Shady Cove businessman, incumbent councilwoman challenged by write-in

Oct. 24—After getting on the ballot for Shady Cove mayor and then quitting the race, Councilman Jay Taylor is throwing his hat into the ring in an 11th hour bid to stay on the City Council.

The HVAC company general manager and former planning commissioner declared himself a write-in candidate because he can't be on the ballot for council.

He was initially concerned with Mayor Shari Tarvin's leadership, which led him to declare candidacy to unseat her, but backed out when he realized he could be a spoiler and deny Jon Ball a win for mayor.

Jackson County Clerk Christine Walker confirmed Taylor's name will still appear on the ballot for mayor because he missed a withdrawal deadline.

Jim Hubbard, a former Air National Guardsman and a telecommunications technician for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, who has never held elected office; and Paige Winfrey, an incumbent councilor, both are on the ballot for a four-year council term.

Voters will be asked to select two candidates for two open four-year positions when they fill out their ballots. Only their names will appear on the ballot, but Taylor hopes enough people will write in his name to upstage one of them.

Jim Hubbard

Hubbard never thought he'd get into politics, but rancor on the council motivated him to run.

"There was an opening where I saw one of them was running for mayor, so I thought, 'Well, I'll give it a shot,'" Hubbard said. "I think I'm kind of a middle-of-the-road guy. I'm not going to come in with my own agenda. I think we need to be representing the people of the community and what they want. That's what I will attempt to do."

Hubbard believes "all the citizens want water," and with a city so reliant on wells, he will try to figure out solutions if elected to council.

"That's not an issue that's solved in one or even five years," Hubbard said. "But something's got to be done. Looking at the strategic plan, dated in 2001, we're still in the same boat; we're not much better off."

A committee of volunteers focused on water who could look for solutions — and potentially tap into President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan — might do the trick, according to Hubbard.

"The key to growth, a lot of it falls on having water," he said.

Hubbard acknowledged Shady Cove has a lot of empty storefronts, which has been an issue since he moved to the area in 2005.

"I think what we can do is there's been some new businesses in town that have been pretty successful, and I think we need to go to them and get some ideas," Hubbard said. "(Ask them), 'What made you start a business here and what can be done to bring other businesses in town?' Like I said, I don't have all the answers, but I think some people out there might."

Fire protection is another big issue Hubbard believes is facing Shady Cove.

"Shady Cove can do more because, at the moment, it's not our land to do anything with," he said. "But possibly down the road if we can talk to these other communities that got the land from the Bureau of Land Management, then that would allow us to go through and start cleaning it up; anything we can do is going to help. Maybe trimming up some of the trees, the undergrowth."

Paige Winfrey

Winfrey, who was appointed to the council in March, said she feels the desire to run.

"I've been attending council meetings for three-and-a-half to four years now, so I've been listening to what's going on in Shady Cove," Winfrey said. "I have lived here for over 23 years, and it just kind of gave me a bug to want to do more and to be involved in bettering our little community."

She mentioned longevity in the community, as well as her husband and children's love for the city, as a starting point for people to cast their ballot for Winfrey. Her husband is Jackson County District 4 Fire Chief Greg Winfrey.

"Our hearts are for Shady Cove; we don't want to leave here," she said. "We are dedicated to several different aspects of life here, with other organizations. We want to see Shady Cove thrive. Getting positive things done is a big driver for me. I don't want to sit back and wait for somebody else to do something if I'm capable. I want to be part of the solution."

The biggest issues facing Shady Cove, in Winfrey's view, are water, internet service and tourism.

Winfrey acknowledges downtown has its share of empty storefronts, and she said some current business owners could give their stores "a face-lift ... so we can get tourism dollars flowing."

When it comes to water, Winfrey pointed to Shady Cove's wells, which are experiencing issues that make the water less usable. At a recent conference, Winfrey learned about how small cities in Oregon have developed municipal water systems with the help of government grants and loans.

"A large percentage of those loans are forgivable," Winfrey said. "To me, that's super exciting; if people can be paying way less than what they're paying with a private system and be paying off the water equipment company loan, I don't understand why that isn't something we should all be looking into."

On internet connectivity, Winfrey said the internet is spotty in her city, with people using personal hot spots for service.

"Every week, there's issues," she said. "It's pretty frustrating."

The council members, in her view, could go to a similar-sized town and learn how it got broadband connectivity and learn from example.

"There's loans and grants out there that we just need to be able to go after," Winfrey said.

Jay Taylor

Taylor believes being a write-in candidate doesn't make it harder to get elected.

"I have done my best to get out the information that I am not running for mayor," he said, citing his social media efforts. "On the other hand, I am a little bit better known by the active citizens of Shady Cove because I have been on the City Council. I show up at every single event that happens here — that can't be said by all the people that are running."

Taylor noted that a candidate forum he plans to attend will be yet another opportunity to emphasize his write-in candidacy.

On the issues, Taylor believes the most important ones to tackle are: water, fire prevention and commerce.

When it comes to water, he'd like a municipal water system because Shady Cove is one of the only places without one.

"I never heard of that before," Taylor said. "There's a reason why all the cities have their own municipal water system; there's advantages to it. We are just behind the times. With wells giving out now, this may be the time."

Taylor is aware many properties in Shady Cove are considered an extreme fire hazard.

"Everyone in this city has taken steps to make their property fire defensible, and we're still working on it; it's a continuous problem," Taylor said. "Linked with the fire hydrants from our water system would help that tremendously."

He'd also like to improve Shady Cove Park, thanks to a suggestion he received from a young girl during a "concerned citizens meet."

"We could put in a volleyball court very easily," Taylor said.

Filling Tarvin's council position once she became mayor, Taylor believes voters should keep him while giving an "overhaul" to the council.

"There has been too much division in this past administration," he said. "The salt keeps getting poured in, and it's just not the way to be for any city council. I am determined to take the high road and not cause any strife or division."

Correction: This article was corrected to say that council candidate Jim Hubbard was a telecommunications technician for Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Reach reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or kopsahl@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.

Corrected: This article was corrected to say that Jim Hubbard was a telecommunications technician for Pacific Gas and Electric Company.