Three approaches: parks funded by reworking the current budget; housing, safety and roads with property taxes held flat; and lower permit and fee costs so growth pays for services. Compare each plan’s funding source.
Draft; human review pending.
Key
Said
A campaign statement, in our summary or their words.
Voted
A recorded Council roll call.
— Not found
Not in the sources we reviewed. A research gap, not a position.
Facilities safety technician with building-trades experience
Argues that lower permitting, regulatory and fee burdens would revive properties and expand housing.
Cuts permits, fees and regulations so builders produce homes of all types.
Reduces crime and homelessness through growth: active areas, revenue for services.
Cuts permit and business fees; funds parks from growth revenue, no tax increase.
Opposes any tolling of I-205.
Summaries are our one-line readings of what each candidate says. Issue lines are short forms of the positions in each brief, AI-drafted and awaiting human review; “—” means not found in the sources we reviewed.
Four votes that split this Council
No candidate in this race sits on Council today.
— Not foundNo featured votes are selected for this race yet.
Candidate briefs, A–Z
Mayor candidate · City of Oregon City · November 3, 2026
Adam Marl
City commissioner and state land-use agency legislative coordinator.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet
In their words
Said: As a lifelong OC resident, I know that with our rich history and pioneering spirit, we have everything we need to reach our community’s full potential.
Pamphlet p. 37
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
Skipped the “A New Day in the First City” heading. 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 words
Supports public safety, homeownership, road improvements and conditions for small businesses to grow.
Improve streets and safe school routes.
Expand homeownership opportunities.
Coordinate regionally on homelessness and oppose tolling.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Hold the line on taxes
Roads and safe routes
His plan pairs infrastructure and small-business growth with a no-new-property-tax stance; the $4 million and past-vote claims are the campaign’s own account.
Said: Would expand homeownership by encouraging starter-home development, and work with regional partners to connect people who are homeless with services.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Camps, crime and who responds
Police, behavioral health
What
Said: Would fund the Oregon City police, invest in behavioral health and youth substance-abuse programs, and keep public spaces clean.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Your bills and taxes
No property-tax increase
What
Said: Would hold the line on property taxes, push for lower residential utility fees and hold private utilities accountable for ratepayers.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Streets, buses and air
Potholes, safe routes
What
Said: Would fix potholes and build safe routes to school, oppose tolling, and keep local road projects at the front of ODOT’s queue.
How
Said: Federal money through the congressional delegation for local roads; leverage over ODOT after the Abernethy Bridge delay; a proposed data-center moratorium to protect employment land.
Measured by
Said: $4 million in federal road funding, which the campaign says is already secured.
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Adam Marl is on record on 6. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
On record
Adopt a temporary moratorium on data centers while the city rewrites its code?
Said: Proposed a data-center moratorium at the September 8, 2026 work session to protect the city’s remaining employment land for living-wage jobs; his site says the commission agreed to move forward, though no ordinance has yet been published.
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?
Said: Proposed a May 2025 framework to keep the tax rate flat by trimming DEI, adaptive-reuse and business-promotion budgets, then moved adoption of the budget at the higher $4.489 rate on June 4, 2025; his campaign says he opposed the increase.
Move the city’s Caring Court into the Caring Place services hub, and keep the downtown civil-exclusion zone?
Said: Voted yes December 3, 2025 on the downtown civil exclusion zone; in September 2025 said the Caring Place had made no formal request and he had “a hard time” with it seeking collaboration so late. Caring Court move unsaid.
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?
Said: Chairs the Urban Renewal Commission and voted January 7, 2026 to rezone two agency-owned houses so they can be sold; his site describes the agency’s focus as redeveloping underused public property. Charter Section 59 and closing the district are unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
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?
Said: Moved the January 7, 2026 motion that tolling language be permanently stricken from statute, passed 5–0; says that when ODOT sought five more years in the parks he made local projects relying on ODOT a condition.
Ask voters for a parks bond to build a new aquatic center and rebuild the End of the Oregon Trail center?
Said: Says he will champion community involvement as the city decides upgrades to the pool and the End of the Oregon Trail center; his May 2025 budget framework listed a potential parks bond as a coming topic, without endorsing one.
Which housing and road changes would you deliver first without weakening the city’s finances?
Sources (2)
Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 37Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Marl · prioritiesCandidate statement · Website reviewed September 21, 2026Campaign position. Claimed results and numerical premises have not automatically been independently verified.
Mayor candidate · City of Oregon City · November 3, 2026
Damon Mabee
Former city commissioner and planning commissioner; retired educator and naval officer.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet
In their words
Said: I have lived my whole life in Oregon City and in the more than 20 years since I became active in Oregon City government, the Parks have been the lowest budget priority.
Pamphlet p. 37
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
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 words
Makes parks investment his first priority and calls for a close review of the budget and economic-development choices.
Find budget resources to repair parks and trails.
Improve local recreation access.
Consider industries that allow residents to work near home.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Parks first
Budget review
Parks come first by reallocating within the existing budget; what would be reduced to pay for them, and by how much, is not stated.
— Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.
Camps, crime and who responds
Active, maintained parks
What
Said: Would keep parks safe by keeping them active and maintained, so they do not become homeless camps or places where drug users gather.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Your bills and taxes
Budget savings for parks
What
Said: Would take a hard look at the city budget to find money to fix the park system, through cost savings rather than new revenue.
How
Said: Deliberate cost savings across the budget, the approach he credits with keeping the pool open in 2004; no specific reductions named.
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Streets, buses and air
— Not foundNot found in the sources we reviewed. That is a research gap, not a position.
The choices this office faces
Every candidate in this race is asked the same 6 questions. Damon Mabee is on record on 3, with 3 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could find
Adopt a temporary moratorium on data centers while the city rewrites its code?
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.
On record
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?
Said: Says he feels tax and fee changes as a retiree on a fixed income and would take a hard look at the budget to find money for parks; raising the rate or fee, or what to cut, is unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Move the city’s Caring Court into the Caring Place services hub, and keep the downtown civil-exclusion zone?
Said: Says safe parks are active parks that do not become homeless camps or places where drug users congregate; the Caring Court move and the exclusion zone are unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Ask voters for a parks bond to build a new aquatic center and rebuild the End of the Oregon Trail center?
Said: Calls parks his top priority and recalls helping keep the pool open in 2004 through budget savings; whether to ask voters for a parks bond is unsaid.
What spending would you reduce or reallocate to restore parks, and how much would that raise?
Sources (1)
Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 37Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
Mayor candidate · City of Oregon City · November 3, 2026
Rodney La Barr
Facilities safety technician with building-trades experience.
Photo: Candidate-submitted photo · 2026 Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet
In their words
Said: For nearly 20 years I have worked in trades across Alameda and Multnomah Counties.
Pamphlet p. 38
Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; extracted September 21, 2026
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 words
Argues that lower permitting, regulatory and fee burdens would revive properties and expand housing.
Reduce unnecessary construction and business barriers.
Encourage housing of several types.
Use growth-related revenue for services and parks without raising taxes.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not their words
Fewer fees and permits
Growth pays for services
The chain runs lower costs, more building, more revenue, then services and parks; the size and timing of that revenue are assumed rather than shown.
Said: Would create affordable housing by cutting permits, fees and regulations so builders can produce homes of all types, from ADUs (backyard cottages) to apartments.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Camps, crime and who responds
Growth deters crime
What
Said: Would reduce crime and homelessness through economic growth: active areas deter crime, and growth revenue funds services and transitional housing.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Your bills and taxes
Growth funds parks
What
Said: Would cut permit and business fees, and fund parks from the growth revenue that follows, without raising taxes.
How
— Not in their sources
Measured by
— Not in their sources
Streets, buses and air
No I-205 tolls
What
Said: Opposes any tolling of I-205.
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. Rodney La Barr is on record on 4, with 2 still open. A question without an answer is a research gap, not a position.
No answer we could find
Adopt a temporary moratorium on data centers while the city rewrites its code?
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.
On record
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?
Said: Would cut permits, fees and regulations and fund parks from new growth revenue “without raising taxes”; the $6.50 public-safety fee is unsaid.
Move the city’s Caring Court into the Caring Place services hub, and keep the downtown civil-exclusion zone?
Said: Says economic growth funds the services and transitional housing needed to reduce homelessness; the Caring Court move and the exclusion zone are unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
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?
Said: Says everyone on both ends of I-5, in Oregon or Washington, should be against “any I-205 tolling nonsense”; the five-year park extension is unsaid.
On the topic; the exact choice is unsaid.
Ask voters for a parks bond to build a new aquatic center and rebuild the End of the Oregon Trail center?
Said: Would create funding to reinvigorate city parks from growth revenue without raising taxes; a parks bond is unsaid.
Which requirements would you remove, and how would you fund infrastructure before growth revenue arrives?
Sources (1)
Clackamas County voters’ pamphlet · PDF page 38Candidate statement · November 2026 edition; reviewed September 18, 2026Written by the candidate or campaign. Publication by the county does not verify the claims.
