The election is a year away, but the possible open position has already stirred interest

By REBECCA BARRETT

Corvallis Gazette-Times

Come January 2007, it's likely there will be a new person sitting at the center of the table in Corvallis City Council Chambers for the first time in a dozen years.

Corvallis Mayor Helen Berg has privately stated that she isn't seeking a fourth term in office. And while the election to choose a successor is still a year away, campaigns for at least two possible candidates, Charlie Tomlinson and Rich Carone, are organizing.

The job of mayor pays a measly $100 a month stipend, but the position entails more than cutting ribbons, making appearances and reading proclamations. Political observers say the real power of the non-partisan mayor's position is in appointing people to serve on committees and advisory boards, where most policy and budget decisions start. The mayor also sets the agendas and runs council meetings.

"I think it's a real key position in a community," said former state legislator Barbara Ross. "The mayor has the ability to shine the spotlight on different activities the city undertakes."

Current City Council President Tomlinson, who lost the race for mayor to Berg in 2002 by nine votes, has already formed a political action committee and announced his intentions to run, regardless of who else joins the race.

Tomlinson and his wife, Maria, own and operate Harrison House Bed & Breakfast. He sat out the 2003-04 council term. Then last November he won back his seat on City Council and was elected by his peers as council president for the 2005-06 term.

Tomlinson said he's had his eye on the 2006 mayor's race.

"When you're in politics, you're always running, always working toward the next election," Tomlinson said on Friday.

Another mayoral hopeful is longtime Corvallis resident and businessman Carone, who was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2005 Celebrate Corvallis civic awards ceremony. Carone is co-developer of the Renaissance on the Riverfront luxury condominiums, under construction downtown. He co-founded Accu-Fab Systems, and more recently founded Korvis Automation, a company that designs custom automation systems.

This week Carone and City Councilor Rob Gandara filed a political action committee, Citizens for a Progressive Corvallis, with the intention of recruiting candidates for city council and the mayor's race.

"I think almost for sure one of us will run," Carone said Friday.

The issues

Among the issues for candidates in the 2006 city elections will be the local economy. Mary Nolan, public affairs director with the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce, said the upcoming election will be an opportunity for people to step forward to address the challenges of a changing economy.

Nolan likened Corvallis' dependence on the high-tech industry to what happened in the 1970s and 1980s when the state and local economies were resource dependent.

"We were a natural

resource-based economy, dependent on the timber industry. When that bottomed out, it left us high and dry and floundering," Nolan said.

High tech, including Hewlett-Packard Co., "came riding in like a knight in shining armor to save the day," Nolan said. But where the city focused its economic development has since taken a nose dive.

"We're in a position where we really need to be thinking about where we are going," she said.

Corvallis needs civic leaders to engage in economic development, Nolan said, and the chamber will likely be involved with recruiting and endorsing candidates in the mayoral and City Council races next year. In the 2002 race, the chamber backed Tomlinson. That endorsement does not automatically carry forward to the 2006 campaign.

"At the minimum, we'll sit down and have conversations with the people who have filed," Nolan said.

The job

A year ago, some people thought Ross might be considering running for mayor. She retired from the Legislature in 2000 and left her seat on the Corvallis School Board, but has remained active in local politics. Ross said that running for mayor is not in her political future.

"I am definitely not running," Ross said.

Instead, she's focusing on causes she believes in, Corvallis Independent Business Alliance, Corvallis Neighborhood Housing Service and the Corvallis Budget Commission. Ross said a mayor is someone who lends an ear to all interests and organizations in a community.

Listening is something Berg has done well over the years, Ross said.

"I think the way the mayor responds when something is brought up makes a big difference," she said.

Mayoral appointments also carry weight. These commissions and advisory groups, along with the mayor and new council, will help shape the balance between livability and growth, between business and the environment, Ross said.

"The discussion will be about how we bring those things together," she said. "That will be a very interesting discussion."

Rich Carone

AGE: 57

OCCUPATION: Founder, Korvis Automation, a company that designs custom automation systems

AFFILIATIONS: Business Enterprise Center board of directors

EXPERIENCE: Corvallis Budget Commission; Oregon State University College of Science and College of Business boards of advisors.

Charlie Tomlinson

AGE: 58

OCCUPATION: Harrison House Bed & Breakfast business manager

AFFILIATIONS: Board member of Corvallis Neighborhood Housing Services and First Alternative Co-op, scholarship adviser to Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, League of Women Voters

EXPERIENCE: Corvallis City Council 1999-2002, 2005-06 council president; Corvallis School District Budget Committee; campaign chairman for the 2000 open space bond measure.