Three council positions and mayor’s seat will appear on November 6 ballot
Mayor George Endicott is running unopposed for reelection for a two-year term that would begin January 1, 2013.
Mayor Endicott worked for the Department of Defense as a computer scientist for 30 plus years of employment and is now retired. His political involvement began in the ’70s where he was on a team to incorporate a city in the Seattle area (now known as Newcastle, Washington). While living in Virginia, Endicott served two terms on the Prince William County Planning Commission.
Upon Endicott’s retirement and return to Redmond, former Redmond Mayor Alan Unger appointed him to the Planning Commission, where Endicott served one term. He also served a term on the Redmond City Council and was elected mayor in 2008.
As mayor during a particularly difficult time in Redmond, Endicott would like to continue to foster a period of improvement. He says, “We will do so by encouraging use of one of our primary economic assets, the airport. Additionally, we have some great incentive tools to attract new businesses to Redmond.”
He supports organizations like Redmond Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) and the Redmond Chamber of Commerce who provide great tools and other assets for interested parties seeking business opportunities in Redmond. According to the mayor, Redmond is “seeing some slight upticks in the economic statistics being reported” and he believes property tax revenue may have stabilized.
While Endicott doesn’t expect “a rapid turnaround leading to protracted growth” like the city experienced earlier, he believes there are some modest improvements to be made. The City of Redmond has five new commercial/industrial developments underway and residential building permits have gone up slightly.
Mayor Endicott commented, “It’s a privilege to be able to give back for so much that has come my way.”
The City Council candidates who receive the three highest number of votes will assume the three open positions. Each seat is a four-year term. Those running include:
Joseph W. Centanni, Owner of Joseph W. Centanni, CPA PC, Redmond City Council
In 2001, Joseph Centanni began working for a CPA firm in Redmond, becoming partner/owner in 2004 and is now full owner of his accounting firm. For ten years, Centanni has been an active member of the Redmond Chamber of Commerce and sits on the board. Centanni serves on the Board of Directors for REDI and EDCO (Economic Development for Central Oregon); the experience has shown him “how important ‘traded sector’ businesses are to the success of Central Oregon as a whole.”
Centanni was elected in November 2006 to the Redmond City Council, serving a four year term (2007-10) and in summer 2012 he was appointed to the council and accepted the opportunity to fill the seat vacated by Ed Boero. Serving on several finance and audit committees for local organizations, Centanni has also been on the City of Redmond Budget Committee since 2007.
As a city councilor, Centanni wants to continue to make decisions based on what is best for the entire community, present and future. He would continue to support local businesses and strive to welcome new businesses to the area to help build a thriving community. His focus would be on improving signage to direct potential customers to businesses, maintaining the city’s infrastructure and staying connected to the community to address concerns of the citizens. Redmond being his ‘”personal pet project,” Centanni commented, “My family and I love this city and want to see it be the greatest it can be, well into the future.”
Anne Graham, Retired 2010, Vice Chairperson of the Redmond Urban Area Planning Commission
Anne Graham has over 35 years of experience in management for Solar and Semiconductor manufacturing industries including Intel Corporation, SolarWorldIndustries America and several other similar firms. She is serving as the Vice Chairperson of the Redmond Urban Area Planning Commission and brings her past experience of building and administering multi-million dollar budgets as well as running large capital construction projects. Graham has managed large successful organizations aimed at plant engineering, environmental health and safety, security and maintenance of infrastructure.
Graham believes in volunteerism and will use her extensive experience as a senior manager to help find positive outcomes to city issues. She also has recent experience as a consultant for startup firms to help find locations for new manufacturing plants in Oregon. Graham says “I know this experience can help Redmond move forward in its ‘open for business’ vision while preserving our sense of community.”
If elected, she would serve to help move forward the delayed city public works projects to keep the city’s infrastructure sound and the development of the 465 acre newly rezoned industrial land on eastside Redmond. With the knowledge of what manufacturing firms are looking for, Graham wants to help attract good businesses to the city. She is interested in continuing the conservative fiscal economic policies to better serve the City of Redmond and would give support for community appreciation events, the efforts of city’s Police departments to keep the community safe and volunteerism at the council level.
Camden King, Owner of Bluespeed Executive Search, Inc., Redmond City Councilor
Camden King is currently serving on the Redmond City Council and has had six years of participation in the local city government (Redmond City Council, 2008 to present and Redmond Urban Area Planning Commission, 2006-08). This experience, along with his involvement with the Redmond Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Board of Directors for REDI, has given him direct insight on how to help foster economic development in Redmond. As a small business owner since 2001, King understands the challenges that businesses face in Redmond.
If re-elected to City Council, King would look to focus on several key areas in addition to the on-going planning and maintenance of core services for the Redmond community. He would continue to help foster the establishment of Redmond as a business “hub” in the region and help create more employment opportunities with greater diversity. King would provide continued support of the ongoing downtown improvements and the implementation of the Urban Renewal District plan to further develop the city’s vibrant cultural center while maintaining its historical feel.
As a fourth-generation Redmond native, King offers a historic perspective of the Redmond community and feels he has “the required energy to help guide it and a current working knowledge of how to positively affect our city’s development and evolution.” He welcomes the opportunity to serve the community for another four years.
Ginny McPherson, Co-Pastor at Redmond City Center Church, Downtown Urban Renewal Advisory Committee
A Redmond resident of 15 years, Ginny McPherson is Co-Pastor at Redmond City Center Church and serves on the Board of Directors for City Care Clinic, a medical clinic to assist citizens in need of medical attention. McPherson was a member of City of Redmond Budget Committee for two years and is currently serving on the Downtown Urban Renewal Advisory Committee.
As an ordained pastor since 1994, McPherson has worked with people for the last 32 years in ministry positions and is currently responsible for office management, teaching classes and organizing events for women’s ministries at the City Center Church.
As a team player, McPherson says, “[she]would like to be actively engaged in encouraging economic growth, bringing more living wage jobs to Redmond.” Seeing many changes in her 15 year residency of Redmond and experiencing the challenges of the economic downturn, she is passionate to see great things continue such as more activities for children and families and feels there is more to be accomplished. As former teacher/administrator at New Life Christian School in Durango, Colorado, McPherson feels education is important. She would support continuation of quality education for all ages, with more opportunities at the college level in the community. “Redmond is an amazing place to live. If we work together we can do even greater things,” said McPherson.
Ed Petersen, Owner of Flying Squid Media
Ed Petersen has a business background in marketing, advertising sales and radio broadcasting. A former radio DJ, Petersen has worked in marketing and advertising sales for radio and television stations since 2005. Petersen and his wife currently own Flying Squid Media, a company providing marketing consultation, media buying, web design, social networking consulting, e-commerce and other marketing services to small businesses.
If elected, Petersen hopes “to add to the current council voices that advocate for sound fiscal practices.” He feels that the solvency of the city’s waste water utility needs dramatic improvements and says, “we’ll have to find a way to shore that up financially without over burdening rate payers in Redmond.” Petersen would like to engage local business owners and leaders in discussions of various city regulations that could be encumbering business growth and work to remove regulations where appropriate.
As an advocate for the community, Peterson’s focus would be to actively work to bring large scale community events to the city’s downtown to attract participants from the entire region. He believes this would be a great way to introduce more people to everything Redmond has to offer.
Petersen’s concern is the local unemployment rate and wants creation and stability of jobs. “The city has a fantastic partnership with REDI and we need to continue to grow and nurture that…but we need to do more to let businesses wanting to relocate know we exist, that we’re open for business and we have a workforce ready to work today,” commented Petersen.
