Six people are running for four seats on the Nyssa City Council.
Incumbents Roberto Escobedo, Juan Ramos, Ron Edmonson, and Patricia Esplin and challengers Marie Ballard and Mark Shuster are vying for the open seats in the Nov. 5 election.
The top three finishers among the six candidates will serve four-year terms, while the fourth place will serve two years. The mayor of Nyssa is appointed from among the city councilors. All city councilors will begin their term Jan. 1. The current mayor is Betty Holcomb. A new mayor is selected among the newly-elected council members every two years.
Of the candidates, Escobedo and Shuster provided interviews, while Ballard answered a list of questions by email. The others did not respond to repeated requests by phone, text, and email before press time.
Mark Shuster
Shuster, 60, a sheet metal worker and former volunteer firefighter with the Nyssa Fire Department, made an unsuccessful bid for a council seat in 2022. Shuster said community service is important to him and his family.
His father served on the Nyssa council.
Shuster said he wants to help the community in any way he can, especially since he can no longer volunteer for the fire department.
Shuster said budget issues that have been exacerbated by inflation concern him. He said it’s important that the city stays on track with doing what it needs to without raising fees or taxes.
“I’m just sick and tired of taxes myself, quite honestly,” Shuster said. “I think they need to go away, but that’s not going to happen.”
Having never served in public office, Shuster said being a city councilor would be a “learning experience.”
Shuster said his father was the mayor at one time. He said he knows several former Nyssa mayors. Shuster said he would seek advice about addressing matters in the city, keeping within a budget and avoiding asking residents to pay more taxes.
Shuster said he is concerned about the conditions of the town’s roads. He said they are in poor shape and need attention.
He said that if the Nyssa Police Department adds another police officer, he wants that officer to patrol roads that are not “horrendous.”
Shuster said he recognizes that there needs to be a give-and-take between the councilors.
“If you don’t compromise,” he said, “you don’t get anything done.”
He said councilors need to work together.
“I’m definitely not a politician,” he said.
Shuster said he’s not sure how he would address some issues, but he thinks he has a level head, given his background in construction and working with different personalities.
Shuster said that he has lived in Nyssa for over 40 years and has a “strong sense of community.”
Roberto Escobedo
Escobedo, 41, seeks a second term after being elected in 2020. Born and raised in Nyssa, Escobedo said he thinks he has done good work over the last four years that he wants to continue.
He said his work includes asking “hard questions” and representing underserved communities in the city. For example, he noted Latinos make up more than half of Nyssa’s population, but there is hardly a voice for them when it comes to local government.
Escobedo said he doesn’t just represent the Latino community but all underserved communities in town.
He serves on the board of the League of Oregon Cities, a lobbying organization that advocates for cities. He said he is also on the board of the Oregon Human Development Corp., an organization that supports economic advancement for farmworkers and other underserved communities throughout the state.
One of the biggest problems facing Nyssa is getting resources to city departments without raising fees for its citizens, according to Escobedo.
He said the Nyssa Fire Department needs another truck. He said he and other councilors are looking for ways to generate revenue without burdening the citizens.
During his term, councilors did vote for a public safety fee. He and the other councilors compromised on an affordable rate for the community. Coming to that compromise wasn’t easy, Escobedo said.
“It’s hard,” he said.
Escobedo said he listened to the police officers, his constituents and City Manager Jim Maret to find a balance that would work for everyone.
“It was difficult to make that decision,” he said, “because I didn’t want to lose offices to other departments just because we couldn’t give them a raise.”
Ultimately, the police officers got a raise and it “worked out,” he said.
Another pressing issue in Nyssa is the lack of affordable housing, according to Escobedo.
He said a developer is working on a property in Nyssa, but the town needs to see more builders to entice more people to move into the area and fund its public entities.
“To make more revenue,” he said, “we gotta have more people coming.”
Marie Ballard
The Enterprise was unable to schedule a phone interview. However, she emailed the following:
Ballard, 44, said she is a “lifelong” Nyssa resident. She said she graduated from Nyssa High School in 1999. She earned degrees in sociology and social work from Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa. She said she is currently attending the College of Idaho.
She said she is a mother first and a medical social worker second.
She said her parents were business owners who relied on a “varied customer base and city support to make their endeavors successful.”
Her “philosophy for board membership brings the same values.”
“There is a fine line between supporting business and protecting residential needs and growth areas,” she said.
She said Nyssa has seen growth, excelling schools and new residents.
Ballard said she wants to focus on “bringing professionalism to the board.” She said she also wants to support “new ideas for the city” while enforcing current ordinances. Ballard said there could be a need for new ordinances.
“Ultimately,” she said, “I want to pursue uniting individuals who make Nyssa home.”
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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