Jon Eck is campaigning for Coos Bay City Council in the Nov. 4 mail-in election. This information was provided by the candidate.

Jon Eck

• Age: 51

• Years in Coos Bay: 51 years

• Occupation: dispatcher/project manager with Reese Electric

• Experience: 4 years on the budget committee, 6 years on the City Council; currently serves as council president and chairman of Urban Renewal Agency

• What in your background would help you as an elected official?



I have served as a volunteer firefighter for the city of Coos Bay for 33 years, and was twice elected president of that group. I have also served as president of the Coos County Realtors Association and the Coos Bay Lions club. In my private life I have worked various jobs in the community from manufacturing to construction to management positions. I have been involved in many civic activities over my lifetime, such as Bus Jam, Shore Acres Holiday Lights, and the air show. These have given me great insight to the area, and what it has to offer.

• Why are you running?

I hope to be able to make the city a better place to live and work. This area desperately needs family wage jobs while protecting our quality of life.  It is a sad statement to see the need for our schools to stay open during the summer, providing meals to our children because their families in many cases can’t afford to provide basic care at home. The largest export from our community is our children because there are such limited employment opportunities here.

The city has a responsibility to provide basic services to all of its citizens.  These services include police, fire, street maintenance, recreational facilities, as well as educational and cultural facilities. I will continue to provide the best possible service to our citizens within the budget constraints we have. I am fiscally conservative and have always looked for ways to stretch the taxpayer’s money to maximize service while living within the budget available.

One of the biggest issues I have faced, even before being appointed to council, has been Coos Bay’s building and planning department. I have been working with city staff to find ways to make city hall an easier place to do business. Staff has identified several areas that need improvement, and council recently authorized an outside firm that specializes in building issues to study our department and make recommendations to improve our system.

In addition to the above, there are several ongoing projects in our city that have begun, and I would like to see to completion.  Those projects include the skate park improvements, building of the new tennis courts, the Hollering Place project, the new fire station and improvements to the wastewater system. Our streets continue to deteriorate at a rate faster then we can repair them.  We need to ensure that the money spent on these repairs is spent wisely to make the most of the limited finances available for this purpose. We also need to continue working with the state to find a new funding mechanism to carry out these repairs.

• What do you see as the key issues in the race?

Key issues in the race right now are economic development, providing the best city services possible throughout the city, and improving the business climate in Coos Bay.

• What would you like to see happen at the Hollering Place?

Mostly, the improvements at the Hollering Place should be driven by the Empire community to fit the destiny of that community. This will take a cooperative approach from the community and developers, who will pay the lion’s share of the cost to develop this historic site. The recent meetings with the Oregon Downtown Development Association indicate that the citizens and business people in the Empire area seem to favor a light commercial mix with some residential development that will show off the sites relationship to the water and the historical significance of this area.

• What do you think is the solution to the situation involving Southwestern Oregon Community College refusing to pay for police services?

As a general rule, community colleges in Oregon are not allowed to have student housing. The college has been able set up some form of a trust, separate from the college that has allowed the student housing. It seems to be the student housing that is creating the extra burden for our police department.  One solution I see, would be to institute a “public safety” assessment on the students living in the on-campus housing and use that money to contract police services that are so desperately needed.

• What do you think about the proposal to construct an LNG terminal on the North Spit?

I have not made up my mind on this issue. It is very complex and is still being studied by a lot of people with the expertise to determine if it is safe and economically feasible. As I stated before, this area needs family wage jobs, but we must maintain the livability of our area. Our own public safety people, both the fire chief and police chief have attended many meetings, talked with their counterparts in other areas that have these facilities, and even toured these facilities. Their input on these facilities will probably carry more weight than the information provided by the proponents or opponents to this project. In addition, the city council body may very well hear land use issues if this project moves ahead. Preconceived opinions on this matter may provide either side ground for appeal of the land use decisions on this project.  The last issue surrounding this project is that of eminent domain. I have a basic problem with the taking of private property. While necessary in some extreme cases this is a very real problem for this project that will need to be explained in great detail before being allowed to occur, and will need to be kept to a minimal impact to private property owners.  

• If the Presbyterian Church site falls through, where do you think a fire station should be built?

I do not have specific site in mind. Staff has identified several other sites that may be useable in the event the church group should decide they don’t want to sell. This is a critical infrastructure building for Coos Bay and must comply as such. There are many considerations, such as the stability of the ground, the depth of piling needed to provide an adequate foundation for this structure, and location of the facility to provide acceptable response times to calls.  Consideration also needs to be given for access to and from the new station especially in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

• What ideas do you have for improving the city’s urban renewal districts?

We have already taken steps to market the services of the urban renewal agency by appointing Joyce Jansen to oversee the agency and projects. The entire purpose of the urban renewal agency is to enhance blighted areas in the district, and the agency continues to move forward on these projects. Coos Bay’s façade improvement program has been hugely successful, to the point we may want to look at expanding the program. The urban renewal agency has been, and will continue to be, an important partner in the development of the Hollering Place project. One issue floated at last year’s budget meeting was to enact an option levy throughout the city to pay for even more urban renewal projects. This would be a great financing tool for the agency, but I would want the issue placed before the voters before just passing along another tax. Neither Oregon law or city ordinance prevents the budget committee and council from instituting this tax without voter approval. This is very dangerous.

• How would you rate the performance of the current city council?

The current council is a very diverse group that quite often disagrees on critical issues. This diversity is important in making sure that an issue is looked at from all aspects and the best decision is made. It is important that the decisions made by this body benefit the citizens of Coos Bay and not just some special group or person. 

• What do you think about the city annexing Bunker Hill or any other county land?

There could be advantages to the city and the area being annexed. In the case of Bunkerhill, the city would be able to provide better police service than is currently being provided. Bunkerhill is already receiving wastewater treatment service and fire protection from Coos Bay through contracts with the Bunkerhill sanitary and fire districts. In addition, by bringing the Bunkerhill area in to the city, the city would be given the ability to clean up some of the sub-standard properties that lead in to the city by enforcing city ordinances. This would help make the area more attractive to visitors and people looking to move to the area. Other areas of Coos County could be looked at for inclusion into the city of Coos Bay. Each would need to be studied to see if it would be a good fit, not only for Coos Bay, but for the area under consideration for annexation.

• How should the city pay for the $42 million in repairs to the wastewater treatment and sewer system?

This issue is currently being studied by a group of engineers hired to determine the best plan. Preliminary results would suggest the best way to pay this cost would be through revenue bonds where users would pay off the bonds over a period of time with money collected from user rates. This seems to have the least amount of impact on all by leveling out the highs and lows of this huge mandated project. It also appears that we can use this method to keep wastewater rates at a manageable level, instead of the 25 percent annual increases we have seen in recent years. Rebuilding and re-licensing of our wastewater plants and facilities is a moving target with DEQ rules changing constantly. What we see as a goal right now might change before we have a chance to build the new facilities. We need to take a serious look at a regional plant that will not only meet the needs of Coos Bay, but also other areas, including those that may not currently be connected to a sanitary sewer system.