KLOG and LOCAL debate ideas: Part 2 of 2

Part 2:  Looking back in time gives clarity to the choices we are making for our future.  In 2012, an election year that had the potential to change the course of city politics - at least for awhile - two PACs explained what their groups value in city government and the councilors/mayor they elect.

Some things have changed in 2 years; for some not enough, and for others too much.  In 2014 and presumably again in 2016, the same parties, the same ideas will be in contest with one another for your hearts, minds, and votes.

It is time to refresh the debate and remember what the election for City Council is all about.  

 NOTE:  Rob LeChevallier is Joe Buck's Campaign Director.

Lake Oswego Review, July 19, 2012

A10 editorial

CITIZEN’S VIEW
We welcome the new PAC 

Written by Rob LeChevallier The Keep LO Great PAC welcomes the new PAC in town, the Lake Oswego Citizens Action League (LOCAL), to the civic discussions of what course to chart for the future of our city. We all agree that Lake Oswego is terrific as it is, and that we want to keep it that way, but we have different ideas of how to go about that. The differences are primarily ones of viewpoints. Reasonable people can look at the same events or numbers and interpret them differently, based on how they view the world. In coming weeks we plan to explore the issues facing us in some detail, both here in the newspaper and on our website, noting the differences in viewpoints. I’m sure LOCAL will do the same. We hope that a respectful discussion of the issues will be useful to our fellow citizens in deciding which direction they want Lake Oswego to go, and which candidates they want to take us there. Here are two examples of differing viewpoints on local issues: City debt LOCAL views the city’s bonded indebtedness as evidence of out-of-control spending by the city council and warns that the debt could potentially double.  Keep LO Great views the investments we’ve made in parks, pathways, open space, street repair and the new sewer interceptor to be fiscally sound decisions made by a prudent city council and the citizens who have voted for the bonds. We do have more infrastructure needs on the horizon that will require thoughtful decisions about how much more debt we are willing to incur. As our bonded indebtedness has remained at the same very low level for 10 years until the sewer interceptor bond was sold, we do have room to safely assume more debt. We just have to be strategic about how much and for which projects. Regional influence vs. local needs LOCAL views the actions of the last decade as a threat to our small town way of life and cites specifically the revision of our comprehensive plan as a regional vision imposed by Metro. Keep LO Great views the actions of the last decade as the ones that have brought us the Lake Oswego we all cherish. Local city planners were the ones who petitioned the state to allow us to change the form of our comprehensive plan to one that is based on sustainability, rather than just tweak the old plan, which they felt did not adequately reflect the city’s future needs in a rapidly changing world. Keep LO Great does not view us as being controlled by outside forces. Rather, we embrace the opportunity to chart our own course, drawing on solutions other localities have used, and solicit citizen input to tailor them specifically to our own needs. In the coming weeks and months, both PACs will be making their cases, and candi- dates will be making theirs. This should provide plenty of information for citizens to make Ctheir own decisions about which can- didates to support and what direction they want for the future of our city.  Rob LeChevallier, Lake Oswego, writes on behalf of the Keep L.O. Great PAC. Disclaimer:  USC is a member of LOCAL