Gaskill keeps the focus on public service

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, September 30, 2008 10:10 AM PDT

Ontario — As one of five candidates up for three Ontario City Council seats, incumbent John Gaskill said he is running for re-election because he still enjoys serving the community.

Other candidates in the running are Norm Crume, Charlotte Fugate, David Sullivan and Lewie Allen, who is also seeking re-election in November.

“It’s been a real pleasure for me and an honor,” Gaskill, 62, said of his almost nine years on the council.

Gaskill, who has lived in Ontario for 41 years, said he believes he is a good addition to the council because of his experience serving on the elected board. Gaskill said he was nominated to serve after LeRoy Cammack vacated his council seat to become mayor in 2000. Gaskill was elected later that year and re-elected in 2004.

Gaskill who retired from teaching American history and government classes at Ontario High School after 32 years, said he has supported candidates and issues throughout the years.

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“When I retired from teaching, the opportunity came up,” he said of his council involvement. “I thought ‘I’ve got some time.’ ”

Gaskill also said he came to the council with “no issues, no agenda” and said he still believes that is true.

“My agenda was really kind of a non-agenda in a way,” he said.

Gaskill said what he likes most about the council is its “ability to rise above the static” and work to find solutions that are fair and positive.

He said sometimes the council deals with issues that cause the public to “really get involved and that’s great.”

However, Gaskill said sometimes public involvement is “more yelling than talking,” and it is the council’s responsibility to “shut the door” on those types of discussions.

“You don’t shut anybody out,” he said. “You listen to everybody’s opinion.”

However, when the acrimony starts to take a personal tone, he said, the line of communication starts to disintegrate.

“Everybody has to make a conscious effort to stay above that,” he said.

Gaskill said he would “like (the city) to continue working on the customer service side” in the future. He said Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence is already addressing that issue by working with “tech people at 8C to make our (the city’s) web site as efficient as possible.” He also said Lawrence is attempting to streamline the paperwork process and eliminate any red tape.

“We just need to take a look at how we do things,” he said.  “See if there are any holes.”

He also said he plans to look at the city’s staffing.

He said there is a lack of backup support for some staff members, with no one to fill in when needed.

“It’s definitely a personnel kind of thing,” he said. “A financial kind of thing. We need to provide some kind of backup.”

Gaskill said he believed personnel is important.

“We need to be serving the people we are trying to provide for and the people who are providing those services,” he said.

He also expressed support for revamping the city’s master plans, citing a water master plan slated to be completed by the end of the year. As for other areas of growth, Gaskill said work with the airport as one of the “major things we’ve done.”

“That’s the kind of thing I hope we can do with the rest of the city,” he said.

However, Gaskill said that he recognizes the city cannot do everything. He said the city has asked community members to rank community services in the past.

“A couple of years ago we put out a survey that went out with the utility bills,” he said. “It got a pretty good response.”

Gaskill said he understands the importance of community services, even if he doesn’t use all of them.

“I don’t swim, but I think the Aquatic Center is important,” he said. “I don’t golf, but I think the golf course is important.”

Gaskill also said he believes the city should have room to grow and change.

“Growth is going to happen,” he said. “We should watch closely and make sure we can keep up with it.”