Charles Maughan for Corvallis City Council.

​Katie Dunne, Passionate believer in democracy and member of UHM's Digital Media Content Crew.

Charles Maughan on his Quest to help his Community; the Men’s Cold Weather Shelter, the Daytime Drop-in Center and Stone Soup; Ward 2; his Campaign and how his job relates to one of the core issues he is running on; the issues of Rent, Homeless families and Affordable housing; Highway 99 South and having Safe Paths for people from South Corvallis to get into town; Getting the community involved in some of the Local Projects; Monthly Meetings in different parts of Ward 2 and reaching out to, being there for and available to the People;
​ Working together to move forward.​

​On September 10th 2018, #WeThePeople spoke with Charles Maughan - who is a progressive candidate running for Corvallis City Council Ward 2.
 
Ashley Terry produced Charles’ campaign video.  It is well made and Charles comes across as very genuine in his desire to help people.  John tells everyone from the get-go that Charles is his friend and was the person responsible for John himself becoming involved with the Oregon Democrats.  He lets us know that as he is biased and personally endorses Charles, this will be a more casual interview than usual.  He adds that Charles has kept him going in a lot of ways, and thanks him for all that he does in the name of democracy.  John then introduces Laura Livengood who explains to newcomers how engagement broadcasting works.  Charles - who has been on the Progressive Oregon show recently too, had originally followed Bernie2016tv, and so reached out to John when he moved to Oregon.
 
Charles is Second Vice-Chair with the Benton County Democrats.  John starts by commenting that that in itself is already a lot of work and wonders why Charles decided to run in this race.  Charles tells us he had decided to do so in 2016 after he got back from Philly, because Bernie had said get involved and run for office.  I ran in 2016 but was just short – he says.  So, the goal still hasn’t changed – he continues.  I still see the same problems in Ward 2 as in 2016.  I’m not going to allow one small defeat stop me from helping my community.  (John says hi to the audience including mutual friends of theirs.)  So Charles filed the papers for his run as soon as he could and initially thought he was running unopposed – as his 2016 opponent is now running for Mayor.  Charles nonetheless wanted to talk to the voters because they are the ones who should be making the decisions - he says, not “we”.  There was an issue in Corvallis around a downtown 2nd Street homeless shelter and Catherine Mater (who had been a city councilor in the 1970s) - unhappy with the decision made with regards to this shelter decided that the city needed better representation and that she would run for City Council herself.  She did indeed file and collected the number of signatures required to be on the ballot, so I don’t know - Charles tells us, whether she turned in a voter (…) statement.  This morning (09.10.2018) was the deadline and according to the Secretary of State’s website she hasn’t raised any money or filed a campaign committee, but she is still going to be on the ballot.
 
Slide:  Picture with the caption: Corvallis homeless center forced to move again.
 
Interesting - says John.  They wonder what that means.  Perhaps - says Charles, she just thinks that people know her name and that’s enough.  However, I won’t run a weak campaign or presume she (isn’t running). I have a campaign committee and I’m doing everything the right way and am out knocking on doors, as are others for me.  We want to reach out to all the voters.
 
Slide:  Photo of Charles and others at a rally in Portland.
 
John shows the above slide simply as an example of how Charles is out and about with the campaign, posting on Facebook and social media, canvassing, sending mailers etc.  He thinks Charles is really going after this on quite a scale and asks him how big a ward is.  Charles explains that there are 9 wards in Corvallis which are broken up by population in an area.  Ward 2 has 2886 voters.  It covers all of the downtown area, many historic homes, affordable housing, low income homes and older homes in South Corvallis.  The previous city councilor only spoke about the downtown area and the historic neighborhood - where he lived, but Ward 2 is more diverse than that.  We have a lot of issues that vary depending on who you are talking to.  Some people are just concerned about their rent, some about jobs, others about property tax, transportation issues, traffic issues, parking issues … John says that Charles’ campaign video reflected that.  He may not be dealing with a large group of people perhaps, but he is dealing with diverse issues – he says.  John continues - Tell everybody what you do for a living because it’s kind of related to dealing with one of the core issues.  Very related – Charles agrees.  I’m a property manager for an affordable housing complex.  (I actually) took on a couple of other properties, and all my properties are designated for seniors and persons with disabilities.  So these are very, very low-income people, who if it wasn’t for these projects would be homeless themselves.  They are just like everybody else, just trying to survive and get by and have some sort of enjoyment out of life.  The average person that I interact with usually survives off of about a thousand dollars a month. John takes that in quietly.  That’s very low income - continues Charles.  These are people that have worked a good portion of their lives and end up having some sort of accident/issue or becoming disabled and now they are living off of social security and (yet) some people like to treat them like they are just lazy. They are not!  They have had careers, education, families.  One of them – he’s a great guy, always tells me that we are all one incident, accident, illness away from disaster in life.  We are all in the same boat.  Yes - John replies, and I think we all see that more and more.  I’m personally in that boat.  Same here - says Charles.  If I lost my job today, I don’t have enough money to move or to sustain myself long-term.  I have some money in savings but I definitely wouldn’t say I’m well off.  So on that note - says John, what is going on with the homeless shelter?  Tell us that story.
 
So - says Charles, there is an organization called HOAC (Housing Opportunities Action Council).  Their job was to find a location for the Men’s Cold Weather Shelter which is opened every winter, because as everyone in Oregon knows it can get very cold here.  We want to save lives.  They found a location - a perfect one, in downtown Corvallis on 2nd Street where you already find many people who are without a house.  There is a restroom there and the services they need are in that area.  So HOAC wanted to bring together 3 different services – the Daytime Drop-in Center – where you can have coffee in the morning and snacks and basic necessities throughout the day; Stone Soup which provides meals for families and many others and the Men’s Cold Weather Shelter.  All these services were to be in one location.  I thought it was a fantastic idea, and many others did also.  The problem was that the location chosen was situated literally right behind one of the buildings owned by my opponent Catherine Mater and she didn’t want the shelter there.  Many of her friends and other business owners did not want it downtown either.  Charles goes on to tell us that he heard ridiculous stories that he doesn’t think are true, with people verbally attacking the homeless community saying that this group of men were dangerous drug addicts, alcoholics and out of control.  He tells us that he says good morning to people all the time, that he rides his bike down the riverfront where many of them are spending the morning and that he has never had an issue.  Granted - he continues, I’m a man and I’m larger so that does play into it, but they’re polite.  I haven’t even had anybody be rude to me.  In response to John’s question, Charles says that although the cold weather shelter was only open in winter (as distinct from the other two services) and might have been kept open a little longer, the address was meant to be a permanent location for that temporary night-time shelter.  Charles volunteered at the shelter last winter and shrugs when telling us that some people do come in intoxicated.  Who knows what I’d do if I were living on the street – he says.  Anyway, they would come in and they were happy to have a warm meal and bed and a safe place to sleep.  I think we all want that - right?  It’s a shelter you go into at night and if you leave you are not allowed to come back in until the morning.  So - says Charles, even with their arguments about the men being dangerous, doesn’t that make it safer at night - when they are in the shelter?   Makes sense to me - says John.  They both agree that this is not about safety.  Catherine Mater threatened a law suit on the city and I don’t even know if she has dropped that yet – Charles says.  She and several businesses had a meeting with HOAC, the city and some others that were involved and ended up moving the (Men’s) Cold Weather Shelter to where it had been the previous winter - Hanson Tire Factory in South Corvallis.  This is not necessarily a terrible location, but the big thing they fought about downtown was that nobody in their neighborhood had been consulted and yet they didn’t talk to anybody in the Hanson Tire Factory area.  They were fine with that.  It’s great the cold weather shelter is still going to have a place and these people will be kept warm and safe, but the part that really upsets me about all this is that the other two services couldn’t move into that building without the shelter and became homeless as a result.  John comments on the above and Charles emphasizes that he is not trying to talk bad about Catherine Mater and whatever kind of campaign she is running or who she really is as a person, but this particular decision he feels was not representative of the people that he knows.  It doesn’t represent his views or his desires for Corvallis.  We hand out a letter every Saturday and we had nearly 200 signatures on it showing support for that downtown location – he says.  I feel that the community at-large wanted that shelter.  John points out that Charles is running for office, but that he isn’t and that what she is doing is just shitty.  He wonders if the only reason she is running (if she is) is so that she gets to have her way with the homeless shelter.  Charles doesn’t know.
 
Slide:  (Article entitled) County hires facilitator to clear the air on the homeless plan.
 
What’s the story with the facilitator – John asks.  The county – Charles replies, has hired a mediator to bring all the parties together.  However it’s not all the parties, because I personally haven’t been invited.  I’m a community member and I’m sure many other community members haven’t been invited (either).  Anyway this is in an effort to communicate and try to find common ground.  That sounds great until you hear that the county spent something like $22,000 to hire this person.  We could build a long-term shelter with some of that money.  That money could also go towards feeding people or providing better services to the community.  John agrees.  Meanwhile - he tells us, as of 2017 in Benton County, 4 out of 10 renters are paying more than 50% of their income for rent.  Nearly one student in each classroom was homeless in 2016-17.  These are children!  Their families don’t have homes and can’t afford apartments.  There are not enough affordable apartments in Benton.  This is Benton County.  So $22,000 … and we can’t house our children!  Charles and John agree that the shelter is still only a band aid.  It isn’t even addressing the “why” of homelessness or coming up with a real solution for it.  We need to start thinking big – Charles says.  We need to think long-term.  We need more affordable housing.  For every hundred families with extremely low income there are only 16 affordable units available.  Why aren’t we building more?  Why isn’t everything, every person, every organization coming together and saying we can fix this!  We are only going to fix it by working together, not by pointing fingers, blaming someone else and not communicating with the community. 
 
Laura tells John that Holly is answering some questions in chat and that people there are sending Charles compliments.  He is a smart, hard-working, compassionate leader (– she reads).  Well said (Eugene) - she says.
 
Another issue that Charles would like to do something about is Highway 99 South.  It’s a dangerous road and they have long trucks and people speeding down it all the time.  The speed limit is supposed to be 35 miles per hour, and closer to downtown it slows down to 25 mph but nobody does that speed.  Charles says that even 35 mph is too fast.  A young man died crossing the street on June 27th.  He talks about a plan that has been around for 15 years, to develop some paths through South Corvallis into town. There is one that already exists that people just use anyway, but what they wanted was to have it developed.  And it is (still) not done – partly for reasons of red tape and partly for environmental reasons!  I care about and am passionate about the environment – you know that John, but we also have to take steps to create things to make people’s lives better and having safe paths for people from South Corvallis to get into town is critical. The two discuss the complications for motorists of 35 mph on that stretch of road, and how crazy it is that this has not been resolved after 15 years.   Charles is for a multi-purpose path.  Now - he says, there is talk of buying up a section of unused railway down in South Corvallis and (converting that).  These are great ideas but we need to move forward.  Charles would like to get the community involved in some of the local projects with the aim of improving their parks and neighborhoods and safety in general.  We can solve all of this - he says.
 
So – John says, your intention is to push for more progressive changes and find out what is holding things up in the City Council and to push (those projects) forward?  The real way to do so – Charles replies, is not by me pushing them forward.  It’s by letting everyone in Ward 2 know about the issues and getting everyone together to stand up and say we want this and let’s do it.  You are claiming that if you win the race you would continue to speak with your constituents – John teases?  Absolutely - says Charles.  I plan on having monthly meetings in different parts of Ward 2 because there are a number of neighborhoods … small community events where I meet the people, much as I am presently doing with my campaign.  Tomorrow I will be downtown with my campaign for a community event.  I’m going to bring the community together.  John thinks that that is fantastic and comments on Charles’s Bernie Sanders-like campaign and remarks that every time he sees a candidate do such things, it brings positive change to a community.  Charles adds that many people he talks to don’t know who their city councilor (who is 6 years in office in this case) even is!  Neither do I - says John. Charles thinks they should know, and agrees when John says that the city councilor should have taken the time to get to know the people. 
 
Why should people in Ward 2 vote for you Charles – John asks?  You should do so – Charles replies (speaking directly to the people of Ward 2), because I’m here to represent you and the issues that matter to you.  I will be your voice on that city council.  I will take phone calls from you, will respond to emails and meet you in your neighborhood.  I’m not going to expect you to come to me.  John adds that what he likes about this is that Charles really could get to know everybody in Ward 2.  Sure - says Charles.  Absolutely!  I’m getting to know a lot of them already and I have over the last 2 years.  When he ran in 2016 - Charles says, he knew so few people that it was a challenge to even get enough signatures to be on the ballot then.  This time that was not the case.  So it was helpful to have run before even though you didn’t win – John asks?  Charles replies that that is so and that he learned a lot.  Since his write-in campaign to become a precinct committee person in 2016, he has continued to get involved with the county party.  After his loss he became a member of the Community Relations Advisory Group for the City (of Corvallis) and he has tried to be a voice there.  He also got involved at a State level.  He just dove in and although it sounds kind of cheesy – he says, this has become his hobby.  How does he make time given that he works a full-time job and is a dad and grandfather?  Sometimes it is hard to balance – he says, but he doesn’t spend much time watching T.V. these days.  A good citizen makes a hobby of democracy – John says, and is driven by passion for said hobby.  Charles wants everyone to know that it’s not as scary as it sounds.  It’s scary that first time you stand up and speak publicly in front of 20 or 100 people, but it gets a little easier and you (come to) realize that everybody in the room - regardless of party,  generally (share) your values and your ideas.  You get to know them and you realize that they are there to support you.  If you want to help, they are happy to help you.  That’s because they are not the ones running – John says, and they laugh good-naturedly.  After that it is mostly a question of learning to say no, which is hard because I want to help everyone – Charles tells us.  His wife and friends remind him that he should do so once in a while.  I have gotten better at that - he says.  When you’re told you are the Councilor of Ward 2 (I hope) you won’t say no – John asks? No - says Charles, I will happily accept that! 
 
Charles still has a few things he wants to mention…
 
Today (09.10.2018) is World Suicide Prevention Day.  Here he credits his wife and says that individuals are always being told to reach out to someone if they need help, but it’s not the individual’s job to reach out – he says, it’s for us to notice that they need that help.  We have to be more accountable to our friends and neighbors.  We need to reach out to people.  If someone (around you) suffers from depression, go see if they are okay.  See if there is anything you can do to help them out.  If you haven’t heard from them in a while, definitely do so.
 
Charles goes on to thank a number of people.  It is not easy to run a campaign – he says.  I have an entire group of people that are supporting me and I want to thank them all (including) my campaign manager Ron Gibbons; Holly Shutta – my treasurer and my wife who is in chat right now; my events coordinator … and Catherine Sterns if you are watching I hope you heal up fast (She had a fall he explains); one of my graphic designers Erin Fox; platform editor Cassie Nix; my photographers Michael Helberg and Ron Boker;  Ashley Terry – for his fantastic video work (Check out his YouTube channel everybody.  There’s great work on there); my social media volunteer coordinators Heather Bishop and Justin Brice; artist Bryan Heath and all the others.  Thanks for your time and support.  I couldn’t do this without you guys.  John jokingly says that he will have to repeat all that when he wins, and Charles answers that it’ll be a longer list then.  He then thanks anybody who has donated to his campaign, saying that campaigns are about talking to people but that you have to have something in your hands to be able to do that.  If anybody (else) is willing to donate to my campaign - he says, go to https://electmaughan.com/ I (do) appreciate that, even if it’s just $10.    
 
Slide and photo:  Twitter:  @CFMaughan
                               FACEBOOK: facebook.com/charles.maughan
       Campaign link as above and donation link in the video description.
 
John invites people to help Charles on the ground if they can, or to help with money or on social media otherwise.  He thanks him for coming on the show and running again in Ward 2.  Charles thanks Uphill Media and the two men discuss how “Robert’s Rules” and “How the DPO works” – seemingly dull topics that are explained in other videos on UHM, are in fact very useful when one understands enough about them, and when one is in a meeting where things aren’t going right or they are not representing the point you are trying to make.  It’s great to know what to say to move things (forward).
 
John finishes by telling us that Markus (who also knows Charles) chose the outro, because although Charles chose some good songs himself, there are a lot of problems with censorship these days and it is harder and harder to find songs that can be used.  They are targeting songs that are about rebellion, revolution… The outro is The ghost of Tom Joad with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello.  It is based on The Ballad of Tom Joad which is a poem by Woody Guthrie about The Depression.

​Volunteer for or donate to Charles if you can.  Good luck on November 6th Charles Maughan!

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