Retired after 35 years in the financial services industry, 73-year-old Dick Anderson hasn’t slowed down much. Sure, at first, he envisioned quality time at his Oregon Coast home with his wife, Sue, along with the relaxation of getting in some rounds of golf.
As it turned out, retirement has gone in a different direction. Anderson (R-Lincoln City) is a state senator who represents District 5 — a region that includes Philomath.
“It’s the toughest job I’ve ever had,” Anderson said.
But the senator’s not complaining about the hard work with a passion for serving the communities in his district. Involvement in politics can be challenging on many levels, an aspect of the job that he acknowledges.
“I gave up golf — a bad habit — and I unfortunately jumped into a worse habit, as my wife would say,” Anderson joked. “But it really is a need for community and I’m serious when I talk about a healthy community, I’m passionate about that, and see the difficulties that communities have and how they struggle.”
Anderson made an appearance Tuesday morning through an open house at the Philomath Community Library. The senator took questions from more than a dozen of the 20 or so people in attendance.
Topics that came up from the audience included education, state revenue and the kicker, social services, rural challenges, the housing crisis, roads and transportation, city infrastructure and health care.
Those are discussions that he often hears in his interactions with the public, along with challenges that families experience with child care. Anderson mentioned that he was surprised that nobody had asked him about the Senate Republican walkout over a six-week period in this year’s long session.
“I was supportive of my fellow Republicans who did leave but I was there and for a reason,” Anderson said, “and they supported my effort to be there because I played a role in trying to get the negotiations going.”
Anderson’s life in government dates back to 2009 in Lincoln City when he took seats on that city’s Budget Committee and Planning Commission. Then a seat on the City Council opened up and Anderson pursued the opportunity and won. In addition to six years as a city councilor, he also served from 2018-20 as Lincoln City’s mayor.
“Over the years in local government, I was serious about thinking the state was negatively impacting smaller communities like the one I was mayor of, so I ran,” Anderson said. “I figured that was the best place I could be and now in hindsight with three going on four years, I do believe I’ve had an impact, even though I’m in the minority party.”
Anderson likened at least part of that impact to his demeanor.
“As I would say, it’s nice to have an adult in the room when you’re in Salem because that’s not always there,” he said. “The kind of things that I do in the off-session has moved me into a good relationship individually with the majority party members and I believe they’re sincere when they invite me to their sessions and what they do with housing and education as they’re kicking around ideas about how we should govern. And they let me have air time and I think that’s how I help.”
The ability to work across political party lines is something that he promotes in his candidacy materials.
“Until you’re in the majority party, it’s really hard to get a vote on the floor so I’m trying to kind of work in the back room and I think that’s had the most benefit,” he added. “That’s why it’s helpful for me to have these town halls and listen to people. I like to tell stories and people give me good stories on real issues.”
Anderson did take away some stories from the Philomath appearance — disgust with the state’s education system, financial hardships for senior citizens, the lack of rural amenities and more than a few on Highway 20/34.
“I can remember as a kid when we moved to Philomath in ’73, my dad complaining about Philomath Boulevard and it’s not getting any better,” one woman said. “Something needs to be done about that road.”
Added another woman in the audience, “In our house, we call it the gauntlet.”
There were a few strong opinions about the $5.5 billion kicker — keeping it in place to return tax dollars to financially-challenged individuals and families or using a part of it elsewhere to help support programs in need.
As for Anderson, he announced earlier this fall that he would seek another term in the 2024 election to represent District 5. The golf will have to wait.
