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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2016)
MAY 13, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7 Colm Willis looks to represent the common man in D.C. By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Colm Willis feels he knows the pulse of the everyday Or- egonian. He wants to take that cause all the way to Washington, D.C. Willis is one of four Re- publicans in next week’s pri- mary for the 5th District Con- gressional seat currently held by Kurt Schrader. Next week’s winner will face Schrader in the fall primary. Willis, the only candidate to reach out to the Keizertimes, noted he opened his own law fi rm in Stayton last fall. The other candidates are Ben West, Seth Allan and Earl Rainey. “I’m just a working person here in Oregon,” Willis said. “I know what it’s like. There are voices not being heard. Today people are fi ghting for their jobs. I want to take that fi ght to Washington.” Willis, 29, has not run for political offi ce before. “I help companies comply with regulations,” he said. “My wife is a nurse and I started my own business. I went through all of those headaches. The process made it clear to me our representatives have left us working people behind.” Willis noted he has been talking with plenty of people like him. “I grew up here,” he said. “Over the last few years, it’s clear that Oregon is changing. In talking to voters, it’s clear that people are worried. They are worried about their jobs, Willis their safety, their loss of rights. I think they have reason to be worried. If we don’t change the trajectory of this country, our kids will grow up in a country that is not as free, safe or prosperous.” Willis said he was hired to join a joint economic com- mittee in D.C. in the spring of 2008. “I got a front row seat to the economic collapse later that year,” he said. “I watched in disgust as Congress gave bil- lions in bailouts to companies with the biggest lobbyists. I was in D.C. for a year. We were doing economic research. I was beating my head against the wall. I thought it would be great, doing economic re- search. But when I got there, I realized a lot of representa- tives in Congress were taking care of their lobbyist friends. I wanted to change that.” Willis, a father of two young children, came back to Oregon in 2010 as the Or- egon Right to Life political director. At the same time, he went to law school at Willa- mette University to earn his law degree. Willis talked to a small business owner while cam- change. People are looking for someone who is not a career politician. People are looking for authenticity, they’re look- ing for someone to address their concerns, safety, the loss of their rights. “When I grew up, Oregon was a place of incredible eco- nomic freedom,” he added. “You could make a shoe with a waffl e maker in your garage. You could come here and be anything you wanted to be. We created new opportunities. It was an exciting time and it gave lot of people reason for hope. Then in the 2000s, lead- ers started picking winners and losers. They talked about bailouts. With Obamacare, they took over an entire in- dustry. It has hurt small busi- nesses here in Oregon.” paigning who didn’t have the luxury of a bailout. “His creditors came look- ing for him,” Willis said. “There was no bailout for him. He had to go into his savings. That just felt wrong.” Willis vowed he would not be in Congress to benefi t lob- byists. “I will have to prove to my constituents I am working for them, not the lobbyists,” he said. “If lobbyists say, ‘We will give you money to vote this way,’ the voters will know and kick me out.” Willis feels being in D.C. has changed Schrader and led him to side with lobbyists. “He hasn’t sided with the people and small businesses here in Oregon,” Willis said. “I think people are hungry for City saves more than $500,000 in interest By CRAIG MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Thanks to the recent sale of a property in Keizer Station, the city is saving more than $500,000. The topic came up during the May 2 Keizer City Coun- cil meeting and has to deal with the hotel property be- tween Panera Bread and Out- back Steakhouse. As mentioned recently in the Keizertimes, Jack Yarbrough recently sold the property to developer Cheo Tzeo, who has announced plans to build a Holiday Inn Express on the site. Tim Wood, fi nance direc- tor for the city, requested a supplemental budget related to the sale, as the city received approximately $685,000 last month as an assessment payoff for the property in the Keizer Station Local Improvement District (LID). The Keizer Station LID debt obligation has an outstanding balance of $16,585,000 with semi-an- nual interest payments, with a balloon payment for all un- paid principal due in 2031. “By using the assessment payoff amount to reduce the outstanding principal, the city can save approximately $530,000 in interest over the remaining life of the loan,” Wood said. Mayor Cathy Clark took a moment to emphasize the money being saved. “We’ll be saving taxpayers $530,000 over the lifetime of this loan,” Clark said. “That’s interest that won’t be paid. It’s important to point it out. The model we set is one that is al- ready fi scally prudent. When we have the chance to pay off more, that’s wonderful.” Wood noted the money wasn’t expected. City Manager Chris Eppley said each property owner in Keizer Station has a timeline to pay off debts. “Yarbrough decided to pay it off and to make it simple for the new owners,” he said. “We weren’t expecting this. This is great. It’s great whenever something like this happens.” The supplemental budget was approved on a unanimous 6-0 vote, with councilor Den- nis Koho absent. In other council business May 2: • Councilor Marlene Par- sons asked a question about the upcoming closure for roundabout construction at the corner of Chemawa Road and Verda Lane. Work is ex- pected to begin next month and should conclude by early September, converting the current four-way stop into a single lane roundabout. “Will there be detours list- ed?” Parsons asked Bill Law- yer, public works director for Keizer. “We will put message boards up a week ahead about the closure,” Lawyer said. “Unfortunately, there is no good detour route for any one direction. My suggestion is to take Lockhaven (Drive) to River Road and go from there. There are some ways to get around, but they are not good ways. We have identifi ed some detour routes, but they are not complete detours since we don’t know where people are going.” • Clark highlighted a report from the Keizer Police De- fund while in budget discus- sions several years ago. “It speaks well to how we try to solve problems in Keiz- er,” she said. Councilor Amy Ryan not- ed she has witnessed offi cers doing the good deeds. “With the homeless we’ve been working with, I have seen offi cers taking money from their pockets to help,” Ryan said. “I would like to have a resource for them, since that opportunity is there quite a bit. They truly are making the time and the commit- ment.” Teague said the fund is less than $500. “I know it is adequate,” he said. “If we ran across the need to spend more, I would come back to you. They are trying to solve a problem at the mo- ment.” partment on the disbursement of petty cash funds. “This speaks extremely well of the police and how they take care of people dur- ing an emergency,” the mayor said. Police chief John Teague said the issue goes back several years. “Offi cers were crossing people who were desperate fi nancially,” Teague said. “Cops were pulling money from their pockets to help these people out. Putting in $20 out of a $6 million police budget is money well spent.” Teague gave an example of an offi cer paying to have an RV towed to an RV park. “It cost $50 and solved a problem,” he said. “That’s what we use this money for. 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