Donna Bowen is the current Mayor of Historic Jacksonville, Oregon. Please contact Mayor Bowen with any topics you would be interested in hearing more about in this column at mayor@jacksonvilleor.us. 
As we start the New Year, I’m reflecting back on what we have all gone through the last two years. The months have been both agonizingly slow and surprisingly fast. Slow when I think of the things we cannot easily do, that we used to take for […]
As I thought about writing this for the end of 2021, my mind wandered back to all that has happened during the last two years and what the future might bring. I have never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I have always […]
This month, I would like to share my column space with City Councilor, Ken Gregg, who has served on Council since 2015. Ken is known and respected as an active City Councilor. Ken has his finger on the pulse of what is happening in Jacksonville and always […]
With October and November upon us, I’m feeling hope and a sense of moving forward to a season of renewal.
Hopefully, we will see the last of wildfires and smoke. Hopefully too, children are back in school and happily occupied in academics, social development, sports and other extracurricular […]
This month, I would like to give you some information on a program available for historic structures in Jacksonville that is currently in process. Many of you may be unaware of the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), which is under the aegis of the Historic Architectural Review Commission […]
A Few Minutes with the Mayor – August 2021
I hope you’re having a wonderful summer and enjoying the freedom of Oregon being open after the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s an update on what’s happening in Jacksonville and what your City Council has been up to.
Budget—At the June 1, City Council meeting, your Council approved resolution R2021-002—Adopting […]
After a non-existent 2020 season, due to COVID-19, Britt Music and Arts Festival has worked hard to provide programs for 2021. Recently your Mayor, City Administrator and staff, City Planner, and City Fire Chief, along with Britt President and CEO, Donna Briggs, met for a pre-season conference […]
Recently, fully vaccinated, my husband and I flew to our southern states and then drove home to Oregon from Jacksonville, Florida. We took care of some family obligations and visited old, familiar haunts and some new places along the way. I found myself comparing every place we […]
This month, I would like to provide a short recap of my first three months serving as Mayor. I thought I was as prepared as possible to serve as Mayor, after six plus years on the HARC, three years on Budget Committee and 2 years as a […]
This month, I want to address something that several citizens have commented on—which may be an uncomfortable subject for some. I tried several approaches to this subject, but this subject is hard to write about for some reason. I tried scientific, humorous, dead-pan and folksy… none seemed […]
We have been lucky to have fire protection in Jacksonville for many decades. Organized in 1883, Jacksonville’s original volunteer fire department, Engine Company #1, responded to the call of the Jacksonville Fire Hall bell well into the 1950s. Eventually, it was re-organized into a professional department with […]
We have all been through quite a stretch since last winter. Life as we knew it is different and not by choice. Some days it seems we have given up much that we will never regain. We miss our freedom of travel; dining out; the movies; […]