Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The economy is foremost on Roger Nyquist’s mind as he runs for a third term on the Linn County Commission.
Nyquist, a Republican, is running against challenger Pete Boucot, a Democrat, for Linn County commissioner position two. Ballots will be mailed on Oct. 17 for the Nov. 4 election.
“Generally for the last seven years, I’ve done a good job” in a number of areas, Nyquist said. First is the local economy, and “I think that is foremost on people’s minds right now.
“I have, in the last seven years, learned what the county can do to help the local economy.”
And the county has had some successes, he said. Among them is a program that reimburses employers $2 per hour for businesses that hire teens.
With the minimum wage set to go to $8.40 per hour in January, it can be hard for businesses to take on youth, he said. The program has helped 100 businesses and 200 youth.
It’s funded by economic development dollars the county receives from the state, he said. The system is set up to help big businesses, but this program helps the smaller businesses.
“People appreciate the money, and they appreciate the fact local government gets it,” he said. It goes to businesses with fewer than 35 employees from May to October. In Sweet Home, A&W, Mr. Lucky’s Deli and Dairy Queen have been among recipients.
Nyquist has worked well with people to help bring a Signal Holdings call center, a Lowe’s Distribution Center and a Gatorade plant to Linn County, he said. He has taken the lead for the commissioners on all three.
“They all bring different things,” he said of the new businesses. “The key is they all offer benefits.”
Signal Holdings’ wages were lower, but they provide benefits, he said. With 7 percent unemployment, the jobs are desirable.
Lowe’s was a pretty good deal for east Linn County, he said. It has improved lives.
He noted that the beer delivery man for his Albany bowling center quit that job to go to work at Lowe’s and improved his life, Nyquist said.
Even the construction jobs they provide are important, he said. “If we could bring one more Lowe’s Distribution Center to east Linn County, it would bring us back to almost where we were” before the decline of the timber industry after the spotted owl.
Gatorade wages are going to be a little higher, he said, and it was sited in Albany in part because of its proximity to the engineering school at Oregon State University and workforce development programs at Linn-Benton Community College.
These businesses have had a positive impact on Linn County businesses and will account for about 10 percent of Linn County’s employment at build out, he said.
“What I’ve learned is that when you get down to it, and you get selected as a finalist, you’ve got to compete,” Nyquist said. “You’ve got to do what it takes to close the deal.”
He credited Lebanon’s mayor and city manager for doing what it took to land the Lowe’s distribution plant. The deal was closed when the three of them went to see the governor, who assured them that the state would be a partner in the project.
The Pepsico Gatorade almost slipped away when the state wouldn’t sign off right away, Nyquist said. He got on the phone to the governor’s office and had it resolved before the Pepsico board had to hear that the first site choice wasn’t ready.
“You just have to execute,” Nyquist said. “I think I have brought that to the county.”
Bringing the business growth to Linn County is important, “in large part, so our young people graduating from high school have the option and opportunity to stay close to home; and they have a future here if they want it,” so they don’t have to move to a metro area to find work, he said.
The county’s budget situation has been fluid and uncertain the past few years, Nyquist said. “We’ve not cried the sky was falling. We’ve not laid off sheriff’s deputies.”
The county hasn’t had the difficulties facing other counties that have lost timber dollars this year.
“We’ve made the right financial moves to the extent one can,” he said. Property taxes go up 3 percent, plus new construction, each year. “The problem is payroll is going up 5 percent a year. And that 2-percent gap has been the trend for 12 years.”
That’s almost a 25 percent gap over 12 years, he said. “The big buzzword this year is change.”
Linn County has to “change” every year, he said, to find that 2 percent, Nyquist said.
Linn County has 15 percent fewer employees now while the population has grown 10 percent in that time frame, he said.
“You don’t see a lot of local government reducing its staff while its population has grown.”
Linn County has done this by establishing priorities, making hard decisions and doing things more efficiently, he said, all without declines in service.
The first place one might expect to see declines is in law enforcement, he said, but it hasn’t been the case.
One way was to stop funding parole and probation, Nyquist said. “We were losing $1 million a year, and we said, here’s the keys.”
The state found the resources and funded the office, he said. “It’s another example of being smart about how you run things.”
Juvenile property crime was down 50 percent last year, he said, partly due to the construction of the Linn-Benton Juvenile Detention Center.
The county has fought drug abuse, he said. The sheriff’s drug dog is available to county schools, which creates an uncomfortable situation for youth using drugs.
“We believe that having drugs as part of the culture in a school is unacceptable,” he said. “Known drug houses in Linn County are down.”
The county can’t take all the credit, he said, “but it’s improved neighborhoods in Linn County.”
“Public safety in Linn County, I think, will always come first,” he said.
Parks are doing well in Linn County, he said.
“They said it couldn’t be done,” Nyquist said, but the county built Calkins Park and boat ramp on Foster Lake. “Now all we need is some water. It took seven years, “but we got it done. Now we need to figure out how do something in the way of access to Green Peter, both for cars, for parking, and higher volumes that may occur.”
“The acquisition of Clear Lake has been a huge deal for us.”
It’s another one that almost didn’t happen, he said, but he and his fellow commissioners aggressively worked it out.
The county purchased 175 acres off Interstate 5 to host a Renaissance festival, he said. When that didn’t work out, they developed a plan to build a high-end RV park, something that wouldn’t compete with local RV parks but will provide upward of $1 million per year in revenue, which could completely remove the parks and the fair and expo center from the county’s general fund in 10 years.
Both have become more self-sufficient during his tenure in office, with the annual fair and expo deficit shrinking from $600,000 to $300,000.
Right now, the county is dealing with a legitimate concern about traffic flow, he said. After that’s resolved, then the county can move forward developing the RV park, something needed in this section of the I-5 corridor.
Related to economic development, Nyquist has worked with Oregon Department of Transportation and Congressman Peter A. DeFazio’s, D-Springfield, office to improve and protect Highway 20.
Highway 22 received the most attention years ago, while “Highway 20 has received little to nothing,” he said. “That’s not acceptable to us. Highway 20 travels coast to coast, and the only gravel section is in Linn County.”
Important to the local economy, DeFazio, lobbied by Linn County, has successfully brought a $1 million earmark home to study the slide area that makes it difficult to keep Highway 20 paved.
“Linn County is well-positioned to have good things happen for the local economy,” Nyquist said “I’ll do my darnedest to capitalize on them.”
Everything else revolves around a good local economy, he said, around people feeling good about the future, “and good things are going to happen.”