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Lincoln City diversifies its economy
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Lori Hollingsworth, mayor of Lincoln City for eight years, is credited with bringing livability and green initiatives (like a new LEED-certified library) to town.
Lori Hollingsworth, who was mayor for eight years, explains that where the start-up money comes from is not as important as the way all the players in Lincoln City have worked together to make things happen. The focus groups keep the community involved. The city council is open to unusual ideas — like starting a culinary center in a city that previously had not been thought of as a foodie destination.

In the past eight years more than 20 projects that cost more than $100,000 have been generated which saw the city collaborating with a variety of partners, including a new childcare center, affordable housing, an upgraded bus system, and an incubator program to provide reduced rent to start-up businesses.

Still, Hollingsworth believes much of the credit goes to city manager David Hawker. “He’s the man with broad shoulders who takes risk and does a lot of heavy lifting,” Hollingsworth says. “He’s not a dynamic character, he just gets the job done. Some people work by sheer personality and charisma. That’s not him. He’s just smart.”

Hawker is quick to acknowledge that Lincoln City is doing well. He says the city’s infrastructure has been steadily improving, whereas in cities across the country basic and vital services are declining. Tourism is generally measured by how many lodging dollars are generated and those dollars have increased in Lincoln City by 23% in the last six years. In 2010, the gross room revenue was $46 million. But Hawker’s not interested in taking credit. “The community, the city council, and the city management have been willing to take some risk, and do things that aren’t a given,” Hawker says. “And we’ve been pretty successful. I think that’s what’s different about Lincoln City. We’re unusual for a community this small.”

 
 

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JDaschel
0 #1 Correction to your opening paragraph — JDaschel 2011-03-28 09:16:13
There are at least 2 resident families in Lincoln City who drive electric vehicles, we own one of them. We are supporters of the EV charging stations not because we need them (we charge in our garages) but because there will be a large influx of EV-owners in the Willamette Valley in the next couple years, who will need a place for charging when they enjoy the coast. We welcome them to Lincoln City!
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Cathleen Shea
0 #2 Cathleen Shea 2011-03-29 17:31:11
NW Natural Gas awarded Lincoln City the "First Smart Energy City" award in April 2010.

The EPA rated Lincoln City a "Green Power Community" in 2009; one of only eight cities, nationwide, at the time.

City-Data.com says the median household income in Lincoln City was $6695 in 2008. The median salary for Oregon was over $50711.

QualityInfo.org, Oregon Employment Dept’s website, talks about wage inequality in Oregon. They say out of the $63 billion dollars earned in Oregon in 2009, much of that money went to high wage earners vs. minimum wage earners. A different story than Ms. Margulis' article begins to emerge.

COLA increases on my pension are 2-3% per year. Maybe 17% over the mentioned time span. Am I better off? What about the cost of inflation compared to salary increases?

What about infrastructure? Mr. Hawker threatened to cut off the water to five families on city water because "it's too expensive to repair the line that runs in front of their homes." God save anyone trying to run a business from their home when the water gets cut off.

There are a lot of "neat" projects that have been done in town. They are scattered projects that show no specific goal to the commitment of the long term needs of this city -- needs like a water system that doesn’t lose 30% of its water between the plant and the faucet.

If we keep talking about the surface things that draw people to this town, but do not address the needs of the full time citizens. There will be no town to visit for a vacation.

Thanks for writing the article. It made look up real facts about my town.
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