Last Tuesday’s (September 18)  Candidate Breakfast Forum was a great opportunity for our local businesses to meet our local leadership. Mayor Studebaker, Jeff Gudman, Skip O’Neill, John Lamotte and Joe Buck who currently serve on City Council attended the event to see incumbent Jackie Manz joined by Randy Arthur, Emma Burke, Donald Mattersdorff, Massene Mboup, Daniel Nguyen and John Wendland face the questions about Lake Grove and downtown development designed by the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee.

The program included State Senate candidates Dave Poulson and Rob Wagner who will work on difficult issues in the 2019 legislature. Both candidates responded to a question on parental leave. The Chamber included introductions of unopposed candidate/Representative Andrea Salinas and the Chamber-endorsed candidate for Metro, Joe Buck.

As a Community leader, the Chamber of Commerce kicked off the election season with the first of many community opportunities to meet the candidates. Your Government Affairs committee interviewed each of these candidates and were impressed by the dedication each of them have to improve and guide the City of Lake Oswego.

One of the difficult tasks of the Chamber’s Board of Directors was evaluating the recommendations of the Government Affairs Committee to endorse candidates who have all served our community very well. The Committee chose not to make a recommendation regarding the State Senate candidates.

The Committee recommended and the Board chose to endorse three of the eight Council candidates: current city councillor Jackie Manz ,who has served the past four years on City Council; John Wendland, who brings government experience from his past work through the school district and business experience as a business owner and long-time chamber member; Daniel Nguyen as a community volunteer and regional business generator with a commitment to educate himself on issues and work collaboratively within the City Council structure.

Thank you to our media sponsor, The Lake Oswego Review; Networking Sponsor, Republic Services; Program Sponsor, Leadership Lake Oswego; Coffee Sponsor, Blue Moon Coffee; and Venue Sponsor, Oswego Lake Country Club.