Trudy Corrigan

Pruning a hedge

Candidate Photos courtesy of the Lake Oswego Review & Pamplin Media

City Council Candidate

Intro: Lake Oswego Sustainability Network reached out to our City Council Candidates and asked them three sustainability-related questions about: 1) their plans for sustainability action, 2) increasing affordable housing, and 3) embedding sustainability considerations into city projects.

What are your plans for sustainable action and what are you going to do to make it happen?

Lake Oswego has a Climate Action Plan, but it contains no quantitative actionable goals for Green House Gas (GHG) reduction. I would ask City Council to determine what out our GHG baseline right now is, and then set GHG reduction goals for 2030 and 2050 in the same way other Clackamas County and Oregon cities have done. (Milwaukie has done a lot of work on this and has GHG reduction of 35% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.) Lake Oswego needs to commit to actionable goals and then take action through 1) Electrifying and 2) Pursuing Green Infrastructure. We need to generate real palpable excitement in our community for a better future! Have you ever driven a zippy electric car that you pay almost nothing to maintain, and costs only $50 a month to fuel with 100% renewable energy from PGE? I have – my family has two! How about the abundance of comfort and energy an effective solar energy system can provide? No more freezing in the winter or baking in a hot house in the summer to avoid using fossil fuel energy which is expensive and hurts the environment. We just need to change how we do things and do them in a better way. And if you can’t put solar on your house — community solar is another great option! We should help people build to green standards. Lake Oswego loves trees, and we need to continue to protect and care for our Urban Forest. The most recent Lidar survey (2019) showed almost 50% canopy coverage, but unfortunately it measured down to the 10-foot level, which can make a hedge look like tree coverage. The city’s consulting engineer is in the process of moving the measurable level on the Lidar survey up to 20 feet, which helps us continue to study and care for our Urban Forest. We need to help people understand that the financial cost of any particular action is not the same as its environmental cost. There are so many things we can do – we need to spread the word about doing things in a better way.

Lake Oswego is moving forward in authorizing affordable housing on Boones Ferry Road in Lake Oswego. People who make 80% of the area median income would be eligible. For a family of four in 2021 that would be about $74,000 – about what a firefighter or teacher makes. Should Lake Oswego continue to find opportunities for more affordable housing? What are creative ideas you have or policies you might put forward to further help Lake Oswego’s affordable housing stock grow?

Lake Oswego must continue to look for opportunities for affordable housing. On the west end of Lake Oswego we are in the process of collaborating with Metro to turn the site acquired for staging the Boones Ferry Road Improvements into multi-Family affordable housing. Meanwhile, across Boones Ferry Road there are plans for another affordable housing project that will be in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity. Seeking partnerships is critical in finding innovative ways to meet our ongoing need for affordable housing. Looking at Clackamas County statistics it seems clear the most effective way to put in affordable housing stock is in multi-Family units. Also, we are now in the process of complying with HB 2001 (Middle Housing), a new state law that was intended to address the housing shortage in our state by allowing more than one unit on a lot zoned for one house. We need to find ways to make that legislation work in the best possible way by implementing it to address residents’ concerns about noise, lack of parking, traffic congestion and loss of trees as the law works to enable those extra units. Ideally, multi-Family will be located close to major transportation thoroughfares.

I’m also aware that pre-existing older homes in Lake Oswego generally sell at more affordable prices than new homes and are much easier on the trees. That means another approach to affordability is to incentivize developers to update and retain older homes where feasible. That approach lends itself not only to sustainability but to retaining the distinctive characters of our 24 neighborhoods as well as our city.

The City is currently in the design process for a new Wastewater Treatment plant and a Recreation Center. In both these cases, many sustainability opportunities were only explored late in the design process and at the request of citizens. What would you do to embed sustainability considerations in City projects from the very beginning including citizen input?

It would be great if we could have a sustainability impact review including an outreach to interested citizens at the beginning of the planning process for city projects. The review would identify the long-term circular economy opportunities up front. For instance, wastewater treatment plants can be incredibly energy intensive. We now know it is possible to get more than just clean water from sewage treatment. We can actually generate energy during the process along with valuable by-products like nutrients that can be re-used. The economic cost of the sewage treatment plant can then be offset by the value of the energy and the nutrients generated. It’s full circle thinking.

Note: some readers perceived this question as critical of the City leadership. This was not our intent. We have been pleased with the degree to which the City has collaborated with us on sustainability and made sustainability a focus in their operations. Our goal was to elicit ideas on how collaboration between the city and citizens could be structured. Our apologies for not making our intent clearer.

Charles A. Bryan

Pruning a hedge

Candidate Photos courtesy of the Lake Oswego Review & Pamplin Media

City Council Candidate

Intro: Lake Oswego Sustainability Network reached out to our City Council Candidates and asked them three sustainability-related questions about: 1) their plans for sustainability action, 2) increasing affordable housing, and 3) embedding sustainability considerations into city projects.

What are your plans for sustainable action and what are you going to do to make it happen?

My primary goal in running for city council is to make Lake Oswego a leader in sustainable development and operation. We need sustainable thinking embedded in each step of the city’s development process, and a top priority from the beginning. To achieve this, I plan on pursuing several key changes to policy and planning processes.
The city employees, especially those in the planning department, are our front-line workers for development. They’re involved in all planning processes from the beginning and guide the direction of the city’s projects. These employees need to be well versed in sustainable urbanism to achieve the outcomes we desire. I’m proposing a yearly budget for sustainability training and conference attendance for city employees.

City employees and private developers in Lake Oswego work within laws and guidelines they’re given. Lake Oswego’s building codes have not been updated to achieve sustainable development and to take on the growing challenges of climate change and the housing crisis. Developer incentives need to be brought in line with the city’s goals of environmental conservation and housing inventory generation. As a City Councilor, my focus will be on updating the building codes with ecological setbacks, higher building efficiency and air tightness requirements, and renewable electricity sources.

Tougher building requirements generally mean a reduction in development. To offset stricter codes, Lake Oswego’s zoning laws need to be updated in lockstep. The city’s proposal to comply with HB 2001 is to create exceptions to the building codes for multifamily developments. Using exceptions is a chaotic process that can leave building requirements unclear, as well as residents and the environment negatively impacted. My proposal, instead, is to update zoning laws across the board to more cohesively maintain the character of Lake Oswego, while accommodating more development flexibility and environmental protection. I am proposing reducing setbacks in all zones to fire-safe minimums, while creating new ecological setbacks for trees, watersheds and other natural resources. Single family home and height requirements will be removed from all zones and residential zones will accommodate small businesses to reduce the need for car travel.

I’m also proposing a residential ban on gas-powered garden and landscape tools. Electric tools have improved significantly over the years and are more than ready to replace gas tools. A small temporary fund will be established to help local landscape companies transition to electric without impacting their business.

Lake Oswego is moving forward in authorizing affordable housing on Boones Ferry Road in Lake Oswego. People who make 80% of the area median income would be eligible. For a family of four in 2021 that would be about $74,000 – about what a firefighter or teacher makes. Should Lake Oswego continue to find opportunities for more affordable housing? What are creative ideas you have or policies you might put forward to further help Lake Oswego’s affordable housing stock grow?

While we’re in this transition phase, with an extreme housing crisis and archaic zoning, I will give my support to affordable housing projects. I’m wary of affordable housing projects with percentage inventory requirements and income lines as a policy in perpetuity. The potential to persist segregation and create edge-cases where families in need are excluded appears to be high. Instead my focus is on reforming zoning laws, as explained in the previous question, to allow entry-level housing inventory to be created throughout the city.

The City is currently in the design process for a new Wastewater Treatment plant and a Recreation Center. In both these cases, many sustainability opportunities were only explored late in the design process and at the request of citizens. What would you do to embed sustainability considerations in City projects from the very beginning including citizen input?

In question 1, I touched on needing to make city employees experts on sustainable urbanism. There’s a lot the city can do to make sure new projects consider sustainability from the start. New city facilities should be required to meet sustainability standards, such as the Living Building Challenge, Passive House, or LEED Gold+.

Lake Oswego is lucky to have many residents savvy in sustainability, and their input should be invited at every step of the development process. The city has the Sustainability Advisory Board to gather citizen input, but the commissions and boards have varying degrees of participation and impact. The Sustainability Advisory Board is not well incorporated into the city’s development and review processes. As a City Councilor I will be pushing to reorganize the commissions and boards to create better transparency, accountability, and communication between residents and the city. For sustainability specifically, the board needs to be integrated into the Planning Commission and Development Review Commission, or fulfill a similar role to the two in the city’s development process.

Note: some readers perceived this question as critical of the City leadership. This was not our intent. We have been pleased with the degree to which the City has collaborated with us on sustainability and made sustainability a focus in their operations. Our goal was to elicit ideas on how collaboration between the city and citizens could be structured. Our apologies for not making our intent clearer.

Ali Afghan

Pruning a hedge

Candidate Photo courtesy of the Lake Oswego Review & Pamplin Media

City Council Candidate

Intro: Lake Oswego Sustainability Network reached out to our City Council Candidates and asked them three sustainability-related questions about: 1) their plans for sustainability action, 2) increasing affordable housing, and 3) embedding sustainability considerations into city projects.

What are your plans for sustainable action and what are you going to do to make it happen?

I have a 3 step strategy that builds on work already completed by the City.

  • Assess the progress of the 62 action items in the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan for Lake Oswego recommended by “Sustainability and Climate Action Plan Steering Committee”, and approved at the May 5, 2020 City Council meeting. Remove roadblocks to ensure timely completions.
  • Identify the best Sustainability and Climate Action Plan by other jurisdictions
  • Drive the adoption of a quantitative and measurable action plan to protect our natural resources and public health.

Lake Oswego is moving forward in authorizing affordable housing on Boones Ferry Road in Lake Oswego. People who make 80% of the area median income would be eligible. For a family of four in 2021 that would be about $74,000 – about what a firefighter or teacher makes. Should Lake Oswego continue to find opportunities for more affordable housing? What are creative ideas you have or policies you might put forward to further help Lake Oswego’s affordable housing stock grow?

Yes. Absolutely! At a minimum we must expand the current strategy to create more affordable housing. I would pursue and seek out conversations with stakeholders to promote, motivate, and encourage consistent availability of affordable housing. It not only provides options for those who contribute the services integral to our high functioning city, it invites diversity in our community and we reap immeasurable benefits when our teachers, firefighters, police force, city workers, service workers, etc. are a devoted part of our community because it’s theirs as well.

The City is currently in the design process for a new Wastewater Treatment plant and a Recreation Center. In both these cases, many sustainability opportunities were only explored late in the design process and at the request of citizens. What would you do to embed sustainability considerations in City projects from the very beginning including citizen input?

In my senior role as a design, engineering and construction manager, planning for sustainability was part of my accountability. In industry, if you do not consider sustainable impacts to your business, you will be in trouble. I am currently working for a company that is spending billions of dollars to remove ozone depleting refrigerants and equipment from our sites. Sustainability is integral to design in this era, and it is critical for business viability. I would bring this informed approach and commitment to LO. I would prompt the right conversations and ask the right questions upstream of anything we undertake. No longer does any municipality have the luxury of relegating sustainability to an afterthought.

Note: some readers perceived this question as critical of the City leadership. This was not our intent. We have been pleased with the degree to which the City has collaborated with us on sustainability and made sustainability a focus in their operations. Our goal was to elicit ideas on how collaboration between the city and citizens could be structured. Our apologies for not making our intent clearer.

The Saylor Family Started with a Heat Pump

Testimonial from Erin Saylor

Referred by PGE.  

Erin Saylor’s views on electrification were informed by her work at an environmental nonprofit where she had a front row seat to discussions about the climate and health impacts of our country’s reliance on fossil gas. She was determined to start to wean her family off fossil fuels, but even she is surprised by how fast the state-wide emphasis on electrification has happened. “It seems like the benefits of electrification were just whispers a few years ago, but the 100% Clean Energy for All legislation that will move Oregon to clean electricity by 2040 has really moved electrification discussions to the forefront.” 

She has also become more concerned about the potential health impacts the family’s gas appliances have on her three young children. Financial constraints led her family to think carefully about where to start. But with their gas furnace in a poorly ventilated closet in the main part of the house, a carbon monoxide scare in a vacation rental, and last summer’s heat dome, they decided to start by replacing their furnace with a new heat pump system that provides both heat and air conditioning. A ducted heat pump system was installed in the main part of the house while a ductless mini-split was added to the primary bedroom over the garage. The family was delighted to work with Green Savers, an Electrify LO recommended contractor. The system was designed with an eye toward easily adding rooms to the house in the future. 

To finance the system, the Saylor’s participated in a program through the regional nonprofit called Craft3 which allows them to pay for the new system through their monthly PGE bill. They appreciate several aspects of their new heat pump system: the air conditioning, the ability to control the temperature of individual rooms, its relatively quiet compared to other HVAC units, and a perception of greater comfort as the temperature stays more consistent.  

The Saylor family is planning more electrification projects in the future – likely next on the list: replacing their gas water heater with an electric heat pump water heater. Longer term, they’re considering a kitchen remodel that would add an induction stove and a potential move to an EV car – assuming they can find one that fits the whole family. Erin’s advice is “do your research, find a good company to work with, and go for it. Electrification protects the environment, improves safety for your family, and will save you money in the long run.”

Pruning a hedge

Get Your Heat Pump Air-Conditioner Installed Before the Summer Heat

In 2018, 30% percent of homes in Oregon had no air conditioning. Hot summers, including the heat dome of June 2021 that produced temperatures in Lake Oswego higher than 112 degrees F, have led to an upswing in interest in indoor cooling. 

Heat pumps are a great way to cool your home in the summer. This same heat pump will also warm your home in the winter–it can either replace your furnace or dramatically reduce its use. Heat pumps are 2-3 times more energy efficient than traditional furnaces, so produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions and cost less to operate.

Portland General Electric has a list of approved contractors for heat pumps and offers discounts of up to $1700 through June 30.  

Our partner Electrify Now also has a list of trusted contractors that offer discounts. 

Energy Trust of Oregon has information on ways to finance heat pumps—instead of a large upfront cost to purchase the system, a monthly charge will be added to your PGE bill.

If you want to get the benefit of a cooling system that also provides heat during the winter, lower operational costs, and the lowest impact on the environment, install a heat pump.

Lawn mower, leaf blower, chain saw