December 2016

City Election News
Lake Oswego voters elected Kent Studebaker for another four-year term as mayor, and elected John LaMotte, Theresa Kohloff, and Skip O'Neill to the city council. Voters also affirmed the city council's ban on marijuana sales and production, and approved a housekeeping change to the city charter. In an advisory vote, the overall result was opposition (54%) to creation of a municipal broadband utility. A Clackamas County gas tax was soundly defeated, which was bad news for our street paving program.

New to LO (a new feature of the Payday Newsletter)


Yvonne Steinmetz has joined the Planning & Building Services Department as a Plans Examiner. She has eighteen years experience as a plans examiner for the City of Eugene, and has made the move to our area (she lives in Beaverton) to be closer to family. On a personal level, Yvonne was born in Sacramento and lived in the Bay Area for fifteen years, then moved to Oregon and graduated from high school in Eugene. She has two adult daughters and a 7-year-old granddaughter. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, sewing, and photography.


Paulina Tahran has been a volunteer at the library, and now has joined the staff as a Library Assistant. Paulina grew up in Poland in a small town near Krakow. While there she met her future husband Nick, who was teaching English and who also happens to be the son of LO architect Ralph Tahran. They moved to the Portland area five years ago. Paulina has also been an English teacher and a dog trainer, including training dogs for "Project Pooch," which matches dogs up with juvenile offenders. She and Nick have bought a home in Tualatin. In her free time, Paulina enjoys reading and gardening, and hiking with their three dogs.

Ryan Anderson has joined the Parks staff as Utility Worker, currently assigned to taking care of Millenium and Sundeleaf Parks, among other things. Ryan was born in Lincoln City, and lived for several years in Southern California. He graduated from high school in Lincoln City, and was on the varsity golf team. He and his wife Andrea live in Happy Valley and have a 10-month-old son who keeps them busy; Andrea also has a 12-year-old daughter. Ryan still loves to golf when he can, and also enjoys hunting deer and elk.

Jillian Tucker started work in July as Municipal Court Clerk. She previously worked for Portland's Bureau of Emergency Communications, so was familiar with law enforcement from the dispatch perspective. Jillian was born in Texas and moved around growing up (father in the Army), but ended up in Oregon, including Lake Oswego. She graduated from Tigard High and Portland State University. Jillian and her husband Chris (a butcher with Whole Foods) live in Sherwood, have a 10-month-old daughter, Autumn, and a yellow lab puppy. Jillian enjoys reading and baking (she won the recent dessert bake-off!).

Tom Workman has joined the Engineering Department as Surveyor. Tom worked as a surveyor for Linn County, and then moved to New Mexico, where he worked for a couple of public agencies there. But he's an Oregonian, born and raised in Cottage Grove, and is glad to be back. If you see Tom on crutches, he's recovering from being hit by a car on his 9-mile bicycle commute from his home in King City. Tom and his wife have five children, from ages 11 to 25. Family keeps him busy, but he also enjoys fly fishing and skiing (water and snow). When asked what he likes about working in the Engineering Department, his response is, "the people are amazing." 

Welcome all of you to the City of Lake Oswego!

Writing Tip of the Month from Dr. Grammaticus
Be consistent in using words vs. numerals for numbers. The APA style manual tells you to spell out numbers less than 10 (e.g., eight, nine) and numerals for 10 and above. Under the Chicago style, you spell out numbers all the way up to one hundred, and use numerals for 101 and above. Never do both—as in “the landlord must provide notice within three (3) weeks”—even in legal documents. This is just a throwback to an era before the use of typewriters was widespread.