"I believe what you give out, comes back. I can work with people."
Candidate Steve Dickson
Steve Dickson says the Mayor and City Manager are doing a good job. He gives Ward One voters a real choice: "I am the healthy alternative to psychotic episodes."
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| Steve Dickson |
The race has drawn local attention because frequent candidate and political provocateur Curt Ankerberg likely has the greatest name familiarity of the four, having received widespread publicity for filing fraudulent tax returns, for outbursts against the County Clerk, for vulgar Facebook posts, and for multiple runs for public offices.
Steve Dickson presents a very different demeanor. "I believe in kindness, charity, goodwill. I am people centric."
Dickson, 39, is married and works in Human Resources at the Veterans Administration. He and his wife have lived in Medford since 2010. He serves on the Medford Budget Committee, the Urban Renewal Budget Committee, and on the Grants Committee. He describes himself as fiscally conservative.
Dickson, 39, is married and works in Human Resources at the Veterans Administration. He and his wife have lived in Medford since 2010. He serves on the Medford Budget Committee, the Urban Renewal Budget Committee, and on the Grants Committee. He describes himself as fiscally conservative.
I asked him what the big issues were in Medford.
"Housing. Children can't stay in the Valley with housing at $200 a square foot." He added that safety and security are major concerns. He said that the city can and should do more. "The police can better engage with the community partners to deal with the opioid crisis." He said that the city could become more "business friendly." Homeless transients are a problem. "A city can't do it by itself. We need to engage community partners. St. Vincent de Paul and the Maslow Project are examples of the kinds of partners we need to work with.
A theme emerges when meeting with Dickson. He isn't angry.
He says he has a close-up look at City Hall in his current positions and he sees progress and good work. I asked which City Council people are doing a good job. He was quick to say Tim Jackle, Dick Gordon, Kevin Stine, and Kay Brooks. I asked if anyone was doing a poor job. He declined to say.
He says he has a close-up look at City Hall in his current positions and he sees progress and good work. I asked which City Council people are doing a good job. He was quick to say Tim Jackle, Dick Gordon, Kevin Stine, and Kay Brooks. I asked if anyone was doing a poor job. He declined to say.
He credits Mayor Gary Wheeler, who "has shown exceptional leadership through multiple administrations of City Managers. A lot has happened under his watch, and the city is better off for his leadership."
Is City Manager Brian Sjothun doing a good job, I asked?
"Yes! Brian is leading the expansion and renewal of the Bear Creek Park. And he is pushing to get new police officers. Our budget is balanced." Bottom line, Dickson said, this City Manager is working out well.
I asked him about some of the issues brought up by Poythress who said some downtown commercial developments were allowed to build without adequate parking. Dixon said he had no complaint.
"I'm happy Lithia is downtown. They could have chosen other places to build but they chose downtown" and that is very good for Medford, he said.
Dickson said he was business friendly. "Business is important for the health of the community."
I asked how he would distinguish himself from Ankerberg. Dixon said he brought an entirely different temperament. "I'm the healthy alternative to psychotic episodes," referring to the written outburst Ankerberg posted regarding evicting the Kid Time Museum. Dickson said he supported bringing children downtown to the Carnegie Bullding, saying it is part of the family friendly tone he wants the city to project.I asked what he was planning to do become well known and to get his message out. He said he was in the Voters Pamphlet, that we was developing a Facebook presence, and that he had brochures printed. He said he recognized he needed to do more, and that this would involve spending money. In his original campaign filing he said he planned to spend less than $750. He said he planned to revise that filing.
Can he win?
He has something unique to offer, a different point of view from Poythress and Ankerberg, both of whom present themselves as candidates of change and discontent. Each, in different ways, want to shake things up.
Dixon represents continuity and stability at City Hall. Voters who are happy City Hall worked through a period of management turmoil and who now want things kept on track with low drama have their candidate. That may be a majority of voters. The question is whether Dixon will have succeeded in communicating his message to those voters.
Note: In every case in which Dickson 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.
This post is part of a series of profiles on Ward One candidates. Yesterday I posted about candidate Alex Poythress Click: Poythress Earlier this week I posted twice regarding Ankerberg, primarily by quoting him verbatim Click: Ankerberg part one Click: Ankerberg part two
9 comments:
Tim Jackle, Dick Gordon, Kevin Stine, and Kay Brooks all have very different styles, very different opinions, and bring diverse perspectives and skills to the Council. I appreciate a candidate that recognizes the need for balance and broad representation vs a group of only like-minded individuals.
Anyone who reads Peter's trash should know that Peter tells loads of half-truths, and quotes things out of context. Anything I said to Sunny Spicer was said in a private email, in response to Sunny Spicer publicly trashing me. You wouldn't know that, because Peter Sage is a sick little man.
Note to readers of comments.
Ankerberg’s comment were published on line, were visible to billions of people, and we’re preserved with a screen print. They were not "private". They were public, which is why I and others could screen print them. I urge readers to read Ankerber’s own words by checking out the two posts that are linked to at the bottom of the main post above.
Decide for yourself if he is temperamentally suitable for public office.
He has written direct email to me that contain threats of “payback” and sticking it to me. The Medford police told me Ankerberg's comments are not necessarily a threat of bodily injury, and might simply be notice he would try to use his political office, if elected, to take revenge against enemies. Therefore, his comments might well be profane, vile, threatening, and disqualifying for public office, but are not illegal.
Ankerberg is within his rights. But go to my posts of three days ago to see how he exercises those rights.
Peter Sage
Curt must lay awake at night waiting for the next Sage blog to attack. Seek a medical professional Curt, start here
Peter....I'm tired of your crap. You and your half-truths. I scare the crap out of you because I'm a smart conservative. You're a self-loathing racist who hates rich old white men. For some strange reason, you hate white people. You've stated that repeated lately. You're a limousine liberal who is ashamed of who he is, in a sea of middle-income democrats. You're sick. You need mental help.
Pete is such a sick little man, that he's sent his smear blog to all the Jackson County Republicans. They soon discovered that Pete is full of crap.
Curt's meds obviously wore off at 11 last night. Double your dose Curt and see your Doc. You have some real clinical issues that need addressing.
Good ol’ Curt Angrybird.
Curt may want to re-asses his confidence as the information Peter so thoughtfully collected is being shared publicly by those he thinks are laughing. But they aren’t laughing at Peter - they are laughing at the absurdity that Ankerberg is running again. They aren’t laughing at his behavior either. They are disgusted and taking action. He should also note that his opponents are Republicans in this nonpartisan race and that they have substantial party support. Calling them names or fake conservatives won’t work this time. Through the insults and the threats and the boasts of superiority there’s not much to Mr. Ankerberg. So he can spout off ideas, but with his lack of understanding of the City Charter, the ideas that aren’t feasible anywhere outside of his head, and his lack of understanding of community needs, all that is left is the angry image he creates with his own words and actions.
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