Brad Boyd, Nancy Connolly, Wendy Holzman, Bob Wright, David Asson

The race for the Sisters City Council is likely to be a tough one for voters. It is differentiated not by contrasting views of the candidates but by their areas of agreement.

Three incumbents and two challengers are universal in the opinion that Sisters has what many cities would like to have: beautiful surroundings, a genuine sense of community and a pleasant pace of living.

To achieve that, all agree that Sisters needs to stay strong by building its tourism economy, attracting non-visitor businesses that bring workers (and their children to fill the schools), and increase its housing inventory for all income levels.

How to get there, however, has many views.

Three seats are open and will be filled by the candidates with the most votes.

Wendy Holzman

When Wendy Holzman first ran for City Council four years ago, she knew what she was getting into. After three years as council liaison for the Sisters Committee for Citizens Involvement, she had attended innumerable meetings and seen how the process worked.

“But when it’s you making the decisions it is different,” she said. As the 2014 election loomed, Holzman briefly considered not running again and joining her husband in retirement.

“Then I worried I’d regret it,” she said. “We have so much momentum going, so much good work in place and I’d hate to not be a part of that.” Holzman describes her strengths as her understanding that hers is one voice of five and that being on a council is about building consensus and listening to what others have to say.

She strongly advocates for keeping up Sisters’ focus on its tourism economy, pointing to the number of new residents and businesses that sprang from people who vacationed in Sisters. .

“It’s not like you’d put your finger on a map and choose to live here,” she said. “You have to visit and see the quality of life.”

Holzman said she has encouraged the City Council look beyond business as usual to heat up the housing market in Sisters, including researching best practices from other communities and considering zoning changes to facilitate building.

Nancy Connolly

Like many challengers before her, Nancy Connolly is running with a goal to change things. Not that she disagrees with what Sisters has done to bring new business or support tourism, but she does have concerns regarding how well the council listens to its constituents.

“I feel like citizens have been left out of the process in recent years and the city needs to concentrate on more community outreach in a proactive manner,” Connolly said. Although she has no previous governmental experience, she has been very involved in city matters during the last year, going to many meetings and educating herself about the issues at hand and how government works, she said.

“I want the city to treat its citizens like they are valuable,” Connolly said. Her lack of vested interest — she owns no business in town and she does not work in Sisters — would provide a nonbiased seat on the City Council, she said.

As for business and resident recruitment, Connolly advocates for putting the jobs first.

“But we do need to look at buildable land. We’ve only got enough for the next few years, beyond some infill for small homes — which I think is great.”

David Asson

For the last 20 years of his career David Asson was “a kind of roving CFO” for various corporations, showing a positive face and seeking customers. That experience has served him well during his three years on City Council, he said.

“You can do accounting all day but that doesn’t pay the bills. You have to go out and find your customers and we’re selling Sisters,” said Asson.

Sisters had been working with Economic Development of Central Oregon for more than a year, setting a goal of 100 new jobs in Sisters. If they all brought one child each that could fill local schools to pre-recession levels, he said.

“They’re out there and we’ll get them,” Asson said.

Acknowledging that housing is limited in the city, he still thinks the emphasis needs to be on creating more jobs and increasing amenities for those workers so they want to live in Sisters — as well as afford to.

“Housing permits are going up but (providing housing) is not something we can fix as a council.”

Important things for Sisters to focus on in the coming years besides job creation includes redevelopment and beautification of the south side of town, Asson said, and encouraging the Sisters Chamber of Commerce to work on business recruitment as well as it does business development.

Robert Wright

After submerging himself in the periphery of Sisters city governance since moving to town three years ago, Robert Wright thinks the time is good to step up to the next level.

What supports the city of Sisters, he thinks, is a three-legged stool encompassing schools, family wage jobs and affordable housing.

“The question is: Which of the three legs will be the driver?” Wright said.

The majority of houses in Sisters are not going to families with children, he said, and with more than half of the population over 55, there tends to be more residents less interested in local schools. A balanced population would be a good thing for Sisters, Wright said.

The city could do a lot in the area of affordable housing, in Wright’s opinion, including encouraging cottage developments — with clustered homes and common open space — because they use less land and can be constructed at a reduced cost.

“Cluster homes promote interaction in a neighborhood and that fits with the quality of life in Sisters,” he said.

Wright doesn’t blame tourism for the lack of diversification in Sister’s business community but he strongly advocates for working toward a 12-month economy with more amenities attractive to both residents and visitors.

“We need to avoid the peaks and valleys,” he said.

Brad Boyd

Among his fellow candidates Brad Boyd has the most experience serving on city government and the most time living and working in Sisters.

“Our economic picture is complex,” he said. “We have tourism and traded sector jobs and we need them both.” Key to success is identifying the city’s strengths, Boyd said.

“We have quality of life but we don’t have a railway or interstate or port or even a large blue-collar work force. But we have great schools, a wonderful natural environment and a sense of community.”

The anecdote about tourism-based towns — someone comes on vacation and decides to return to live — serves Sisters as it does other cities like it, he said. Now it’s about building Sisters amenities that will attract potential new residents and give them a reason to live in Sisters instead of elsewhere in Central Oregon.

That philosophy translates to visitors as well, Boyd said. “ODOT tells us we have about 4 million cars drive through town every year but maybe 3 to 4 percent stop. We need to work on making a compelling community so more people stop.”

Boyd is particularly proud that during his tenure Sisters made the decision to contract with Economic Development of Central Oregon to work hard on bolstering the town’s economy. He’s also happy to report that the city’s general fund is healthy, after a few years during the recession of what he felt were poor fiscal choices.

“We’ve righted the ship, cut labor costs, refinanced our debts and we’re setting aside funds for future infrastructure needs,” Boyd said.

—Reporter: 541-548-2186,

lpugmire@wescompapers.com