My name is Karen Matthews and I am a candidate for Wheeler City Council. My strengths are organization, problem solving, and in-depth knowledge of the Charter, Comprehensive Plan, Vision Plan, and Ordinances.
I have owned a home in Wheeler for 30 years, fulltime since 2004. My volunteer service in Wheeler includes six years on City Councilor, eight years on the Park Committee, serving as a Block Captain on the original Emergency Response teams (now know as “WET) Map Your Neighborhood and as a Red Cross volunteer.
For 16 years I was the Community Garden Manager at Alder Creek Farm for Lower Nehalem Community Trust. I was selected for a leadership role in developing Kilches Point Trailhead through Ford Family Community Development Program.
I am a problem solver and I have spent the past 18 years on a wide variety of volunteer projects focused on input from the community. This summer I recruited volunteers to reinvigorate the Waterfront Park, City hall landscape, and planted flowers at the post office and kiosk.
Key areas of focus include Protecting the Environment, Beautification, and Guiding Development.
The Vision Plan is a guiding document that is to be used to guide decisions and has specific prescribed priorities. I support the Wheeler Vision Plan. It is the voice of the citizen. We have asked what you want for the future of your town and we should, and must by ordinance, honor your response.
There are people running for council that are pro-large scale development and have stated that they think citizens have changed their minds and that 10 units is not a limit expressly stated in the Vision. That is simply not the case. My job as your City Council representative it to represent the citizens voice and enforce the Vision Plan under the law. Until that law is changed I intend to uphold what the citizens have expressed as being important to them.
I appreciate your vote for Karen Matthews, Wheeler City Council
