Patrick Birkle for St. Helens City Council

I received an email request on Friday from The Spotlight to respond to five questions. The response deadline was 5:00 pm Monday with a request to limit each response to 150 words or less. The responses will likely be edited. Complete responses are below. How would you describe the city’s level of public transparency? What are the strengths and weaknesses?    The city’s  level of public transparency is uneven.    I think that the city makes a good faith effort to communicate with residents but there is always room for improvement. In my personal experience, city staff usually respond in a timely manner to question when I email or call. The city has a presence on social media including Facebook Twitter. Notices of meetings are made according to legal requirements.   I think that one improvement needed is to find a way to provide clearer information about city finances. Our city is audited every year. The audits have not shown any major issues about how city ...

This is the audio of a 30 second spot that I ran on AM 1600 KOHI.  

I will work to ensure that the development of the waterfront, Boise White Paper property , and the repurposing of the wastewater treatment lagoon is done with as much community input as possible and to ensure that the development is done in ways that protect the safety and health of our residents and the environment. Here is a link to a brief summary of information about the Boise site sthelensoregon.gov/administration/page/industrial-business-park-0 It is essential to include as much public input as possible into the development of the Master Plan for the site. I am especially excited that even though much of the property will be made available for industrial develoment, there is a significant amount of land that adjoins Milton Creek and could be incorporated into the City's park system. There once was a park owned by Boise with picnic tables and a play area. A variety of native plants thrive in some spots including camas and the increasingly rare fairy slipper orchid.

I think that the potential filling of the wastewater treatment lagoon could be the most controversial project to be considered by the St. Helens City Council in the next four years. The repurposing of the wastewater treatment lagoon must be undertaken with as much community input as possible and to ensure that the development is done in ways that protect the safety and health of our residents and the environment. I do not like the proposals put forth to fill in the lagoon and to develop the land with athletic fields, buildings and parking spaces. I have ideas that would provide for community use in a more natural setting. I want the City Council to convene community input sessions as it did four and more years ago to engage residents in this important decision making process. You will find more information and documentation at this link: https://www.sthelensoregon.gov/administration/page/central-waterfront-redevelopment

One of my priorities is ro ensure that the development of the waterfront, Boise White Paper property, and the repurposing of the wastewater treatment lagoon is done with as much community input as possible and to ensure that the development is done in ways that protect the safety and health of our residents and the environment. Development of the waterfront requires a public and private partnership. The City of St. Helens does not have the financial resources to develop the waterfront alone nor to set aside the land only for public use. There were a number of public meetings in the past to seek community input about development of the waterfront. It is time to re-engage residents in discussions about how the waterfront should be developed. This is a link to the City of St. Helens web site with iinformation and documents: sthelensoregon.gov/w aterfront

The City and the St. Helens School District teamed up two years ago to provide recreation activities for community youth and adults. This is a link to the most recent report to the City Council about the program: Recreation Report to the City Council There is a $2.00 fee charged on the monthly City utility bill to provide a stable base of funding for the program. The fee began to be collected in January, 2020 and will expire in December, 2021. This means that the City Council and staff will need to engage the community to determine how to continue to fund the program beginning in 2022. I fully support the Recreation Program. It provides an essential service to promote the health and well-being of our community residents. You will see from the report how creative the current recreation director and our youth librarian have been to adapt to the challenges presented by the pandemic.

 This was my message to the St. Helns City Council about an agenda item for the council work session on October 7, 1:00 p.m.: Council Members: I am teaching again (from home) and I will not be able to participate in the council work session, but I wanted to make a few comments about the Main Street Program and tourism.. I  heard Sheri Stewart's report and recommendations for SHEDCO on two occasions. The first was at the August SHEDCO Board meeting and the second was watching the recording of her report to the council in September. I believe that her proposal to reconstitute the SHEDCO board, create an MOU between the City and the restructured SHEDCO board and to have the City dedicate money to pay for a part-time executive director deserves serious consideration. I do not recall if Sheri said this during the council meeting, but I did note in her comments to the SHEDCO board, that she said city funds dedicated to tourism can be spent on SHEDCO to pay for the par...

 Partial List of Past and Present Community Service and Volunteer Activities CASA (Court Appointed Advocate) Director, CASA of Columbia County CASA of Clolumbia County Board of Directors Anne Frank Exhibit volunteer coordinator Condon Elementary and Lewis and Clark Elementary PTO Condon Elementary Site Council St. Helens School District School Board St. Helens Skate Park development committee Columbia Learning Center Roundtable member and volunteer coordinator St. Helens City Budget Committee St. Helens City Library Board (Present) Friends of Nob Hill Nature Park volunteer (Present) Friends of Dalton Lake Nature Preserve (Present) Scappoose Bay Watershed Council volunteer SOLVE (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) Project Coordinator ShoeString Community Players: Actor, Board Member

 Education High School:                     Cheyenne Central High School, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1974-1977 Undergraduate:                - Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1977-1978     - Conception Seminary College, Conception, Missouri, 1978-1981. Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy Graduate:                         -St. Thomas Theological Seminary, Denver, Colorado, 1981-1984, 1988-1989.                                                           Master of Divinity      -George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, 1998-2000. Master of Arts in Teaching.   Continuing Education:      ...