Alex Poythress: Candidate for Medford City Council

"As much as I have frustrations with Medford, I still love the place. It's beautiful. There is no rush-hour."

Alex Poythress

Alex Poythress is running for Medford City Council in Ward One. He is a 29 year old marketing entrepreneur, owning and operating internet based businesses. Ward One voters seeking an alternative to the troubled anger, drama, and disruption of Curt Ankerberg have three alternative candidates: Alex Poythress, Steve Dickson, and David Dobrin.

Poythress says he is frustrated with Medford's problems. "People have had to move out of town because of how hard it is to do business in Medford. I was about ready to move out myself," he said. But he decided instead to stay, serve in office, and be "part of the solution." He currently serves on the Medford Planning Commission, and he is Chair of the Medford Parking Commission.

Alex Poythress is forthright, saying things he said he recognizes will surprise people in their frankness. Asked what the biggest problem Medford has, he said "Talent. Lack of it." 

He said Medford's business culture is characterized by too many laid back people, people who came here to take it easy and retire. "Medford is not a great place to excel in ones career. There is not a strong talent pool for hard working, driven professionals. There isn't a hustling sentiment in Medford. The talent here is very underwhelming, and this is Medford's biggest problem."

Poythress says City of Medford could benefit from some changes, police staffing for one. He said we need many more police on the streets, and he would work to change that. How to pay for it? "There's a lot to be done looking over the budget."

Poythress's big theme is enabling Medford's growth and increasing its business vitality. He wants Medford to encourage entrepreneurs and new businesses. He credits SOREDI and says Medford should be working aggressively with them. "We need more people with hustle and talent." 

Medford is the metropolitan center for the region and city government needs to recognize and act on that, he said. He cites Bend as a model. "Downtown Bend is beautiful; Medford's is not. Bend is beautiful because it is kept that way" and that attracts tourists, new businesses, and new people.

Medford has a parking problem, he said. "Parking is a big thing You need parking for business and customers. "Some big businesses have been allowed to be sited downtown without providing adequate parking. That's not acceptable." I asked which ones. He declined to answer, saying there was one big answer, and that the answer is obvious.

Medford has a transient and homeless person problem, he said. "I want to make transients very uncomfortable. Nothing illegal. Not rough them up. But i want them to be uncomfortable  [in Medford]. We should be patrolling the greenway daily, not just doing occasional sweeps." 

Poythress has a vision for a better downtown. "I want a mall downtown, with parking structures, with window shopping, with retail downstairs and apartments upstairs. High density housing in downtown can go a long way toward revitalizing downtown." He wants more transit and bicycle use. "I am absolutely in favor of multimodal transportation. I want bike share."

And he wants more vibrant and local restaurants. "We have no local cuisine," he said. "Medford has very few small local restaurants." He said he was a home chef and takes food seriously. He said when he wants to take his wife out for a nice dinner "we need to go to one of just five local restaurants, or else drive to Jacksonville or Ashland."

Asked who on the City Council he thought was doing a good job, he said Kim Wallan. "She is an inspiration to me," he said. 

Who don't you like, I asked? He said we should replace Kevin Stine, Kay Brooks, and Clay Bearnson.

Asked how he is different from Curt Ankerberg, he said "I pay my taxes."  And there is the added element of temperament. "There is some need for decorum to have partnerships and successful negotiation, two things that are essential in government. Without that you are an empty suit." 

Ankerberg said in a Facebook post that he would work to evict the Kid Time Children Museum from the City's Carnegie building. Poythress disagreed, saying activities like that are exactly what Medford needs to affirm its family friendly atmosphere.

He plans to run a vigorous campaign, he said. Lots of advertising. Lots of Fliers. Direct mail. Yard signs. Going door to door. and other things he said will be a surprise.

Can he win? He said he recognizes that Ankerberg is well known as a perennial candidate, even if he is well known for being disruptive, angry, and in trouble with tax authorities. Poythress says he intends to become well known himself, but in a positive way.

Note: In every case in which Poythress is quoted above I read back the proposed quotation to him, gave him an opportunity to clarify it for grammar or nuance, and got his affirmation that I was quoting him correctly.

I plan to write profiles of the other Ward One candidates in future posts. 

Two prior posts profiled Ankerberg, using primarily direct quotations from Ankerberg:
https://peterwsage.blogspot.com/2018/09/curt-ankerberg-watch-out-medford.html
and
https://peterwsage.blogspot.com/2018/09/curt-ankerberg-watch-out-medford-part.html