About Paul Becker

Mayor Paul BeckerPaul Becker is the current Mayor of Historic Jacksonville, Oregon.

Mayor Becker Proclaims 4th of July Concert with Band du Pays Swing at New City Hall Lawn!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

An announcement for all citizens!

We hereby proclaim an event to celebrate our country’s independence on July 4th, 2016.

A concert to take place on the lawn of our New City Hall from 1:00-2:00pm.

The concert will be performed by the renowned […]

By |2016-06-28T12:37:34-07:00June 28th, 2016|Now|Comments Off on Mayor Becker Proclaims 4th of July Concert with Band du Pays Swing at New City Hall Lawn!

July 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Now for July’s movie.  WE have been waiting some time to run this film… it is The Westerner, a classic western if there ever was one.  It stars Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan.  Brennan, who plays Judge Roy Bean, won his third and final Oscar for this one.

Directed by William Wyler, The Westerner tells the […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:19-07:00June 28th, 2016|Event News|Comments Off on July 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

June 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Good Evening All…  Our movie in June 2016 is one of those films you don’t hear much about anymore, but one which was highly-popular when it was released.  So said the book from which it was made… God Is My Co-pilot, starring that stellar good-looking leading man, Dennis Morgan… with support from Raymond Massey and […]

By |2016-06-06T07:50:50-07:00June 1st, 2016|Event News, Now|Comments Off on June 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Change is Constant…Or is It? – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – June 2016

My wife kept reminding me about how I talked of writing a column on aging, in other words, growing older. I kept putting it off but finally came to the conclusion that I’d better write this now before she forgets to remind me. (She’s getting older, too.)

This […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:21-07:00May 31st, 2016|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Change is Constant…Or is It? – by Mayor Paul Becker

May 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Hello Everybody…

Well… here is the information on the next Movie night at Old City Hall.  The movie is Make Way For Tomorrow.  I chose this film because, though having a sad story, it is a brilliant piece of film making.  Make Way For Tomorrow, is a generational story concerning the plight of an aged couple […]

By |2016-05-06T15:21:26-07:00May 6th, 2016|Event News, Now|2 Comments

NEVER Sieg Heil – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – May 2016

Most of our Jacksonville citizens have never been to one of our City Council meetings. They don’t know what they are missing. It’s true each meeting has an agenda, but that doesn’t always foretell what might happen since human behavior is quite often unpredictable. This was certainly […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:23-07:00May 1st, 2016|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on NEVER Sieg Heil – by Mayor Paul Becker

April 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Good Evening Everyone…

Our next movie is It Started With Eve starring one of the brightest talents on the silver screen… Deanna Durbin.  She had an impressive list of credits to her name and this one ranks pretty high.  Even so, there is another actor who steals the show… Charles Laughton… the same fellow who uttered […]

By |2016-04-14T19:04:42-07:00March 30th, 2016|Event News, Now|Comments Off on April 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

The Passing Parade – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – April 2016

An odd thing happened a few days ago… I saw a penny on the sidewalk and kept on walking, never bothering to pick it up. That would be unthinkable at an earlier time… a time when a penny meant something.

When I was ten-years-old, five pennies could buy […]

By |2016-04-12T14:08:41-07:00March 30th, 2016|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on The Passing Parade – by Mayor Paul Becker

March 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Good Morning…  Continuing our salute to British actors, our feature attraction in March is THE LODGER… a film starring virtually an all British cast… George Sanders, Merle Oberon, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Sara Allgood, and most importantly… Laird Cregar.  A brilliant actor, Cregar is unknown today because of his early untimely death.

Despite boasting two Oscar winners, […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:27-07:00March 2nd, 2016|Event News, Now|Comments Off on March 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Downton Abbey…Revisited – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – March 2016

Downton Abbey has ended. We knew it must. One of the most watched series in television history, it carved out a special niche in the hearts of its audience… one that will be difficult to ever duplicate. Even its cast may never again see a production as […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:28-07:00March 1st, 2016|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Downton Abbey…Revisited – by Mayor Paul Becker

My Predictions for The New Year – by Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – February 2016

Last month, a friend complained to me about reading newspaper headlines declaring what a bad year 2016 will be. Her reaction was to avoid reading these columns all together… and who could blame her? We seem to get enough bad news without some writer trying to tell […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:30-07:00January 28th, 2016|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on My Predictions for The New Year – by Paul Becker

February 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Hello everyone…  Here is the coming attraction for February 2016… and what an attraction it is.  It’s certainly one our Lucille Ball fans will want to see, though it’s not a comedy.  The film is Lured, and it also stars George Sanders, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Boris Karloff, George Zucco, Alan Mowbray, Robert Coote, and Alan […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:31-07:00January 28th, 2016|Event News, Now|Comments Off on February 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall

January 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall is a Double Feature!

Almost everyone I meet seems to be talking about the soon-to-be-seen final season of Downton Abbey.  It struck me that this might be a fine time to show some earlier British performers who dominated our film entertainment… so for the next few months we’ll concentrate our efforts in that direction.

In January our “night at the […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:35-07:00December 28th, 2015|Now|Comments Off on January 2016 Movie Night at Old City Hall is a Double Feature!

The Spirit of Christmas – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – Dec 2015/Jan 2016

Year end approaches and so does Christmas. For some, it is a time of giving and perhaps not much more. This act of giving, which most of us engage in, began a long time ago when the Magi brought gifts to celebrate the birth of the […]

By |2015-12-08T16:18:07-08:00December 1st, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on The Spirit of Christmas – by Mayor Paul Becker

December 2015 & January 2016 Movie Nights at Old City Hall

December’s film at Old City Hall is a heart-warming redemption story of two men…one a hobo who occupies a mansion on Fifth Avenue during the winter when the owner is gone…the other, the owner who is unaware of his uninvited guest. Add to that a mixture of the owner’s divorced wife, their daughter, a GI […]

By |2015-11-30T12:11:17-08:00November 29th, 2015|Event News|Comments Off on December 2015 & January 2016 Movie Nights at Old City Hall

The State of Things – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – November 2015

I remember, as a child, being struck by the Greek mythological fable of Persephone, daughter of the goddess Demetra, who was abducted by Hades and brought into the underworld. Demetra, whose task was to bring fertility to the land, became so depressed she renounced her divine duties, […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:38-07:00October 29th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on The State of Things – by Mayor Paul Becker

November 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Good Evening Everyone… I promised to follow up with our last announcement and give you a little background on November’s film, Shanghai Express.  It stars Marlene Dietrich in her third film directed by Joseph von Sternberg, a director under whom she became a world renowned celebrity actress.  I love train movies, and this ranks as […]

By |2015-10-25T14:24:49-07:00October 25th, 2015|Event News, Now|Comments Off on November 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall

October 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall – by Paul Becker

The film for October at Old City Hall is one that I don’t believe most of you may have ever seen.  The Mystery of Mr. X starring Robert Montgomery is as neat a thriller as ever written.  Evidently Montgomery thought so too, because he really threw everything he had as an actor into this role […]

By |2015-10-04T09:06:31-07:00September 30th, 2015|Event News, Now|Comments Off on October 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall – by Paul Becker

Remembering Our History – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – October 2015

Last month at movie night, we commemorated the Battle of Britain which took place 75 years ago. Old City Hall was so packed people were turned away because of lack of room. Following an interview with Clifford Wilton who survived that battle, we ran the film Spitfire, […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:41-07:00September 29th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Remembering Our History – by Mayor Paul Becker

September 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall

September’s movie night at Old City Hall features the last of nine films made at RKO starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire… The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

Castle is a reasonably accurate biography of the two dancers who set the dance world on fire in the Edwardian Age until World War I. They were […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:43-07:00September 8th, 2015|Event News, Now|Comments Off on September 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall

Where Liberty Dwells – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – September 2015

“Where Liberty dwells, there is my country.” Words spoken by Ben Franklin. But today? We are willing to forsake Liberty for comfort or safety. Certainly this was untrue in Franklin’s day. So conditioned to some government bureaucrat telling us how to behave, it no longer concerns us […]

By |2015-09-08T08:30:42-07:00August 27th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Where Liberty Dwells – by Mayor Paul Becker

Just Who Is the City Of Jacksonville? – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – August 2015

The idea crossed my mind the other day that many who read this column haven’t met many of the dedicated people responsible for making our City work as well as it does. And dedicated is the word. I realize this sentiment runs counter to much of what […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:51-07:00July 29th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Just Who Is the City Of Jacksonville? – by Mayor Paul Becker

July 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall “Son of Fury”

Our film for July is Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, a 1942 adventure film directed by John Cromwell, starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney.  It was the last film with the tragic actress, Frances Farmer, before her legal problems and eventual commitments to psychiatric hospitals until 1950.  It also features a powerful […]

By |2015-07-03T15:06:30-07:00July 3rd, 2015|Event News, Now|Comments Off on July 2015 Movie Night at Old City Hall “Son of Fury”

1883 – An Interesting Year – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – July 2015

A while ago I wrote a column in which I rhapsodized over the construction of the historic Courthouse soon to become Jacksonville’s City Hall. Built in 1883, it is an example of superb hand-craftsmanship. Using only natural materials of the day, it was built […]

By |2020-09-30T14:17:56-07:00June 29th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on 1883 – An Interesting Year – by Mayor Paul Becker

4th-Annual Mayor’s 4th of July Picnic!

Jacksonville Mayor Paul Becker and the City of Jacksonville invite everyone to come-out and celebrate Saturday, July 4th on the Courthouse grounds from noon until 3:00pm and enjoy complimentary hot dogs, chips and bottled water. Picnickers may opt to bring their own food and drinks if they so desire. Once again, the Fire Department will […]

By |2015-06-29T15:32:46-07:00June 29th, 2015|Now|Comments Off on 4th-Annual Mayor’s 4th of July Picnic!

June Move Night at Old City Hall

Movie Night at Old City Hall is Friday, June 12, 2015

Zounds!  “They seek him here… They seek him there… Those Frenchies seek him everywhere… Is he in Heaven… Is he in Hell… That damned elusive Pimpernel.”

Yes, it’s The Scarlet Pimpernel and it is scheduled for our June show at Old City Hall.  This is the […]

By |2015-06-08T09:44:49-07:00June 8th, 2015|Event News, Now|Comments Off on June Move Night at Old City Hall

I’ve Got Egg On My Face! – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – June 2015

Well… it seems as if your Mayor has finally done it. I broke a rule every Boy Scout was taught since the first one earned that title in 1910. Even my grade school teachers did their best to make me understand… in any endeavor, in any undertaking, […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:01-07:00May 27th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on I’ve Got Egg On My Face! – by Mayor Paul Becker

May Movie Night at Old City Hall

Our movie for May 2015 is Gold Diggers of 1933, a “deliciously-maddening extravaganza, Depression-era Broadway musical,” according to one critic on the Rotten Tomatoes website. Indeed, it ranks 100% on their rating meter… impressive for any movie.

Gold Diggers of 1933 is just plain fun from beginning to end. Yet, surprisingly, it ends on a number […]

By |2015-05-16T10:50:22-07:00May 7th, 2015|Event News, Now|Comments Off on May Movie Night at Old City Hall

Clara, Larry, and History – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – May 2015

At the risk of sounding like a disgruntled stage actor upset with his Wednesday afternoon matinee audience, I feel the need to share my thoughts about citizen attendance at our City Council meetings. Where, oh where are most of you? My one desire is to see more […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:04-07:00April 29th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Clara, Larry, and History – by Mayor Paul Becker

On Email and More! – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – April 2015

As you know, this column seldom devotes attention to affairs outside of Jacksonville; numerous other news and opinion outlets exist for such information. However, reports on the national level about Hillary Clinton’s emails prompted me to join in the conversation, so please bear […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:08-07:00March 29th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on On Email and More! – by Mayor Paul Becker

On Politics – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – March 2015

Are you troubled by the political discord today? I am! Not that it is anything new. It is as old as the art of politics. History bears that out. I remember the hatred directed at President Harry Truman. It was intense, personal, and vicious… especially after he […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:16-07:00February 26th, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor|Comments Off on On Politics – by Mayor Paul Becker

Not-So-Idle Thoughts – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor, February 2015

Before beginning this first column of the year, I wish to thank the editor/ publisher of this newspaper who approached me four years ago with the offer to write my own column, promising to allow me total freedom to write whatever I felt like. Now I ask you, […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:20-07:00January 22nd, 2015|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Not-So-Idle Thoughts – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Christmas Holiday Gift to All – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor -December 2014/January 2015

‘Tis the season of Christmas! (Yes, we can still call it that despite all who would have it otherwise.) Christmas is upon us, as well as the end of another year, and it’s been a very busy year for this mayor!

As I wanted to do something special […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:28-07:00November 24th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on A Christmas Holiday Gift to All – by Mayor Paul Becker

November Movie Night at Old City Hall

GREAT EXPECTATIONS, our film for November is considered by many to be the greatest adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel ever produced. Starring an impressive British cast, including John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Francis Sullivan, Jean Simmons, Alec Guinness (in his first screen appearance), and Finlay Curry.  GREAT EXPECTATIONS was nominated for five Oscars, winning two […]

By |2014-11-15T20:18:13-08:00November 5th, 2014|Event News, News Flow, Now|Comments Off on November Movie Night at Old City Hall

What a Nightmare – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – November 2014

The following scenario has not happened, but with all things possible is certainly worth contemplating…

It took months, but the sale of the old courthouse to the We Operate Efficiently Corporation finally went through. WOE had worked at obtaining the building even before the citizens of Jacksonville became […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:34-07:00October 30th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories, News Flow|Comments Off on What a Nightmare – by Mayor Paul Becker

Change! Change? – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – September 2014

Now there’s a word that can strike fear into the hearts and minds of otherwise stout-hearted men and women. How many times have we all heard someone say, “I wish they’d stop changing things all the time,” or “Why do we need to change… I like things […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:42-07:00September 18th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Change! Change? – by Mayor Paul Becker

Thoughts on Thinking – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – August 2014

How many of you remember one of the most common commands in the English language appearing in the business community following the end of World War 2? The command was short… one word… and it seemed to be posted wherever one worked, especially in the tabulating department… […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:47-07:00July 29th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories|Comments Off on Thoughts on Thinking – by Mayor Paul Becker

Our Crucible of Freedom – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor – July 2014

This June marked the 70th anniversary of “D Day,” when a brave and mighty fleet of soldiers landed on Normandy’s beach, where virtually the entire first wave of Americans, 10,000 in all, was annihilated by enemy fire—one of the most difficult missions ever carried-out by our soldiers […]

By |2020-09-30T14:18:50-07:00July 2nd, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Featured Stories, News Flow|Comments Off on Our Crucible of Freedom – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Window Into the Past – by Mayor Paul Becker

We may live in an historic town, but I’ll wager that when studying history in school, you hated it. Was your history class like mine, consisting of nothing more than memorizing important dates of people and bigger-than-life events? King George may have been a bad king… at least from the American colonists’ point of view, but what were we taught about the man himself? Very little!

By |2020-09-30T14:18:53-07:00May 30th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Columns, Contributed Posts, Featured Stories|Comments Off on A Window Into the Past – by Mayor Paul Becker

A Few Minutes with the Mayor, March 2014 – by Mayor Paul Becker

An incident occurred on my recent vacation that some might call coincidence… but I know better. My wife and I were strolling around a crowded street fair in Palm Springs when, quite unexpectedly, we heard a voice behind us cry out, “There’s the mayor of Jacksonville.” Sure enough, it turned out to be a couple who were also vacationing from Jacksonville.

By |2020-09-30T14:19:04-07:00February 26th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, Columns, Featured Stories|Comments Off on A Few Minutes with the Mayor, March 2014 – by Mayor Paul Becker

A New Year with New Beginnings – by Mayor Paul Becker

New Year’s Eve 2013 marked the end of my third year as mayor, an occupation which seemed most improbable to me when growing up—it was a different world back then. This thought crossed my mind while recently watching an old Hopalong Cassidy film...

By |2020-09-30T14:19:08-07:00January 28th, 2014|A Few Minutes with the Mayor, About Jacksonville, Columns, Featured Stories|Comments Off on A New Year with New Beginnings – by Mayor Paul Becker
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