Please Elect
Bob Gaylor
for Vancouver City Council
Vancouver WA, 98684
Telephone: Work 360-823-5174
Home 360-891-9345
Bob Gaylor
for Vancouver City Council
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you want to become a City Councilmember”
I’ve lived in the Vancouver area all my life but my working career was spent in Portland so the opportunity to be actively involved in civic affairs was limited. Since retiring in 1997, I have becoming increasingly involved in the community. I served a couple of years on the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Commission, leaving that to join the Vancouver Planning Commission. Over the past five or so years, I have come realize that I want to move my role from advisor to decision maker and you do that be becoming part of the governing body.
Why are you running for Position 3?
I weighed my decision to enter the city council race very carefully and actually waited to the last day to file. At that time, the position was the only one that was unopposed so it seemed reasonable to me to file for that position. I believe it is important that citizens have a choice I would bring a different perspective to the position. I really want to serve on city council and I plan to run a vigorous campaign to get elected.
Why do you feel you would be a better choice than your opponent?
That is a choice that the voters must make. My opponent’s position and voting history are public record and rather than compare my self to that record, I would rather discuss the qualities I will bring to the position. I am well educated with a Masters degree in Business Administration, and forty-five years of work experience ranging from a factory production worker to department head level in a six billion dollar manufacturing company. Currently I am president of a large non-profit in the Vancouver community.
I am a good listener and carefully consider and weigh the input as a part of my decision making. I welcome new ideas and different opinions as these can result in a broader base of information and decisions that benefit the community as a whole. I have a personal philosophy on what I think is important to Vancouver so that I can be as consistent as possible in my decision process.
I blend this with a strong family focus and desire for Vancouver to remain a great city for my grandchildren and the generations to come.
You talk about bringing balance to City Council, what does this mean?
Vancouver is under substantial pressure in a number of areas. These include pressure for revenue, retail and, industrial development and, equally important, trying to maintain the quality of life we have enjoyed for so many years. Quality of life in a community is one of the key criteria used by business in considering where to locate. All of these needs must be considered in every decision the council makes. Where development incentives are provided, they should be measured by the return on investment they provide the citizens of Vancouver and the long-term gain to the community.
Where do you stand on jobs as a priority?
I believe in and support family wage jobs. This translates to targeted investment to bring industry to Vancouver and the adjacent areas so that people don’t have to commute to Portland for decent jobs. Our investments should be in transportation projects that add infrastructure to facilitate attraction of industry to Vancouver. Our incentives should be in providing this infrastructure as well as technical help to train the work force the new industry needs. This is a role where Clark College and WSU should be providing substantial support. Overtime, this increases the wealth of Vancouver and avoids millions of dollars in lost tax revenue to Oregon.
What are your thoughts on a third river crossing?
We have built new bridges in the early 1960’s (the current I-5 bridges) and again in the early 1980’s (the I-205 bridge) and in both cases, the relief lasted only 8 to 10 years before becoming significantly congested again. To further complicate the issue, we now have significant congestion in Vancouver and Clark County as people struggle to get to the freeways so they can then sit in traffic, trying to get across the river.
I think the focus should be first on reducing the demand for the crossing (provide jobs in Vancouver and Clark County for the 60,000 people now commuting to Portland. It is a significant concern to me that the increased gas tax is supposed to provide $250 million for Vancouver and Clark County and $50 million (20%) of that is allocated to study a new crossing to Oregon.
Preliminary estimates for a new bridge are in excess of $1 billion. After that is spent it, there still remains all the same transportation problems in Vancouver and Clark County that you have today as you try to get around town. We should be looking for ways to get money to develop the necessary transportation infrastructure in Vancouver and the urban growth boundary that will permit Vancouverites to live and work in Vancouver. Let’s substantially reduce the demand side of the I-5 and I-205 congestion.
Further, in order to better balance the capacity, I think much of this industrial development should probably occur on the east side of Vancouver and Clark County. This is based somewhat on the relative available capacity of I-5 vs. I205.
What is your stance on the environment?
We must learn to live within our environmental limits. Satellite photos of the urban forest comparing today to 30 years ago are alarming. Vancouver is beginning to realize the importance of maintaining an adequate canopy and the huge benefits it produces. Recent recommendations to City Council from the Urban Forestry Commission is being acted on and you will be seeing more trees planted on public lands in the next several years. This is also an effort private citizens should join in by planting trees and under story plants in their yards.
This can be accomplished without putting serious constraints on our efforts to proceed with development in the community but does require all of us to be mindful of our environment. Water and air, our two most important needs as far as sustaining life are under substantial pressure. The recent critical areas ordinance I worked on as a Planning Commissioner and that was later approved by the City Council is an important step forward.
While we all enjoy clean air, water and natural beauty, there is more to it.
This is just not feel good thinking. The growth of Autism spectrum disorders is growing faster in the northwest than in other areas of the country. There is emerging theory that our declining environment is a contributor to this. I am genuinely concerned about this.
What would you do differently regarding increasing revenue?
This is extremely difficult as the options available to City Council are limited and the appetite for increased taxes in any form by the citizens of Vancouver is even more limited. While the City can take some short term measures, I believe the focus of the solution has to be long term and must be targeted on having a larger portion of the taxes collected remain local when the total tax burden (federal, state and local) is considered.
What does this mean? We must look more at the net tax impact of how we tax our citizens. For example, increased sales taxes are regressive in nature and until the current tax year did not produce a federal tax deduction so there was more money leaving Vancouver (and the State as a whole) in the form of federal income taxes. If the same amount of money was collected as property tax, it would be a deduction on a federal return and approximately 20% less money would leave the community. To be able to do this will take changes at the state level but the whole state would benefit by increasing property taxes while reducing dependence on sales tax. It would be even more beneficial in Vancouver as a lower sales tax would reduce the sales dollars going to Portland, thus improving the competitive position of our merchants.
Of course, efforts to control and reduce operating costs must continue by City management as well.
Do you support C Tran?
I support C Tran but I think to be successful, they need to address the major weakness they have which is the timeliness of service. If you look at the buses that are generally filled, it is the commuter buses to Portland from the park and ride centers. We need to figure out how to have express buses within Vancouver so that the riders can spend less time wandering through neighborhoods picking up passengers, instead of being moved rapidly to their final destination. The current process adds up to a half hour to the commute from 162nd Avenue to downtown Vancouver. Express bus services between employment centers would likely increase the use and acceptance of C-Tran.
Where do you stand on Parks, Greenways and Urban Trails?
Having been a member of the Vancouver-Clarks Parks and Recreation Commission, I am a strong supporter of Parks and especially urban trails. As we continue to add to the parks and trail systems, we are providing not only a recreational component for our citizens but also a welcome opportunity for the trails as a commuter path as well.
While required to resign from the Parks commission when I was appointed to the Planning Commission, I have remained an interested citizen and have worked with the Parks department to increase the effectiveness of programs and facilities to make them more useful and fun for people with disabilities.
Do you support light rail in Vancouver?
I have used light rail in other cities and it can be a convenient way to get around. I think that Vancouver lacks the urban density to support a light rail system and it would be far too expensive. I think for the same, or less money, we can have a much more meaningful impact on Vancouver traffic by increasing traffic capacity in the area that supports industrial development and express bus service between park and rides and employment centers.
Bob's Biography
Age: 65
Bob has been a life long resident of Vancouver. Born in Salem, his family moved to Vancouver in 1940. He is a product of Vancouver schools, attending Harney Elementary, McLoughlin Middle School and Hudson’s Bay High School. He attended Clark College, receiving an Associates degree in 1960, continued his studies at Portland State University, receiving a B.S. degree in general science 1965. He received an MBA degree from the University of Portland in 1980.Family is very high on his list of priorities, having been married to his wife Rita for 43 years, raising four children (Darren, Dean, Damon and Deanna) and has seven grandchildren, all in Vancouver and Clark County. Rita is a manager at the Juvenile Court and has been employed there for 25 years.
Bob spent over 32 years employed in the corporate office of Freightliner Corporation where he managed four different major programs during his career. These programs included stints managing the Corporate Industrial Engineering Department, managing the Long Range Planning Department for the Manufacturing Division, setting up and managing a cost reduction program for Finance that produced in excess of $20 million in savings annually and finally establishing a corporate-wide training program for manufacturing operations for approximately 12,000 employees. For 25 years, he reported directly to the Senior Vice-president level. He retired from Freightliner in 1998 and in 2000, assumed the position of President and CEO of Innovative Services NW, a local 43 year old non-profit where he continues today. The non-profit provides an array of services to children and adults with a range of disabilities. The agency has an operating budget of $4.7 million and provides local employment to 140 people.
Since retirement from Freightliner, Bob has also been involved in a number of community volunteer activities, including the Vancouver-Clarks Parks and Recreation Commissioner, the parks department Citizens of Disability Steering Committee, the Vancouver Planning Commissioner, the Master Gardner program of WSU, the Neighborwoods program through Urban Forestry, First Place Neighborhood Association and the Community Garden at the CASEE Center that produces over 4,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits that are donated to the an area food bank.
Earlier volunteer activities involving his children include stints as Little League Coach, Boy Scout Scoutmaster, scout service at the District level and Y-Indian Guides leader.
Hobbies include traveling, gardening and reading American History.
Bob and his wife are members of Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish in Vancouver.
Awards:
Caring Hearts Award
Sertoma Service to Mankind