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Reneé Lo Pilato remembers the night the Florence City Council debated the use of Flock cameras in the city. It was, as she described it, a contentious discussion, with the majority of public comment against the cameras. In the end, the council voted 3-2 in favor of the cameras. But it wasn’t the vote that stuck with her. It was the comments of two of the council members describing the commenters as activists. “And they’re not. They’re community members, including me. Community members who submitted public and written comments as we want on such a contentious issue,” she said. 

That was the moment when she decided she’d like to be on the city council, Lo Pilato said. 

Lo Pilato has 45 years of public service, primarily in education.  “I’ve taught at high schools and community colleges and universities. I’ve been a faculty member, a program community program coordinator, and a dean,” she said.  And she was a millwright apprentice in Eugene. “There is nothing more exciting than being up in a front-end loader, when you’re a small person with a hard hat and a tool belt.”

She moved to Florence five years ago and has served on the city’s planning commission for three years and attended city council meetings for the past four years, she said.

She believes her experience well prepares her for the job of a city council member. “I feel that I have a very good grasp of the different segments of the community, and what the concerns of the community are.”

The high costs of gas, housing, and food concern her, as do cuts in health care. “We’re not exempt from any of that. And we have an historic election going on right now. We have 11 candidates running for all the city council seats, and the mayor slot,” Lo Pilato said. 

The city is currently working with an outside consultant who is reviewing the city’s budget and will offer recommendations to the council. And Lo Pilato wants to be in the room for those discussions.

She believes the city should add staff to the building department. “I’ve heard a lot of folks talk about permitting and how long it takes to do that,” she said. And the city could use a professional part-time grant writer to bring in more outside dollars, Lo Pilato said. She also believes the city should commit to no new fees or taxes over the next two-year budget cycle. 

The Elm Park Apartments and daycare center can be a model for how the city can build more low-income housing.  “If we want a workforce here that’s going to stay year-round, we need to provide them with housing that works for their income level, and we need to provide year-round living wages.” The city can make housing a priority by streamlining the process, and reviewing zoning and design restrictions, she said. 

Along with housing, Lo Pilato, like every candidate, wants to strengthen the local economy. Lo Pilato believes the city can work with the local chamber of commerce to grow the city beyond the tourism industry. A first step could be to create a roundtable discussion with the chamber, the city and business leaders. “I’m not an economic analyst, but we have people in town who are. We have people in the city who are. And we have people in the chamber who are,” she said.    

She is not looking to change the way the city is operating. “I don’t know about changing anything. That’s not the verb that I would use,” she said. She wants to be part of the process looking at goals for the city moving forward. 

“What are our priorities? That is the question that’s going to be before the city council and the mayor. That is why I’m running, because I want to be not only in that process, but I can help with the process.”