From the mayor’s desk: Meadow Martell

Last week Councilor Jean Ann Miles, Parks and Recreation Chair John Miles, and I attended the League of Oregon Cities (LOC)Spring Conference in Klamath Falls. This event is a great opportunity for public officials from around the state to network and learn about issues impacting all cities.
The conference began with separate half day workshop pertinent for Mayors and Councilors. Mayors had an opportunity to hear about how modernized charters address current community needs. You will be pleased to know that the City of Cave Junction Charter was reviewed, updated, and approved by city voters on November 8, 2022, and went into effect January 1, 2023.
Other workshops included: Wildfire Resilience and Community Risk Reduction; Public Safety Financing: Levies, Fees and Contracts, and updates on the U.S. Supreme Court case Grants Pass v. Johnson which has to do with the homeless camping issue. The keynote speaker was from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office which is the only agency in the state operating a Law Enforcement Assisted Deflection (LEAD) program. The conference was an opportunity to meet with other city officials and was well worth the time and effort.
Citizens are seeing changes downtown from the funds awarded the city from the sale of the old county building ($155,000), however, more has been happening than you can see as you drive through. The county building funds provided upgraded outdoor lighting for 15 downtown businesses; 80 security cameras were installed and are operating in our downtown businesses; 9 businesses downtown have been freshly painted, and soon you will see 4 ODOT control boxes wrapped in beautiful artwork created by our local artist, Ashly Wissler. Work on several large murals is currently being coordinated and will grab the attention of tourists traveling both north and south. In addition, the city was able to replace the downtown street lights with energy efficient LED lighting and is working on replacing a missing street light downtown. The project has taken years to complete. With energy invested by Forrest Roth and Joy Lark for the security cameras and outdoor lighting coordination, and input from Mainstreet Cave Junction, and work from city staff, and the attention of our engaged business owners, this project will be a realization. We can’t forget to appreciate those individuals that approached the County when it sold the building that had served as a community gathering center for so many years. It was the efforts of those dedicated individuals that stepped up to remind the county of the recognition due our citizens as stakeholders.