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Five vie for three Central Point council seats By Buffy Pollock CENTRAL POINT � Half the City Council will turn over in the Nov. 7 election, with three seats up for grabs and none of the current holders interested in keeping them. Five candidates will vie for two at-large positions and Ward 4. Their goals range from transportation and growth to jobs and citizens� rights. The two at-large positions are being vacated by Carol Fischer, who is running for mayor, and Bob Gilkey, who declined to run again. Campaigning for their seats are Lloyd Beichner, Kay Harrison, Rusty McGrath and Bill Ward. Running unopposed for Ward 4, which is being vacated by council president Garth Ellard, is former councilman and ex-firefighter Dick Halley. Halley�s top priority would be securing new jobs, he said. "I want to work on developing some badly needed jobs in our community. I think wood products are slowly going by the wayside. We�ve got to get something else in here besides wood products," he said. Halley, who served on City Council for more than a decade, has lived in Central Point for 30 years and worked in the wood products industry his entire life. Halley retired from Boise Cascade two years ago. Candidates for the two at-large positions run the gamut from a retired Pacific Power worker to a former mayor: � Lloyd Beichner is a newcomer to Central Point politics. He is a former mill worker and currently works in the restaurant business. He was unable to be reached for comment. � Kay Harrison, who works for US Cellular in Medford, has been a Central Point resident since 1977 and has raised five children in the Central Point School District. She has been active in numerous traffic and community programs such as the Citizen Advisory Committee, the Budget Committee and the Transit Oriented Design program. She also has served on the Rogue Valley Transportation Board of Directors since 1997. Harrison said she supports growth as long as it�s well-planned and retains the town�s livability. "Central Point is growing and doing really well," she said. "I want to see it continue to do well, but not necessarily grow too fast. I�d like to see it grow in a healthy, well-planned way by making sure we can service all the people that will come with more growth." � Rusty McGrath, who served as mayor of Central Point for four years but lost a re-election bid to current Mayor Bill Walton in 1998, said he�s running for council to "get back in office and straighten a few things out." McGrath, who helped lead an unsuccessful bid last month to repeal a controversial no-smoking ordinance passed by the current council, said he felt the hard work of his prior term�s council was being undone. McGrath said he is in favor of growth for Central Point and is an advocate of citizens� rights. "I�ve been here my entire life and I care about this city, but I don�t care for what some people are doing to it. I don�t think it�s the government�s right to tell people how to live or run their business," he said. McGrath is the owner of McGrath Racing and ATV and is a drag racer. McGrath, born and raised in Central Point, served six years on City Council. � Newcomer Bill Ward, while bringing no political experience to the table, said he felt his strong desire to serve his community � coupled with the experience of being a blue-collar worker for 39 years � gave him an advantage in being able to relate to the people. The 63-year-old was born and raised in the Rogue Valley and retired from a career at Pacific Power six years ago. Ward said his life experience and "good Christian values" made him feel he was qualified to help do what was best for the people of Central Point. "This is a new experience for me, so it will also be a learning experience, but I would really like to work for the city and be able to contribute," he said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.