Commercial Club Holds Community Forum

WAITSBURG – Incumbent Mayor Walt Gobel and incumbent councilwoman Debra Callahan accepted the Waitsburg Commercial Club's invitation to address residents at a Community Forum during the club's March 3 dinner meeting. No new candidates were present at the Forum which precedes the upcoming April 6 city council elections.

Gobel took advantage of the opportunity to sing the praises of the current council and the city staff – in a speech punctuated with good-natured comments from the audience – rather than to promote himself.

"We have an awesome council. We all get along really well. We don't always agree, which I think is a good thing. And we get things done," said Gobel. He went on to express gratitude for City Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer Randy Hinchliffe and Deputy City Clerk Kelly Steinhoff. "Our staff is irreplaceable. The job they do for the city is unbelievable," he said.

Gobel said that Hinchliffe has applied for and received over a million dollars in grant funds during his tenure as City Clerk. Audience member and former Times co-publisher Anita Baker chimed in to point out she and fellow audience member Doris Huffman should take some of the credit, since Huffman had taught Hinchliffe and Steinhoff in second grade and Baker taught them in third.

Gobel gave kudos to the City Crew and drew attention to the fact that Jim Lynch spent eight years in training while obtaining the necessary credentials to take over for the recently retired Dan Katsel. Now Travis Newman is going to school for the certifications necessary to run the wastewater treatment plant, and John Langford just received his pesticide/herbicide licenses.

"They're really dedicated to Waitsburg. For the pay they get, we get double what we pay for. Those people are awesome," said Gobel.

Gobel mentioned several areas in which he feels the city is heading in the right direction. "Budget-wise, we've been in the black forever. Not a lot of cities in our state can say that," he said, again crediting Hinchliffe and Steinhoff for their work in the office. "It takes a lot of heat off of me. Financially, the city is really in good shape," he said.

Gobel said he recently met with a company that may allow the city to convert all of the street lights to solar power through a state grant that would cost the city nothing. It will be a matter of working with the company and coordinating with Pacific Power & Light, said Gobel. "Right now we're paying over $3,000 a month just for street lights."

Gobel mentioned possibilities, down the road, for lighting fairgrounds outbuildings and heating the city pool with solar power. "We're definitely heading in the right direction and I'm excited that we could be a model community for others to consider the same thing," he said.

The pool, while an expense to the city, is an asset Gobel expressed a great deal of pride in. "We are a community of 1,250 people and we have a pool!" he said. The city is currently working with a company from back east who will, hopefully, be able to install a spray-in liner – at a significantly lower cost than traditional liners – to replace the current leaking liner.

Gobel said the current council is very aware of the city's infrastructure and is working to keep city roads, water lines, and sewer lines up to date. They are also working to meet new EPA requirements for the water treatment plant and coordinating with the Corps of Engineers to maintain the Touchet River dike.

"I'm obviously very proud of our community or I wouldn't be doing the job that I am. I hope all of you realize I'm trying to do the best I can with the limited experience I have. And I've got an awesome council. We had a caucus Sunday night and chose the same council members and mayor we have now," said Gobel.

Deb Callahan spoke next, seeking support for her third term on the council. Callahan shared her history with Waitsburg:. "My first visit to Waitsburg was in 1974 and I came here as the president of Highland High Future Homemakers of America Chapter and loved it," she said.

She visited again during the Days of Real Sport in 1980 – the year Mt. St. Helens blew -- and was struck by how the community worked together to light the corners of the track with trucks so the horses wouldn't spook. Callahan moved here in 1981 as "a young, adventurous, single mother – the widow of a Vietnam veteran. I'd already fallen in love with Waitsburg so it was like coming home for me," she said.

Callahan said her volunteerism has spanned three decades, beginning with sewing in Mrs. Henderson home-ec room in 1981 helping the handicapped students with their sewing projects. Callahan said she wants a safe, healthy community with families, schools, businesses and churches that will grow and prosper. She also noted the importance of maintaining Waitsburg's history and uniqueness in the midst of that growth.

Callahan said she is pleased that this year the fairgrounds will be the busiest it's been in decades. "Years of annual events have been a great benefit to Waitsburg and the surrounding communities. We need to continue to hold and to grow these events," she said.

As The Times went to press Tuesday, March 10, no new Declarations of Candidacy had been received at city hall. Current Waitsburg City Council members are: Mayor Walt Gobel and council members K. C. Kuykendall, Kevin House, Marty Dunn, Karl Newell and Debra Callahan. The deadline to file a Declaration of Candidacy with the Waitsburg city clerk is March 13.