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This November, Cottage Grove will remake its city government. Thanks to a recent recall effort, six out of seven city council seats will be on the ballot.
That recall removed Alex Dreher, Chalice Savage and Mike Fleck from office. Critics argued they should have done more to prevent sanitation issues, drug use and other problems occurring in two unmanaged homeless camps. Those council members said they were following Oregon law and were doing their best to address symptoms of a nationwide crisis.
Jim Settelmeyer is a retired teacher who’s running for one of the open council seats. He said the last six months have been difficult for Cottage Grove residents.
"There seems to be a lot of people being suspicious of each other, without even knowing each other,” he said. “It just isn’t the feel that I believe anybody that lives here in this town wants.”
Settelmeyer said the entire city council initially agreed on its approach homelessness, but the recall unfairly targeted a few. He said he’s afraid the city’s new plan, allowing people to camp overnight and forcing them to leave at dawn - could further marginalize a group of already vulnerable people.
“Many people do not go to even potentially life saving shelter offered in a dusk-til-dawn place for fear that their belongings will be lost,” he said.
He said if elected, he hopes to help reset the conversation on homelessness.
His opponent, Chris Holloman, who works for an irrigation company, argued the city’s previous approach to homelessness put the community in danger.
“I think people were well-intended, in the beginning," he said. “It just got out of control and the citizens of Cottage Grove, you know they were just done with it."
Holloman said the city should provide restrooms, showers and trash cans at the overnight camp, but said Cottage Grove can’t afford to provide many other services. He also argued that the dusk to dawn policy has mostly resolved the problem.
“It's actually better now. This is the best it's been in years, with the camps closed” he said.
Holloman, who owns downtown real estate, said many council members stopped listening to property owners, as well as many residents, who have a stake in how homelessness is managed.
The seat the two men are running to represent is an at-large seat previously held by a now-recalled council member.
Mayor also on ballot
The race for Cottage Grove’s mayor may also be hotly contested.
The incumbent, Candace Solesbee, is running for a second term. She owns a salon and an antique shop in Cottage Grove and did not respond to a phone call from KLCC requesting comment.
Her opponent is Dana Merryday, who is also currently a council member.
Merryday opposed the recall effort and argued Solesbee should have taken a more active role in bringing opposing parties together to come up with a solution.
Merryday said the conditions at the now-closed homeless camps were a problem and he believes the city should have done something. He said a dusk-til-dawn shelter, however, will likely cause more problems than it solves.
“Now these people are all cut loose again and they’re going back to where they used to camp, along the river, in the woods,” he said. “We’re right back to where we started.”
Merryday said he strongly supports Settelmeyer and hopes they can bring the community and the rest of the city council together to hash out the conflict around homelessness and community input.
