This year, the SAFE Corvallis Steering Committee invited all of the Corvallis City Council and Mayoral candidates to apply to become endorsed by SAFE Corvallis. While we are confident that every candidate wants safe streets in Corvallis, we were seeking individuals who were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about SAFE Corvallis’ Goals and Strategies for transforming the transportation system. We met in-person with every applicant, and we are excited to share our list of endorsed candidates with you along with some information about each individual.
In some wards, two candidates both showed a strong commitment to improving our transportation system. We will explain each candidate’s different strengths.
To learn more about each candidate, we encourage you to watch the interviews from the League of Women Voters of Corvallis and the Corvallis Advocate debate series. You can also check out the City Club debate series happening in October.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 1
Bre Irish
Bre Irish is running for Corvallis City Council because she believes it’s time to push for the thriving future we all deserve. She is a strong proponent of increasing public transportation and pedestrian access, and she would prioritize creating a safe and accessible downtown for everyone.
Bre recognizes that vehicle speeds on streets are problematic, especially near campus. She understands that while safe infrastructure can cost more up front, it can save our City over time in maintenance costs, costs associated with vehicle crashes, and the cost of human lives. She believes we can achieve safe streets, bustling public transportation, and include real climate change solutions to benefit us all.
Bre believes that the City Council’s job is to provide oversight over the government. She expects to have meetings, both with staff and the public, to make sure that the City’s goals are being implemented.
To learn more about Bre Irish, you can visit her website, Facebook page, or Instagram account.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 1
Steve Clark
Steve Clark has many years of experience and a long track record of success in advancing safe, sustainable and multi-modal transportation systems and accessibility for all people. His past experiences include, but are not limited to, co-chairing the recent Corvallis Downtown Vitality Strategy Task Force and serving on the Portland regional Tri-Met board of directors.
Through his experiences, Steve has learned to value collaboration and strategic action. He prioritizes engaging with and listening to others along with creating prioritized goals and strategies that are served by measurable actions that we work hard to implement and accomplish.
Steve believes that the City Council should be aware of what actionable steps are being taken to reach our City’s goals. He expects there to be a time frame in place along with a way to measure success. Along the way, he wants to see a build in momentum along with opportunities to celebrate.
To learn more about Steve, you can visit his website.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 2
Briae Lewis
Briae Lewis has been on City Council for the last four years. She votes positively toward multimodal transportation, and she is an avid rider of the City’s buses along with a regular pedestrian on Corvallis’ streets. She recognizes SAFE Corvallis as an organization that pushes both elected leaders and the community at large toward a path of safety and empathy to help each other thrive.
As a native to Washington DC, Briae has experienced a bustling public transportation system along with successfully implemented infrastructure elements like roundabouts. She recognizes that while infrastructure like roundabouts costs more upfront, it will save the community in the long run since there is minimal maintenance and no need for electricity. She also recognizes the need for increased bus frequency, routes, and stops.
Briae believes that the City Council can make a difference by giving realistic goals to city staff. She understands that Public Works is understaffed, and there is a need to fill positions with solid staff.
To learn more about Briae, you can visit her Facebook page.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 5
Christine Dashiell
Christine Dashiell is coming to the table with enthusiasm and her abundance of love for her community. She is running for City Council so that she can address the issues that matter to her most: livability, improved transportation, and an ecologically forward-thinking infrastructure. By biking and walking regularly, she is experienced in active transportation.
During her time living abroad, Christine was inspired by the models of livability in Barcelona and Tokyo. At home, she is a regular volunteer with Public Works, the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, and schools.
Christine looks forward to further exploring and expanding sustainable transportation initiatives as a city councilor. To shift transportation culture in Corvallis, she would like to see resurfacing and reconstruction projects include more improvements for non-drivers, streets that slow cars by design, and increased bus service. She wants people of all ages to feel safe when biking or rolling in town, and she is excited about the idea of a Bike Bus program for Corvallis schools. Additionally, Christine would like to explore pedestrianizing 1st Street in downtown.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 6
Greg Shiffer
Greg Shiffer considers himself to be a “pragmatic progressive,” and as a City Councilor his top priorities will be focused on achieving real, implementable solutions to the many difficult challenges that Corvallis faces in the next few years, including public infrastructure. He plans to use his experience in planning and public policy to help the next City Council dive in and tackle these problems.
In graduate school, Greg studied land use and transportation planning and obtained two advanced degrees. Later, he worked as a public transportation planner with the Bay Area’s regional transit agency. He intends to use his public transit planning experience to help the City Council implement improvements to the Corvallis Transit System (CTS) to make it fast, efficient, and reliable.
Greg understands that the City Council needs to set policy and then provide oversight of staff and projects. He knows the need to prioritize an investment in pedestrian and bike infrastructure along with public transportation. He has many ideas for improvements, and he is excited to use his depth of knowledge to make a difference.
To learn more about Greg, you can visit his website or Facebook.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 6
Brennan Colberg
Brennan Colberg is a self-described radical urbanist, and he believes that a city isn’t really a city if you need a car. He has experience as the Vice Chair of the Corvallis Planning Commission where he championed a reprioritization to set finding and eliminating of barriers to rapid infill development as the number one discretionary priority and directed the Southwest Corvallis Area Plan to prioritize bike path accessibility over a car-dependent layout.
Brennan’s number one priority on council will be to boost our private economic development, particularly by attracting more employers and investment. His goals are to both directly increase infill and density, and to indirectly increase funds for significantly more frequent and reliable buses and for much more safe bike infrastructure.
By increasing bus frequency, physically separating bikes and cars, creating programs to make it easy to ditch the car, and increasing densification of the city, Brennan is ready to use his position on City Council to be bold and make change happen.
To learn more about Brennan, you can visit his website.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 7
Danielle Chambers
Danielle Chambers moved to Corvallis after falling in love with its beauty, the kindness of its people, and the many bike lanes (which are rare where she came from!). She has spent her time in Corvallis attending city meetings, joining task forces and committees, and forging connections with non-profits, businesses, and advocacy groups to forge a new collaborative vision for the future of Corvallis – one that ideally relies less on cars.
If Danielle had a magic wand, she would physically separate bikes and cars, increase traffic calming including chicanes and bulbouts, and close some of Corvallis’ streets to through traffic. Since there is no magic wand, she would use her position on City Council to increase the percentage of the budget that is going to bike, pedestrian, and transit projects. She understands that in the long term, an investment in safe infrastructure will pay off.
During her time on the Downtown Vitality Strategy Task Force, Danielle authored an extensively sourced, highly accessible report on pedestrianizing our downtown core, and continuously lobbied the Downtown Vitality Strategy Task Force to read and adopt its findings. She has already shown herself to be an advocate for change, and she is motivated to work for change as a city councilor.
To learn more about Danielle, you can visit her website, Facebook, or YouTube channel.
Corvallis City Council, Ward 9
Alexis Hammer
Alexis has dedicated his entire career to building more equitable and sustainable communities, and he aims to continue that work on the City Council. While getting his environmental law degree, he also earned a masters in Community and Regional Planning and wrote his final project on transportation advocacy. He has worked as a transportation advocate (Better Eugene Springfield Transportation), transportation planner, land use and transportation advocate (1000 Friends of Oregon), and policy advisor.
In Corvallis, Alexis would like to see vehicle speeds decreased, and he recognizes that lowering the speed limit alone is insufficient. He would like to see traffic slowed by design using elements like narrow lanes and street trees. He wants to increase housing options and create well-connected nodal opportunities that allow people to access their basic needs easily by foot, bike or other micromobility device, or transit.
Alexis believes in transportation freedom and options, and he knows that transportation choice benefits all users, including drivers. He is ready to join the City Council to help lead Corvallis toward safer streets for all.
To learn more about Alexis, you can visit his website.
Mayor of Corvallis
Kasey Haxton
Kasey Haxton is committed to safe, green, and convenient transportation infrastructure. In the past they have advocated for increased public transportation in Tigard and a commuter rail connecting Portland to Salem. They have also dedicated themself to improving housing affordability and reducing homelessness in Oregon which affects transportation safety and efficiency.
To decrease Corvallis’ dependence on cars and increase street safety, Kasey would like to see a city-wide speed limit of 25 mph and a neighborhood speed limit of 20 mph. They also would like to increase our bus service making it a bus-rapid-transit system so that buses run frequently and are prioritized on the streets. Additionally, they would like to see raised intersections, road diets, and other transportation design changes that would increase safety and give priority to people using active and public transportation.
Kasey believes it is unacceptable to allow poor street design to injure and sometimes take the lives or our neighbors. Upon election, they are prepared to use their position as mayor to advance the conversation about safe streets in Corvallis and push for change.
To learn more about Kasey, you can visit their website, Instagram, or Substack.
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