THE DALLES — Rich Mays, first elected in 2018, is serving his third term as mayor of The Dalles. Mays sat down with Columbia Gorge News at a local coffee shop in September to talk about his mayorship.
Mays began his career in the Midwest, where he served as city manager for 28 years. It was a city manager position on the Oregon Coast that brought Mays and his wife to Cannon Beach. When he retired in 2014, his daughter’s husband introduced the couple to The Dalles, and in 2015, the Mays relocated.
Mays then went back to work after moving and retiring in The Dalles as interim County manager for Clatsop County, which he held for eight months. When Mays returned to The Dalles, he was encouraged to run for mayor. That decision led him to hold 50 one-on-one coffee meetings with community leaders — and solidified his decision to run for the position.
Columbia Gorge News asked Mays what he is the most proud of in the community, and he said the newest Google data centers are bringing in more revenue than the previous three other agreements combined.
“There is a misunderstanding of how the money is used, so I want to remind the residents that the third data center will bring in $1.8 million a year, and we used the first four years of that to pay off the debt associated with the [Columbia Gorge] Community College, a housing complex and a skills center,” he said. “The skills center has been a big success. And the city and county will get 10 more years of that money.”
One serious need for the money is an upgraded water system. The water plant facility is about 75 years old — with some pipes nearing 100 years. The plant, water lands, Wicks Water Plant (the upstream dam) and the water lines connecting the water plant to The Dalles will all need to be renovated at a cost of millions of dollars.
“… It’s going to be very difficult not to put our share of that revenue toward the water master plan, the water system improvements that need to be made, because it’s going to run into the tens of millions of dollars,” Mays said. “And when you make any improvements to your water and sewer system, invariably [that] involves a rate increase, and we’re going to try to offset that rate increase in people’s water and sewer bills with the money we’re getting from Google.”
Columbia Gorge News asked Mays what he enjoys most about The Dalles. For him, it’s downtown.
“I’m a very downtown-centric person,” he said. "I think our downtown is a focal point of our community. It’s a place where all the visitors come … I love old historic buildings."
He's particularly excited about the Basalt Commons housing project along with Tony's Town and Country redevelopment.
“I’m also very proud of the fact that before I leave office, we’re going to get a plaza," said Mays.
"The fountain, maybe benches, shade, a place for people to just to come and hang out right in the middle of our downtown. I’m really looking forward to getting there,” said Mays.
Columbia Gorge News also asked Mays about the progress on the 50/50 program he has seen used in other cities, where people can replace the sidewalk in front of a house or business and the city would pick up 50% of cost.
“We put a lot of money into our streets over the last five years. Hopefully it shows,” said Mays.
Columbia Gorge News wanted to know what Mays sees as the biggest challenge in the community. He wants to see The Dalles High School get fixed, he said, adding it was disappointing that the bond measure on the ballot this past November 2023 was defeated. Mays is hopeful, however, that the community and district can work together to get a new school built.
“I think our schools need to be upgraded, and I think that’s a challenge as the mayor, trying to appreciate recruitment issues and problems that happen with this community, hospital, the city, other employers, to try to get people to come and live and work here with the schools [the way] they are," he said.
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