Commission candidate · City of Oregon City · November 3, 2026
Paul Espe
Urban planner and planning-commission chair.
Reach the campaign
As published in their City filing.
In their words
Said: I have been very fortunate to raise my family in Oregon City and I want to maintain our quality of life and keep our city livable!
Pamphlet p. 40
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 40 ↗Nothing skipped: the statement opens with running prose. Verbatim opening of the candidate's own statement; publication by the county does not verify the claims.
The verbatim opening of their voters’ pamphlet statement, the same rule for every candidate. We chose nothing.
What they say they would do
Our summary of their platform, in our wordsSupports business growth and tourism, better services, disaster preparation and resource protection.
- Use incentives to attract and retain taxable businesses.
- Maintain and improve parks and other services.
- Evaluate government performance and strengthen emergency planning.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their wordsHe expects business growth to carry service capacity; the cost of the incentives and the revenue they would return are not estimated.
Where they stand
Rent and homes
Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.
Camps, crime and who responds
Disaster preparedness- What
- Said: Would strengthen the city’s existing disaster-preparedness program.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Your bills and taxes
Incentives for tax base- What
- Said: Would grow the tax base with incentives to attract and keep businesses, and fill vacant buildings with taxpaying businesses rather than government services.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
Streets, buses and air
Protect natural resources- What
- Said: Would protect the city’s natural resources.
- How
- Not in their sources
- Measured by
- Not in their sources
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Paul Espe is on record on 1, with 5 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could findAdopt a temporary moratorium on data centers while the city rewrites its code?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Close the general fund’s structural gap by raising the property-tax rate or the $6.50-a-month public-safety fee, or by cutting?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Move the city’s Caring Court into the Caring Place services hub, and keep the downtown civil-exclusion zone?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Keep the urban-renewal district (about $3.2 million a year in tax increment) and try again to loosen the charter’s voter-approval rule, or wind it down?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Give ODOT five more years, to 2031, to stage I-205 bridge work in two riverfront parks, and keep pressing the state to strike tolling from statute?
Nothing on this exact choice in the sources we reviewed.
Ask voters for a parks bond to build a new aquatic center and rebuild the End of the Oregon Trail center?
Said: Would maintain, improve and increase existing services including public parks; a bond for the pool and the trail center is unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
A question the evidence leaves open
Which incentives would generate a net public benefit, and how would you demonstrate it?
Sources (1)
- Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 40Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.