Rural Economic Development and Infrastructure Capacity
As a long-time community leader, I will leverage my experience to focus on local growth in a way that enhances the rural nature of our county. I will build on the good work of our local community leaders to position Lewis County to be a place where opportunities to earn family-living wages and meaningful employment are available, while keeping 3rd District rural. Together we will make Lewis County a place where we can all continue to enjoy a safe, simple, and healthy lifestyle for ourselves and our children - now and long into the future!
Communities in Lewis County are experiencing the unintended consequences of rapid growth and its impacts to local infrastructure capacity including increased pressure on water, sewer, road use, emergency services, and lack of housing. The increase assessed value of our property immediately translates to alarming increases in our property taxes. Long-time area residents are faced with two unpopular choices, either sell their home and move away, or more likely, face the reality that they will have to live with the loss of the rural character they love and tolerate the seemingly helpless future of living an increasingly complicated lifestyle. In Winlock citizens are faced with having to make painful decisions about annexing the property into the urban growth area and unknowns associated with increased costs of services. Packwood residents are also faced with unintended consequences of unprecedented growth to housing. Local businesses don’t have an employment base because potential staff can’t find a place to live locally because of the local housing shortage that is being felt all across the county.
Its a double-edged sword - we need the jobs to provide opportunities for our children to have the choice to raise their families here in Lewis County, but we need to manage the growth so we don’t lose the rural character that had us settle here in. We must get our rural communities engaged in the subarea planning process to get ahead of the growth that is coming. This may require staffing up our county planning department with long-range planners, and as your next commissioner, I am looking at what resources are available to do so.
Feel free to contact me by email with any questions or concerns on this topic at HarryO4LewisCo@gmail.com
