CHECK YOUR MAILBOX! BALLOTS ARE ARRIVING
Your household should already have received a copy of the Voters’ Pamphlet. You can also view it online at https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/voters-pamphlet/pages/default.aspx.
The North Plains City Council candidate statements begin on page WC-23 of the Voters’ Pamphlet. Although the six candidates’ statements are surprisingly similar, three candidates, Melody Axe, Anna Warrington, and Don Weber, have earned the endorsement of Friends of Smart Growth, Friends of Strong Towns North Plains, Oregon Data Center Defiance, Save Helvetia, and other community groups. We also strongly support incumbent Councilor Mark DeForge and urge North Plains residents not to sign the recall petition against him.
Words have meaning, but actions matter and speak for themselves.
Since joining the City Council, Councilors Warrington, Weber, and DeForge have demonstrated a commitment to transparent, accessible, responsive, and responsible governance—and to a vision for our small town consistent with residents’ 2024 referendum votes.
In 2024, voters rejected massive city expansion. They also rejected the old guard of councilors and a developer-centered city manager. The new councilors inherited backlogged paperwork, unfinished work, overdue audits, and more.
In the four months since removing old-guard-aligned City Manager Bill Reid, Anna, Don, and Mark DeForge have made more progress toward putting city business in order than the old-guard council did in the previous four years.
* The trio led the effort to complete the city’s first state-required audit in four years. Other audits are expected to follow, and we will finally get a fuller accounting of taxpayer dollars spent on unwanted growth plans.
* Led by Councilor DeForge, the Council uncovered information about the taxpayer-funded purchase of land on Glencoe. His investigation also revealed that Mr. Reid had not completed the paperwork, responded to EPA emails, and other communications regarding the city’s $1 million EPA decontamination grant for the Glencoe property. Mark helped save the grant, and the property is now being cleaned up.
* Mark, Anna, and Don moved to end a lawsuit initiated under the old guard. Had the city prevailed, the lawsuit would have preserved an outdated population study that could have driven excessive home construction and additional legal expenses for taxpayers. To prevent further taxpayer waste on this issue, the trio also led the recent effort to rescind the Housing Needs Analysis.
* Anna, Don, and Mark are also leading an effort to ban data centers in North Plains. This matters because the Lenihan/Sheldon/Reid City Council tried desperately to bring data centers to North Plains. The city’s Economic Opportunities Analysis mentioned data centers 58 times in its discussion of North Plains’ future economic growth.
Our endorsed 2026 candidates Melody Axe, Anna Warrington, and Don Weber along with Councilor Mark DeForge, still have work to do to ensure that powerful growth interests cannot use outdated city legislation to revive unwanted development plans. They will work to eliminate “zombie laws,” get the city’s books in order, and build the transparent, responsible, and responsive local government our small town deserves.
PLEASE VOTE FOR SMART GROWTH AND A PEOPLE-POWERED CITY COUNCIL!
VOTE WARRINGTON, AXE, AND WEBER!
SUPPORT MARK DEFORGE. DO NOT SIGN THE RECALL PETITION!
