Mandy Eller, Executive Director Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic; former Executive Director of the McMinnville Chamber of Commerce.
Interview by Brad Durham
Why are you in McMinnville?
Well, I was born and raised in Warren County. You know I ended up marrying a nurseryman. My dad was a nurseryman and whenever I left home at 18, I said I am never going to set foot in another nursery. And I ended up marrying a nurseryman. (Laughs.) So, I was around the nursery industry for 37 years anyway. I ended up staying here, you know.
What do you think when you reflect on McMinnville’s future? Positive? Negative?
Oh, I see it as very positive. I see a lot of young people getting involved, investing in businesses, running for offices, so I think that’s a sign for long-term growth.
Do you think there is a difference between “McMinnville” and “Warren County?” Why or why not?
Absolutely. I think you will find it in the governments, but in the people as well. People who live in town like to be busier, and people in the country like to be laid back and taking it easy. That’s how I grew up, living in the country and I’ve lived in the city for the past eight years. So, I tend to like living in the city, because our downtown is so great. You get to go to all the shops and restaurants. There is not a reason to leave. You know you can find a lot here.
If you were mayor of McMinnville and had a magic wand, what three things would you change?
Mmmm. What would I change. You know, we need more housing, and that’s a huge issue if we want to grow. People say we need more jobs, better jobs, but they have to live somewhere and the schools would have to expand as well. We need more housing, affordable housing, yes. And some neighborhoods could use some investment and development. Theoretically, if the real estate market stays strong, that should happen over time. We’ll see. I think encouraging development in that way is good and making it as easy as possible to do business is important. But I would also (coming from the tourism background) I would definitely push hard for that as well. With my background with the Tourism and Development Board, I do think there were mistakes in setting that up and it should be reviewed. It’s hard for them to have certain functions like marketing because it was set up by the City. And when it was set up, it wasn’t funded, and there’s a lot of difficulties in carrying through with projects—the way it is set up now. They said it would be like IDB. It’s not. There are inherent differences. So, I would fix that. I would not have it as a discrete component of the city, which is what it is now and have it set up like IDB. It’s actually separate and it can operate more fully that way—more easily that way.
I think Nolan Ming is doing a great job going after grants now. And I think Justin Scott is too. I think that continuing to go after as many grants as possible, and taking advantage of as many of those opportunities as possible. I think they’re doing a good job at that. What’s always been wrong with that is that there as never been just one person focused on it.
The grant-writing has been spread out, and if you don’t go to the conferences and you don’t see these opportunities, you don’t always know they exist even if you are over that department. So, I think it would be important to have someone in the know. It’s not writing the grants themselves because you have the Development District. They can write grants for free. It doesn’t cost any more than their membership, which the city and county already pay. They can write and administer grants on behalf of the city or the county at no additional cost. I think really using that relationship and making sure that those grants get through is important.
What do you think unites us in McMinnville?
You know, from my experience seeing business growth downtown gets a lot of people excited and wanting to push for more. That was what I saw when I was at the Chamber. That was the perspective that I saw, so maybe I’m in my own box. But you know, that’s what I see. And tourism always had a great response from people. People seem to understand the value of it in the city and want more of it. This town can’t support all the businesses we want, so we need to have people coming in from the outside and spending money. I think that’s something people really get behind, and that helps to unite people as well.
What do you think divides us?
Politics, right? It’s dividing the whole country, and I think it’s ridiculous that in national politics and the division we see there — we are seeing at the local level. That’s crazy. It really shouldn’t exist that way. We are all in this small town. We all have the same issues, so I think we should try to work together more. I think it is silly to go looking for problems. Sometimes politicians can look for problems and kick up dust, and it takes the focus off the real problems and just working together and moving forward together.
Do you agree with the direction and quality of education the Warren County public school system offers for our children? Why or why not?
I do, and I feel for the school system and the teachers especially. I was glad to hear that Hillsdale lost its contract and that it was not coming in because that was going to be a very threatening prospect for public education. I think the teachers are doing everything they can, and the school system is doing everything they can. I’ve been very happy with my sons’ (who are in the school system) experience. I think it’s great.
Is everything you need in McMinnville exist in terms of groceries, retail stores, churches, restaurants?
It has gotten so much better in the last ten or twelve years. We could always use some more restaurants. I’m sad that our brewery went out, and that goes along with tourism—it goes so well. And so, I’d like to see that. For example, Begonia’s. That has been tremendously successful and Vanilla Bean. With these restaurants popping up downtown, and I think people are supporting them. We could use more, and I think people would support it for the most part. We don’t have wine in restaurants, but we will. And that would be nice.
Is McMinnville doing enough for people who are economically disadvantaged, or should it be doing more? If not, what should the city be doing?
Gosh, the government—it’s hard for a local government. I’m thinking about the Housing Authority. They had a lot of money saved up, and they haven’t used it. I do wish they would expand the housing program. I know that’s not a popular idea, but I do think that so many people are now in rentals that are owned by not-so-great landlords. That causes a lot of issues for people. So, they would have more options if they had more housing authority assistance available, it would take care of that issue.
What did I not ask you that you would like to comment about McMinnville and its people?
I think we have seen a lot of positive momentum, and I am surprised that it has stayed even though with COVID. I wondered what it was going to look like at the end of COVID. But it seems like people are just as happy to get involved as they were before. So that’s great. I’m trying to think of something negative to say. I’ve been really positive. I guess the politics was really the negative part. It is changing here. There’s a lot of people moving in from the outside. I hope the locals embrace that. I get to meet them just going downtown to the restaurants.
The next complete interview is with Judith Gomez.
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