Ben Burgener will be spending the rest of August wrapping up his duties as city manager in the small Eastern Oregon town of Stanfield. Then, beginning Sept. 1, the city of Scappoose will be welcoming Burgener as its newest city manager.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity,” Burgener said. “It’s a wonderful area. As I went through the interview process, it’s a wonderful staff, wonderful council.”
Burgener talked of the similarities between Stanfield, a town of a little over 2,000 folks, and Scappoose, with a population estimated in 2022 at 8,230.
“They are both considered rural cities,” he said. “They are nearby larger cities … Stanfield is next to Hermiston … There is a similar type of culture, with a small-town feel. People know everybody, and they know what’s going on.”
Looking at his accomplishments with nearly five years of experience under his belt as city manager of Stanfield, Burgener said he is pleased with development in his town, including more housing.
“During the five years I was here, I’ve worked a lot with bringing some new developers, both on the community side for housing as well as on commercial and industrial sites,” he said. “We’ve already built over 120 new houses, with another 300 lots already planned.”
On future businesses as it relates to Stanfield, Burgener said, “On the economic side, we’ve brought several small and large businesses into town and helped some local businesses expand.”
Burgener continued, “I really led that planning development. We don’t have a planning director or community development director here … I was in the trenches going through that with everybody.”
Regarding park development in Stanfield, Burgener said, “On the parks side, we’ve been going through parks master planning. I was able to put in the new disc golf course at our park.”
Bringing that knowledge with him as he gets settled after Sept. 1, Burgener said he sees a road to success in Scappoose.
“I think there’s a huge opportunity with parks and recreation,” he said. “I do think there’s an opportunity to take my recreation background and to be able to help either build or continue to build what they already have.”
Housing needs are becoming more of a concern in communities such as Scappoose and St. Helens, yet Burgener was not specific on any plans for housing.
“It’s definitely something I’ll be involved in … there are some differences in Scappoose about how things are done, and that’s perfectly OK, but I do have the background and knowledge to be able to come in and at least have conversations that are necessary,” he said.
Having been to Scappoose to scope out the surroundings, Burgener is impressed by what he has seen.
“It’s a great city, great people,” he said. “I was very impressed with everybody I’ve met and talked with.”
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