Mayor seeks city’s share of services
From our weekly issue dated February 4, 2009
Cave Junction Mayor Don Moore spent part of last week networking with regional and state officials to try and bring more services to the city.
On Tuesday, Jan. 27, Moore attended a function held by the Rogue Valley Council of Governments (RVCOG) in Central Point.
Moore met there with representatives from several state agencies. They included the Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Dept. of Energy, ODOT, Land Conservation and Development Dept., Economic & Community Development Dept., and the Dept. of State Lands.
Moore said he spoke with DEQ representative John Becker about using state grant dollars to fund picking up leaves that Cave Junction residents currently burn. Those leaves and biomass from the city’s sewer plant could be used for compost, Moore said.
“I think we can improve the air quality here,” Moore said. “It’s a win-win sitution."
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, Moore headed to the state capitol in Salem to participate in Mayor’s Day. Moore and mayors from throughout the state heard from Gov. Kulongoski and nine state senators and representatives.
“We had over two hours of speakers alone,” said the Cave Junction mayor.
During his Salem trip, Moore met with Sen. Jason Atkinson (R-Central Point) and Rep. Ron Maurer (R-Grants Pass). Maurer excused himself from a committee meeting to greet Moore, the mayor said.
Moore said that anxiety regarding declining state tax revenues is casting a dark pall over Salem.
“I saw absolute fear in government for the first time,” Moore said.
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The recent out-of-town trips are part of an overall effort by Moore to “change the way the city government has been operating before” to “do things better, rather than just trying to exist,” he said.
He said that his emphasis is on seeing the value in the assets the city owns, maximizing them and getting state agencies to participate.
“I really feel that they forget we exist out here,” Moore said.
But in order to make that happen, he said, the city needs to ask the agencies for solutions and help.
“You don’t know if you don’t go there,” he said.
The mayor of Josephine County’s second-largest city, in the center of Illinois Valley that accommodates a third of the county population, said he plans to compare the services the city receives from the state to those of other cities to make sure Cave Junction is getting its fair share.
“You have to raise your hand and say, ‘Pick me,’” Moore said.
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