I support Ed Fitch for Mayor of Redmond and here is why.

I was the mayor of Redmond for eight years, right after Ed’s tenure as mayor and before George Endicott’s. The mayor is the voice of the city and works with others to keep Redmond a great place to live.

Shortly after he was elected in 1998, Ed asked us to meet with him for breakfast at the League of Oregon Cities conference. He told us that the league was not going to be able to solve our water supply problem.

Historically Redmond utilized ditch or river water, which we had plenty of. By the 1990s, however, Redmond was transitioning to well water — which we did not have sufficient rights to.

To address the problem, Ed started the Central Oregon Cities Organization (COCO) to help all of the cities in Central Oregon address our municipal water rights, as well as other issues. He then worked with our public works director Mary Malloy to secure ground water rights for Redmond. We now have a dedicated supply of ground water rights for Redmond well into the future.

The Central Oregon Cities Organization is now the voice of Central Oregon in Salem.

In 1999, a developer pushed hard to use almost all of the Dry Canyon south of Highland Avenue for a private golf course. Three members of the council were supportive. Ed convinced the majority of the council, however, to turn down the proposal and preserve the canyon for public use.

By 1999, Downtown Redmond was choked with highway traffic. Because of the amount of truck traffic it was even difficult to have a conversation on Sixth Street. It took longer to get through Redmond on 97 than to drive to Bend.

As mayor, Ed worked with ODOT, our state legislative delegation, the governor and our federal delegation to solve the problem. With the help of the council, he initiated the downtown urban renewal district to generate Redmond’s share of the needed funds towards a reroute of Highway 97 out of downtown.

Both our federal and state governments agreed to that funding formula. State and federal funds were then allocated to Redmond to build the reroute.

Ed was also instrumental in getting the funding for the Glacier Highland couplet and in getting 23rd Street connected to 19th Street at Highland Avenue.

In early 2001, Ed came to the council and said that we needed to build the Maple Avenue bridge across the Dry Canyon to address our growth on the west side and to ease traffic congestion.

He noted we could pay for it with system development charges, which new construction would pay instead of using property taxes. It was novel at the time but now it would be hard to imagine Redmond without that bridge.

This is what Ed does and these are only a few examples. This is what our mayor needs to do.

Ed knows the right people and knows the right things to say. He has the proven ability to work with Republicans, Democrats and independents to achieve a community consensus, get things done and move Redmond forward in a positive direction.

We need Ed as Mayor today. Join me in voting for Ed.