Dana Journey is 30 and running for The Dalles City Council out of the belief that youth and energy are a plus when it comes to finding new ways to create economic development.
“What I will bring is a new perspective, and I’m a go-getter – when I get ideas, I like to get them done,” he said.
He is facing off with Darcy Long-Curtiss, a financial advisor, and Clay Johnson, a technician at a desalination plant, for the seat being vacated by Councilor Dan Spatz.
An author and a law enforcement officer, Journey said The Dalles is the perfect place to live. The town is big enough to provide everything needed by his family but still small enough to feel like a community.
“You don’t have to go to Portland unless you want to,” he said. His top priority, if elected, is to fill empty storefronts downtown and spur more economic growth throughout the city.
He said it is vital to provide graduates with more job possibilities if people want them to be able to remain in the community or return when they complete college.
“I think there is stagnation here, not as much movement as you see in towns around us,” he said. “I don’t think we should be like Hood River, we are a much different type of community, but I’d like to see us do more in the area of revitalization.”
Born and raised in Crescent, Journey moved to The Dalles five years ago with his wife Julie, and their 3-year-old son Lincoln.
Dana is an officer with Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fisheries Enforcement and, like his sister, Andretta Schellinger, who is also seeking a council seat, he has written a book “The Apprentices,” published in 2015, the first installment in the Crimson Guard Trilogy and is described by Journey as a “Dragons and wizards fantasy book.”
He started writing in high school and continued while at Eastern Oregon University, where he added characters met during classes.
One of these characters was written into his life story and became his wife.
Schellinger followed Journey to The Dalles but was the first to become active in civic causes, he said.
After watching his sister become involved in several outreach efforts, and report about what was happening in local government, Journey began to read meeting minutes and board packets to get up to speed on issues.
Although his job has not allowed him to be present when the council convenes the second and fourth Monday of each month, Journey has gotten permission to do so if elected.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn about how things work,” he said.
“I’ve never held an elected office before but I have a lot of good ideas and I think that I can make a difference.”
One of his ideas to bring new businesses into town, and help existing ones grow, is to establish a tax incentive program for downtown property owners who lower rents.
He said a property tax abatement program would help people set up shop in empty stores with an overhead low enough to help them succeed.
“I’ve heard from a lot of people that the rents are just too high here for what they can make,” he said.
Journey doesn’t know how the public would receive that idea, but he wants to find out. He would like to see a survey go out to city voters that lists possible economic development avenues the city could pursue. The electorate could then set the direction for elected officials to follow.
Journey said that survey would also help determine how discretionary dollars are spent.
He said, once the results were known, city officials would have a clear guide about citizen priorities and what types of projects they would most support.
During his off-time, Journey is an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoys outdoor adventures, which he said are plentiful in the gorge and another good reason to call it home.
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