Government

Mayor and City Council

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Joe Benetti Mayor

Joe Benetti was elected as Mayor in November 2016.  He was born and raised in Reno, Nevada, and he moved to Coos Bay in 1979 and started Benetti’s Italian Restaurant.  After 38 years Joe sold the restaurant and semi-retired. 

His love of the Bay Area prompted him to become involved in his community.  He wanted to give back to a community that has been so good to him.  Over the years, Joe served three terms as mayor of the City of Coos Bay, and twelve years as City Councilor. After several years out of city government, Joe successfully ran for the mayor’s spot again in November 2016.  He has served on numerous other committees.  Currently, Joe is a director on the Oregon Pacific Bank Board. He serves on the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport Commission. He is a member of Coos County Urban Renewal, Coos County Tourism Advisory Committee, and Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board. 

Term Expires 11/2020

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Lucinda DiNovo Councilor

Lucinda DiNovo was elected to the City Council in 2016.  She has lived in the Bay Area for the last 21 years.  Lucinda began her career in the gaming industry 20 years ago, and she is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Mill Casino * Hotel & RV Park in Coos Bay, Oregon. 

Councilor DiNovo has a degree in Business Management and Marketing from Oregon State University.  She is past President of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, and she has served and continues to serve on numerous boards including the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Board of Trustees for Coos History Museum, City of Coos Bay Budget Committee and Advisory Committee for the International Port of Coos Bay.  

Councilor DiNovo has a passion for a collaborative process in all that she does and giving back to her community through service. She enjoys the outdoors and sharing her love and knowledge of the wonders of Coos Bay-North Bend Oregon’s Adventure Coast.

Term Expires 11/2020

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Drew Farmer Councilor

Drew Farmer was elected to the City Council in 2016. He has lived in Coos Bay off and on since his birth.

After he graduated from high school, he joined the U.S. Navy as a Personnel Specialist. Following an honorable discharge at the expiration of his contract, he returned home for a year to attend SWOCC before moving on to Portland State University where he obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Sociology with a minor in Psychology.  Returning home once again, he has been employed previously as an Executive Assistant at Chuck Bracelin Transportation,  as an Employment Specialist with the Working Wonders non-profit, and is currently the director of Bay Area Enterprises. 

 His previous board experience includes sitting on the board for the Shama House non-profit, as the treasurer of the city’s Library Board, and on the Urban Renewal Advisory Committee.

Term Expires 11/2020

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Stephanie Kilmer Councilor

Stephanie Kilmer was elected to the Council in November 2016.  She is a life-long resident of Coos Bay residing here with her husband and three children since graduating from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications. Councilor Kilmer returned to Coos Bay to pursue a career in broadcasting.  She held numerous positions at KCBY TV before leaving the industry to work in the billing office of Bay Cities Ambulance (previously owned by her parents).  A year later, she began working for KDCQ FM (K-DOCK Radio) where she is currently the General Manager.

Councilor Kilmer has been involved in a variety of boards and committees. She is currently serving on the Coos Bay Downtown Association (CBDA) and Coos Bay-North Bend Rotary Boards.  She also serves as the Secretary of the CBDA Foundation Board, and she is a board member of the Southwestern Alumni Association.  She serves on several committees including the Coos County Relay for Life, Bay Area Fun Festival, Cruz The Coos, and MHS Media Advisory committee.  She has also served as President of the Rotary Club and Bay Area Jaycees.

Term Expires 11/2020

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Philip Marler Councilor

Philip (Phil) Marler was elected to the Council in November 2016.  He has lived in Coos Bay since 1992, and he has been a residential real estate appraiser in the area for over 20 years.  

Councilor Marler served on the Coos Bay Planning Commission, the Coos Bay Budget Committee, and the Coos Bay Streets Task Force prior to becoming a City Councilor.  He has also been a Coos Bay Lions Club member for 23 years.  

Term Expires 11/2022

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Carmen Matthews Councilor

Carmen Matthews was elected to Council in November 2018.  Growing up in Coos Bay, Carmen has deep roots in the area.  He graduated from Marshfield High School and Southwestern Community College and now owns and operates the 7 Devils Brewing Co. located in downtown. Councilor Matthews has served on the Parks Commission for many years and is now excited to bring his energy to the city Council.  A passion for volunteering has allowed him to connect with a large portion of the community he loves so much.  He is a past president for the Oregon Coast Music Association, and is a founding member of the local Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. 

Term Expires 11/2022

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Rob Miles Councilor

Rob Miles was elected to the City Council in 2018.  He was born and raised in Coos Bay, graduating from Marshfield High School in 1985. After high school, he worked and attended college classes in Portland and Seattle.  When his twin sons were born in 1993, he returned to Coos Bay because he believed then, as he does now, that it was an ideal place to raise a family. For the past 21 years he has been married to the love of his life Dena, and they have raised a blended family that includes his daughter Olivia, twin sons Jordan and Trevor, and youngest son Derek.

Rob worked at Weyerhaeuser CBX Sawmill for several years until the plant closed in the late 1990’s.  Following the mill closure, he attended Southwestern Oregon Community College and Linfield College studying Business Management.  For the past 18 years he has worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon working his way up to his current role in charge of Resource Development.

Term Expires 11/2022

Departments

• City Manager's Office
• Community Development
  • Building Codes Division
  • Planning Division
  • Code Enforcement
  • Economic Development
  • Urban Renewal
• Finance Department
• Fire Department
• Library
• Police Department
• Public Works Department
  • Parks Department
  • Engineering Division
  • GIS Services
  • Operations

City Goals

Goal 1.  Working well together and working with key partners

• Maintain focus on regionalism in our efforts to address a range of issues and opportunities.
• Maintain a strong emphasis on beautification of our community.

Goal 2.  City's Water Quality Infrastructure

• Take over the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the City’s wastewater utility.
• Improve the Eastside sludge lagoon access road.
• Complete engineering designs for the necessary capital improvements of Wastewater Treatment Plant 1 as identified in the WWTP1 Facility Plan (completed in 2011) and as amended by the Facility Plan Amendment (completed in 2018).
• Upgrade, replace or design the following Pump Stations:
  • Replace Pump Station #6 (S 5th Street & Kruse Avenue).
  • Replace Pump Station #9 (Montana Avenue near Southwest Boulevard).
  • Upgrade Pump Station #12 (2900 Block of Ocean Boulevard).
  • Upgrade Pump Station #13 (2300 Block of Ocean Boulevard).
  • Initiate the design process for Pump Station 27 (Timber Cove Housing Development).
• Evaluate current and potential policies aimed at improving and maintaining privately-owned business and residential sewer laterals which connect to the wastewater utility. Policies to be evaluated could include but are not limited to:
  • An ordinance for the Council’s consideration which if adopted would require sewer lateral inspections and the completion of necessary repairs prior to the transfer of property within City limits.
  • An ordinance for the Council’s consideration which if adopted would require commercial businesses to limit fats, oils, and grease from entering into the City’s collection system.

Goal 3.  City's Streets, Sidewalks, Parking Lots & Street Light Infrastructure

• City Streets:
  • Complete the capital road revitalization project on 4th Street, between Commercial Avenue and Donnelly Avenue.
  • Stabilize the slope east of Koosbay Blvd between Nutwood Avenue and Pine Drive.
  • Develop design plans to improve the Newmark Avenue / Empire Boulevard intersection
  • Develop a five-year rolling street maintenance and improvement plan.
  • Beginning FYE22, provide the Council an annual report listing street maintenance and improvement projects completed, accounting for funds used and list the planned projects for the upcoming fiscal year.
  • Work with the Coos Bay Downtown Association to evaluate possible changes to established parking restrictions and additional signage opportunities.
• City Sidewalks:
  • Using URA funds, continue to replace sections of sidewalks damaged by street trees.
  • Explore updating and increasing street furniture (benches & trash receptacles).
• City Parking Lots:
  • Develop a parking lot on the property formerly known as the Lockhart building located at S 3rd St. and Central Ave.
  • Develop a parking lot on the property formerly used as a scrap yard located on Front Street between Cedar Avenue and Date Avenue.
  • Redevelop City’s parking lot at the northwest corner of S 2nd Street and Curtis Avenue.
  • Redevelop City’s parking lot at the northeast corner of S 2nd Street and Curtis Avenue.
  • Explore updating / replacing the shared trash enclosure in the parking lot at the 200 block of S Broadway Avenue.
  • Explore opportunities to install a shared trash enclosure in the parking lot at the 100 block of N 2nd Street.
  • Explore potential maintenance and capital improvement funding options for city owned parking lots.
• Street Lights:
  • Convert all streetlamps to LED technology.
  • Draft a Street Light policy to establish uniform standards for the placement of streetlights in the City for the Council’s consideration.

4.  Facilities

• Build a New Library facility in John Topits Park near Norman Avenue.
  • Undertake the necessary steps to secure project funding from federal, state, granting organizations, donations along with placing a general obligation bond request before the voters.
  • Undertake the process to include the new library site into the Empire Urban Renewal District.
  • Undertake a Traffic Impact Analysis to determine potential required improvements to the Newmark Avenue / Norman Street intersection.
  • Undertake the necessary steps to amend zoning regulations to allow the library use at the location.
• Begin a long-range planning process / needs assessment to relocate the City Shops facility to a new location outside of the tsunami inundation zone.
• Begin a long-range planning process / needs assessment to replace the Empire Fire Station.

5.  Economic Development

• Explore Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and its relationship to possible annexation opportunities.
• Undertake the process to increase the maximum intendedness of the Empire Urban Renewal District with the goal of undertaking needed economic development and capital improvement projects in the district.
• Explore the benefits of a URA loan program as a tool towards incentivizing redevelopment within the districts.
• Complete the Front Street Blueprint planning process and consider implementation strategies for identified key improvements.
• Evaluate existing zoning, design standards, parking district, Hollering Place Master Plan, etc. as applied to the Empire area and consider possible changes to encourage and incentive investment, development and redevelopment in the Empire area.

6.  Increasing Housing Supply and Addressing Homelessness

• Though an agreement with the County, mitigate the contamination, debris and trash on the site of the former Englewood School property to allow for the transfer of the property to ORCCA for supported multi-family housing development.
• Encourage the development of upper floor housing in vacant and/or underdeveloped upper floor buildings in the Downtown and Empire URA Districts.
• Through the Homeless Work Group evaluate examples of potential policy approaches aimed at addressing issues related to homelessness in our community.

7.  Communication Between the City and Our Citizens

• Consider adoption of a smart phone app designed to let citizens report issues and receive notifications from the City.
• Update the City’s website to make it more user friendly, informative, and searchable.
• Increase the use of social media, the city’s weekly digital newsletter (Friday Update), the livestreaming of public meetings.
• Increase the distribution list for the city’s Friday Update.
•  

8.  Parks

• Resurface the Mingus Park Pool tank.
• Seek funding to undertake needed improvement projects at Mingus Park to include dredging Mingus pond, installing fishing piers, enhancing the park trails, replacing the park restroom facility and improvements to the children’s play area.
• Consider development of vacant lot in the 100 block of Fulton Avenue into a park.
• Consider addition of athletic/sports fields.
• Undertake an update to the 2013 Park’s Master Plan.

9.  Public Safety

• Promote the opportunity for reserve officers in the police department and volunteer fire fighters.
• Promote the goal of 1,200 homes in Coos Bay becoming “two weeks ready” in preparation for disaster.

Planning Commission

The Planning Commission is a seven-member citizen advisory board appointed by the City Council. The Planning Commission is also the decision-making authority for some land use applications. The Planning Commission holds public meetings the second Tuesday of each month at City Hall.

Planning Commission Ordinance

Agendas & Minutes - April 2020 to current

Agendas & Minutes - March 2020 & prior