordable housing in Sisters
and partnering with organi-
zations like Housing Works,
Hayden Homes, and Habitat
for Humanity. I have been
told many times as mayor
that Sisters led the way for
Deschutes County in our abil-
ity to expand affordable hous-
ing in a town that has to con-
stantly balance its attractive-
ness to people who can afford
to live here vs. people who
work here but find it unaf-
fordable to live here.
I am proud of the stability
and overall healthy morale of
our staff, Council, and sup-
porting boards/commissions
the last four years. There
was definitely some signifi-
cant turmoil and prognosti-
cators that focused on nega-
tive aspects of the City and
its management. That cor-
ner has clearly been turned,
as evidenced recently by
the amount of interest from
the community to join City
Council or other City boards/
commissions. Having a strong
city manager and supporting
staff, along with an engaged
Council, cannot be underesti-
mated as the main reason for
this progress.
I am proud of our newly
signed contract with the
Deschutes County Sheriff9s
Office and our ability to
expand and commit to com-
munity policing for Sisters.
I am proud of the eco-
nomic progress and diversi-
fication that we have made
in Sisters. Our partnership
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met or not met?
In my private life, the
saying was always pairing
<challenges with opportuni-
ties= and again I am so proud
of our Council and staff for
tackling so many issues, as
evidenced by the accomplish-
ments I listed above. As I
said, there was definitely a bit
of a cloud hanging over our
City for some time, and every
surrounding town and the
county knew about it. I could
never understand why, given
how special this place that we
live in is, so I wanted to see if
I could help turn that around
with my previous private
experience. I believe honesty,
lack of personal bias, hard
work and having the City9s
best interests at heart are so
important as the key attri-
butes for City Council, staff,
and the supporting boards/
commissions to have, and
that makeup is what drove
our turnaround to what is now
an admired City for its man-
agement and communication
style.
Your hope for the com-
ing year for the City and
Council?
Simply continue the
positive trend we have
established. The updated
Comprehensive Plan will be
the biggest task, as that pro-
vides the roadmap for how
we grow and how we man-
age and balance that growth.
The momentum is already
there for a successful process,
and keeping the community
informed and engaged will be
paramount.
Words of wisdom for the
incoming Council and new
mayor?
This one is easy: First
and foremost, hire great city
managers and let them hire
and maintain great City staff.
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with EDCO was a bit tenu-
ous when I started as mayor,
partly due to the amount of
turnover in both staff (espe-
cially the city manager posi-
tion) and Council. Stability
and trust have allowed both
organizations to thrive and
focus on improving our over-
all economy. This is highly
evidenced by the growth and
maturity of the local EDCO
Board of Directors that is
driving this progress.
Finally, I am proud of our
many businesses and not-for-
profit organizations and their
tenacity to adapt and sur-
vive through devasting wild-
fire seasons and the recent
pandemic.
What do you wish could
have been accomplished but
wasn9t?
Honestly, I have no regrets.
In the four years as mayor,
I believe our Council was
known for tackling prevailing
issues head on. Obviously,
the pandemic shifted focus
somewhat this last year, but
we continued to be proactive.
Similar to the EDCO relation-
ship progress above, the City
is committed to planning the
future relationship with the
Chamber of Commerce and
determining what structure
would be best for Sisters and
its businesses going forward.
Those discussions are under
way, but progress was a bit
slower due to the pandemic.
Finally, I do feel that we need
to be more proactive in over-
all government in regard to
lowering the risk of future
catastrophic wildfires. Recent
events are foretelling of what
will continue to happen unless
major change is made at all
levels of government.
What did you see as the
biggest challenges of your
tenure and how were they
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9
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Chuck Ryan is retiring after serving
four years as Sisters’ mayor.
Second, let go of any per-
sonal bias or ego in your deci-
sion making. Third, assum-
ing you9ve done number one
right, let staff do their job.
Fourth, don9t take on too
many tasks that can overload
your staff 4 focus on qual-
ity vs. quantity. Lastly, have
fun. Don9t take yourself too
seriously and remember how
lucky we are to be part of this
community.
What9s next for you?
I am so grateful for the
four years I spent as mayor,
but it does limit my ability
to travel and do other things
so, as the saying goes, <happy
wife, happy life.= It is time for
me to free up my time some-
what to allow us to enjoy
our family and explore the
country and kick back a bit.
LOVE
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