Wilsonville Has Problems. We Have the Solutions, Too
I’m unbelievably proud to call myself a Wilsonville resident, and I know I’m not alone. That’s a sentiment shared by all who call this wonderful community home. We’ve grown, thrived, and built a place we’re genuinely happy to call home. But, like any city, we face challenges. Part of loving where you live is always striving to improve. Our challenges require local answers instead of one-size-fits-all “solutions” from an unelected regional government, failed neighboring cities, or even the state.
Our local leaders have taken the easy route for too long by following Portland’s lead and adopting unsuitable policies. This outsourced approach ignores our voice as Wilsonville residents by prioritizing outside influences over our best interests. Our beloved community is at risk of losing its identity and becoming Portland 2.0. Let’s take a look at a few of Wilsonville’s main obstacles and why our current solutions fail.
Traffic
Nobody knows better than locals just how frustrating, time-consuming, and disruptive Wilsonville traffic can be. I, like you, deal with it on a daily basis. The extended commutes, the additional pollution, and the constant noise are struggles we all deal with. ODOT’s proposal was to tax us to death through tolls on our most trafficked roads. If you’re thinking that tolling would only make traffic worse, you’re absolutely correct! This proposal is part of an ideologically driven vision for a carless future, not a genuine solution to Wilsonville’s problem.
Cost of Living
The cost of living in our community has exploded over the past few years, and locals are disproportionately suffering. Real estate prices are getting out of hand, making it harder for first-time home buyers, young families, and pensioners. The no-brainer solution is to build more housing, but our current leadership has decided to follow Portland’s housing model and prioritize high-density apartments. Unlike a big city, people in Wilsonville want space for front and back yards, so there’s no logical reason to build cramped apartment buildings and price out developers for single family homes. It’s yet another example of imposing a way of life on our residents that they don’t want.
Population Growth
Wilsonville is growing quickly, and nobody feels it more than residents. That doesn’t mean we have to give up our small-town values, though. Portland’s policies are making people flee the city for havens like Wilsonville, but red tape is preventing us from accommodating this population growth. We need new roads, new homes, and new infrastructure to keep this city livable. It’s all doable, but only if we stand up to Metro’s red tape and push back against the state’s insistence that we build more high-density housing. We have done our part and now we need city leaders that are willing to stand up for our right to create our own destiny so we can increase our developable land and improve our infrastructure to catch up with our growth.
We are dealing with Wilsonville issues, but we are currently governed by hand me down outside solutions that are only making the problems worse. The political pull of the big city often drags smaller communities like ours into its orbit, and it’s up to us to push back. We need to anchor Wilsonville in our own values, our own solutions, and our own vision for the future. I’m running for mayor because I love this community, and I want to protect what makes it special. If you believe Wilsonville’s challenges should be solved by the people who actually live here, I invite you to donate or volunteer with my campaign. Together, we can keep Wilsonville a place where we all love where we live.