kathy sell
Eagle Point’s new mayor is ready to get to work.
Kathy Sell, who defeated incumbent Mayor Ruth Jenks on Tuesday by a 57%-42% margin, is a business owner and member of the Eagle Point City Council.
“I’m looking forward to getting started,” said Sell, who owns Ridgeback Forest Management and works for Good Guys Guns in Medford.
His first priority will be visiting every licensed business in the city, he said.
“How can I help a business if I don’t even know it’s there?” she said. “I can say, ‘What can I do to help you be successful?’ and if they say: ‘Nothing, I’m happy as I am’. Well that’s great; at least I can visit them.
Sell noticed a local man gave her some Eagle Point-made barbecue sauce as a gift the other day, leading her to conclude that home-based businesses will have to be part of the conversation to help the economy. from the city.
Sell’s first-hand look at companies aligns with one of her promises to be an accessible public servant.
“All businesses should know who the mayor is, and if they have a problem, they should be able to call the mayor,” he said.
Before his election, Sell listed his top priorities for Eagle Point as maintaining a strong budget, examining growth and housing, as well as installing a skate park.
“I’ve lived in this community for 40 years and we still don’t have (a skate park),” he said. “I think we owe it to our community to build them a skate park one way or another.”
For now, she’s focused on several scheduled training sessions provided by the Oregon Mayors Association to help her transition to the top job. Sell said she’s not overwhelmed.
“I really just want to do a good job,” he said.
Contact reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or kopsahl@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.