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Ryan Eichelberger’s father taught Eichelberger the value of hard work. And how to use a chainsaw. The family moved to Florence in 1985, when Eichelberger was in kindergarten. A few years later, his father, a veterinarian, bought the property that would become the home of Oceanside Veterinary Clinic. “So he bought some chainsaws, and we cleared the land and we saved a few dollars,” Eichelberger said. “And I always appreciated that as hard work, because that’s what I did. Same thing I teach my four boys. We work hard. Nothing is ever deserved in life. But it can be earned.”

Eichelberger works with seniors and retirees in the health care sector. “So I understand the needs of our seniors because I hear about it daily,” he said. And at the other end, he has four children in the Siuslaw Schools, giving him an understanding of Florence that he said well prepares him to serve as a city councilor. 

Eichelberger would like the city to work harder to fill the vacant buildings on 101 within the city limits, as an alternative to building new construction north of the city. “Is there not a way for us to go before the zoning committee and say, ‘we’ve got this building, we’ve got this developer, this group,’ right, that’s going to come in, instead of it being north of town where it’s outside of city limits, Let’s put it right here in town,” he said.

And it all centers on housing, he said. “The teacher that wanted to come here to teach at the high school is like, ‘Where am I going to live?’ The physician that was going to be the oncologist is like, ‘Well, where am I going to live?’” And while the city council can’t change the costs of housing, it can lower the burden of permitting and change the zoning process to make it easier to build. 

Eichelberger believes the city could ease the red tape for home builders. He imagines a concierge service that would work with builders who are building homes in line with what has already been built in the area. “We’ve got all these other houses that are aligned to those specs. Right. Just give us kind of that similar application, and we will help you through it,” he said. 

Lowering permitting fees, and deferring or reducing other costs, such as road construction, are other options the city could explore to encourage new housing, he said. 

The city needs to grow to support our schools, the hospital and first responders.  But he is concerned that the city is, “doing the same old thing of building these low-income houses that are not necessarily bringing in the physicians, the young families that are going to fill the schools, the families that are going to be the teachers at the school, the people at the fire department, the police department, right? Working-class families is where the growth needs to be focused,” he said. And at the other end, building a few two- and three-million-dollar homes isn’t sufficient either. 

“The growth that I’ve seen is really low-income housing. And that’s not really bringing in the development that I want to see.” 

His 20-plus years of working with seniors, and his day-to-day personal experience of raising four boys is what differentiates him from the other candidates, Eichelberger said. “I just have an interesting perspective because of my current situation, my background and involvement in the community. And ultimately, I will challenge anyone to have more passion than I do when I commit to it.”