Tom Strobehn
The City of La Center has a new city councilor following the appointment of Tom Strobehn. He fills a position vacated by Joe Valenzuela in August.
The city council voted to appoint Strobehn during their Sept. 12 meeting. He was one of three candidates interviewed that day including retired Boeing manager Dennis Hill and former casino manager Michael Santoro.
Strobehn owns Fastech Solutions, an information technology company that started in his La Center garage and now employs 13 full-time staff members in Vancouver. During the interview, he said he had been paying attention to council and city issues recently, spurring him to put his name out for candidacy following Valenzuela’s resignation.
Finance and development were top issues for Strobehn, alongside working with the Cowlitz Tribe to keep amicable relations. In order to create more business growth in the city, he suggested La Center create a group similar to the Columbia River Economic Development Council which works in Clark County to promote and attract opportunities.
Strobehn supports La Center’s current moratorium on marijuana industry.
He said he wasn’t against the use of marijuana, though he saw having that type of industry moving into the city as possibly leading to problems with “police sirens and the thieves” he saw in Vancouver prior to his move to La Center in 2006.
“When we moved out here it was (because of) that small-town feel. I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible,” Strobehn said.
The Interstate 5 junction will be a focal point of the city’s growth in the next 10 to 20 years, Strobehn said, but he did not want to see downtown La Center left in the dust. One thing in particular he suggested was getting a grocery store “with a small town feel” in the city.
Strobehn, the father of two, ages 4 and 5, said that bringing in something for youth in downtown is another goal. He said the splash pad at Holley Park was a nice addition, but something covered or indoors would better mesh with the rainy season.
The council gave Strobehn a scenario where they needed to make a decision on an issue that wasn’t popular with some citizens. He said that he had experience making tough, unpopular decisions, recounting how in his previous job at Panasonic he had to fire 22 people in a week.
“I was not a popular person, but it was because the company needed it and someone had to do it,” Strobehn said. He would apply a similar attitude when looking at city issues, adding that councilors were elected to make those tough decisions.
La Center Mayor Greg Thornton said that all three candidates for the position were strong, adding that Strobehn would bring a fresh perspective to the governing body.
“(I’m) excited to have him on city council,” Thornton remarked.
Strobehn will serve for the remainder of Valenzuela’s term which will be up for a vote in 2019. When he spoke to The Reflector he was shooting around ideas in order to engage the community and hear issues, contemplating a door-knocking campaign similar to what he might do when elections come around.
“It’s an honor. Hopefully I can live up to that honor,” he said of his appointment.
