Meet the Candidates: The Dalles City Council Position # 4 - F. John Ercole, John Grant & Dan Richardson
City Councilor Linda Miller is retiring from City Council after finishing her term this December, leaving the seat open.
F. John Ercole, challenger for The Dalles City Councilor Position # 4. -Contributed photo
CHALLENGER
F. John Ercole / The Dalles City Council Position # 4
Age: 34
Family: Married, no kids. He and wife Kelsey have a three-legged rescue dog named Astrid.
Work History: Ercole is a paralegal for James D. Poovey, Inc., a private attorney in Eureka, Calif. Previously Ercole was a receptionist at Humboldt State University’s Learning Center. He also worked at Home Depot for eight years, going from the lot to plumbing. “I had to work for my ends, and I graduated at 27.”
Governmental Experience: Ercole was administrative Vice President and President of the Humboldt State University Student Body Government. He currently serves on The Dalles Historical Landmarks Commission and The Dalles Urban Renewal Budget Committee. He is an Aspire volunteer at The Dalles High School, mentoring two students. He also mentors youth for the Next Door Gorge Youth Mentorship, similar to the Big Brother’s program.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
Housing. We need more affordable housing and multi-family housing. I don't feel there is enough in The Dalles. Also we need to have appropriate roads to go with it. I would also like to address housing for our Native American community as well. I don't know what that would look like. We might have to work with federal programs, but it is something I would also like to address with the housing in The Dalles.
Small Business Retention. We lost our board game store ,Oregon Trail Games and Sweetheart Bakeshop and Curio. We have to do some small business retention with small grants working with state programs. We’re losing too many businesses.
Homeless. We must address our homeless issue. We need to help out the population that is not as privileged as us. Something like a little center where they can go and get some basic things, like lights for the front and back of their bikes for riding at night. Maybe do bike maintenance. But we need to be more supportive of the homeless community and give them more opportunities.
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?
So I have actually done a little government program The Dalles ran where we basically went through every department, including the police department. We went through their daily routines. I got an opportunity to do a simulator where you face someone with a handgun. It was three dimensional. These are real scenarios that police can go through. It’s scary to be a police officer. I don't have any right answers on that. I feel that The Dalles Police is one of the better police departments. I don't think we need to minimize their budget. We have 11 sworn officers for our population. I don't want to minimize their operations by reducing their budget because they have a small number of sworn officers.
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 disagree with that decision. I would have liked to have seen development for housing in The Dalles. The city definitely needs to accommodate the streets of The Dalles. If I could have had a fourth priority, it would have been streets. Lincoln Street is unpaved. I don't understand where the money is going for road maintenance. There are no gutters and no sidewalks in some areas. I know the city just did a 50/50 cost-share on these, but we need to take it further. It’s not the developers’ fault. Our roads were in a state that are unsafe. This falls on the city. The city needs to make our roads safe within city limits.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
I’ve experienced budgets in college and on the Urban Renewal Committee. I have some familiarity with budgets - the procedural steps with forming a budget, voting on a budget, and then implementing it. On a business level, I deal with all the billing, accounts receivable, and bills that go out to them. I track all the attorney’s time and fellow paralegal’s time. I prepare all the billing time and enter all the payments.
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
I want to provide them more recreation areas but with COVID it is difficult. We do have a skatepark and the library has take-home kits. I would like to see the game store come back. That was a place where kids could go and play games and be together. Also, I believe in promoting the Next Door program, which is heavily impacted by not enough men being involved in mentorship. There are a lot of little boys that need mentors and no guys there are signing up for the program. I would like to coordinate that with the city somehow.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
The community should support those with mental issues and do whatever is in their power to aid them. Be it financial and medical assistance, as a community, we need to support them. I have some family that suffers from mental illness. We should all take care of each other. It’s important, especially in these times. Being quarantined is not helping people lately, especially those that have severe needs.
Why do you want this job?
I feel that the younger demographic is not appropriately represented on City Council currently. I talked to my peers and discussed how it would be more appropriate to have a person my age there to better represent the community. I am never one to shy away from civic duty. I did not serve in the military, so I don’t mind taking on an extra load. I see it is a patriotic duty to do some civic chore.
John Grant, challenger for The Dalles City Council Position # 4
CHALLENGER
John Grant / The Dalles City Council Position # 4
Age: 32
Family: Grant has a wife and two sons, ages 9 and 2.
Work History: Grant was head assistant at Smart FoodService on West 2nd Street in The Dalles before leaving for another job after eight years. He was recently hired to manage the Rite Aid in Hood River. He spent four years in the Navy where he was an equipment operator and a workcenter supervisor in the Seabees. His final rank was Seaman, E-3. Grant is a Director with The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce and vice chair for the Wasco County Republicans.
Governmental Experience: He sits on the budget committee for the North Wasco County School District.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
Supporting small business. We need to make sure we are able to give anybody with a startup all the tools they can have to be successful. Anybody in leadership with the City really needs to work with our small businesses. It’s the foundation of the United States and employs a large percentage of our economy.
Personal Freedom. I am a firm believer in if you are not bothering anyone else and you are following the rules, I don't think that it should be taxed or constantly bothered. People have personal freedoms to live. There are no taxes right now at the local level that I am concerned about. I feel strongly about first amendment and second amendment rights. People need to maintain those, and I’ll be a watchdog to protect those.
Growth. I’d like to see the City be able to grow. I know a lot of issues with the Columbia River Gorge Commission trying to hold the growth within the city. Our urban growth boundary needs to expand. We need to be able to have some growth. I am talking about 20 or 40 or 50 years down the line. If we want to bring a company in to employ a bunch of employees, we need to have a little bit of leniency. It’s hard to bring other companies into the area and say build your company here with so many limitations for growth. I think that is something the City is trying to do now, and it’s definitely been a difficult and touchy subject.
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?
I think we have a great team of police officers. From Pat Ashmore to Jamie Carrico, we have a wonderful police department for the city, and I can’t imagine them doing a better job.
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?
Yes, I do agree, but I do support growth. But I agree based on what they were given. You always want to accommodate growth, but the biggest piece there was public safety. Anytime you bring a plan to City Council, and it gets turned down, my guess would be that they want the people developing to come back with a different plan that has those safety measures addressed. That was already talked about as a dangerous area for having that development out there. They (City Council) looked into everything. They made the best decision they could make at the moment. You can’t just say yes to anything and everything and hope it goes well.
On accommodating growth: Unfortunately, I have not looked into it enough to give an answer on that. If you don’t study, you don't do your homework on a subject, you do a disservice to your community. But I am willing to do the work. That’s how I am able to be a boss at work and at the same time be a vice chair and go to all my committees. It just takes blocks of time and you have to prioritize to make things work.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
This is a strength for me. I have gone through a lot of profit and loss reports in my work history and been through lots of budgets in committees I have worked on. It all breaks down into grouping - dissecting each group and looking at line items and making sure to follow through and what is in this group. Find out what it’s used for and then making sure it adds up. If you have an odd number, you have to ask questions: where is this money going?
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
I will try to build a safe, healthy community with small business in mind. We need to kick up more jobs in the area and be able to attract new companies to the area. I really see The Dalles being that wonderful small town feel and at the same time having growth. We can be prosperous and be that wonderful hometown USA . There are a lot of people who want to be that small town and don't want to be a Hood River. Meaning I want it to be affordable. I think it’s affordable. I moved here nine years ago. I took a brief job starting at minimum wage. I had a wife and a kid, but within a year I was making a lot more money, double the amount. It all comes from the right choices you make. I think that there could always be more. I’m not saying our community isn't striving for that. Can you ever do too much for the children? I think the answer is no.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
It is extremely important. If I had an answer for that I would be able to solve most of the world’s problems - every city, every town. I don't think the answer is from some City’s that push them out of town. That’s not the answer. You have to hit the issue head-on. Does anybody have the answer for that right now?
Why do you want this job?
I want to do this job to give back to my community. I have a lot of leadership experience, and I want to do this for my family and show how proud I am of this community, and I want my children to grow up and be proud of their community.
Dan Richardson challenger for The Dalles City Council Position # 4. - Contributed photo
CHALLENGER
Dan Richardson/ The Dalles City Council Position # 4
Age: 47
Family: Married with one daughter
Work History: Richardson has worked as a reporter and news editor covering local government in New England and at the Spokane Inlander. He spent two years as a full-time dad from 2004 through 2005 in raising his daughter. Also, he was the first editor of The Current before becoming editor at The Goldendale Sentinel. Richardson currently provides services in wildfire hazard prevention around homes, non-commercial forestry property and small farms, and best management practices for people living in rural areas with the Underwood Conservation District. He provides service in the area between Washougal and Lyle.
Governmental Experience: He has six years serving on The Dalles Watershed Council, two years on The City of the Dalles Budget Committee, and was a board member for five years with the Gorge Ecology Institute, providing ecology education to local students.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
1. Downtown vitality - It's the heart of our community. It is going through tough times. We need to make a concerted effort to make it easier for our neighbors to open small businesses and invest in the buildings that are here… The City is the lead voice in the Urban Renewal Agency. The URA is a little rudderless right now - they would say that. They are not quite sure what they want to do next. The City Council could provide some direction.
2. Community Engagement - City government cannot do everything for people, obviously, but it can hold the critical conversations and ask the questions about key topics in our community. I don't have all the answers. I am willing to ask questions. Growth, housing, and density - these are kind of big topics in our community. City Council could be a leader in engaging in that conversation, reviewing our planning goals and documents, and seeing if we are headed in the right direction or any direction at all.
3. Quality of Life - Livability is a lens that we should make all of our decisions through. It’s hard to measure the quality of life as a real thing. There are tangible steps we can take that would immediately improve the quality of life. For instance, there is a Mill Creek Greenway plan from the riverfront to at least to Sixth or 10th streets. It’s been on the books for decades. It has engineering plans. The agency responsible for it is the Urban Renewal Agency, and we have money for it. And there is an Oregon Department of Transportation grant coming available… It’s a very timely thing… Urban trails, urban paths are durable tangible quality of life infrastructure that yield immediate benefits. It’s an opportunity to expand where we have already been successful with the Riverfront trail. Go down to Riverfront Trail … you see all ethnicities, all incomes. It is just a great amenity... That is one way quality of life can be improved in a tangible fashion.
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?
I don't know that those two things are necessarily related - those are loaded terms...In as far as Black Lives Matter as a movement, that simply says black people want the same life liberty, and pursuit of happiness that white people have. I support that absolutely. I have no comment on local demonstrations. But with regard to our police force, my impression is they are doing a very good job. I’ve been surprised and impressed at seeing them in action in recent months, and we can always do better. We can always ask the question, are we providing the service to the city that we want. I am inclined to think City Police might be more effective in our community if they had some non-armed crisis response people on the force. I don’t know that minority relations are at a critical point like in some other communities. Police are being called to intervene when people are in crisis. When homeless folks disturb a neighborhood- I don’t know that the police are the right ones to call, but we do call. So we need to equip them to respond in effective ways. To me it’s an open conversation we have not really had, and it is one I would like the City Council to have.
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 do have strong opinions about that - but it’s not proper for a city councilor to or a potential city councilor to be commenting on an unresolved case. The proposed development out there calls to question if the city is ready and sort of properly equipped for the growth that is already underway... I would energetically push for, if elected, City Council and senior staff and the community to engage in conversation that review plans for growth and direction for growth housing and density. We have plans, but this thing took us by surprise. City Council and the community as a whole needs to not be taken by surprise by these. We need to be asking questions, holding conversations, and lead from the front of these things. This is not the only potential development. There are other orchard lands in the city that can be developed. The population is up pretty quickly in the last 10 years. It will probably keep going up, and I don't think we are entirely ahead of the ball. I think we are getting run over by the ball, and I think we need to get out ahead of it a little bit. We have a comprehensive plan. We have a new planning director - senior staff turnover and city growth. This is an important time to have key conversations that are led by City Council and housing and growth density is at the top of the list.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
I have blue-collar working roots. I have had struggles with money when we were a young family. I remember clearly having $50 in our account for groceries - Thank God, that is not the case now. I have run a small business at the Sentinel. My key responsibility was budget and making payroll. I’m on the City Budget Committee. I've been through two budget cycles. I don't think that gives me all the answers. It has equipped me to ask some important questions about the budget and process and about setting priorities for the community. One of the very most important things the City Council does is review and approve the city budget, which is about $13.5 million. There is opportunity and need for the City Council to take a more active role to work with excellent staff in setting the budget setting goals… Right now they pretty much receive it. Right now, I don't know if you want to quote me on this, it's open books and see what have we got.
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
In regard to the current situation with the City Council, I am a young people - I am 20 years younger than most of them. One of my main themes is community engagement and bringing the community into several important conversations. Part of that community engagement means actively bringing in people who are not now part of the conversation... Include people of multiple generations. City Council could lead on this by reaching out and considering a couple of measures that make it easier for working, younger families to comment and be involved in their communities. For instance, City Council could provide some amount of child care so that mom and dad can show up for a few minutes and speak to an issue that is on their heart.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
Mental health is a complex area of work. I do not have a very good grasp of that. It’s one area that I need to learn more about. That said, I do think and support the idea of equipping our police with some sort of crisis response - unarmed crisis response capacity - I think that is important. I think that one of the conversations that the community needs to have that the City Council can act on is a unified response to homelessness. You know mental health is a big component of homelessness. I would want to see the conversation for my own learning as well as some kind of vision we could share and work on together. To my knowledge, we haven't had community conversation with the City Council, The county and Center For Living, and other people that might live with this. We could get around the table and hear what is going on and find out how we can provide support… that would help us get traction.
Why do you want this job?
I grew up here. I have four generations of family here. We’re here for the long haul… I love this town.. my community. I want to find a way to serve it in a tangible and durable fashion. I volunteer here and there, but the City Council really can be a place that inspires and asks questions and leads. We need to elect people ready to ask questions, find common ground with an open mind. I can do that.
