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Brown New mayor expects to grow with job Brown optimistic about Butte Falls future By PAUL FATTIG BUTTE FALLS -- Somewhere in Jack Brown's closet is an old black-and-white referee's shirt. But the new mayor, a retired teacher and coach who also served as a basketball and football referee for high school and college games, doesn't expect to fall back on his referee's experience at city council meetings. "In any meeting, there is always a split with one side here, one side there," he said of thorny issues that invariably arise. "But this is a good community with a lot of good people." Never mind that Brown, 60, has no political experience. He was urged to run by local residents, including outgoing mayor Sara Beck, who had decided not to run for re-election. He was unopposed in last fall's election. "I look at it as a learning experience -- I think I will grow with the job," he said. "I was kind of nervous about it at first, but a lot of people are offering to help." That includes his wife, Joyce, who is on the six-member city council. Incorporated in 1911, Butte Falls was formed when the Butte Falls Sugar Pine Co. built a sawmill at the base of the nearby falls in 1906. Brown has spent his adult life in Southern Oregon. After graduating from high school in Banks in northern Oregon, he went on to play quarterback for what is now Southern Oregon University, where he graduated in 1960. Brown moved to Butte Falls in 1985 after teaching in Medford for 22 years. He taught and coached at Butte Falls for a decade, retiring from teaching in 1995. The Loggers football team won the state championship during his tenure. He later owned the Butte Falls Tavern for three years, which served as a popular gathering place before it closed last year. "I sold more Pepsi than I did anything else, Pepsi and coffee," he said. "A lot of people just went there to talk." What they often talked about was the future of the town, he said. "A lot of the town's people are becoming more and more interested in what is happening here," he said. The hamlet, which has a population hovering around 400 people most of this century, needs new water lines, he said. Another big project is a long-talked-about effort to create a water bottling plant, capturing the clear water flowing out of nearby Ginger Springs. Although the community is still depressed from the loss of the timber industry, Brown is optimistic about Butte Falls' future. "There are so many positive things about this community," he said, citing residents stepping forward to volunteer for community projects as an example. "Some wonder if we are going to grow," he said. "It could happen. If it does, we need to prepare for it." Although the town population has remained largely stagnant, the student population is growing, he said, noting that is an indicator of families moving into the rural area outside of town. The schools -- kindergarten through high school -- had 19 new students this year, bringing the student population to about 250. Although Brown was briefly hospitalized last week because of a blocked artery, he says it won't impact his mayoral duties. Doctors placed a stent in the artery, he said. "I was kind of bummed out about it (the health problem) for a while there," he said. "But I'm fine now. I'm looking forward to serving as mayor." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA