The two candidates who stepped forward to seek the vacant Ward 7 seat on the Corvallis City Council have given voters a choice that should be relatively easy for most of them to make.

Jeanne Raymond and Rick Schroff bring very different political perspectives to the race to fill the council opening. Voters in Ward 7 simply need to determine which of the candidates best represents their interests and concerns and then cast their ballots accordingly.

Raymond, a retired educator, has earned respect as a local activist who has worked capably on behalf of environmental and anti-war causes. She’s a member of the Corvallis Raging Grannies, the singing protest group that uses satirical versions of traditional songs to spread a message of peace and social justice. Raymond’s platform stresses community sustainability with a big emphasis on environmental concerns.

Schroff, who owns a Corvallis insurance agency, has earned respect for his work with local organizations focused on youth and business. He’s a member of Rotary and cut his teeth on local government issues by serving on the government affairs committee of the Chamber Coalition. His platform also stresses community sustainability, although Schroff puts a greater emphasis on the economic aspects of the equation.

Although both say they understand and appreciate that big-picture sustainability involves environmental, social and economic components, it’s here that the two candidates differ most. In Schroff’s view, the economy is the biggest gear driving the local sustainability movement. For Raymond, it’s the environment. Both candidates have well-reasoned perspectives on the matter, but those perspectives would likely lead to very different decisions when hard choices have to be made.

Frankly, we like them both — although we give a slight edge to Schroff for his business background. Since the untimely death last December of City Councilor Scott Zimbrick, it seems that the local business community’s interests and perspectives have not always been adequately represented in council deliberations.

We don’t want to portray Zimbrick as just a pro-business vote on the council. With wide-ranging community interests and expertise, he was much more than that. But he was the council member who most reliably brought a local business perspective to the table.

Both Raymond and Schroff are intelligent, hard-working people who care about our community. Both have strong ideas about how best to ensure a bright future for Corvallis, but both seem willing to listen to those who might see things a different way.

Both candidates were essentially drafted by constituents to seek the Ward 7 council seat. Neither has gone through the traditional political training of serving on municipal commissions or committees.

No matter which one wins, the successful candidate will have a steep learning curve once she or he joins the council to serve out the remaining months of Zimbrick’s elected term. The winner of the May 20 election will have to run again in November, and honestly, that’s not enough time to get a real handle on the whole council process, let along the issues facing the city.

Either Jeanne Raymond or Rick Schroff would, in our mind, be a capable member of the City Council. We urge Ward 7’s residents to vote now for the candidate who best represents them — and then to give the winner of the May 20 vote a fair chance at success by returning him or her to the council come November.