Hi! I'm Brennan.

I'm a software engineer, writer, small business owner, and new father, and have lived in Corvallis since 2019. I've spent thousands of hours building, studying, and trying to improve complex systems— a mental toolkit quite well-suited for government.

Chasing an interest in land use and tax policy, I started participating in council meetings last year, and was recruited and endorsed by Laurie Chaplen (our incumbent city councilor here in Ward 6) to run for her seat this November.

I hang out at Porter Park every Sunday from 2 PM until at least 3 PM. Come say hi; I'd love to meet you and answer any/all questions you may have!

Major priorities

Corvallis has many problems: we have the highest housing cost to income ratio in the state, and our city budget is struggling even as we skimp along doing the bare minimum. We need lower housing costs, higher incomes, and more city revenue.

These problems are mostly economic, and they're all intertwined. This sounds bad but is actually good, because it means we can fix them all in "one fell swoop," by making it easier for people to invest money in improving housing and businesses.

People want to invest a lot in Corvallis, they just can't! To let them, we must make our permitting and regulations faster and more predictable. We don't need to lower our standards, we just need to make them easy to understand and quickly meet.

Minor priorities

There are many nice things we can spend money on once (1) we have it and (2) the basics, like infrastructure and parks mainentance, are taken care of. I am partial to investment in world-class multimodal (i.e. non-car) transportation infrastructure.

But these are low priority. Until everyone here can afford rent, and our local economy is not an embarassment, all else is a luxury and should not be a primary focus. (And once these problems are fixed, the nice things will be easy to pay for!)

Governing philosophy

I am a liberal. I believe America's systems—including capitalism—are fundamentally sound, and primarily need minor bugfixes and sane operation to produce prosperity.

I understand capitalist entities, like corporations, to be non-human in nature. This means that we cannot expect them to act morally, even if staffed by good people, unless properly incentivized. Doing so—"playing referee"—is the government's role. (But by the same token, we should not condemn them for profit-seeking; this is just their nature! Markets are incredibly powerful tools, and we should utilize them well.)

I adhere to the trustee model of representative government. If elected, I will consult public opinion as a datapoint when making decisions, but ultimately do what I think best, even if unpopular; and I will feel personal responsibility for Corvallis' wellbeing.

I think politics should be a calling, not a career. I'm running because I love Corvallis and want to help fix its problems; not to seek fame, glory, wealth, or power. I don't accept donations from anyone, and will donate my $4k stipend to a local nonprofit.

Contact

I'll respond personally to all inquiries (within 3-4 days at most).