Letter: Lundbom is the leader John Day needs

Published 5:03 pm Friday, October 21, 2022

To the Editor:

I’m writing in support of Ron Lundbom for mayor of John Day. I served as a council member for 16 years and worked with Ron Lundbom during that time. Mayors represent their cities in many ways, to many other organizations and areas outside of the community and state. It is critical that our mayor is a respected and knowledgeable representative for our city.

In last week’s Eagle, candidate for mayor Heather Rookstool stated she had concerns about a loan she “recently” discovered. The reality is that she not only knew about the loans as far back as February 2022, she voted in favor of those loans twice.

1. 02/22/2022: Rookstool participated in a joint meeting with the John Day/Canyon City Parks and Recreation District board and John Day City Council. She voted in favor of Resolution 11:881-02 authorizing the city to contribute $3 million to the pool project, and approving D.A Davidson as the city’s loan agent for the funds.

2. 05/24/2022: Rookstool voted in favor of Resolution 22-890-11, which authorized a $3 million full faith and credit borrowing for the pool. During the discussion, a citizen brought up the loan cost, which staff said would be about $100,000 per year over the course of 10 years. Mrs. Rookstool then voted to approve the resolution.

For Mrs. Rookstool to now claim that she has “recently discovered” that there would be a loan is alarming, given that she voted to authorize that exact loan two times.

Either Mrs. Rookstool doesn’t have a solid understanding of basic city operations and doesn’t understand what she has voted on, or she is intentionally making false claims to further her political aspirations. This is not the first example of her lack of diligence or understanding. She is not prepared nor does she seem to have the temperament and experience to lead a city.

Mayor Ron Lundbom has the experience and knowledge to serve our community and help several very important projects continue to a successful completion. His leadership is needed to ensure that happens.

My vote is for Ron Lundbom for mayor.

Steve Schuette

John Day