Katie Armes

Review staff writer

For the first time in more than 20 years, McMinnville will elect a new mayor.
The four candidates are Rick Olson, Wayne Stocks, Stan Primozich and Allen Springer. All have extensive backgrounds in business and city politics, a unique plan for McMinnville and respect for Linfield.
Olson has served on the McMinnville Planning and Budget Committees and as city council president. He
also worked for the McMinnville Fire Department as a firefighter, emergency medical technician and public information officer.
Some of Olson’s priorities are public safety, transportation and fiscal responsibility. He believes the relationship between the city and Linfield is strong, and would like to encourage more student involvement in the community.
“I’d love to see some of the clubs at Linfield adopt some of our smaller city parks and do some of the maintenance and safety-type things,” Olson said.
Stocks also served on the city council, owned his own business for 30 years and worked as a manager for Spirit Mountain Casino.
Combining the Yamhill County Sheriff’s office with the McMinnville Police Department would be one of Stocks’ goals as mayor. This is one of the ways that Stocks plans to decrease costs for the city.
“We cut out all those administrative costs at the top,” Stocks said.
Focusing on transportation improvement projects and working on city infrastructure are also priorities of Stocks.
Although Stocks has been criticized for his support of the sale of McMinnville’s water supply, he neither confirms nor denies his stance on the issue.
“As the mayor, I need to consider it so I can bring it to the electorate,” he said.
Stocks would like to see Linfield students with particular talents or interests in “green” energy become more involved with the city, especially with the Water and Light Commission.
“When we’re going to be short on money as a city, we have these well-educated youth that could bring their expertise to the city and fill a void that we may not be able to fill otherwise,” he said.
Primozich’s background includes business and finance. He has been on the school board for the last 15 years and has been a member of the budget committee, which controls a $52 million budget.
Primozich’s potential priorities as mayor are providing adequate resources for public safety departments and protecting McMinnville’s water and electricity.
“The Water and Light Commission is probably the single most important factor for quality of life in McMinnville,” he said.
Primozich also plans to encourage the involvement of Linfield staff and students in the community. He points out that students bring a steady revenue stream into the city.
Springer served on the city council and at the state level distributing of lottery money to businesses. He is also a lifelong resident of McMinnville.
“I feel like I’ve got a pretty good feel for the pulse of the city,” he said.
Springer is concerned about public safety, transportation and the general economic well-being of the city, but one of his specific plans are to update the airport.
“It doesn’t leave a great impression of what McMinnville is all about,” he said.
Springer agrees that the relationship between Linfield and McMinnville is a positive one.
“This community has a lot of intertwining roots with Linfield, and I just see that going into the future and becoming more profound,” he said.