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Shady Cove council race focuses on water By Melissa Martin SHADY COVE � Water may be the weightiest issue in the campaign for City Council. Four people seek two City Council seats: Daryl "Dee" Hawkins and Vic Corchero, who both serve on the Alternative Affordable Water Committee; and Alison Curtis and Lois Holland, council members who support a citywide water system. "We�re not short of water in Shady Cove; we just have to find a way to get it that�s affordable," said Hawkins, who lived in Medford for 22 years before moving to Shady Cove three years ago. "We should be careful about development and growth in this area before we find a water solution," she said. Corchero, who helped develop computer disc drives before his retirement from IBM, opposed the city�s water bond last year as a member of the alternative water committee. "A good well with good water is a godsend," Corchero said. "It was put there to be used. That�s the source that would make more sense to me, wells and the river for irrigation." Holland, a council member since 1992, supported the city�s $7.5 million water bond that voters rejected last November. The plan would have created Shady Cove�s first municipal water system by drawing and treating Rogue River water for the town�s 2,400 residents. "I feel there are other ways to go with water that would be affordable to people," Holland said. "But I believe we are going to have to have some type of water system eventually." Curtis, who was elected to the council last month following her appointment in July, agreed. "A water system is necessary for this community, but nobody has come up with an answer that�s agreeable to the majority of people," Curtis said. "We�re going to have to do something besides wells because we are all pulling from the same water table." Hawkins, who volunteers at the Upper Rogue Community Center, said door-to-door campaign visits have revealed the city�s need to improve relationships between residents and police. "We�re finding people having problems with the police department," Hawkins said. "We need to hold a Town Hall meeting to talk about it." Corchero, an Upper Rogue Community Center board member and chapter president of the Manufactured Home Owners of Oregon Inc., agreed. "We�re looking into economic development, but that will never happen as long as Shady Cove is perceived as a speed trap," said Corchero. He served on the City Council from 1993 to 1998 and unsuccessfully ran for the Oregon House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1998. "If we�re not a friendly town, let�s advertise that, shut the doors and forget the tourists," said Corchero, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard. Holland, who has eight children, 26 grandchildren and 25 foster children, doesn�t find fault with local police. "I feel the police department is doing the best for the community," said Holland. She was named Singer�s head sewing instructor, has sold real estate and insurance, is licensed to prepare taxes, was a 4-H leader for 12 years and has been president of Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and Home Extension. Curtis, a retired manager of the California Department of Motor Vehicles driver�s license section in Los Angeles, said she wants what�s best for Shady Cove. "We have senior citizens and children to think about; we have young people who are the parents of these children. We have a broad spectrum of people in this town and they all count," Curtis said. "They are all important." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.