As in years past, our focus has been on the impact of individuals in our shared community, rather than an assessment of good or ill. Those judgments may vary among readers, or even our own staff. Undeniably, however, each of these individuals has had an outsized impact on our fair little burg over this last year.
So, without further ado, our assessment of the who’s who of the Most Impactful Corvallisites for 2022….
No. 1 – Xan Augerot, Nancy Wyse, and Pat Malone
Often in the public eye, whether for better or worse, Benton County’s three commissioners have made the list for their relentless pursuit of a new law enforcement campus, what they call the Justice System Improvement Plan (JSIP). This year saw commissioners take on the JSIP cause with acquiescence to powerful homeowners groups on location, a bold eminent domain action on an alternative site sitting in a floodplain, and a willingness to borrow several million against future County budgets to build a new courthouse and District Attorney’s office.
Now, the commissioners are modifying the slate of offered services to include houseless folks as a sweetener for voters not otherwise favorably inclined toward an upcoming bond measure that would also add a new jail, sheriff’s headquarters, and transitional housing for inmates.
The ballot in May of 2023 will see our county ask for approximately $100 million from local taxpayer purses – a bold move, given the jail has been voted down on three previous occasions.
If this plan works, this slate of current county commissioners will have achieved what no past board in county history has at a cost higher than anyone would have imagined when the discussion of a new jail began over 20 years ago. Failure, however, may cut short their political futures. Win or lose, the sheer scale and boldness will almost certainly change how the community views county government for years to come.
No. 2 – Indiana Laub and Caitlin Garets
The Corvallis punk/DIY scene has taken off this year after a pandemic-induced two-year hiatus, thanks in large part to the organizing efforts of Laub and Garets – the faces and names behind Bitter Half Booking.
Bitter Half organizes all-ages, substance-free music shows and DIY community meet-ups in Corvallis, and prioritizes booking bands – from Corvallis or the surrounding region, from other states, and sometimes even from other countries – that are fronted by women, queer and trans folks, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, etc. With each show, they are continually working towards creating safer, inclusive, accessible and affirming spaces for historically excluded folks to create, share, and appreciate art.
Neither Laub nor Garets make any money off of Bitter Half shows; instead, donations go directly towards touring bands to help them pay for gas, or towards local organizations and mutual aid groups doing important work in the Corvallis community. This year alone, they’ve organized a Halloween benefit show for the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV), partnered with the Corvallis Really Really Free Market (RRFM) to distribute free clothes and resources at shows, and combined forces with Jackson Street Youth Services to bring punk and queer culture to the organization’s “Skate Park After Dark” event for runaway and unhoused youth.
“It’s been wild coming back to shows in 2022 after taking two years off because punk/DIY is way more popular now than it was before the pandemic and the average person is more likely to be interested in the kind of stuff we do, which is weird and cool,” said Garets. “The scene has changed a lot, but our main goals are still to bring cool bands to Corvallis and make spaces for people to connect with each other. I think it’s important for people to have spaces to gather that are just about creative expression and experiencing art, rather than partying or making money.”
No. 3 – Mike Beilstein
2022 saw the Green Party’s Mike Beilstein run for the Congressional seat vacated by the retirement of Peter DeFazio. In October, a mysterious group spent approximately $36,800 sending out flyers on behalf of his campaign which were meant to undermine the campaign of one of his opponents, Val Hoyle. Beilstein didn’t win the election, but he stood up and let the public know what was going on, and that he wasn’t a fan. This honorable behavior in a time of political chaos made us take note.
No. 4 – Tali Ilkovitch
You may have seen posters in various places around downtown Corvallis or the Oregon State University campus about a zine titled “Surviving OSU”, a project documenting the experiences of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence on the OSU campus over a span of several decades – as well as ongoing histories of survivor-led, on- and off-campus activism against the neglect, silencing, and abuse survivors have faced from OSU on an institutional level.
An outgrowth of extensive research in the university’s Special Collections and Archives Resource Center (SCARC); conversations and coalition-building with various student groups, campus departments, and past and present OSU community members; and their own personal experience as a survivor of OSU campus assault, Ilkovitch – a queer, transmasculine, neurodivergent OSU student and community organizer – created the zine earlier this year to serve as a collaborative, open-ended, easily accessible resource for current and future students and community members to build off of in working towards systemic change and the end of rape culture on campus.
Ilkovitch is also the bassist for Polypore, a Corvallis-based queercore/art punk/emo band comprised of other trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming artists. With their bandmates, they have co-created Mid-Willamette Scene Seams (which Ilkovitch serves as the moderator for), a safe and accessible way for people to connect and/or contribute to the ever-growing music scene in the Mid-Valley; a zine about the importance of youth inclusivity and disability justice in DIY spaces; and an extensive list of basic needs resources that are available in Corvallis.
No. 5 – Chris Durnin
Durnin is the co-founder of Corvallis Experiments in Noise, a community of experimental artists, creators, and performers of all stripes that puts on free, all-ages noise shows, street performances, trash festivals, puppet shows, and other DIY events in town.
Durnin has collaborated with a wide variety of local and abroad artists to bring first-of-its-kind shows to Corvallis this year, including the Corvallis Garbage Fest, the Spontaneous Garbage Pop-Up Show, the Really Really Free Film Fest, and Cirque Valise, with the hopes of growing and establishing local scenes for trash art, experimental filmmaking, a seminal “DIY circus” genre, and more. All of this boils down to his being deeply inspired to foster community by inviting people to engage in play and experimentation with unconventional mediums in sometimes unexpected places, and by providing supportive platforms for people to freely and openly explore their own creativity and expression – no matter their age, ability, experience, or socioeconomic background.
“The world doesn’t need any more cool people. The world needs people that care, and that are trying to include people,” said Durnin. “So if there’s anything I can do to try to just bring people together, lower the standards as low as possible, lower the barrier entry as low as possible, and just try to get human beings in the same space talking to each other and sharing their stories and experiences, and using noise or trash as an art medium to be like, let’s all create together, because you can’t do this wrong. That’s been one of the main driving forces behind why I continue to do this.”
No. 6 – Jennifer Moreland
Hopes ran high when Jennifer Moreland took the reins at the now defunct Downtown Corvallis Association (DCA). Her retiring predecessor, Joan Wessel, had served for 25 years, and it was thought that Moreland would bring new ideas and enthusiasm.
Initially, things looked promising, but then DCA moved away from originating new initiatives and towards offering event runners administrative support in exchange for taking lead credit. Examples included Corvallis Culinary Connections and the Corvallis Arts Walk. Not everyone was happy.
In July of 2020, The Advocate learned that many Corvallis businesses for which English may be a challenge had not heard about city programs intended to help them through the pandemic lockdown – like Right-of-Way permitting for outdoor operation at restaurants and retailers. City officials had relied on DCA, which was largely funded by dollars collected by the city, and other partner organizations to get the message out. When asked if the Right-of-Way program included outreach to minority-owned businesses, Moreland said there were posts on the city website and social media, as well as emails sent via groups like the DCA. She also told our reporter, “If someone hasn’t heard about this, they are not paying attention to anything that revolves around their industry.” But, the Right-of-Way program was not industry-wide, it was local, and DCA apparently stuck with only English to communicate the program to its limited mailing list.
Earlier this year Moreland gave the DCA board notice that she and her family would be moving to Florida, and the board, in turn, voted the organization out of existence.
At the time, it was rationalized by some that groups like DCA had become passé. Privately, many members of the business community have pointed to a similar organization in Albany as doing quite well for businesses in that community.
No. 7 – Charles Maughan and Briae Lewis
Corvallis took a decidedly more progressive turn than usual when it elected Charles Maughan as its new mayor and Briae Lewis as a city councilor for Ward 2.
From the onset, one could see the mayor’s race might be close, and in the end only 34 votes separated Maughan from second place runner, Andrew Struthers. The just left of center establishment endorsements had gone to Struthers, with the more leftish progressive endorsements going to Maughan.
However, the real surprise was Lewis, who won the Ward seat largely comprised of downtown Corvallis with 69.38% of the vote. Her only opponent was Christina Jancila, who has deep business and property interests downtown, and is the current occupant of the Ward 2 seat, after having been appointed by the mayor after the position became vacant midterm. Jancila ran an organized campaign, whereas Lewis ran a far less traditional race. In short, one would have anticipated Jancila would win, so this race has to be seen as an upset, and a decisive one at that.
Beyond the horse race aspect of it all, current mayor, Biff Traber, had endorsed both Struthers and Jancila – which we translate to mean that voters want some sea change in how Corvallis is governed. After all, Maughan and Lewis had both been quite clear about where they stand, and they seem to have, as the kids would say, stuck the landing.
No. 8 – Local Robots
There were two new robots of note around town in 2022.
Cassie the robot was invented by the Oregon State University College of Engineering. She is a bipedal bot that can run fast. Cassie set the Guinness World record time of 24.73 seconds for a 100 meter sprint. While the human record for the same distance is just over nine-and-a-half seconds, watching this robot – which looks a bit like a set of ostrich legs working independently of the body and head – is still a fairly remarkable thing. Watch Cassie set the record here.
The BroccoliBot also makes our list for more practical, yet equally impressive reasons. This robot was designed by students at Crescent Valley High School on the request of one of their mentors as a means of mechanizing the harvest of broccoli – not an easy task due to the nature of broccoli leaves and stems. Eight CVHS students stepped up and made the BroccoliBot, which has since been patented.
No. 9 – William Kughn
Local Republicans have often skipped entering candidates in our heavily Democratic leaning county, and sometimes when they do find someone to run, they’re just filling a blank on the ballot, and not actually campaigning. Conversely, a handful of these GOP folks have been flame-throwing bullies, too.
None of that applied to Bill Kughn’s run for Benton’s Board of Commissioners this last cycle. He campaigned seriously, and from what we can gather, showed up for any speaking or debate opportunity offered. When he appeared for our Advocate CitySpeak debate, he was downright civil, and we noted that, in fact, we share some of his concerns about the county’s plan for a justice facilities bond.
Yes, the Democratic incumbent Pat Malone won handily, which was predictable enough, but we can’t help but think that long-term, local Republicans may become more of a political force, and William Kughn’s candidacy may have been a preview.
No. 10 – George Poinar Jr.
Best known for popularizing the science behind Jurassic Park, George Poinar Jr. – professor emeritus of Oregon State University – continues to make discoveries that explain the world for us all. And 2022 was a big year for those discoveries.
In June, Historical Biology published a report of a fossil flower of the Euphorbiaceae family entombed in amber with a fossilized wasp. While flowers of this family are not rare, finding them in amber is quite rare – this being only the second in Poinar’s memory. The flower has bloomed and contains four maturing seed pods – one with a fly larva.
In July, Poinar went one step further in his remarkable career by identifying an insect so unlike any other life form alive today, that it needed its own (sadly extinct) family. The Palaeotanyrhina exophthalma is a member of the Hemiptera order; it is slightly longer than five millimeters and once hunted using its protruding eyes.
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