Meet the Candidates: The Dalles City Mayoral Race - Jason Garrett Gibson, Solea Kabakov & Rich Mays
Solea Kabakov, challenging for The Dalles Mayorship - Contributed photo
CHALLENGER
Solea Kabakov / The Dalles Mayor
Age: 48
Family: Partner and four children
Work History: Kabakov has worked in technical sales at PowderPure in The Port of The Dalles for the past eight years. Her sales are business to business. The company, owned by International Flavors & Fragrances, produces fruit powders used in the food industry. She manages “big dollar” accounts, reviews and executes nondisclosure agreements. She works with the legal team on manufacturing agreements. She was trained as a project manager and tasked with training the rest of the PowderPure team with project management.
Governmental Experience: She has served on The City of The Dalles Budget Committee and the Urban Renewal Committee since 2016. She is currently the Zone 5 North Wasco County School District School Board Member. She was elected to a two-year term as the vice chair of the Democratic Caucus for Congressional District 2 as well as the vice chair of Democratic Environmental Caucus in 2016 and continues to serve on it. She is a founding member of Gorge ICE Resistance, and “we had a recent victory when the NORCOR Jail Board recently ended contracts to house adults and juveniles.”
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
1. Housing. The problem is twofold. We need to protect tenants from evictions and do that through policy. We need to give them protection through the number of days they can take to vacate. And, on the other side, we need to help homeowners reduce foreclosures.
2 & 3. Community Safety. I think of it as reimagining what community safety is. Actually going to the roots of issues that lead to a less safe environment- things like poverty, homelessness, our declining school buildings - all the things that we really need to improve on to have a more holistic higher quality of life because by its very nature when we uplift the vulnerable we give more opportunity to people. It does reduce crime. Crime is an effect of a depressed, oppressed society, a downturn in the economy. These types of things contribute to crime. So instead of looking at how we increase policing crime, look at the root cause analysis. How do we fix things from the bottom up, so that it alleviates the need for crime? Let’s get people off the street. Let’s get people employed at a living wage so they can get medical care and increase services for things like mental health, drug addiction. We have a really good program here, but they are struggling because they are on a shoestring. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We need to take assessments, evaluate and then we need to put energy into those things that are working well. The budget committee is enlightening because the police themselves will say, ‘we’re frustrated because we picked up a woman who was off her meds. We have nowhere to take her. The hospital won't take her. What’s our alternative? We take her to NORCOR?’ They don’t even want to do that - it's heartbreaking to everyone. Things like that; they are fixable. But we have to focus and put energy into that, or it will just remain in stasis.
Given the current level of demonstration by Black Lives Matter and those seeking change, do you believe that we need to change our current method of policing in The Dalles?
Yes. What I would like to see is a rising of services that can handle the calls that are not well suited for an armed response by police. So that would be a mental health call. That would be a houseless person. It would also be many of the domestic abuse calls. They should be handled by social workers not an armed response. I would like to see an increase in those services to alleviate those tasks that our police are not trained to handle. Really, it’s not the purpose of an armed force. That is step one. When we can really get that under control, then we can assess. Maybe we don’t need extra here. Police forces across the nation continue to ramp up their arms. We now have an armored vehicle. The first one we have ever had. They asked for it in our last year’s budget. They say it is for defense. Yes, the city of The Dalles Police acquired that from the federal government… Instead of just continuing to react by increasing police, I would like to see that shift to support services that alleviate the need for police. That’s a pragmatic approach. They’re trying. Their recent hires are bilingual. They’re doing their training. Pat (Ashmore) is a nice guy. That is the whole thing about this. The whole defund the police movement is not about an individual officer. We know the city police. They are our neighbors and friends. This is about a system where inherent racism is built into this. It‘s not personal. It’s systemic racism we are trying to combat. The other part of that would be an immediate review of what their policies, procedures and training look like by a community-led committee. Where, yes, people from the city are on that committee, but it has to be made up of BIPOC community members - black, indigenous and other people of color - because it shouldn't just be, like, focused on diversity or inclusion. It actually needs to be anti-racist. We have to work hard to swing it the other direction. Boy, there is a lot of work there.
The Dalles City Council recently denied the Legacy Development Subdivision in East The Dalles based on safety concerns over a lack of infrastructure on streets, sidewalks. Do you agree or disagree with the decision? What can the city do to accommodate growth?
I agree with that. This one is frustrating because it is such a basic issue. Developers have too much power. We have to push back on developers and say, ‘look at the profit you're making.’ You have to give back to the community by putting in the sidewalks, putting in the bike lanes, the very basic infrastructure in order to build there. And it is still worth it to them, and they will still make a profit. But we have to be strong about It. We have to. And you know what, big cities would laugh at this situation because it is actually ridiculous that they would build this development without putting that infrastructure right along with it.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
I've been on the City Budget Committee for a number of years. I know when to ask questions. I know when to get help or expertise. I am not an accountant. Finance is not my area of study, let’s say… I think that is a strength. When I run into something I don’t understand, I ask. And I ask someone who is an expert in that area. So it would not be one set of eyes, it would be many.
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
We need to be protecting housing and housing rights. Looking to public safety to make sure they have bike lanes so kids can get to school safely. We need to work with the district to help them pass that bond. We need new school buildings. We need to attract small- to mid-sized companies. And honestly the one I work for… when we arrived, we had.. maybe 30 employees ten years ago. We have grown that business too, I think, 90. Everyone is full-time with benefits. It's actually a sustainable company. Our practices are green. And it’s not just a job but also a career path to a certain industry - food in this case. We need to make sure families are well employed and their kids have good schools to go to and they can get there safely. We need to make child care affordable so families can afford to go to work when they have very young children that are younger than school age. We need a rec. center for kids that is free - I would love to see indoor and outdoor combined so they can do disc golf and come inside and play arcade games - an environment that parents feel safe about when they drop their kids off.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
We need more information. Some of these people are on the streets and they need to be housed… I do believe we need a homeless shelter, a 365-day-a-year homeless shelter, yet. But that will not do enough for people with acute mental illness. So we need something else for them that has the appropriate level of care. So, some may be able to fit into a halfway house model where they have assisted living models… There may need to be helping to make sure they are connected to a hospital setting if it is that kind of a critical situation. But we need to know where that is, how we get them there, and how we connect with that service so when we have a concerned neighbor calls, when we have someone stumbling around the street incoherent, and a police officer goes to help them, they know what to do, they know where to take them, who to talk to. That is the piece that is missing. So there is not one answer, but, creatively, there are different ways of helping people with varying levels of mental illness. And health care and mental health care is so important, and it's tied to employment. We need more living-wage jobs that provide health care.
Why do you want this job?
I love living here. I’ve been in the Gorge 15 years and it feels like stasis. We're in stasis in a time we must take action to enact real change. I feel like we are behind the curve in making improvements. Some things are started and something’s are really good, and it all needs to be built upon. There is not enough momentum. I’ll bring my energy and passion to it to really light a spark and get things moving. There are a lot of nice things. Like (The Dalles) Main Street came, and it looks so much nicer downtown. We are doing good things. Our parks look good. We have Lewis & Clark Park. The pool got remade. We are doing nice things but only to a point. We’re not touching on major issues enough. I just want to move. We need forward motion and then the momentum will carry us. It brings a tear to my eyes because it's so ridiculous to just sit here and be sitting on our hands. Now more than ever… It’s 2020, man. If we just sit, we are way behind, I mean we are already behind. It makes me very upset. People will ask how you will do the work when you work full-time. Yes, I work full time. However, I have seniority at my own office. I make my own schedule. I work four days a week and also work 30 to 40 hours of doing my other community organizing. What I will do is take all of that time from all those various projects I am working on, and put it all into city business. I have the time and the energy, and I am spending it now.
Jason Garret Gibson, challenger for mayor. - Contributed photo
CHALLENGER
Jason Garrett Gibson / The Dalles Mayor
Age: 50
Family: Two children, ages 24 and 14
Work History: I am a sole proprietor. I not only have the street roots of what it means to be a blue-collar, labor-ready handyman, but I came out of the corporate world as a business research consultant in 1998-99 and retired with a $4,000 monthly residual income… Marketing communications specialist - office equipment industries, insurance industries. The biggest deal I landed was with the American Trial Lawyers Association of America. They were out of DC, and we did a public relations campaign for them that basically quashed a piece of legislation that would have capped their litigation fees. Basically, we are talking about efficiency programs - If I can save you money, you pay me. I design database marketing systems, put together call center rooms and campaigns and applications to swing votes or push products. Here in the Gorge, I had 1300 clients in estate maintenance specializing in wood restoration and labor-ready handyman projects. I have a truck and trailer. I haul stuff. I do a lot of pressure washing. General labor whatever it takes to accomplish the task at hand. As a social media strategist, I have a background in development in media…. I started providing access to television at Metro East Community Media in the ‘94 ‘95. What got me into it as a full-time social media strategist was on behalf of the foundation for the law of time. Essentially it’s the vehicle for the World 13 Moon Natural Law Peace Initiative, which is yoked to the Roerich Pact of 1935 (Roerich Pact is the legal recognition that the defense of cultural objects is more important than the use or destruction of that culture for military purposes, and the protection of culture always has precedence over any military necessity - Wikipedia). and the mandate of that treaty, which was signed at the White House under Roosevelt is this: Where there is peace there is culture. Where there is a culture there is peace. So promoting the banner peace initiative, the principles of Roerich Pact and the World 13 Calendar Change Peace Initiative has been the full-time focus since 1998-99 for myself and the planetary academic federation and the league for spiritual evolution, established at the University of Peace in Costa Rica by Dr Jose and LLoydine Arguelles and Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota Sioux Nation. The container for all that is called the Planet Art Network, which was placed on the map by Arguelles in 1987 with the harmonic convergence, which was the first synchronized global peace meditation in the history of our culture.
Governmental Experience:
I don’t have a lot of working government experience, which is why you want me in as the mayor. I have time in with student governments, city meetings, government issues, campaign politics. In terms of government experience, if you are going to disarm a government like this you're gonna have to address the drug war. We were the ones that brought closure to Nixon's drug war which was a $57-Billion a year cash cow. Before it was dissolved on Sept. 20, 2018, by means of the Farm Bill Act, which decriminalized hemp in 50 states, and, in my book, constitutes the most significant economic shift in the history of the country. That was what followed after we passed the medical marijuana act in 1998. These programs are the most lucrative tax income-generating programs in the state of Oregon… I worked with Rich Mays and the city elect during the Small Business Revolution Campaign for a new time economy.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
I don’t give a f*** who wins. I’m trying to get these people to cooperate. I sent friend requests to Rich. I would be keeping him honest. He would become a strong mayor consultant. I sent Solea a friend request. I said let’s not do this whole political thing and banter like what we are seeing in the big picture. Let's do something out of the ordinary and cooperate like adults and have everyone win by activating the hub valley community action vision council, a form vehicle to demonstrate to people how to harness the collective genius and the collective will of the people. With that we have an entirely different - it is a social mandala that's rooted in the 13-moon, 28-day cosmology, which is the science of synchronicity. When people work this peace plan which takes the form of a calendar what they are getting into is a new form of intelligence that dispels the memory amnesia, the fear and the scarcity and ultimately the time is money program, which is at the root of all that is going on. When you ask people what their biggest complaint is today they will tell you, ‘I don’t have enough time. I don’t have enough money.’ So the priority first and foremost is creating a forum for input where people's voices are not only heard by their talents and skills and resources they have to offer can be utilized in accomplishing what seems to be impossible or what seems to be out of reach. We come into integrity with the abundance of the natural order of our ecology and our biology and we get in sync with what is real. To get in sync with what is real, we need to dispel programs that are rooted in war, economic slavery, ignorance, greed, nationalism, dogmas, sh**** politics. Everything you are hearing in the airwaves today; it's a battle for the soul of the country. Everything you hear today is rooted in war rhetoric. It is as if they don't even fathom an alternative like peace. There is no peace plan. There is no other alternative than war and fighting and slap sticking Band-Aids on big problems and throwing more money at the same issues. And it was Buckminster Fuller who said, you cannot fix problems on the level that you created them. You have to create a new model. Well, this model, this new-time economy and peace plan that goes with it has been on the table for 85 fu***** years. So how is it that you have never heard this before? It is the 12-60 (12 hour day, 60-minute hour calendar) corporate time-frequency. What is the memory amnesia that is keeping us fact resistant? It’s the 12-60 timing frequency, it's the corporatocracy ... It’s business as usual. We are a fact-resistant, artificial intelligent techno-sapien. We live in a techno-sphere. We have become so mechanized in our thinking and activities that we are totally self-consumed in our ego mansions trying to keep up this thing with such a high overhead that by the time you get everything you want, you’re dying. You're losing your health or you got problems. Ok, so now you made it, yeah, now you’re 60, 70, you know, and still not happy. So less is more. More time to do what people do, to take care of yourself, to enjoy what you have. We live in a total field of materialism and, hey, it's great you gotta eat and have your life you gotta have your home and form and structure. But, geez Louise, it's overkill. So prioritize - fly the banner of peace.
Given the current level of demonstration by Black Lives Matter and those seeking change, do you believe that we need to charge our current method of policing in The Dalles?
Absolutely. First and foremost, the reference to Black Lives Matter is prejudiced in itself. These are African Americans… These prejudices that are so deeply ingrained in the economic slavery in the history of our country is precisely the reason we need to discover the law of time, because the law of time makes conscious what is unconscious whenever it is applied. It puts everybody at the same equal playing field. Changes to make are the commemoration of constitution week and the reeducation of law enforcement into the discovery of time. Peace officers would have a peace plan. They would be working the peace plan on a daily basis in the form of the 13-Moon Natural Law calendar and to the foundation of time. They would be given a new body of knowledge that would escalate, raise the level of intelligence and purpose and meaning and give them such a meaningful alternative to just being on the clock. Everybody and anybody who is on the clock is often trying to kill time, waste time, spend time to get home at the end of the day and get on with their lives. When you are locked into the calendar and the workweek of the 12-60, life sucks. You have to get this sh** done, eight hours a day, 10 hours a day. It’s absurd. Law enforcement should be maybe walking more on foot than patrolling in their cars. They should be able to strip down out of the uniform and go out and network with people and find out how they can serve in creating efficiency in systems… What we have is so much overhead and so much fraud - that you can go into any organization today, find out what they do and network that organization with some other facet of the economy or the government. And instead of recreating the wheel all the time, you start connecting the dots. Ideally, government cuts back to part-time, and they (police officer) are going to be given an incentive. So you have your base and part-time - but your benefit is this - if you find cost savings or an efficiency you’re going to to get a residual income of that savings and we are going to match that savings to your favorite nonprofit.
The Dalles City Council recently denied the Legacy Development Subdivision in East The Dalles based on safety concerns over a lack of infrastructure on streets, sidewalks. Do you agree or disagree with the decision? What can the city do to accommodate growth?
I agree with that. They should spend more time planning - two-thirds of any project should be in planning and foresight. This is the time is money trip and has everybody on edge. And we should have done this and everybody - everybody is in a hurry - everybody’s on edge - and everything is an afterthought.
We need to stop building and start utilizing what you have. The college is going to build a skill center. We have an emergency training center up there that is the size of Fort Knox. As long as they’re spending money and engaged in building larger structures, it distracts them from real problems and real issues... We need low-income housing… We need an RV village - sustainability model - live with less and take care of the ecology... We have the ultimate Hawaiian Venice Beach theme rolled out in mind for the Hood River waterfront. We could bring that to The Dalles too. But we need something for the homeless too., like a dignity village...
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
Spending is rooted in the corporate charter of the 12-60 where time is money and that form of capitalism is exhausting and our ability to keep up with it - it’s a virus. We need to work the peace plan and 13-moon calendar to come into a different frame of mind of resources and connecting the dots.
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
We’ve got all these garden plots - a lot more eco team development… we need to extend outreach education to farmers in Eastern Oregon that are retooling for the new hemp industry - and it steps down locally. We take a portion of the money and expand on what we did with Gorge Grown Food Network - and what we've done through OSU Extension agricultural programs - and we create an economy for the garden culture labor-ready bioneers. For example, we have gardens in high schools, and nobody is tending them. We have greenhouses at NORCOR. We can negotiate with them so they learn culinary skills and come out with garden skills and can get involved in the hemp industry and get involved in peace in planting programs.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
The fact and maxim is that Oregon has the worst mental health out of any state in the Union right now. According to the law of time, our mental health is the result of living in the artificial timing frequency of the 12-60. Our biology is synced to natural time and the planet. When humans separate themselves from self and from the planet they occupy, it’s the psychic junkyard we are dealing with that can be addressed by tuning into natural time. And the 13 moon calendar is the intelligent instrument to recalculate the sensibility of the humans who identify as such…
Why do you want this job?
No more jobs - it is a profession. We need to use the office to decentralize wealth and harness the collective, genius, will, resources of the people… If I do win, I proposed to Rich Mays to run meetings and have him carry on in his capacities… We don’t want to lose a guy like that. We want to pay him… I am a fourth-generation out of Stevenson and a resident of The Dalles for one year. But I’ve been a resident-steward in the Gorge since 2000 - Stevenson, White Salmon, Cascade Locks, Hood River… I ran for interim mayor in Hood River.
Rich Mays, current The Dalles Mayor - Contributed photo
INCUMBENT
Rich Mays / Current Mayor of The Dalles
Age: 70
Family: Rich Mays and his wife Rose moved to The Dalles from the Oregon Coast in January of 2015.
Work History /Government experience: His 40-year career in public service includes 33 years in municipal government with 28 as a City Manager in Cannon Beach, Oregon; Jefferson City, the state capital of Missouri; and Collinsville and Sterling, Illinois. Mays also served as the Interim County Manager for Clatsop County following his retirement from Cannon Beach in July of 2014. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Park Administration from Western Illinois University and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
I am the incumbent - so a continuation of my goals from two years ago - downtown redevelopment
Increase opportunities for citizen involvement and do more Saturday Coffee with the Mayor - I would like to pick that back up in the near future.
Continue the art and beautification initiative
Given the current level of demonstration by Black Lives Matter and those seeking change, do you believe that we need to charge our current method of policing in The Dalles?
I think the need for change in the police department is nationwide. It is less important here in The Dalles than it is in bigger cities. That’s because of the culture created by our chief and the training he has supported for his officers. I am emphatically in opposition to defunding the police.
The Dalles City Council recently denied the Legacy Development Subdivision in East The Dalles based on safety concerns over a lack of infrastructure on streets, sidewalks. Do you agree or disagree with the decision? What can the city do to accommodate growth?
Editor’s note…Mays, who did not have a vote as mayor in this decision, did lead an hours-long questioning of the appellants and developer during the hearing and landed on the opinion that the development would make a dangerous situation significantly worse in regard to traffic and pedestrians.
Mays said he was also opposed to other elements in the subdivision that did not meet planning criteria. “The Park is ill-suited for the area. There were also issues with compatibility, zoning and private alleys - none of those others were suitable criteria -the problem with how it impacted highway 197 and Freemont pales in comparison to 10th and 12th and Richmond (streets) - it made a dangerous situation significantly worse -- 238 residents, 100 cars and 82 peak hour vehicle trips.
In regard to improving infrastructure, Mays said, there were “Three alternatives - the developer can pick up the cost. Neighborhood residents can pick up the cost, or the city pays for it, or a combination of the three. The only way the residents pay for it is through some local improvement district - those districts are very problematic in my experience. Asking residents to pay for a future development is not the way to go. So, the city and the developer - or a grant- are the ways to pay.
We need “affordable” housing. I’ll be the first to tell you that, but I don’t think affordable housing is more important than public safety - and there was no indication that (Legacy Development’s subdivision) this is going to be affordable.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
I am a firm believer in the need to do things with small business for what is happening. We pushed $500,000 into the budget for the local COVID crisis. My wife was a small business owner and is now at the Small Business Development Center. So I can relate. I have been through 33 city budgets- 28 as a manager - I know where to look for the money and know where it is and what to look for. And I appreciate what revenues are most important for the city - property taxes, 2. franchise fees, 3. lodging tax - that’s half of the city budget. All three are dependent on a healthy economy.
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
I thought about setting up a blue-ribbon committee made up of young people - with the main goal to attract families with children. I appreciate youth achievement - form a youth commission to get input on the future of our city and where we are going over the next 20-25 years.
The other thing is reaching out to business. We need business recognition and appreciation - The chamber and Small Business Development Center can support them and talk about their needs. The city and the Chamber can work with them and show we appreciate their contribution to our economy and community.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
We need a two-point approach - we need to work with the Center for Living and get people in the room together- The police and the hospital staff and then lobby the state for statewide services for the mentally ill. It's not working - current mental health. Director (June Gowen of Center for Living) seems very open to working with the community, and I am encouraged with her attitude.
Why do you want this job?
I want to put my experience to work for the community. It sounds a little corny; that's it. My wife and I are going to be here for the rest of our lives. We want to make this a place where I want to work, live and play. It's in my blood. I have been asked, ‘do I have any further political aspirations?’ That’s an emphatic ‘no.’ I’ve been a city guy all my life, and a city guy I will stay.
