Larry Angland believes he can bring a fresh perspective and common sense values to the City Council.
Angland, 80, is one of seven candidates seeking four positions on the City Council in the Nov. 6 general election. Also running are newcomers Greg Korn and Cortney Nash along with incumbents Susan Coleman, Diane Gerson, Bob Briana and Mayor Greg Mahler.
Ballots were mailed Friday, and ballots are due by 8 p.m. On Nov. 6 at drop sites, including City Hall and the Sweet Home Police Department.
Angland is a retired general contractor who moved to Sweet Home from the Los Angeles area 12 years ago. He was born and reared in Lakeview. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps and went to California.
He earned a business degree from San Francisco State, then took a job as an adjuster with Hartford Insurance, where he remained for eight years before going to work in construction.
He is married to Susan Angland. They have two adult sons.
His community involvement includes the Kiwanis Club and he and his wife were the founders of the Sweet Home Sweet Ride Car Show, which was eventually adopted by the Kiwanis Club.
“I think I can bring a little fresh knowledge, with my construction background, to the city,” Angland said. “We need to take a look at some common-sense values. Everyone seems to jump from one thing to another without looking at solutions.”
The council needs to be more transparent, Angland said, specifically referring to the purchase of the new City Hall property in 2016, with the initial discussion catching members of the public by surprise.
The project will end up costing nearly $2 million, including the purchase price and remodeling.
The remodeling is going to cost $1 million to $1.1 million on top of the purchase price and architect fees. And councilors at the time it was purchased were arguing the city could do total project for around that cost.
“For the money they’re spending on city parks, they’re not getting that much in other areas,” Angland said. “Street repairs around here, for one thing. One of the things we ought to look at more carefully is this property off Tamarack and 18th and the quarry property.”
Linn County gave more than 200 acres of Knife River, formerly Morse Bros., quarry and riverfront property to the city, and the county is working with environmental officials and Weyerhaeuser on testing and cleaning up the former Sweet Home Mill site north of Main and east of 18th Avenue.
The city needs to be careful around both of the properties, Angland said.
He said he would like to make building easier in Sweet Home.
He knows one man who has been trying to develop a piece of property for nine months, Angland said. The man has been learning about new requirements as he goes through the process instead of up front. City officials should know the codes and explain them immediately.
That’s an area Angland believes he can help the city.
The city is doing all right in other ways, Angland said. “I think the city’s doing a great job cleaning up a lot of the buildings and property.”
When the Anglands have visitors from out of town, they always hear a lot of compliments about how Main Street looks, he said.
As for other priorities, it’ll be a learning experience taking a seat at the City Council and finding out more about what’s going on, Angland said.
In the past year, many Sweet Home residents have seen their trash, sewer and water bills and property taxes increase substantially. In addition to an annual increase to cover inflation, trash rates increased another 8 percent based on China’s decision to stop accepting recycling. Sewer rates increased to cover a shortfall in funding and an upcoming improvement project at the Wastewater Treatment Plant; and property tax bills are increasing rapidly – the mayor’s taxes, for example, increased by 15 percent from last year – as compression decreases.
“We’ve got to sit down and see where we can cut down in some other areas,” Angland said.
Angland said his property tax bill increased by $400 this year, and he is paying almost $4,000.
At this point, without looking at the budget, he would just be speculating, Angland said, but the council needs to sit down, put its heads together and look at the budget and see what’s going on.
If things keep going this way, “we’re going to tax people right out of their homes,” Angland said.