January 21, 2011

The Silverton Downtown business district is listed on the National Historic Register. That was no accident - our classic downtown is a splendid example of Amercana of the 1900-1950’s vintage

Silverton residents and visitors are taken ‘back in time’ to a simpler era - away from the rat-race of the big city and to a kinder, more gentle time. We’ve all heard the compliments about how ‘charming’ or ‘quaint’ Silverton is -

As a community, our biggest challenge will be to "Keep Silverton Silverton". For years the City has had plans to remodel, redesign and remake our community (especially the downtown area) to comply with some outside urban designer’s ideal of what a modern city should look like. In other words, change Silverton to look like every other town, indistinguishable in its cookie-cutter blandness.

In the past there was never enough money to accomplish this. Now that the City has established an Urban Renewal Agency with taxing authority, there will certainly be a temptation to implement these plans.

As a community, let’s take time and think this through thoroughly - let’s not confuse ‘change’ with ‘progress’. This proposed “Revitalizing” of our Downtown may destroy our heritage and unique market position.

I believe any publicly funded improvement done to the Silverton Downtown must be directed to restoring it to its appropriate historical character.

A public meeting is scheduled for 7:00 PM Thursday, January 27th in the High School Auditorium to discuss these plans. Please attend so your voice is heard.

Thank You,

Stu Rasmussen

January 2011

"... and to the Republic for which it Stands"

Those words from our national flag salute are a reminder that our country was not established as a direct democracy, where each citizen participates in all the decisions of government, but is rather founded on a system of representative government, where elected officials carry out the will of the voters.

Speaking from personal experience as your Mayor, sometimes it's difficult to accurately determine the intentions of the people we represent. There's always the possibility of personal bias entering into the process, or misinterpreting the comments of a few to be representative of the community as a whole. I will confess a couple of my personal biases here, to give you a better understanding of why I sometimes vote the way I do as your Mayor.

First of all, I believe our government should do the things that we individually cannot accomplish economically - very few of us can individually afford to provide such things as streets and roads, police and public safety services and so on. By forming a community and agreeing to support these shared responsibilities we can provide them at a lower cost to all. Once we form this association we can provide other needed services for less cost than we could individually - things like safe and pure drinking water and an adequate community supply of water for fire protection and a sewage collection and treatment facility to deal responsibly with the waste we create.

After we have these basic services in place, we may also provide some 'bonus' items for our community. Things like public parks, a swimming pool, transportation services, etc. Whenever we spend public funds I believe we must move very carefully - our financial resources are limited and we must prioritize wisely. Any time we as a government are asked to spend public dollars I personally believe we should spend as little as possible to reliably accomplish the desired result - and that's the way I vote.

Secondly, because we are a community, I believe we have a mutual responsibility to support each other. The City of Silverton receives its primary financial support through taxes and utility fees collected from community members. Silverton residents, as taxpayers and rate payers, are supporting the City, so it stands to reason that when the City needs something we should first look to our local sources to provide it. When we make a decision on spending public dollars, I vote for local sources when price, availability and fitness are otherwise equal.

Frankly, I can't do this job properly without your support and guidance. I realize that sometimes it's a challenge for you to get timely information on upcoming City matters. If you'd like to receive an occasional e-mail from me about city business, just drop me a line at 'stu@97381.com' and I'll add you to the list. Thank you for allowing me to serve you as your Mayor. It is an honor and a privilege.

Stu Rasmussen