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.
It’s money well spent.”
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