Yalow running for seat

Former Councilman Mike Yalow is making another run for a seat on the council so he can complete projects he was unable to finish in the past.

He is one of five candidates seeking two, four-year seats on the Nov. 6.

The others are Councilmen Jim Paschall and Bruce Roundy and former council members Marjorie Palmer and Salina Edwards.

Mayor Wade Elliott is not seeking re-election.

Yalow served on the Orland City Council from 2000-08, but was not re-elected when he ran in 2008.

He said "misinformation" from the unsuccessful recall of the council in 2007 likely played a role in his defeat.

The recall stemmed from the council's decision to disband the city's Planning Commission because it did not follow proper protocol, according to the city's legal counsel, which led to legal actions.

Yalow has remained active in city and county government circles presently serving as a commissioner on the Orland Economic Development Commission and as a member of the Joint City/County Economic Development Steering Committee.

He also is a member of the Glenn County Resource Conservation District Board and works with a number of other organizations in the area.

Projects he wants to help move forward include continued arundo removal along Stony Creek to protect surrounding subdivisions from fire danger, construction of a new community center since he was instrumental in starting that conversation a few years ago, and to see something done with Orland police station, Yalow said.

"I think we (the council) jumped the gun," he said, when the city purchased the old Purity Market building for the city's new emergency center six years ago.

At that time, construction was booming and city officials thought the remodel would move forward, but it did not as the economy took a nose dive.

Yalow said he believes the city is on sound financial ground at this time, so he has no major concerns about that issue.

He also thinks it has "a great city manager (Peter Carr)," whom he believes would be fun to work with if he is elected.

"(Carr) is an intelligent person with common sense," Yalow said.

As for growth, Yalow said he is not an advocate for great population growth in Orland.

"I think it has the capacity for 10,000 to 15,000 people," he said, enough to keep its small-town identity while allowing business activity to expand.

He said Orland's population of about 7,500 is a "hard sell" to many corporate companies because it is not enough population to recruit them and support them.

But if it had a 10,000 to 15,000 population, that is viable for bringing many more stores and companies here, Yalow said.

In working with businesses like Crystal Geyser, Yalow said he was accused of a conflict of interest by opponents of the company's water bottling plant coming to Orland.

He said he never worked for the company, but did try to help them relocate to Glenn County.

Yalow added, many businesses are adapting to new plans of operation, and are embracing a new era of fast communications to help them succeed in a global market.

He said he advocates creating public and private partnerships between local government and business to help the community grow — particularly since most local governments do not have the funds they once had.

Repairing the economy also will take work, he said, along with time.

"The community also has to step up," Yalow said, and tell the council what it wants the body to do for the community. "People cannot sit back and expect the government to do things without it knowing what they want."

Yalow is a retired businessman who also studied local governmental policy and governance procedures through the Harvard University Kennedy School of Governance and other institutes in the past, he said.

Editor's Note:

This is the first in a series of interviews of Orland City Council candidates.