Good evening, everyone.

Good evening.

What did I say?

Yeah.

All right.

Oh, thank you.

Nobody ever responded to me before, so I was like, what was that?

All right, I will call this uh Tiger City Council meeting to order.

Uh Deputy City Recorder Bartholomew, please uh conduct roll call.

Council President Wolf.

Here youth Councilor Helleck.

Councillor Gaducy.

Present.

Mayor Who?

Here.

Councillor Robbins.

Here.

Councilor Schlack.

Here.

Councilor Shaw.

Here.

And youth counselor is just walking in.

So all right.

Would everybody please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

All right.

Council and staff, do you have any non-agenda items tonight?

None from us, Mayor.

All right.

Seeing none, let's move move on to public comments.

Public comment is the opportunity for us to uh receive feedback and to and uh it's not a dialogue.

Um when you uh present your public comment, we will address the issue um later on.

So if you want to provide public comments, the calling number is 503 966 4101.

And those wishing to comment should call now to get into the queue.

Anyone present wanting to comment should sign up on on the public comment form at the front of the room.

Uh so uh we received two written public comments um by Monday deadline yesterday, uh both about counselor appointment.

So next uh let's move on to in-person public comments.

Uh we have two people sign up, and each of them uh when I call your name, please come forward and state your name and the city you live in.

And after that, you have two minutes and uh the timers on the screen.

So the first person uh I would like to invite uh up is uh Elise Scher.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and Council members.

How are you?

I'm here to speak in support of Gabe Velasquez as a candidate for the vacant council seat.

I've known him for four years and I found him to be thoughtful, personable, energetic, and resourceful.

As you know, as you see, he knows how to rally the troops.

He would be a fine addition to the Tiger City Council with his background and dedication, and I hope he gets your vote.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And next person.

Oh, Bob.

Bob Thompson.

It's okay, Mayor.

Oh, sorry.

Oh, yeah, hi Bob.

I know.

Just can't read your handwriting.

I apologize.

Good to see you.

Yeah.

I'm also here to uh support the.

Oh, your microphone's not on, so please stay your name.

There we go.

Yes.

I'm also here to support Gabe.

Uh and uh I've worked with him now for about three years on the uh Tow TCAX.

I found him to be very well prepared.

Uh I found him to be knowledgeable.

Uh he's got a good sense of humor, which is important, I think, in some of these meetings.

Uh and I would strongly recommend his appointment to the uh city council.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bob.

Anyone else want to speak but have not signed up?

All right, so we move on to phone phone in a video, a public comment.

Uh Mr.

Wold, are there any caller in the queue for phone or video testimony?

Yes, Mayor.

There is one caller in the queue and I'll conduct them right now.

Uh thank you.

Hi everyone, this is Jocelyn Keating.

I go by Jojo.

I live in Newburgh, um, but my business is in Tiger, and I'm part of the TSAC, along with Bob and Alice, and I too support everything um they said about Gabe and also recommend him to City Council and um hope you'll get him serious consideration.

And I too support everything they said about Gabe and also recommend him to City Council and hope you'll get him serious consideration.

And I also want to say I'm wearing red in support of Gabe.

You cannot see me, but he can rally the truth even if he can't see them.

So thank you.

Thank you, Jojo.

All right.

Mr.

Wood, anybody else?

No other callers, Mayor.

Thank you.

All right.

So before we move on to the next item, our city intercity manager Trish have a couple of brief comments.

Great.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

Council, our guests.

Good evening.

I'm really pleased to share with you that last week we had our tree lighting event at Universal Plaza.

It's Tiger's living room, and we were glad to welcome about 300 or so guests to join for that for that event.

I'd like to continue the fun by extending the invitation to the Minora Lighting on Monday, December 15th at 5 p.m.

It will also be at Universal Plaza.

You can wear red, blue, whatever color you like.

We would just uh love to see you there.

Uh any opportunity to gather community, especially around the holidays, uh, is a joy for us.

Thank you.

Back to you.

Thank you.

All right, so let's move on to the next item on the agenda, which is FEMA update.

And I have a statement to read for this item.

The FEMA ESA public hearing has been pulled off the December 9th City Council agenda and will be renoticed when future hearings are scheduled.

The item is being pulled due to the current state of uncertainty relating to litigation, potential dismantling of FEMA, and delay caused by the government shutdown.

Additionally, FEMA is still going through the draft environmental impact statement, DEIS process that is evaluating the alternative proposed.

The final EIS and record of decision will document the final selection alternative.

All right, so let's move on to the next item on the agenda, and I assume that's why everybody is here for.

So it is the council to interview and consider appointment of uh new counselors.

So just to recap, um at the last meeting, council uh found a pool of 14 uh qualified candidates.

Council uh decided to uh invite back five candidates back for this evening's in interview, and those five uh candidates were uh Tom Anderson, Al Haddadi, Kay Ristow, Gabriel Velesquez, and Pia uh Pia Wilson Body.

And over the weekend, uh Ms.

Wilson Body has chosen to withdraw her application.

So um now we are we are left with four uh but still very well qualified candidates.

So this is how the interview and appointment process will go.

So first uh our youth counselor will draw the name of the four applicant to determine the order of the interview process.

And uh when when it's your turn, please come forward and the the other three people please wait in the lobby.

And uh there will be eight questions, and four of them have already been provided to you in advance, and the other four will be surprised.

So uh you have two minutes to enter to answer each questions.

Afterwards, after all the comp after all of you being interviewed, uh I will call you all four of you, please come back and we'll take a brief recess, and then after that we'll um uh um start deliberation.

And during the uh for the deliberation, there will be two rounds.

In round one, uh I will first ask each council member to share their um to share and briefly discuss their top choice.

Uh if they do not have a clear top choice, their top two.

And if a consensus uh emerges after the discussion, which is at least four votes for one finalist, I will entertain a motion to appoint.

However, if we could not reach a consensus after round two, uh round one, we will move on to round two, which will be a rank choice uh voting system.

Uh for that round, I will ask you each counselor to rank the top three choice.

Um the first uh their first choice will receive three points, uh second choice will receive two points, and then uh number three will release one point, and we will uh tally up the uh the the points and we'll have another discussion after that.

But we may not reach uh round two, okay?

So any questions?

Is that pretty clear?

All right, I see nods from everybody, so good.

So uh youth counselor, would you please uh pick our first person for the interview?

All right, and and second second person Ali Hadidi.

Third person, Gabriel Velasquez, and last person, Kate Ritzau.

All right, so that's the order.

So um, Mr.

Anderson, please come forward, and the rest of you please wait in the lobby.

So you go first.

Tom, I'll start the questioning, so just let me know when you're ready to go.

Okay.

No.

There we go.

Okay.

Okay.

Yep.

Very good.

Well, welcome first.

Thank you.

Um, question number one, and these are the ones prepared in advance or provided in advance.

Uh, can you provide a specific example that illustrates your commitment to accountability in tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of decisions or policies you've contributed to?

And then how did this example enhance trust and accountability within the organization or community that was impacted by those decisions or policies?

Well, for those of them know, I've been on council previously, and I'll use an example from that council.

Um I spearheaded and uh promoted a well the construction excise tax that you have now.

Um before that, Tiger had no funding for affordable housing, no revenue or no income coming in for the affordable housing bucket.

And this was very controversial at the time.

Nobody had it, especially in the metro area.

Bend was doing something, but they had a different financing mechanism.

So we wanted we were very torn, uh, but I thought it was very important.

So we're essentially adding the tax for all new construction on houses.

And of course, the home builders were a little nervous about this, and we wanted to keep the housing affordable, so it kind of uh in one respect defeated our purpose, but on the other hand, we felt like we needed we needed a bucket of money.

So um after long negotiations with the with the home builders, we came up with it with a good plan.

It was one percent at the time, and uh passed the uh excise tax, and since then uh all of our neighbors up here in the north have I think everybody's got to see ET now.

And it's provided a lot of a lot of good projects that uh we have funded in the city of Tiger because of that bucket of money.

The first two years were a little lean as it was building up, but then but then we had something to actually back up, you know, when we saw a nice project.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Great, thank you, Tom.

I have the second question.

And given the current tax burden, responsibilities on Tigered residents.

How would you assess the city's fiscal responsibility?

And what steps would you take to ensure efficient use of existing funds?

Well, I think you're doing fine.

I don't think the City of Tiger's taxes are that much worse than any other city around.

You also pay Washington County tax and state tax.

So I think um the council actually doesn't have that much discretionary uh spending power after all the all the main things are paid for, the facilities, the payroll, the CIP, all that stuff.

So I think you're fine.

I think some of the uh recent comments about the 4th of July celebration and all that kind of stuff.

Could use some sponsorship.

I would be all for that, but um really I I think we're doing fine here.

Sorry, I'm taking notes.

I I have the next question.

Uh Tom, time Tiger and the surrounding region have grown significantly while transportation infrastructure has not kept pace.

What strategies would you pursue to improve mobility and reduce congestions for all row users?

Well, it's highway 99.

That's that's the whole problem that we have in Tiger and that we've got a railroad that runs through.

So I mean there are problems just geographically with with Tiger.

We uh when I was on council you know, they did a few small minor re uh improvements, out dot did um with some cutouts and some turn lanes, which helped a lot.

Um they could probably do a little bit more of that.

There was a study.

I mean, these these are all state facilities.

So state and county money, Tiger doesn't have enough money to kind of hit these big transportation projects.

So there's not a lot of there's not a lot of area for the city of Tiger to lobby the state, but this would be one since it's a regional problem.

Uh there was a study that was going to be put out on Highway 99 from Sherwood down into Tiger.

And that was about a million dollar study at the time.

It's probably more now.

But at the end, that was not funded, and they put some more money towards another urgent project.

So I would like to see where that study is.

I think it's gathering dust someplace.

And I think that we should uh talk to our state reps and our uh uh Washington County Commissioners and find out if we can get some money to get that study done because they said we wouldn't get any more funding until that study was complete.

So that would be my question.

All right.

Question number four.

How do you understand the role and responsibilities of a council member?

And what abilities do you bring that will help you fulfill those roles uh responsibilities effectively?

Well, I was a counselor, so I understand the roles.

Um I was a liaison on the Tiger Planning Commission, of course.

I was a on the planning commission for seven years and president for a couple years.

Um I was a liaison to Parks and Rec.

I did the social service grants.

I was on a water board, um, everybody was at that time.

I was on the homeless committee, uh senior set of readvisory board.

So I've done it done everything.

I think you could plug me in pretty much anywhere in and it would be good.

Um again, I just I know the job and the rhythm of the job.

Uh kind of the purpose of me being here is kind of being a bridge since it's a one-year appointment, it's a pretty short term, and I think all counselors know it takes a little time to ramp up, and I think that you would avoid that if you appointed me and we could we could have our goal session in January and move right on from there.

So City Council meets every Tuesday evening for council meetings that last anywhere from one to three hours longer tonight.

Um additionally, each councillor is rep responsible for liaison assignments to boards and committees, as well as asked to attend community events.

If appointed to city councils, share with us how you will navigate these added responsibilities to your schedule.

Well, I am I'm busy myself and I'm on a few other boards and committees, but uh I factored that in.

I I know I know when to do my homework.

I used to do my homework on Sunday evening and and be ready for the council meetings.

Um the liaisons, I think it might be a little easier with seven counselors than it was for five.

Um I'm uh I'm a realtor and I have a pretty flexible schedule at this point in my career.

I can I can make my own schedule, so I don't think that's gonna be an issue.

I get the next one.

Okay.

Okay.

Describe how you would advocate for a policy position or program when your perspective differs from the majority.

How would you collaborate and navigate conflicts?

Share an example from your experience and what the impact was of that situation to others.

You haven't seen that one yet, and it was kind of long.

Do you want me to redo it?

Reread it.

Well, there's all it's a committee, right?

So there's always going to be conflicts, and and everybody's not going to agree.

Um I state my position, and uh strongly or not, I would uh I would use as much logic and and data that I could to back that up.

And uh you don't win them all.

Um, five to one, something like that.

So but uh I wouldn't have any problems um mentioning my stance if it was different than the majority.

I wouldn't, you know, uh what I did learn, it took me a while to learn that um you should speak out everything should be on the record, right?

All of your opinions.

That's it.

Okay.

What is your position on addressing homelessness in Tiger?

What approaches do you support for balancing compassionate services with public safety and the expectations of our community?

Well, I was on the very first homeless task force board, and we had a lot of the the nonprofits at the time uh on the board chiming in.

Um at the end of that, the summary was that Tiger really didn't want to be in the homeless business, and we didn't we would support the local nonprofits, but we wouldn't facilitate it necessarily.

I think that's changed now, and I think the problem is gotten quite a bit worse.

I don't really like the tents at public works.

Um again, I think we should support our our nonprofits, right?

So we got just good passion, we've got uh the good neighbor center.

We've got um quite a few nonprofits just in this town that are willing to help, and they're getting money from the county as well.

So rely on them as much as we can.

But homeless is definitely an issue, especially downtown.

Okay, I have to final question.

That's to make sure that the clock is set.

So what are your top funding priorities for the city, and how would you advocate for them?

Top five funding priorities?

Your top funding priorities.

Well, I think the main thing is is to get this bond passed for the police station and the public works.

I mean, that's that's number one.

I think that's the whole that's what your year is about to get that passed, because it's well overdue and it's a funding mechanism that uh obviously people don't realize how much uh work it takes in the background to get these successfully passed.

Uh we did a uh when I was on council, we did a public surfee uh levy, public safety levy.

Uh and the first one did not pass, and it wasn't that well written after we looked at it, and we had to sharpen our pencil and lower the cost.

We came back and then uh two years later it passed.

So uh lessons learned there.

Um don't get greedy on your numbers, and uh and just realize that you know the Tiger citizens are gonna be paying for this, but but really outline the benefits of really what a top-notch uh police facility would do for the city and for their you know the officers that are here.

That's number one.

I think that's the only major thing besides what you've been doing.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you so much, Tom.

All right.

Thank you.

Please uh go away and join at the Rust uh the Canada in the lobby, and we'll call in when it's finished.

Thank you so much.

All right, so we'll invite Al back in.

You go first.

It's an Al.

Good evening.

Uh please take a seat and make yourself comfortable.

And Council President Wolf will start with the first question.

Yeah, please turn on the mic.

There we go.

Okay.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Okay, the first question we'll start with those that you all received in advance.

So the first question is can you provide a specific example that illustrates your commitment to accountability and tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of decisions or policies that you contributed to.

And then the follow-up, how did this example enhance trust and accountability within the organization or community that was impacted by those decisions or policies?

Yes, please.

That would be great.

Thanks again for your time.

Appreciate having me here.

I'm part of the CC, as some of you might know.

And when I became vice chair of this committee in May this year, start talking to people and understand what are the concerns they have.

And we have a great committee that are really involved.

They are really uh committed and motivated, but we didn't have a great way to measure our success and to see how we are contributing to city council goals.

Right after I started talking to Vice Chair and to our chair and also city staff and I created this structure that you can see on your first page.

We basically were asking our uh city um our members to focus on those four goals that city councils have.

And and every time they are bringing any concern and question, we document that and we put a group number assigned to this.

Each group assigned to those four uh goals that council have.

And um, and also we have a column nine uh uh we call it status, and we're planning to we have a target right now.

We have 25% we're planning to close all those um concern or question or feedback, getting it resolved or closed by end of this year, and we have a kind of aggressive goal for 2026 to get to the 50 percent of all those closed.

And also um to increase accountability, this is the best way that we can do on if you look at your second page.

Um we put all those um concern and counter uh and and uh feedbacks and questions.

We put it in the graph on the first one on the left side.

You can see how many concerns were raised uh assigned to each category, and on the right side you see the graph that shows uh how many of those were closed, resolved, or um it has not still sitting waiting for um I guess my time is up.

Thank you.

And I keep asking the second question.

Given the current tax burden or responsibilities on tiger residents, how would you assess the city's fiscal responsibility?

And what steps would you take to ensure efficient use of existing funds?

Yeah, absolutely.

Um City of Tiger uh residents there are feeling this impact like many other cities in uh in US.

And to me, this is really important topic um even more than uh previous years.

Um so the steps that I would take.

Um I would um I will look into the this current uh funding and program we have and see if uh if uh it's working, if there is any uh what's working and what is not working.

Also, I will look into uh uh the the internal process if there is any way that we can uh maybe remove waste or uh uh save more money and maybe there are some duplicate that we can do.

Also, we need to be agile.

You know, there's uh things are changing every day.

We need to be uh flexible and look at reprioritizing this uh funding if we need to uh redo it again or looking into prioritize all those um funding.

Um and also being transparent.

I think um City has done a pretty good job, like uh the Regal Cinema on 72nd Avenue, it's a great example that uh would try to uh get feedback.

We have a website trying to get feedback from residents and see how um make sure they're already involved, making the right decision.

And also this will uh I would say remove kind of negative uh reaction later on because we're gathering all the data, we're making decisions based on uh the data that we are receiving.

So it's a really informed decision uh based on the data we're receiving.

So overall that's what we'll do.

Okay, thank you.

All right, I'll have the next question.

Tiger and the surrounding region have grown significantly while transportation infrastructure has not kept paced.

What strategies would you pursue to improve mobility and reduce congestions for all row users?

Um I would focus on uh data decision uh kind of target.

Um there are things that I use at uh my job, I'm a project engineer supervisor, and um I have a Green Button Six Sigma.

We use structure problem solving.

Uh one of the uh things that I would use is a 8020.

Basically, what we say, 80% of the in this case, um uh uh congestion and traffic coming from 20% of these uh problem areas.

So we need to focus that.

And to do that, uh we need to gather data.

To get the data, I would say um we need a task team if you don't have it already.

This is something again um really familiar with.

My team is responsible with leading task forces.

If there's a problem, quickly we put a team together, we bring people from different departments, and uh we do structural problem solving, uh, we analyze the data, and we make a decision based on that.

So that's uh that's what I would do.

Um and also uh there's things that we can do, uh technology that we can use is like AI and machine learning.

These things are not super expensive.

It will be much cheaper than building roads, uh, which sometimes is not really efficient.

Uh but this AI and machine learning that many cities actually that are dealing with traffic or using um can help us to uh predict and predict the congestion, uh create a model, even if you have a solution, we can ask AI to do the model and see if it would be successful or not before even spending too much money and um start executing this.

And also again, uh as I mentioned, uh I will look into what other cities are doing, you know.

Um as I mentioned, there are quite a few cities that are using AI like heat map, they're using um lots of data that we that should be not super expensive to gather those data.

All right.

All right, thank you.

Question number four.

How do you understand the role and responsibilities of a council member?

And what abilities do you bring that will help you fulfill those responsibilities effectively?

Um what I understood, you know, being part of CCE for over three years now, um setting policies, uh approving budgets, um, making long-term decisions like the four city goals we have for 2025 and also 2026.

Um, and also uh talking to residents and understand their concern.

Obviously, there should be a balance between their concern and also the city long-term goal and decision.

Things that I would bring again uh as a um engineer and uh uh project management, I would bring um skills as I mentioned, um like structure problem solving, uh getting into root causes and try to understand all the problems and gathering the data.

These are the things I can do.

I mean, other the new technology, uh AI that we're using at work or machine learning, as I mentioned.

Uh also my background, you know, um I've been helping um or Arab uh Persian uh Afghan community to um uh to celebrate the cultural events and uh I've been helping them and also connecting to the city officials.

Um and and to me, this is uh the kind of uh my strong suit.

You know, it's easy for me to talk to people from different backgrounds, different culture.

Uh when I come to US, I went to uh international school to improve my language.

So spent uh over two years um working with and studying and and eating with many people from different countries.

And at one time was more than 15 countries, people from 15 um different countries.

So really easy for me to uh work with them, and that's maybe that's why it's really helped me to be uh leading DEI last year in my department.

So um and also in a part in but being part of the CCE, I'm familiar with all the process and and and the city goals, so I would say it would be easy for me to quickly pick up, get up to speed, and since it's gonna be only 12 months, it would be really challenging.

So for me, it would be pretty easy.

Easy.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Of course.

So the city council meets every Tuesday evening for council meetings that last anywhere from one to three hours.

Additionally, each counselor is responsible for liaisons assignments to boards and committees, as well as asked to attend community events.

If appointed to city council, share with us how you will navigate these added responsibilities to your schedule.

But before even applying for this, I talked to my wife to make sure we can handle this.

This is uh family is really important for all of us.

That's that's the reason I'm here.

Um because I want to make sure that my daughter raised in in and thrive in in the good community.

So I would say I would be definitely committed, and um and this is something even I talked to my manager before applying for this and make sure that they understand that um this is something that I'm passionate and uh would definitely focus on, and they have no problem with this.

So did my uh homework and make sure that I am ready before even I sign up.

This is what I do actually in my life too.

I make sure that I take those steps.

I'm engineered trying to make sure everything is ready before I execute that.

Describe how you would advocate for a policy, position, or program when your perspective differs from the majority.

How would you collaborate and navigate conflicts?

Share an example from your experience and what the impact was of that situation to others.

Conflict is part of what I deal every day, I would say.

When I put um task team together, I have to uh go all the way to our director or CEO to explain why we're doing this.

Um and there are always um people with different opinions, and not saying they're wrong, but they're just having different perspectives.

So you what I do that's a good example just uh a few months ago, I was working on a fuel cell and trucks that and also making it autonomous kind of truck.

And there was a um project that I was working on.

I tried to present this, and it was one gentleman that always you know, bring it in question.

Great question, but I feel like there are there is more than just you know technical question.

So at the end of the meeting, I asked him to meet with me.

Um, and uh we start talking.

I try to understand what exactly his viewpoint is.

And when I understand exactly what his concern is, uh I try to explain that.

I guess I was not really clear.

So I try to explain that and and see get him more involved in the project.

So what I explained that um I said, you know, you have a great experience.

Maybe you can actually help us to make sure this project will be successful.

You need to take actually more responsibility in that.

So we find a common common ground and we try to work on the same target because we both want to make sure that uh our company is gonna be successful.

If we find a common ground, we work together.

I made sure that he's more involved, and at the end I would say that the project was really successful and um we have a great relationship.

Um sorry about that.

Okay.

Um next question.

What is your position on addressing homelessness and Tiger?

What approaches do you support for balancing compassionate services with public safety and the expectations of our community?

Um absolutely.

This this are the things that we discussed during a CCE.

Um we try to provide feedbacks.

Uh we're passionate, we understand the challenges some people have, and um we need to understand their situation.

Obviously, we need to make a um informed decision.

Again, gathering data, understand, but also um there are some people that have an opposite uh uh opinion.

We need to also gather those and those uh feedback and understand what exactly the concern is.

Um I think at the end, um we want to make sure that whoever is in target, they have a roof, they they have uh safe place to stay.

And these are just to me, it is a common sense.

We just need to be open, try to listen to again, even opposite uh people with a different opinion, and we if we can work together, this would be definitely successful.

So um I would 100% support that.

Um but at the same time, I would work.

There are some people that completely have a different position, uh uh different opinion.

So we need to approach them and understand what their concern is.

And I have the final question.

Perfect.

So what are your top funding priorities for the city?

And how would you advocate for them?

Sorry, sorry, can you repeat that one question?

What are your top funding priorities for the city and how would you advocate for them?

How would you spend money?

What's your funding priorities?

Again, um I'm sure you spend lots of time to come with those four city council goals.

To me, you identified things that are really important for this city.

Um housing, uh facilities.

Um two more uh uh and also add my notes.

Uh yeah, they're making the city in the better place.

Uh so these are really important.

So I think we already identified things that we need to focus on.

Um again, when we have all those uh program things that we need to submit funds to, we need to make a data driven decision.

We need to understand uh what are the priority for the city is.

Um if we need to again, we need to approach residents and understand what is their top concern.

And again, to me, City has done a great job, and those four is our top priority, and we need to spend and put money into those categories.

All right, thank you, Al.

I appreciate it.

Thanks again for your time.

Yeah, please uh join the other lobby, and we'll call you back when all of you are being interviewed.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right.

So that's invite Gabriel Velasquez.

Good evening, Gabe.

Hi.

Welcome.

Please uh take a seat, make yourself comfortable.

And when you're ready, council personal wolf will have your first question.

Hello, everyone.

Okay, you look ready to go.

Um, Gabe, uh, can you provide, and we'll start with the questions that you all received in advance.

Uh can you provide a specific example that illustrates your commitment to accountability in tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of decisions or policies you've contributed to?

How did this example enhance enhance me trust and accountability within the organization or community that was impacted by those decisions or policies?

Thank you for the question.

As chair of the Tiger Town Center Advisory Commission, one of my tasks is to send out a yearly report uh that sets out our goals uh for our two tax increment financing districts.

Taking direction from City Council earlier earlier this year, we've decided to add an abundance of key performance indicators or KPIs that are meant to highlight the three main areas the TCAC focuses on.

Business development, housing, and connectivity in and between the two TIFF districts.

Adding KPIs not only builds trust between the community and the city at large when you are up front about your objectives, but also it creates uh accountability for when those KPIs are met or fall short of expectations, as it gives an opportunity to figure out what went right or wrong and what needs to change for the following year.

An example this year, when setting a soft K uh KPI, a KPI that is not fully in the TCAC's control for more affordable market rate housing within the Tiger Triangle, it was not met.

Well while some only see this as a failure in goal making, I see it as an opportunity to find out why there was an untapped opportunity for affordable market rate housing, which is why I would like to make it easier for developers within our two TIFF districts to create housing types that have not yet been established within our two TIFF districts.

Thank you.

And what steps would you take to ensure efficient use of existing funds?

Tiger is at a crossroads right now.

As I know from the October finance and revenue budget update, as I was here.

The bad news is the general fund is starting to feel the effects of the volatility in our national economy.

And our parks in a rec budget is greatly outpacing its own revenue growth due to the sharp decline in revenue this year.

Luckily, there's a lot of good news too.

Tigert's Water Fund, Sewer Fund, and Stormwater Fund have all been keeping pace with expenses.

Cities like Tiger are expected to weather the storms when they have been hit through major, even though though major portions of their budget, like the general fund and building fund, are at the mercy of things we do not fully control, including the national economy.

What we can control is our homegrown solutions.

We can lean into the community of forward-thinking proud Tiger residents and ask voters to increase the parks fee to bridge the existing funding gap.

We need to make sure it is the right time to ask for this, and it's never easy to ask voters for more money.

But we only have we can the only way we can do this is to be accountable and transparent with both our spending and our savings.

Thank you.

All right, I have the next question.

Tiger and the surrounding region have grown significantly.

While transportation infrastructure has not kept pace.

What strategies would you pursue to improve mobility and reduce congestion for all row users?

Thank you for the question.

We all know state-based transportation funding can be quite volatile.

While officials in Salem still fight about the big picture, we wait patiently for the fate of Hall Boulevard.

We've got to do something to help people closer to home.

What I mean specifically is what I s is that I support smarter road design that actually connects our communities, favoring roundabouts over interchanges, keeping traffic moving safer through our streets, reducing the amount of close-together intersections that are major causes of traffic issues, lowering speed limits to keep neighbors safe, increasing visibility to prevent more accidents, separating the bike lanes from the roads itself for both the safety and increasing flow of cars and supporting the Southwest Corridor.

These ideas would be a good start.

Uh would be a good start to increase our overall safety when moving through and what and would make traffic just slightly less chaotic than it already is.

Thank you.

Question number four.

How do you understand the role and responsibilities of a council member?

And what abilities do you bring that will help you fulfill those responsibilities effectively?

Thank you for the question.

I believe the purpose of a counselor is twofold.

First and foremost, it is to advocate for your constituents.

Your policies and advocacy should be solely focused on immensely improving the lives of your constituents.

The second part of the job is to be present within the community so much so that you act can be actively looking for what your constituents want and need before they even ask for your help.

A very wise person once told me to not ask people if they need help, but to ask what you can do to help.

That small difference removes the stigma some people feel when asking for help.

I would like to offer my assistance to the city of Tiger in a more official capacity in that way.

City Council meets every Tuesday evening for council meetings that last anywhere from one to three hours.

Additionally, each counselor is responsible for liaison assignments to boards and committees, as well as asked to attend community events.

If appointed to City Council, share with us how you navigate these added responsibilities to your schedule.

As I have been regularly attending city council meetings since getting my new job in healthcare, I have been regularly attending the city council meetings.

As I also the chair of the Town Center Advisory Commission, I'm also regularly here.

An additional few committee meetings would not really affect my schedule in the long run.

Describe how you would advocate for a policy position or program when your perspective differs from the majority.

How would you collaborate and navigate conflicts?

Share an example from your experience and what the impact was of that situation to others.

Okay.

I may have to ask you to repeat that question halfway through, but let me get through the first part.

Actually, could you repeat the question one more time?

I do apologize.

That's a long question.

Can you Mr.

Woe, would you please reset the clock?

There we go.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Describe how you would advocate for a policy position or program when your perspective differs from the majority.

How would you collaborate and navigate conflicts?

Share an example from your experience and what the impact was of that situation to others.

I'm going to share my time experience within Salem.

I was both a staffer and a lobbyist back in the day, which feels that like decades ago was like one or two years ago.

During that time, there was a policy position out there that was going to recriminalize drug use.

Sharing and trying to find a compromise between the most extreme elements on both sides and finding a middle ground was the best way to bring that bill forward and has near broad bipartisan appeal.

And I was working with the legislators on that initiative.

What approaches do you support for balancing compassionate services with public safety and the expectations of our community?

I noticed a common theme when attending city council meetings these recent months, specifically when the issue of homelessness is brought up.

It feels like we are leaps and bounds ahead of most of our neighbors when tackling this issue and this when tackling this issue.

And when the state hasn't done enough to help us out being one of the leaders on this movement, and you're absolutely right to feel that we are we have been leaps ahead and bounds.

We need to have more co-cooperation between our neighboring cities and state and having a person on city council who has been endorsed last time by city officials in two neighboring cities, as well as receiving the endorsements of four state representatives, as well as the endorsements of both Senate President and Senate Majority Leader last time in 2024, uh makes that likelihood a lot more possible to have a more unified uh encounter to increase our funding for homelessness services and have a more widespread uh approach to this problem.

Thank you for the question.

All right, I have the final question for you.

Uh what are your top funding priorities for the city and how would you advocate for them?

So, how would you spend the city's money, basically?

I did kind of already answer this question, so I do apologize.

But uh talking about parks budget uh specifically, um, that is the one where we probably will need to ask voters in 2026 to increase our parks funding, as that is the one where our budget has the biggest gap right now.

Pardon me.

Uh that is where we're going to have the biggest issues with our budget deficit and finding ways to increase our funding will be much more likely to produce a positive result.

And I do apologize for answering that question quickly.

We need to apologize.

This these four questions you do not have them ahead of time.

So yeah, so that's all.

Thank you, Gabe.

Thank you very much.

So please join the Addistree Canada in the lobby, and we'll call you back when the last person is done.

So thank you.

And it is an honor to be just considered.

Thank you.

So that's invite Kate.

Oh, there she is.

Hello, Kate.

Please take a seat, make yourself comfortable, and turn on the microphone.

And when you are ready, Council President Wolf will have her first question for you.

Thank you.

You look like you're ready to go.

So we'll start with the questions that you received in advance.

Can you provide a specific example that illustrates your commitment to accountability in tracking and evaluating the effectiveness of decisions or policies you've contributed to?

And as a follow-up, how did those exam how did that example enhance trust and accountability within the organization or community that was impacted by those decisions or policies?

Thank you for that, asking that, and thank you, and good to see you all tonight.

I would say that my background is personally in nonprofit and organizational management.

So this is something that we talk about all the time, particularly in terms of strategic planning, in terms of measurement goals and objectives, and making sure that you're following up and analyzing and looking at trends and looking at uh like how your how systems and processes are doing over time.

Um but since we're in here, I'll talk about what you all have experienced from the Tiger Library Board perspective.

Um, as the Tiger Library Board president, I got the opportunity uh several years ago during 2020 uh 2021 to participate in the strategic planning process.

And so we worked with the staff, we worked with uh the public, we worked in 2020, which was its own thing, um, but we developed a strategic plan in coordination with staff in the community, um, and then over time we worked towards making sure that the Tiger Library was achieving those goals.

And so you as council members might have seen a little bit of it uh when whenever we come to present to the council, you'll actually see references to uh different elements of the strategic plan, different objectives and actions.

And I would say one of the coolest parts was very recently Amber Bell with the who is staff at the library uh came and talked about Tiger's next strategic plan for the library.

And the great thing about that was our follow-up of seeing like, oh, we did meet these goals and we did meet these objectives, and this is how things changed over time and changed particularly because of what was happening in 2020 in the response to 2020 as well.

Um so the only other things that I would particularly add on that um is making sure that in any one of those processes, the people who are actually the key stakeholders and the people who are doing the work are participating in that process.

So coming back and evaluating and um and working with them and showing them the results of what happened.

So we got to do that when we come back to report to the council as well.

Terrific.

Get to ask the next question.

Given the current tax burden responsibilities on Tigered residents, how would you assess the city's fiscal responsibility?

What steps would you take to ensure efficient use of existing funds?

That goes right back to a lot of the work that you all have already done.

Um of the first things that I would look at is what does the city of Tiger want to accomplish?

Um and we have things like the uh let's say the comprehensive plan or um looking at the let's say the vision for Tiger.

So the vision for Tiger says, okay, we're looking for a walkable city that's accessible, that's equitable, um, that's healthy and I think equitable in that does a lot of work.

Um so if we're talking about what we want the city of Tiger to be like as an equitable community, that means that we're serving business owners while we're also serving um the people in this room, while we're also serving uh moms and dads and kids and historically marginalized communities right next to uh people who are uh walking into the library.

And so I think when I look at the city of Tiger and I think about the work of the city of Tiger, I always come back to thinking about uh how we are functioning um in terms of our bigger vision and where we want to go, um, and how we'll get back to that with good programs and good processes and things that support that as well.

And I'm gonna ask, is there could you uh repeat the rest of the question too?

In case I missed anything.

Certainly.

It was what steps would you take to ensure efficient use of existing funds?

Oh, so now we gotta start the timer again.

I'm gonna mess up your timing system.

But the only other thing that I would add in terms of ensuring the best use of efficient funds, efficient use of funds is the follow-up on different programs and different services and making sure that we're clearly reviewing the things that we're working towards.

So we can set those good, uh, that good vision and that good path, but we have to come back and look at our goals and look at our objectives and make sure that we're actually meeting them with um responsible uh management of sort of programs.

All right, I have the next question.

Uh Tiger and the surrounding region have grown significantly while transportation infrastructure has not kept pace.

What strategy would you pursue to improve mobility and reduce congestions for all row users?

So one of the first things I would do is of course talk to our subject matter experts and talk to the committees that we already have and looking towards the the uh the committees and support that we have.

Uh the next step is uh usually looking at infrastructure.

So what infrastructure do we already have in place?

What do we need to put further support and further money behind?

I'm not a big fan of new projects unless they actually are serving specific community needs.

So if we're looking at the best way to uh make transportation and infrastructure improvements, that means looking at what we have and how we might use it more efficiently and effectively.

And I think a great example of this actually in terms of transportation is just going down on hall and you go to take a right, right?

And you're gonna go on a 99, and now there's that uh turning signal that says, don't go right.

Um, and so that idea of we're we're checking on making sure that the safety of that intersection, um, that it's more safe and that it's a better transportation infrastructure, but it was just a small little thing of putting up that signal that lets us know don't turn right because somebody else uh might do a U-turn and there might be a collision.

So what I'm thinking about transportation, I was talking about infrastructure, but it's also safety and it's also um congestion.

And obviously, you all have uh I would say enjoyed and dealt a lot with the uh the Hall project, the 217 project.

I'm sure you hear a lot about those.

And when I think about those, um, you know, we have goals and things that we're trying to achieve in terms of what the city's trying to do.

Um, we also have the reality of people coming in and experiencing um the traffic projects, and so one of the immediate things that you get as a city council member, I'm sure, is feedback and taking that into account and making sure that the projects and the things that we are working on, particularly in terms of where the funding and the spending is going, um, aligns with our vision for Tiger in the future.

All right.

Question number four.

How do you understand the role and responsibilities of a council member?

And what abilities do you bring that will help you fulfill those role or responsibilities effectively.

Thank you.

And I would say that as a council member, um, I am delighted to talk to you all about your own jobs.

So, in terms of what you do and what uh the expectation of a council member is uh the council is you know responsible on a larger level for things like the budget, uh priorities, policies, planning, um, laws, uh, and some things in terms of fees and uh regulatory practices.

And so when I think about what the a council member should do and can do, um, in some ways, there is a lot, right?

You can set the priorities, you can set the vision, you can think about what we want Tiger to look like in the future.

Um, but then the toolkit for that is actually limited in terms of what we really can do.

Um, and so taking advantage of the time that we have and the um the things that we actually have under our control.

Um thinking about uh the budget uh, which I always see a budget as a um it tells its own story, right?

So when we see the budget for 2025, we see the budget for 2026, it should reflect where Tiger is going in the future and where we want to invest our money and what we want to put our money into.

Um the only other piece of background I would add about budgeting in particular is as a nonprofit executive director, we work in budgets.

Um, but we also work in reality, and so you set your budgets, but then you also have to adapt and look at uh what the landscape actually looks like.

Uh so that's something that definitely comes back to the city council in terms of budgetary spending and what's the best use of like the money and the taxpayers' money and goals for the future.

So the last big thing I would add is the big things, like uh that setting that the priorities, the the vision of what you want Tiger to look like.

A lot of that leadership responsibility falls on the council and on the mayor.

Thank you.

City council meets every Tuesday evening for council meetings and lasts anywhere from one to three hours.

Additionally, each counselor is responsible for liaisons assignments to boards and committees, as well as asked to attend community events.

If appointed to city council, share with us how you navigate these added responsibilities to your schedule.

Gotcha, with pleasure.

Um, first I would have to uh have a discussion with counselor Slack if I could still do the Tiger Library Board liaison.

Um but beyond that, uh I think that you know that's just adapting my schedule.

So my husband would get the joy of bringing my kid Rowan to soccer practice.

He plays indoor and he also plays outdoor during the not indoor season.

So we'd have some of those discussions, and then I'd also just do some shifting of some board meetings that I also have.

As uh my one of my larger responsibilities is I'm the president of the science fiction and fantasy writers association.

And so we have a we have a monthly board meeting, and then I also sit on the board for well, I'm at writers as well.

Um what I've seen with each of those is it's just a discussion and a negotiation of timing and scheduling.

Um I personally enjoy board meetings, I'm one of those people, sorry, um, because I like the idea of how we can all work together and how we can solve some of our problems.

Um so that does become a priority for me of being in the meetings and making sure that I'm a uh attending and providing the support that's needed too.

So describe how you would advocate for a policy position or program when your perspective differs from the majority.

How would you collaborate and navigate conflicts?

Share an example from your experience and what the impact was of that situation to others.

I think you have the the word that I would use right in there, collaborate.

Um I think one of the biggest things in terms of uh if we take a board meeting for as an example or a meeting of people, um, a lot of the work of when you get to a point of disagreement has already happened way before that disagreement happened.

Um so on several of the boards that I'm on, um, if we're we get to the point where we're disagreeing on something, like we're not mad at each other.

Like we understand where where uh people are coming from.

And so one of those first things that I would do is like if I hadn't done the research, I would like want to do the research or talk to someone or find more to support the position that I'm on or the position that I'm in.

And a lot of that would also come from discussion with the rest of the council or the with the rest of the board that I'm on.

And that just gives you a chance to see that you know, to acknowledge that you're not always the subject matter expert.

Like I don't walk in the room and go, oh, I know everything about this.

Um so I would first do the research.

If I'm in the moment, I would like ask for clarification and support or a little bit more detail, and then we would find that point of like cooperation.

Um I would hope that my position is supported by like supported by good policy or supported by some research-based practice.

So in the real world, right?

Uh I was in a board meeting probably through like three or four months ago, and we were talking about a starting a new committee, which is everybody's favorite and least favorite thing.

Um the way that we defined if it was going to be a committee or a subcommittee would really, or if it was going to be on the team on like the programming side, would really determine who was in charge of it and would change the organizational structure of the organization.

So that did become a big point of discussion in terms of do we call it a committee, do we call it a team, and that type of thing.

Like it can be really important.

Yeah.

So that was just an example.

Okay, Kate.

Um what is your position on addressing homelessness in Tiger?

What approaches do you support for balancing compassionate services with public safety and the expectations of our community?

And thank you for asking.

And this is obviously an issue that like we have to discuss and we have to talk about, and we're not gonna have easy fixes, especially in like two minutes.

Um, what I would say are some of the things that I would look at and some of the things that I would talk about and have thought about and have had discussions around.

And um, you know, one of the first things that the city is doing is partnerships.

Um partnerships with outside organizations, partnership with social services, and so making sure that uh people who are experiencing houselessness have um have the resources and support that they need, but also that the city has those subject matter experts that I was talking about.

Um we become subject matter experts as we like learn and navigate different issues, uh, but for the city as their um as we're like learning more about problems, um, we go to people who know the most about them.

And so that immediately brought me to talking about working with outside partners, uh, the cities worked with uh just compassion, uh Tiger Promise.

Um some of the some of the organizations that are already supporting, um, but then also regionally and uh with the with the county as well, and then obviously you pointed towards public safety and um so working with our public safety officers and social services organizations.

And then obviously you pointed towards public safety and um so working with our public safety officers and social services organizations.

Um I pointed toward a lot of possible different pathways, and I don't think there's one clear solve because we've seen that since the Time Place Manor discussion started, that there's not an easy solution here, and if there was an easy solution, we would have already solved it.

Um but this is one of those uh discussions like uh Councillor Robbins was mentioning of we're gonna have a lot of disagreements.

Uh but I think everyone is coming from the perspective of like how do we help our community like and what's the way to do that that actually is community focused and people focused and also research.

All right, Kate, I have the last question for you.

What are your top funding priorities for the city and how would you advocate for them?

How would you like to see us spending taxpayer money?

That's a great question.

So my funding priorities uh besides giving all the money to the library.

Um just kidding, but I do love libraries, obviously.

So when we think about uh funding for the city, uh what I immediately look towards is since we're looking at such a limited revenue stream, like realistically, uh, we're not dealing with a lot of money coming in, we're dealing with caps and as we've talked about in the council applications.

We talked about measure five and measure 50, so I won't be redundant there.

Um but if there's a limit on the amount of money that we can spend, um, I'm immediately looking towards infrastructure and immediately looking towards programs and services.

So when we talk about infrastructure, uh looking at the the key projects that really need to happen.

Um there's obviously a big interest interest in development and planning and development is a core piece of like any uh any solution here, right?

Um, or any budgetary uh yeah, any budget.

And so a lot of that work has already been laid out in the 2040 and in the um comprehensive plan.

Um so we're looking towards what does the city look like already?

So I would look towards those bigger plans to then make those smaller decisions.

So if we're talking about Tiger Triangle, which we are right now, um, so the city's in that point of sending out surveys, talking to people, trying to find out like what makes the most sense for for the uh uh the former cinema location, for example.

Uh so my priority there was similar to like the priority as I was filling out the survey, right?

So I'm filling out the survey, and I'm going, okay, I want something that is meets the community needs, but also thinks about that particular place.

So with any discussion of budget, it has to be place-based and people-based.

So, in terms of my priorities, my priorities are directly related to the community and the part of the community that we're looking at serving at that time and in that uh with those budget.

Well, thank you so much, Kate.

And um, that's that's the conclusion of your interview and other interior and other interviews.

So please you can hand tight and we'll the council would take a break and before we uh start our deliberation.

So counselor, I'm thinking about 10 minutes is uh enough.

All right, so now it is 7.45.

So we'll uh we will reconvene at 7.55 reconvening our meeting um after a brief uh uh recess.

So I just want to uh start by thanking all four uh finalists for your time, your thoughtful answer tonight, and uh most importantly your commitment to Tiger.

Applying for council vacancy is no small undertaking, as you know.

Each of you brought a unique perspective, a genuine desire to serve, and a real sense of what makes this community special.

So thank you very much.

I just wanted to take a brief moment to uh uh recognize each of you for for Al Haddadi.

Um Alve brings an engineers, problem-solving mindset, and more than 17 years of technical and leadership experience.

He serves as the vice chair of the committee for community engagement and has helped advance culture belonging work across the city.

Uh Tom Anderson, Tom has a living tiger for 19 years and bringing extend extensive public service on the city council and the uh tiger planning commission.

He also has 25 years of experience as a real estate broker and giving him experience with local business needs.

And he has served on the Town Center Advisory Commission, chairing many meetings, and contributed to the TIFF Grand Review Board and Safe Street Task Force.

He brings a live experience with housing affordability and a strong commitment to keeping Tiger accessible for all.

And we have Kate Ristow.

Kate has living has living Tiger since 2027.

And has served on the library board since 2017, including several years as the board chair.

She's the executive director of the Wellama writers and president of a global nonprofit with substantial experience in budgeting, strategic planning, staff leadership, and organizational management.

So her applicant material demonstrated readiness to serve immediately and a clear practical vision for strengthening city governance.

Again, uh, like I mentioned before, I will ask each council member to uh briefly uh identify their top candidate and if you want to explain why, and if you cannot make out your mind, please at least identify the top two.

Um but for me, uh my top two choices uh after reading the application material and going through interview will be Kate and Gabe.

Both of them have uh demonstrated their um eagerness and ready to serve our community, and based on both their application material and their interview is show that um they are good communicator, they have identified clear practical vision and also demonstrate long um long-term uh service to Tiger.

But if I were to pick Poem person, I will uh pick Kate just because based on her qualification uh community service and leadership experience all you know um and she uh stands out to me as the strongest uh candidate.

So uh I will start down the line with uh counselor Godusi.

Um if you don't mind identify your strongest candidate, or if you want to share two, that would be fine.

So please go ahead.

Um Thank you, Mayor.

Uh I wanted to prioritize that sort of systemic thinking, especially given that passion does have its place, but I think that's more of the election in order to hold us down for the next year.

Um I basically broke down the questions, and the two that ended up on top with even scores ended up being Al and Tom, so the exact opposite of you.

So we'll see how this goes.

Okay, so it's Al and Tom.

Okay.

Counselor Schlack.

Do we have a one and two?

Yeah, one and two.

No, you don't have to.

If oh uh well, if you want to identify your top, that's fine, but you don't have to at this point.

Same score, okay.

So both are equal okay.

Counselor Schlack.

Thank you, Mayor, and I'd like to thank all our applicants tonight for their interest in serving our community on the city council.

It was wonderful to see you all tonight, some of you for the first time, and hear about your intention should you be appointed to the city council.

Regardless of the council's decision, please continue to serve and contribute to the success of our community.

When we started the appointment process, I said the counter the council is accountable to the voters for its decisions, including appointments.

I take this responsibility seriously on behalf of my constituents and have thought hard about the qualities that I want and that I think many constituents want uh their next city councillor to have, especially based on based on recent events.

Um, in particular, I I'm looking for someone who I think will bring a fresh point of view, who has who wants to be a policymaker, who leads by example, who will work to get the essentials right, and who has a grit.

For those reasons, my top choice is Kate Risteau, and my second choice is Gabriel Velasquez.

In particular, I'd like to highlight that Kate has executive experience as a nonprofit executive director, governing body experience as the president of the board of directors of a national nonprofit, and policy making experience as the longtime chair of the Tiger Library Board.

She also has experience leading organizational change and improving organizational culture in those roles, which would greatly benefit the council as it moves past the distressing events from this year.

Um I also uh really value Kate's experience on the library board, especially as the council grapples with the changes to uh WCCLS funding and governance for years to come.

I think that'll be really valuable because the library is a core service of the city.

Uh, I don't expect Kate and I, or Gabe and I for that matter to agree on everything, but I believe both would be active, engaged, contributing council members who will help build the future that Tiger residents need.

So those are my two choices for those reasons.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilperson Wolf.

Um Thank you, Mayor.

And um I am probably similar to um Councillor Gaducy that uh first I want to thank the four um and the passion and the interest and the seriousness.

And the passion and the interest and the seriousness.

I really appreciate it in the questions.

Have you really thought about this?

And I had that conversation with my employer, or I had that conversation with my partner or spouse because it is a lot of time.

And if you're engaged, you're engaged.

And I think we have some amazing individuals who want this position.

And I too want to see the voters chime in on that on who is our future uh counselor.

Having said that, um, I'm only putting forward one name, and that is Tom Anderson.

What struck me about Tom is I'm interested about the CET uh looking for innovative, unique local ways that now have um clearly um spread across many communities.

Um, and I am very focused on the bond, um, spent a lot of energy and effort and cared deeply about that and appreciated that um recognition as a critical priority uh and uh just his um interest in in serving in that capacity uh for us over the next year.

So thanks.

Thank you, Counselor Shaw.

Uh two want to thank you, Mayor.

I want to recognize um for all those who applied.

It's not easy, and having recently been in a similar situation of answering questions, it can be a bit nerve-wracking too.

So just want to acknowledge that and say thank you very much.

Uh this is a very difficult decision.

The applicants were strong.

Um I too was looking for seriousness, eagerness, passion, those who are interested in policy and moving policy forward.

Um, I do recognize that there was one candidate who did mention the bond.

Uh, but and in addition, several other candidates mentioned several of the current projects that the city has before it and will have moving into 2026.

Um with that, I have two candidates.

Um, the first being Kate, and um this the second candidate I had actually I'm now um withdrawing, so I'm gonna have just one candidate, and that is Kate.

Thank you.

Uh Councillor Robbins.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I get to go last.

Um I just want to acknowledge that this this is a hard job and um much harder than I expected when I got this job from the time commitment, the learning curve, learning about a lot of different things, and also the emotional commitment of you know, wrestling with some hard decisions and hearing about a lot of issues that people bring up, and maybe you can't solve all those issues, and it does kind of keep you awake at night.

Um so I'm very impressed with everyone's willingness to put their names forward for this and be willing to sacrifice a lot of time and energy to help the city move forward.

Um so I want to thank everyone for applying.

Um I'm torn in my choice.

Um, on the one hand, I am considering Tom Anderson.

Um, from what I understand, he's can jump right in, have very little learning curve, um, bring a little bit of a different perspective and also some experience.

And uh from what I understand, he's um doesn't want to run in November, so that would mean we aren't picking an incumbent to give that person an advantage in November.

Um I also really appreciate that he said his number one funding priority was the bond because that is our number one priority is to get that bond passed.

Um my other choice is Gabe Velasquez.

He's run before, he's committed to the position, he wants this position and has worked hard.

He had some solid ideas when he was talking about what he would do as far as traffic.

Um so I I think he would bring a good young perspective with a different background, not someone who's kind of settled more in their career.

So I do appreciate that.

Um so those are my two choices.

I'm gonna put them equally.

Thank you.

So let's see.

We have three Kate.

Um three Tom.

And those are the two, and two Gaves and one Al.

So we have uh Tom and Kate, both tie and uh three each at number one choice.

Um do we have any further discussion?

Anybody?

Uh Councilor Schwak, go ahead.

One thing I just want to clarify since Counselor Robbins brought up mentioning um that Mr.

Anderson she believes doesn't want to run again.

I didn't pick that up in the application or in the interview process.

I know one of the references mentioned it, but I've I haven't heard that, so I just want to clarify that.

Or um, you know, um I've watched another appointment processes like for the Clackham's County vacancy if we want to ask candidates to come up and state what their intention would be.

I'd be open to that as well if the council was willing.

Would you would you want that to ask each all the council the the candidate if they would intend to seek election November?

You would oh four.

So let's start with um Tom.

Would you please stay come forward to do you intend to uh if if appointed, do you see intend to seek election next November?

No, I was just uh I was just interested in this as a as a bridge type of deal for you guys, but uh not interested in November.

Thank you.

Next person, Al.

Yeah, please.

I want to get all the other candidates.

So if you were a pointer, would you be interested in seeking election next time?

Absolutely, yes.

Absolutely.

Okay, thank you.

Gabe.

Oh, okay.

You can come first.

Oh, you say Gabe.

It's okay.

Sorry.

That's that's okay.

Same question.

If you were appointed, do you intend to seek election next November?

Uh to be honest, I don't fully know yet.

I haven't had the job yet, so but there's a good likelihood I will.

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

And Kate.

Uh yes, I would uh consider running again, but it would also heavily depend on the experience and the position.

So I can't give that a clear yes or no, but probably yes.

Thank you.

So now we have still have three to three.

Anybody else want?

Um so we can go if if there's nobody changing their mind, I can go on to round two, rank choice.

Did I miscount?

I counted a three-way tie.

Oh, who else?

With Gabe also having three.

That was my count.

Well, Gabe is not my number two choice.

Oh, we're just going off of that.

I was just going off total votes, excuse me.

Okay.

So we have, so should we go into round two since ranked choice?

Okay, so counselors.

Yeah, please, counselor Robin.

I have a little issue with saying that we're picking two people and they're ranked equally versus two people, one's a first choice and one's a second choice.

Because you either have to just pick the people you like and they each get one point, or we all have to rank, because otherwise it doesn't, you know, we're just thinking in our head a little bit differently about things.

And so I think it should really be either everyone gets one point, and whoever got the many points, we count them up rather than a first choice and a second choice.

Because it, you know, Gabe did get one to three votes, and if you know one, you know, and it was like, well, maybe a little bit less, or it was equal, and um then counselor Godusi and I didn't didn't rank, we picked two that were the same.

So I do think that if we just do the ranked voice regardless of first or second, that'll be take care of it.

Yeah, the first round is just taking temperatures.

Yeah, so we will we'll take we'll we'll disregard all the resolve on round one.

The the point on round two, we'll only count points from round two.

We we won't add that to round one.

Are we ranking everyone?

Yes, uh so you please rank the top three.

So please write down your number one, number two, number three, and then we will go through the worksheet.

So I'll give you everybody five minutes.

Has finished their ranking.

So we have our tally table, so everybody who has them can follow our own including our deputy city recorder.

You can keep keep on keep us honest.

All right, so I will go first.

So my number one is Kate.

Number two is Gabe, and number three is Tom.

So Council President Wolf, who is your number one.

Tom Anderson is Tom Anderson is one, Kate is two, and Gabe is three.

Okay is three.

Counselor Robins.

What was three?

Kate.

Kate.

Number one is Tom Anderson.

Number two is Gabe Velasquez, and number three is Al Hadid.

I'm sorry, Hadadi.

Counselor Schlack.

Top choice.

Number one.

There we go.

First choice, Kate Risteau, second choice, Gabe Velasquez, third choice, uh Al Hadidi.

Counselor Shaw.

First choice would be Kate, second choice, Tom, third, Gabe.

All right, give us a moment to tally up the points.

It may take a while.

Can you tell us what your results are?

We all have them.

So I have twelve points for Tom Anderson, four points for Ali Hadidi, twelve points for Kate Rissao, and eight points for Gabriel Velasquez.

Does everybody have the same?

All right.

So we have a for rank choice.

We have tie for Tom Anderson and Kate.

We can do rank choice again just with the first two.

Oh no.

So we have three to so yeah.

So we have tie.

So we could do rank choice again, taking out the two.

Well, but there's three if we go off of what everyone just voted through.

Half of us have ranked Tom first, and half of us have ranked Kate first.

So I think, you know, I think, I mean, ultimately someone's gonna have to give, or we're gonna have to determine who, you know, well are we willing to work with?

I mean, it sort of comes down to who are we willing to do business with, right?

That's kind of what it comes down for each of us to decide.

Well, but so yes, three of us ranked one first, and three of us ranked the other first, but then the second place rankings is where things differ.

And so we could either do a well, I guess that doesn't work.

So it's gonna be tie again.

So did we have any questions that we didn't know?

So we could ask the next two.

Anyone else will have any questions?

Go ahead, Councillor Shaw.

No, I was just wondering if we had any additional questions uh, either from the community or amongst ourselves that didn't get asked that we would like to ask our top two candidates.

Is Nicole here?

No.

All right.

If I recall correctly, we got all the questions and all the topics at least were covered.

Go ahead.

So I don't know if it makes sense for whoever's not asked answering to step outside.

But you know, I know that the first question was why do you want to do this, right?

But I mean, why do you want to do this?

Uh I mean, at a deeper level of why is this in your heart, your soul, your mind.

Um what have you seen that councils done well?

What would you challenge?

And I would um I think that kind of honest conversation about the state of council.

Um, I would like to hear recommendations.

And I now I'm just kind of brainstorming, but I think there's an authentic opportunity to hear from both of you about what you think and reflect and go deeper than the questions we've provided.

Now, if you two would like a few minutes to reflect on that, um I respect that too.

But I I'll I also want to honor um each other's answers.

So I would like whoever doesn't go first to step outside.

So that's my thought.

So do you have do you would you like the two candidates step out and while we discuss more questions, or is that one question enough for you?

No, I think that's right, I think that one question would be fine.

Okay.

So uh do we still have the mandame?

Yeah.

Or two sounds.

Okay.

No, let's go let's go that's called reverse order.

We'll have Kate go first.

So Tom, would you please wait outside?

And uh Mr.

Woh, would you please too put the two-minute timer?

Oh, would you mind no?

I don't think that that that we don't need a timer.

So maybe it's five is maybe five is maybe too long, but two because you're gonna be thinking probably for what the heck.

Yeah, whenever you're ready, Kate.

Just can you can you repeat a question again, Council President Wolf?

So I think what I'm really looking for, what's in your heart and mind, what's your assessment of where we are right now, and given that this really is about the year, right?

I'm really focused on 26.

Um, what you're thinking, but just kind of an honest assessment, Kate, and which circles back to why do you want to do this?

So thank you for asking, because I'm sure you all know that as I'm sitting there, we're going through all the things that we didn't talk about, right?

And so obviously the bond, uh, education, the public safety levy, the library levy, um all these great things that have been happening over the last year.

And for me in particular, uh my I grew up in Illinois on a farm.

Um I have brothers and sisters, and um my mom really kind of put into us that idea of service.

So I am in nonprofits because I believe in the arts and I believe in um supporting education and those services as well.

Um so those are things that are really important and really matter to me.

Um my husband can probably attest to that because I'm constantly volunteering for things.

Um when I volunteered for I originally volunteered for the library and then over time became the chair.

I volunteered for the science fiction and fantasy writers association since 2020, um, and was producing the nebula awards for them.

Um and then before I served as exact executive director for Willamette Writers, I was volunteering.

Um and so that volunteering and building up the community and supporting the community w is really important to me.

And that is a hundred percent uh the main reason I'm running is because I'm like a big believer in like giving back and supporting and doing what you can do.

Um so for me, my personal skill set is like nonprofit and organizational management, and so with a lot of the the current transition, um, you know, which we have talked honestly about and seen.

Um I stepped into the science fiction and fantasy writers uh during a period of transition.

The actually the staff had all stepped away and the president had stepped down, and that's public knowledge, and then there's also the private discussions about how does the organization work and how does the organization function?

Um so coming in now and talking with the city about uh being on the city council is coming out of that that service approach and that service philosophy.

Um so yeah, so I think it's something that really like deeply matters to me.

Um the only other things I would add that I haven't said um is it also is really a joy to be able to give back and to see things getting better.

Um so for the science fiction and fantasy writers, like seeing the organization moving in a better direction, like that's that's for me um really fulfilling as well.

So there's both the service aspect and just the organizational like the structural fixes that like sometimes come from stuff like budgeting, um, but also come from like leadership and how you're yeah, how you're moving the organization.

So thank you.

Would you please get Tom and switch place with him?

Wrong two.

Did you flip a coin?

Yeah.

And Council President Wolf, would you please repeat your question?

So the trick is if I say it exactly the same way.

Um so Tom, I'm um really just and I know in the application it was about your why, but you know, to go a little bit deeper to reflect kind of your assessment of you know um the state of council or what have you appreciated, what would you want to change?

I I mean I feel like this is kind of an open-ended question on maybe some thoughts or ideas you've had that weren't directly addressed through the questions.

So okay.

Um well, a little history about me.

So I served for four years, and then I ran for Metro, right?

So Metro Council.

And um wasn't my first choice.

I think I would have uh if I would have ran for re-election right after I was counselor, I probably wouldn't made it.

You never know with the elections, but probably um but at that time counselor Dirksen, which was former mayor Dirksen, uh was leaving Metro.

He wanted somebody with a uh you know to represent Tiger in East Washington County, and uh I know quite a bit about the urban growth boundary.

That was a hot topic at the time.

So I ran, it's a very close election.

I won Washington County where I'm well known.

And uh my opponent won Will Noma County was very close, took a couple weeks to decide, and uh so I lost that.

Um still felt like I wanted to serve again.

Um the last uh appointment I stayed out of.

Um this one is a year, and it felt better um that I would just do one year um help out.

Uh I don't know if you know your reputation, but right now the city council is uh seen as a bit of a mess, a little chaos here.

And uh some supporters have said you should run.

You would be a good calling influence form, and you could for a year um help them.

And that's basically why I'm here.

I'm I'm busy enough, literally I could go either way, but I do think I could help.

All right, thank you.

Yeah.

Get Kate?

Yeah, yeah, please ask Kate to come in.

All right, I will start with this end this time.

Council Robbins.

Have you heard anything that made you change your mind?

No.

No, okay.

That's very decisive.

Counselor Shaw?

Not sure yet.

Can I give a minute?

Yeah, all right, Council President Wolf.

Um so thank you both.

Um this round I'm gonna um stay with um Tom.

But I am gonna say for the record, Tom, I think we're doing okay.

But I appreciate your honesty.

Whether it's fair or not.

No, I appreciate the honesty.

Yeah, I would agree.

Can you use your mic?

I guess it was a little too quick.

Um I I agree.

We're we're not a mess.

Maybe it kind of looks like that, but we get along, we're working well.

The city's functioning, you know, um, the city is working and things are getting done.

Yeah, yes, we had some turmoil.

Um, we had someone resign.

We um are looking for an NRM city manager, but things are getting done, and I'm happy with with the work that we've done together.

Thank you.

Counselor Schlack.

Um, thank you both for giving your whys.

I just want to say that um, you know, I haven't changed my mind.

I found Kate's why resonated with me a little bit more talking about sort of more of what she wants to do for the community and why she wants to be involved.

I respect Tom's um service, and he's endorsed by a lot of people that I admire and respect as well.

But um as one of the decision makers, I'm still with Kate Restell.

Counselor Gutusi.

No, nope.

Still Tom.

Okay.

Counselor Shaw.

Yeah.

Um I think you're both terrific candidates.

Uh it doesn't sit well with me that uh I think, and Tom, I appreciate your point of view.

Um I think if there are others out there who think there's chaos, we'd certainly love to hear hear from them and solutions they would provide.

Um your coming back could help with removing chaos.

Um Kate could also being appointed could help with removing what could be seen as chaos.

Uh I'm quite torn.

But I think I'm gonna have to at this point uh I just don't know.

That does need a couple more minutes.

It's fine.

We can take a break if one.

I I guess I'm just a little um taken aback by um you could take it either way and calling it a chaos.

I appreciate your background, appreciate you served four years, appreciate your honesty about the vote.

But I think there's a number of us up here who've worked very, very hard to ensure that the city of Tiger has been uh moving smoothly from a budget perspective uh from a livability perspective.

And uh so I was just a little taken aback about that.

So I just need a few minutes.

Counselor Godussi.

In order to keep from going back and forth, and this is the reason why we have an odd number usually.

Um what we can do is address it the same way Portland City Council did during their selection process, and to a certain extent, just remove the bottom and then redo our top three.

So we would remove Elie Hadidi from the options, we would all redo the top three and then go from there and see if that changes the numbers because it likely would.

You mean from what we just did, and then just allocate points from alley to I that's too complicated for me.

So we redo red choice, you remove the bottom choice.

I think you're just gonna.

I I'm I'm not sure.

I think I think it's too easy to I think we need to have sort of an honest conversation, not just about the positives of the two candidates before us, but really what the reservations are about the other candidate, because I think that's really what I'm not understanding here from my perspective.

Um really the only concern I've heard expressed um in in support of Tom in particular is aside from his service, um, that he doesn't intend to run again in one year's time and sort of just punting this appointment political appointment decision to the voters uh to decide in November.

Um that may be an unfair assessment, but that's more or less what I've heard from my colleagues.

And so I'm can I while I respect that, I'm curious what their reservations about Kate Risteau are, uh, such that that would be their preference.

Is it really just an in-principle we want the voters to decide in November?

Let's let's give it to someone who's not gonna run again, or is there an actual genuine concern about Kate Risteau's ability to do the job?

I have absolutely no concern about Kate or Gabe, or they all four are have been absolutely phenomenal.

So this is just of the four people, which one I feel would be most appropriate, and really I've heard time and again that there is a concern that we as a council have made a lot of decisions about elected positions, and to try to reduce that as much as possible.

That's what sort of pushed me one way over another.

And I'm not you're all great.

You're phenomenal, and I love working with the library.

I just want to point out to you that the reason why appointing somebody is because our charter, it's uh it's approved by re very recently by the voter by over 70 whatever percent.

So the charter's intent is to entrust council member to appoint at this point for what what I sent a year.

So I I have a problem with that logic.

So I just wanted to put again the the tiger community elected us, so we are free to make our mind any way we like.

Um so counselor Robin, what do you have any issue?

Do you see any concern with Kate?

That's that's Counselor Schlack's so respectfully.

Um I kind of disagree with where this conversation is going.

Um I don't think that Councillor Gaducey was saying he was unwilling to appoint someone.

Um and it feels like we're being pushed to change our minds about what our appointment is, and to say that the charter was approved, and so we should appoint someone.

We're not saying we don't want to appoint someone.

So we're saying we've chosen who we want to appoint, and there's a reason by why it to come out and say why are you not choosing Ms.

Ristow is I think unacceptable as a question.

Um we're not saying why are you not choosing Mr.

Anderson and what's your problem with Counselor?

My expectation is that people who support Kate Risteau would also be able to have the opportunity to explain why they would have concerns about Tom Anderson.

I apologize if that's how you took it, but that is not my intention.

My intention is to have an honest conversation about what's holding us back from changing our mind, considering that we're tied at three all, unless we just want to start having dueling motions back and forth that are tied at three all for the next hour.

So I apologize for interrupting, but I wanted to clarify that point.

Okay, well, I appreciate that.

I do, but to just have two counselors both uh or I'm sorry, a counselor and the mayor to both turn to Councillor Gaducy and say, well, why don't you want to?

Does feel feel a little a little unfair.

And to be fair, that's that was Councilor Schlag and why why his reservation about Tom.

Is that would that be better?

Uh would you like to?

No, I mean uh I'll just finish what I want to say then.

I mean, um I think we all read all of the applications.

We're coming into this with decisions and our impressions about the applications, what how they were filled out, what they said.

Um one of my concerns, I you know, I I really don't want to say this in the public because I think it's it's we don't necessarily have to say everything about why we aren't choosing someone.

But part of it was Ms.

Restel's application started said that our biggest problem is essentially, you know, I'm paraphrasing here, how we all get along together, and that when she if she were appointed, she would interview everyone and look at all of us and try to figure out how we could all work better together.

And that's not what we need.

We do work well together.

We want to bring someone in who can learn how the council works and get the work of the city done, not go back, you know, and try to have her come in and fix all of us in our relationship because right now this is the most contentious conversation that we've had since I've been on council.

So that I I didn't like that.

And I'm sorry, I'm I apologize for saying that in public.

It sounds super mean and it's gonna be on the record, but I I just that's that's not the priority for me.

Okay.

I also like the idea that the number one funding priority is the bond.

We only have five months, and that has to be the number one priority.

And of all the candidates, Tom is the only one who brought that up.

So those are why I've chosen him.

I also do believe I have heard from a lot of people in public.

We've all gotten the the written comments and verbal comments that we're all the same politically.

We're all very liberal Democrats, blah, blah, blah, you know, what whatever it is.

I don't mean blah blah to be disrespectful at all.

But we're hearing that people want some people want someone a little more conservative, and so I'm trying to take that into account.

Okay.

Thank you.

Council Schlag, would you like to go next?

Thank you.

Yes, I um going back to what I said at the beginning.

I really value someone who has a fresh point of view, who wants to be a policymaker, who wants to lead by example and has led by example, who'll work to get the essentials right, and who has grit.

I believe Tom and Kate both have many of those characteristics.

But um, you know, while I respect the offer to be a bridge, I'm really looking for a partner to help uh build the future of this community, even if I disagree with them and I just resonate Kate's um responses, her application, her references, her interview tonight resonate more with me in terms of building the future of this community as opposed to just providing a stop gap for a year while we we just sort of, you know, we're all we we've we've lost a year on this council because of council drama, because of city manager drama.

I want to move past it, and it is not appealing to me effectively to appoint tonight a lame duck for one year just to hold us over.

I do not that argument does not resonate with me, and that is what I am hearing from my colleagues who want to pursue that path.

Uh I respect their viewpoints.

I I acknowledge their concerns.

Um at the end of the day, I'm culpable to the voters for my appointment decisions, as we all are.

And um I I would be able to explain to a voter very care very clearly why I would support uh Kate Risteau to be on the council.

I would be comfortable with justifying that decision to any any individual.

Before I go back, would you like to council president will first so I'm gonna address both because I don't know how else to do this.

Um so Tom, I appreciated the um the logic behind why you stepped off and ran for Metro, because I don't think that was information in my um uh history box.

Um and so I also um appreciate your your honesty around just addressing the you know elephant maybe or baby elephant sitting the corner of the room.

Um and um I do think this has become an elevated conversation because I think we're all passionate about moving this council forward, doing the right work, and I am um really hopeful that we are all working really hard, and to um have Tom as part of that and to see that and live that with us, I think is also important as well, because that gets hopefully shared back out in our community.

Like, hey, they're they're focused, they're doing good work, and they're making things happen.

Um having said that, um Kate, I thought you had an outstanding packet.

I think you would be a fantastic counselor.

I also think that you know Gabe came forward with a very strong application.

So while the charter does allow us to do this and appoint, um going into a campaign as an incumbent has power.

Um and so while I I have that responsibility, um, I feel like there's an opportunity to create space for great candidates to run excellent campaigns, and then to also have someone serve us in an important capacity for the next 12 months.

So I don't know if I answered the question, but that's my logic.

So do someone, okay.

I'm willing to go ahead.

All right.

Two things.

One, I feel that I have to come on record and say I'm not a Democrat and I am an independent.

I try to avoid partisan politics like the plague.

Um and two, I do think that the appropriate next step would be to redo the rank choice, removing the lowest vote.

So Ali, and then we would do one, two, three with Tom, Kate, and Gabe.

And I think that we would come out with a different outcome.

So, Councilor Shaw, you made a decision.

Yes, I made a decision.

Um, and actually, I really appreciate Council President Wolf's comment.

Um I too think that having a bridge in this case uh is makes the most sense.

I do like the fact that um if Tom were to be appointed, he would not be running, so that would give uh those such as Gabe, maybe Al and Kate an opportunity to run and run as um non-incumbents, but you each would have the exact same ability uh to go forth and campaign and uh see where the your election goes.

So with that, I am going to go ahead and switch my vote from Kate to Tom.

All right.

Does anybody want to make a motion?

Mayor, I move that we appoint Tom Anderson to fulfill the remainder of the city council term until December 31st, 2026.

Uh would you please read the starting date as well?

There's a script.

So decided I move to appoint Tom Anderson as the counselor to fill the remainder of the term from January 1st, 2026 to December 31st, 2026.

I'll second the motion.

Is there any further discussion now with the Oh Schlack, please?

Um just want to take a moment since we did have a bit of an elevated conversation to thank everyone for their candor this evening and um really think through this process carefully.

As I mentioned um repeatedly, Kate Risteau is my top choice, but um Tom Anderson who I haven't met before is someone that um a lot of people that I admire and respect have advocated for.

Um he seems like someone I can do business with, and um I look forward to working with him.

Thank you.

Well, the deputy city recorder conduct a roll call vote.

Council President Wolf.

Yes.

Councilor Caduce.

Yes.

Mayor who?

Yes.

Councilor Robbins?

Yes.

Councillor Schlack.

Yes.

Councillor Shaw.

Yes.

Yes.

All right.

The motion carry.

Congratulations, Tom Anderson.

You're our next city councilor.

I didn't say that on the record.

So congratulations, Tom Anderson.

You're our next city councilor.

And everybody clapped last time.

So thank you.

So before we conclude tonight, I just want to take a moment to sincerely thank all 14 committee members who apply for this council vacancy.

Each of you step forward because you care deeply about Tiger, and you are willing to offer your time, your experience, and your perspective in serving to our city.

That level of civil commitment is not something we take for granted, and you reflect the strength of our community.

So what give us what gives me the most hope tonight is not just the quality of the applicants, but the message is sent.

Tiger is a place where people are willing to step up, a place where neighbors look out for one another, a place where public service is seen as a responsibility and honor.

So anyway, thank you again for all the applicants and thank you to the entire community.

Um, our cities better because all of you.

So thank you so much.

All right, so um we don't have any regularly scheduled um agenda item this time, but the city council will go into executive session.

So with that, I want to uh wish Tiger good night.

Good night, Tiger.