Meet the Candidates: The Dalles City Council Position # 5 - Rod Runyon & Tiffany Prince
From Oct. 7, 2020
CHALLENGER
Tiffany Prince / The Dalles City Council Position #5
Age: 34
Family: single
Work History: Prince is currently employed as the Student Engagement and Recruitment Coordinator at Columbia Gorge Community College. She graduated from The Dalles Wahtonka High School in 2005 and attended Washington State University, earning a degree in political science and business administration. She is the current Chair of the Wasco County Distinguished Young Women’s Program.
Governmental Experience: She is on a temporary position of Executive Assistant to CGCC President Dr. Marta Yera Cronin and the Board of Education. Previously, she was Executive Assistant to President Frank Toda and the Board of Education for several years. She is president of the Beautification Committee for The City of The Dalles.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
1. Sustainability. Especially when decisions are being made. We need to be making sure these decision or conversations we’re having are going to be sustainable for The Dalles. Not just good for right now. What’s good for right now and the future? We do not want to be digging things up or tearing things down. If we are able to have that foresight and thoughtfulness, I think that is really important . That can be for Infrastructure or even with our Beautification Committee. What kind of flowers should we to plant? Well, don’t plant things that aren’t going to last where we live in our climate. I think that's a pretty broad idea that needs to be applied.
2. Momentum. I would like to start seeing something happening, I guess. When I ran two years ago, there were things happening... I would like to see us hear what our City has to say and set priorities, goals and future visions. We need to start moving forward and start progressing, and taking action on that.
3. Inclusion. When elected we need to recognize that even though the City Council and the people who are voting are living within city limits, there are many people affected by our decisions. It affects people who live outside city limits. We are making decision and talking about topics that are going to affect residents, business owners inside and outside of The Dalles. It affects our residents in Dufur and our neighboring counties as well. I’d like to see us be more aware of that and appreciate those folks that bring commerce to The Dalles or those who live in The Dalles but can't vote because they do not live within the city parameters. I just know we have a lot of community members and peers that live outside city limits that don't feel their voices are heard. And it effects them and their livelihoods.
Given the current level of demonstration by Black Lives Matter and those seeking change, do you believe that we need to change our current method of policing in The Dalles?
I don't believe that I have heard any local complaint about our policing in The Dalles. I would hope if there were, those citizens would take those issues to City Council and that they would be heard and considered. I’m not saying the police system is perfect. But so far if we haven’t had a lot of egregious complaints or comments then maybe it’s not as alarming as it is in other cities or areas of our country where it is an issue. This is a very important issue in America and globally for our minorities. I just hope that anybody that is feeling that way; they would know that they could bring those concerns forward and have them considered.
The Dalles City Council recently denied the Legacy Development Subdivision in East The Dalles based on safety concerns over a lack of infrastructure on streets, sidewalks. Do you agree or disagree with the decision? What can the city do to accommodate growth?
From what I know, I don’t disagree with the City Council decision to uphold the appeal based on safety concerns. That’s... valid. But from my understanding the... developer has done all that is required of them. That said, the City perhaps needs to look at city ordinances and mandates about these kinds of situations. We don’t have a lot of options for high density housing... low income or not. So for those areas that are designated, we should probably be... writing or updating ordinances so we do not get in these situations where, like okay, maybe we have done everything we need to do, but it is still leaving it unsafe for our people.... I don’t know if... city council should become that middle man, but if the issue is sidewalks, well maybe we should be considering some money in our budget next year for some sidewalks to cover concerns about safety.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
At college I was not involved in the president’s budget. But I saw the opportunity to learn, and, in time, I ended up being the person who pretty much wrote the president’s office budget. I took on the board of education and president office budgets. It is the most scrutinized of them all. I built those budgets every year and provided supporting documentation down to pretty specific dollar amounts. When public had the right to review the budget, they would want to know what is being spent here. I had to tell them honestly and accurately. As assistant to President of Board of Education, I am the secretary to the budget committee meetings and the way they are ran. I oversaw all of that for five years. I worked closely with chief financial officer to make sure the calendar was correct so our board meetings were properly deadlined for submissions to state. I had to do our part in a $2-million budget cut. I was the lead for the hiring process for the new president.
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
I am able to communicate their voice - I am a young person. I am a young person with a very old father so I think I fit this weird category where I can see both sides of the perspective pretty well. My Dad is 40 years older than me, and he looks at the world differently than I do. Not in a bad way. Different times. My Dad raised me, and we very much were a working, struggling family - sometimes easy, sometimes not. That is where my cup of tea is being poured from. When people talk to me, I know their experiences. I relate to them; I am them. That ties into how a Council consider all the areas and citizens that use The Dalles to make sure that we have a vibrant community. That we have the resources they need whether social or whatever. We need to be working and growing together. If I don’t know what your issue is, then I can’t necessarily help you. So, communication is always a big one. So, we need to be more specific when speaking to the vitality of this city. We need to make sure we are relevant and that we’re diverse. I think that helps the people that live here. I think that helps the children here. So, maybe they want to leave The Dalles to get an education and then come back because The Dalles is still relevant and a place that they want to be.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
I believe that is a subject the entire country struggles with, and if we can’t handle it or take care of these people locally, then clearly as a country we will not be able to. There is definitely a need to do more. I don’t have the experience and education to know what that is. I would like to see us be more thoughtful and considerate in dealing with or discussing these issues. And not be so negative, or sometime you look down on people who have a mental illness, and that is not helping anybody. What these services are or may entail I would whole heartedly welcome learning more to be able to give more to anybody that needs it at all different levels. Kind of goes with the phrase, ‘you’re up, I’m up.’ And if our people are not up, I am not up. If we are not taking care of everybody, we are not taking care of anybody. I don’t mean that to be socialist or Democratic but as a human thing - one human to another. It does not matter what your voting party is or what you pray to. These are humans, and that’s what matters.
Why do you want this job?
I have the mindset and personality to be able to handle and deal with those things - (negative situations). When COVID hit, almost everybody at the college was panicking. I was calm and collected. Student life did not suffer at college campus at all... I am able to deal with high-stress situations, better than most - I don’t have family, kids. I don’t have a spouse. I would like to give back. My personal motto is: others before self. I used to be pretty selfish as a human. I did some, who am I?; why am I?. What it really came down to I want to not do things for my self. I want to do things for other people. I want to do things for my city. … At the end of my life, it does not matter what I have. It matters what i did for others and the world… I want everybody to know that they matter and can do good. It does not matter how old or young they are, and it does not matter what their good is, but that they have it. I want to be able to spread that - that is why I do so many things.
Rod Runyon, current The Dalles City Councilor Position #5 - Contributed photo
INCUMBENT
Rod Runyon / Current TD Councilor Position # 5
Age: 70
Family: Married with two children
Work History: Runyon retired as a small business owner representing Financial Services and Insurance. He had a previous and parallel career in Radio and TV broadcasting in Oregon, Idaho and California.
Governmental Experience: Runyon was a Wasco County Commissioner for eight years. He has served eight years on the Port of The Dalles Commission and four years as a City of The Dalles Planning Commissioner. He served on national, regional, state and local committees for economic development, Veterans issues, housing and low-income community needs. He has served as a Governor's appointee to the Regional Solutions team.
What are your top three priorities for The Dalles if elected?
Rebuild the Economy. We've got to rebuild the economy from the coronavirus - look at rules and regs and ordinances out there. Some have been on the books 20, 30, 40 years . We need to go through those to make sure they’re applicable and make changes where necessary and if change means a new ordinance that can happen to reflect the times.
Rebuilding Infrastructure. This is huge. There are no politics in a pothole. The number one job is infrastructure and law enforcement. That is our big thing. Then there are other things to keep the community alive - that’s where it starts at - having a healthy economy, fund police properly and having water and sewer. It's not a position to bring a national agenda too. It’s a position that has to do with operating our community.
Law Enforcement. We need to make sure our citizens are safe. That is a multi-faceted complex issue. Shouldn’t be, but it is. It was a big area for me when I was with the
County ,and it is with the City as well. We’ve got to protect everybody. It has nothing to do with agendas. When you call the police, you want an officer to show up.
Given the current level of demonstration by Black Lives Matter and those seeking change, do you believe that we need to change our current method of policing in The Dalles?
That’s a complex question. The answer is no. We do a very fair job here, extremely so… I’m a guy that believes in groups that have passion and the ones at the lower level that have passion but aren’t violent are terrific. I applaud them. It’s in our constitution. But where the money is going in that organization (BLM) if people research it, is not good. So I am not in favor of the organization. I am in favor of the passion and the people that really have a feeling on the street for what they are trying to accomplish. Am I in favor of changing the police structure in The Dalles? No. We have one of the best police chiefs in the state of Oregon… Pat Ashmore. That’s enough about national agendas. That is not what our job is about.
The Dalles City Council recently denied the Legacy Development Subdivision in East The Dalles based on safety concerns over a lack of infrastructure on streets, sidewalks. Do you agree or disagree with the decision? What can the city do to accommodate growth?
Runyon voted to uphold the appeal and the denial of the subdivision based on safety issues in the neighborhood.
I was on the planning commission in the ‘90s when that orchard was zoned out there. The State was pushing for high density zoning. And the City was hard pressed to fit that in. They picked that spot out there… the owner marketed it as high density… Safety was the primary concern. I am not cold about housing... Were all interested in doing low-income housing but for the safety reasons I described, this is not good.
In regard to infrastructure, Runyon said, “I think they are looking at that at public works right now. And the city manager is well involved. I don’t agree with the developer having to put in sidewalks all the way to Thompson.” On Local improvement districts: “It goes back to going through goals and resolutions, and the state legislature will have something to say about local improvement districts. Some of that is beyond our control, some within our control. There is always a lot of NIMBY - not in my back yard, right, no matter what you try to do. I just try to take all the information and try and make the best decision I can make.
Tell us about your personal experience with budgets and government budgets.
I have 16 years of government budget ledgers... I was an independent business man for 25 years. I sold insurance. I was an operations manager at two radio stations. I've always been cost vs. effect. it's all a continuous circle. Sometimes I have to give things up. When you're at home and doing your budget you can't just have everything you want even though it's pretty and shiny. Budgets that I have had a personal hand in are the Port of The Dalles industrial park. I was on it for eight years and... eight years with the county. We had a (county) administrator who handles the day to day, and the departments present their budgets through quite a rigorous process. I’m not totally sure about the backboard process in the City. I think it is somewhat similar of what the county did... I think it goes through a couple iterations before it goes to the actual budget committee. The City Manager is obligated to have the department heads provide her with their best guesses, needs and priorities and from that she has meetings with those folks before it ever gets to the (budget) committee. That’s why you have a city manager… In the last budget we made changes… we look at what do we need? I think to the point we gave the city police everything they needed… then changes were made after it was all in play. A lot of it had a lot to do with COVID-19. And the city manager has the ability to make a lot of those changes. One of them was we did not hire a city police officer. She (City Manager Julie Krueger) moved the code enforcement to city police, and I know the chief put the brakes on it for a little while... There is a lot of admin. involved in code enforcement if we are going to change how it works. And there was no real oversight in the way it was set up currently. Going to the police bureau, it will take somebody to be trained in the oversight area. We’ve got the police department pretty well up with body cams, but there is a situation there, because of all the unrest stuff going on. I know they are getting a lot of requests for months and months back to look at body cams. Everyone has to be reviewed - those are admin dollars. I hope that does not interfere with patrol dollars… Am, I or any other city councilor involved in the day-to-day line item dollar this or that? No, your department director is the one that puts it together. We review it and ask our questions...
What are you going to do for young people and working families?
Right now you’re going to have to talk to the Governor. We don't have live school in Wasco County… We need to get kids back in school - especially the young ones - how they learn is through interaction. There will be some that it will not affect much at all and others will be way behind. I have a six-year-old and five-year-old granddaughters. I talk from family experience. We are an older community - some things changed here and there. We used to have teen and rec. centers in the 1960s. There was a rec. center at the Civic (Auditorium). My brother was a teenage manager… that sounds good from my age group looking back. But you have to look at parents now. Where are their interests at? Now they have 100 tv channels and all the video games in the world. We did not have that back then. When they built a teen center it was a big deal. Everybody went there. A group of 35 to 45 year-old parents is a good group to hash that out.
What are your thoughts on helping locals with mental health issues?
The county supports the Center for Living. At NORCOR (regional jail) we have some working part time out there filling in. They help out there with issues with mental health. Some folks should just not be in jail. There is no place for them to go. Small towns have our issues. Per capita were the same, I think, as other areas, but maybe not. We have a certain segment of the street population from my sources I have between law and state and county police, they say certain people don't want help. They like the way their lives are. That does not always make the average citizen happy when they (houseless people) do something odd or strange. I think the Center for Living does a good job. There is room for more. What is it all about? It all comes down to is money. We have good people working in those areas. What we do to expand that, I’m not sure how to get it done without the help of the state and federal dollars as well. We’re at the end of the food train. Big cities suck right out of the state coffers and the federal money coming in seems to be delayed into Eastern Oregon cities.
Why do you want this job?
I enjoy helping people. When you get a problem, the question is how to get it solved or at least explain thoroughly why it can't be solved. I take a certain amount of reward from that. It was similar in my insurance business. Clients stuck with me no matter what rates had gone to... because they could come and talk to me. A lot of people are not willing to stand up and talk but they are willing to blame, sometimes it’s positive. But If you’re on the wrong side of a vote you still have to pick up and help out. You have to see the other viewpoint and start paddling with the stream. You have some impact just by being there.
