Why run for State Rep?

As I walk the streets of State House District 15 (Albany, Millersburg. Tangent, Lewisburg and Adair Village), I am some times asked “Why do you want that thankless job?”  This usually brings a flash-back to a time almost 40 years ago. 

I looked out my upstairs bathroom window to see a wizened little man peering up at the backside of our house.  Asking what he was doing, he responded that it was only a routine survey the City as doing to evaluate the neighborhood.

I thought no more about it until a neighbor on the planning commission, Larry Whitaker, told me that the City was planning an urban renewal project.  He further told me that our neighborhood was being condemned.  Looking at the map, I saw that most of our old neighborhood was deemed to be substandard.  Our house, built in 1888 and one of the oldest was classified as beyond hope and irreparable.

In general, the 1970 urban renewal plan was to tear down everything from Railroad St. to Elm St. between Water Ave. and 9thAve.  The business district was to become a shopping mall and the residential areas were to become high rise apartments.  Living in the area, and liking the ambiance of the old town, I thought this urban renewal plan was a particularly bad idea and complained about it to any and all who would listen.

Hearing my complaints, one of my coworkers at the Albany Research Center, Dick Meier,  went to City Hall and unknown to me signed me up to run for City Councilman.  As luck would have it, I won the seat in 1972 and again in 1976.  With the urban renewal plan still unresolved, I ran for Mayor in 1978 and became Albany’s Mayor. 

As you can see if you visit downtown Albany, my old house at 732 Broadalbin St. still stands despite the wizened old mans predictions and the 1970 urban renewal never happened.  In addition I am pleased to say that the City has now embarked on a new, more enlightened urban renewal plan that features historic preservation.  Surprisingly to some, but not to me the old downtown neighborhoods have become a model for new efficient planning.   Albany has been recommended by This Old House magazine as one of the best places nationwide to buy a historic old house.

It’s now ancient history, but some still thank me for my efforts to keep Central School open, to keep the Carnegie Library functioning and for preventing destruction of the downtown in general.  I tell those that question the thanklessness of public service that the pay may be low, but that for me outcome has been extremely rewarding.   When elected, I plan to promote similarly sensible ideas.

 

 

Democrat Herald archives for Aug. 24 page C5

I read with a certain irony your article “Candidates tally their war chests” on page C5 of the Sunday, August 24 issue.  The article implies that Democratic candidates are rolling in dough furnished by the State Democratic Party and that their Republican opponents are in the poor house.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

As far as I know, no Democratic candidate has or will receive any financial help from the state Democratic Party or any of its big guns.  State Democratic money goes to the favored few, and that sure isn’t in Linn County.  In the past, Democrats (John Donovan and Joe Novak come to mind) came close, but didn’t win for lack of financial support.

If you want the facts on campaign finances, go to the state web site “oregonvotes.org” and punch “public search” under the star.  Although my opponent has the capability to outspend me by more than 100 to 1, my hope is that the message means more than the money.  If any of you would like to help me get my message out, see my web site at dickolsen.org.

 

 

October 5, 2005 Albany Democrat Hearld

Saving Central from the wrecking ball

By Dick Olsen. The mayor of Albany referred to in this story, Olsen is now a city councilman for Ward I.

 

At dusk on a cold, rainy December afternoon, the mayor stood brooding at his dining room window.

Having recently lost his 1980 mayoral re-election campaign, he pondered how things might have been different. He was roused from these thoughts as his seventh-grade daughter burst into the room.

"Dad," she yelled, "they're going to tear down Central."

"Oh Rachel," he grumbled, "I've got enough on my mind without your telling me junk like that."

"It's true," she said, "They sent the kids home with notes saying they didn't have to come back until after Christmas if the parents are worried about the condition of the building."

The mayor called his neighbor, Dave Wilborn, to see if the Wilborn kids had brought home the notes. They had — the kids could stay home and the school board would meet the next day to hear an engineer's report on the earthquake resistance of the building.

The mayor asked what time the meeting would take place. "Doesn't say," Dave said. "If it's any help, the same architect designed the school as designed our house. His name was Charles Burggraf."

Pressing the issue

Although his relationship with the publisher of the local paper could be described as rocky at best, the mayor got on OK with the reporters, who usually gave him the benefit of the doubt in their stories. He called the Democrat-Herald and was fortunate enough to get reporter Patrick O'Neill, who didn't know a board meeting had been scheduled but was then able to find out it was set for the curiosly early time of 7 a.m.

The next day, Dec. 11, the mayor got to the district office at the appointed time. There he found the board members, the superintendent, the administrative assistant, a secretary or two and the consulting engineer, William W. Wilson from Eugene. The mayor was the lone member of the public to attend.

The only subject of the meeting was the engineer's report on Central School. It stated, "We recommend that the district move as soon as possible toward the abandonment and removal of Central School."

Wilson said he had come to this conclusion after extensively examining the building and finding that the walls were made of brick and that the floor and ceiling joists sat in niches, unanchored to the walls. Wilson's conclusion was that a moderate earthquake would dislodge the joists from their niches and the building would collapse. The board took this news with equanimity and nodded their assent.

The mayor observed these proceedings with dismay. Central School, built in 1915, was a mainstay of Albany's historic, downtown neighborhood. His kids had had a great time going to school there. Its four-square-block grounds provided the only real open park space in the area. Loss of Central School would have a devastatingly negative effect on the revitalization of Albany's downtown neighborhoods.

Although the board showed no concern and had no questions, the mayor did.

He asked if a study of rehabilitation versus replacement had been made. It had not.

He asked if methods of reinforcing the building had been considered. They had not.

He then stated that in his experience during eight years on the Albany City Council, if management wanted to do something, they would bring in a consultant from as far away as possible and at as high expense as feasible and have that consultant tell them what they wanted to hear.

The mayor said he doubted there was anything wrong with Central School and that they were pure and simple looking for an excuse to tear it down. He also suggested that the neighborhood be consulted. The board seemed to take umbrage at his questions and suggestions, and closed the meeting without reply.

In the 1970s, Albany had a system of city-sponsored groups to discuss and propose solutions to neighborhood problems. The mayor called a meeting of neighbors in the Central School area and about 100 people showed up. He recounted his unfortunate experience at the unadvertised 7 a.m. meeting with the school board. A hat was passed and over $200 was collected. It was decided that the neighborhood should contest condemnation of Central School and that an engineer of their own should be hired to inspect the building.

This was done, and the engineer reported that it would be an easy matter to fasten the floor and ceiling joists to the brick walls and make the building adequately safe from any quakes that might be expected in this area. This was reassuring news, but the time was fast approaching that the board was to render its decision on the fate of the school.

Architectural artifacts

Sitting at his desk, writing a report on the reaction kinetics of calcined clay in hydrochloric acid, it occurred to the mayor that his good friend Lee Rohrbough might have an insight into how Burggraf had designed his buildings in 1915.

Lee was the proprietor of Rohrbough's Furniture and a truly good steward of the physical remains and stories of Albany's past. He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of Albany history and was an excellent storyteller.

"I've found a drawing of the school," Rohrbough told the mayor. "It's drawn in perspective, it's landscaped, the flag is flying and there are kids walking around."

Burggraf's rendering of the proposed Central School was impressive at 30-by-15 inches and finished in watercolor. It would have been larger, but portions of the top and left-hand side had been burned away.

As they were admiring this wonderful drawing, Rohrbough pointed to another smaller sketch that he had also found. This drawing was done in ink, partly with drafting tools and partly freehand. The wording was rendered in cursive rather than the usual lettering used by engineers and architects in their final drawings. There was a word in the upper left-hand corner neither man could make out.

"Can I take this drawing and make some copies?" asked the mayor. Lee said that would be fine with him.

That very evening was the time set by the school board to render its verdict on the fate of Central School. The meeting was well attended, with neighbors packing the school board's meeting room.

The neighbors made a strong presentation as to how the school was important to their neighborhood and should be repaired if need be. Doug Moore spoke eloquently about the need for a grade school within walking distance if a neighborhood was to be healthy. Doug Clark described the neighborhood's engineer's findings and how he would propose to strengthen the building by bolting the walls to the ceiling and floor joists. The board sat in stolid silence.

When his turn came, the mayor explained that Charles Burggraf had been a prominent architect in Oregon who had designed many buildings, including buildings still in use on the OSU campus.

The mayor handed out copies of the smaller drawing he had gotten from Rohrbough and asked if any of the board members could read the longhand writing in the upper left corner of the page.

After an extended silence, someone mumbled, "I think it says anchors."

"I think it says anchors too," said the mayor, "and it's my opinion that you need to get another consultant to look at those anchors."

Upon further review ...

A few days later while returning to work after lunch, the mayor saw D-H reporter O'Neill coming out of Central School. O'Neill told him CH2M had inspected the building and found anchors securing the walls to floor joists, ceiling joists and rafters.

The CH2M report by Lee J. Eick and Robert L. Morrison of Dec. 19, 1980, also recommended that some further evaluation of the roof diaphragm be done. A possible need for more anchors and some realignment of truss elements above the gym could also be investigated. They suggested that this could be done in the next two to five years and reported that the building was plenty safe for use as a grade school.

The year ended. The mayor handed over his gavel to the new mayor and thanked the city council for its support in passing a resolution for the preservation of Central School. The neighbors heaved a sigh of relief, believing that all was now well with Central.

However, the superintendent had another card up his sleeve: He called in the state fire marshal to inspect the building.

The superintendent may have been disappointed, because the fire marshal found only two minor improvements to suggest. First, he asked that an auxiliary air supply be furnished to the boiler room to supply the new gas boiler that had recently been installed, and second, he recommended that fire curtains be installed on the trusses above the gymnasium to slow the spread of fire if one should break out in the overhead space.

The fire curtains were installed and the air source was provided to the boiler room. However, as far as the ex-mayor can determine, nothing was ever done to improve the roof diaphragm, nor was there further inspection of the need for more anchors as recommended in the CH2M report.

Strangely, no school district records seem to exist of the W.W. Wilson report, the CH2M report, the state fire marshal's report, or a report by maintenance supervisor Jim Grossnicklaus that Central School had the lowest heating bills and the lowest maintenance costs of any building in the district.

Guardian angels

When school resumed after Christmas, the mayor asked Lee Rohrbough how he had happened to have the drawings.

"I was driving past Burggraf's old house," said Rohrbough, "when I saw a friend of mine hauling stuff out. I went in to see what was left and found a large pile of architectural drawings.

"‘Where are these going?' I asked. ‘To the dump,' said the friend. ‘And you can take any or all of them if you like.'"

Against his better judgment, Rohrbough took the whole stack to his attic storeroom.

"Central's guardian angels must have been flying mighty low this Christmas," said the ex-mayor.