Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home Planning Commission elected James Goble as its new chairman during its regular meeting on Feb. 1.
The commission elected Henry Wolthuis to vice chairman. Wolthuis has served as chairman since the retirement of Dick Meyers from the position in 2010. Meyers had been chairman of the Planning Commission since 1976.
“I have some big shoes to fill,” Goble said, noting Wolthuis’ leadership in recent years.
Goble has served on the Planning Commission for two years. He started getting involved with city activities through the parks, with a goal of updating and improving the BMX track in Upper Sankey Park.
From there, he started organizing and participating in parks clean-up projects across the community.
Goble grew up in Sweet home, and has lived here for a total of about 33 years. He left Sweet Home in the eighth grade and moved to Redmond, where he earned his GED in 1996.
Goble earned his certification in welding from Central Oregon Community College and attended Linn-Benton Community College. He has nearly completed an associate’s degree in criminal justice. A math class and work experience requirements remain.
In Sweet Home, he owned and operated G6, a security surplus store, for a year and a half. He closed the store to work for the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency on the east coast following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Goble returned to Sweet Home and went to work at Ti-Squared, where he is now production manager.
He has six children, including Eli, 8, and Ayden, 7. Daughter Kiesha is a senior at Sweet Home High School. Adult son Tanner is serving in the U.S. Navy. Goble has two other adult sons, Nick, who lives in Sweet Home, and Thomas, who lives in Salem.
“For me, (the Planning Commission) was just another evolution and step in giving back to our community,” Goble said, something that started with his volunteer work in the parks – activity that has taken off, especially with the involvement of Planning Services Manager Laura LaRoque and the city manager’s administrative assistant, Julie Fisher.
Goble said his long-term goal is to serve on the City Council and serve as mayor. He ran for the council in November 2014, winding up in a dead-even tie for fourth with Councilor Bruce Hobbs for a two-year term. The council settled the tie with a coin toss, which gave the seat to Hobbs.
“There’s still a strong push (for Goble to run again),” he said. “If it’s still there, I’ll put my hat in the ring again.”
Meanwhile, “I think the Planning Commission is evolving,” he said. “It’s evolving to fit today’s society a little better in my opinion.”
It shows in the small things the commission has been doing in the past couple of years, Goble said. Among them, the commission increased the allowable height of a fence to 7 feet and rules for fencing in setbacks.
“They seem small, but they’re big for that person who wants to put up a fence,” Goble said. “It’s the small things that make the big things happen.”
As a planning commissioner and chairman, “we want to promote development,” Goble said. The Planning Commission is always concerned with land use issues, and those land use decisions ought to promote development.
Living in a community near neighbors, “we have to work together,” Goble said. “I’m governed by a set of rules. We’re all governed by a set of rules we have to abide by.
“We all work hard. I still feel your property is your property. I feel you should be able to do what you want to do within these guidelines.
“The whole thing about being on the Planning Commission and City Council is building the infrastructure so our kids want to come back here and raise their families, so their kids can enjoy the things they enjoyed and we enjoyed growing up in this community.”