Editor's note: The Wilsonville Spokesman will be publishing profiles of each candidate for mayor and City Council leading up to the November election.
Wilsonville lawyer and business owner Shawn O’Neil is not new to serving in the city government, and now seeks to bring his experience to the mayor’s office.
In the November election, O’Neil is running against Glenn Lancaster and Rob Candrian to replace current Mayor Julie Fitzgerald, who is unable to run again due to term limits.
O’Neil previously served on the Wilsonville Budget Committee, as well as the Development Review Board and the Safety Advisory Committee with the West Linn-Wilsonville School District. Outside of local government and schools, he was appointed senior assistant attorney general with the Oregon Department of Justice Trial Division, where he served as attorney in charge of civil litigation.
O’Neil is not shy about being involved with the city outside of a board or commission, having previously made complaints to the local government about issues ranging from the Kinder Morgan pipeline to a broken crosswalk light. O’Neill informed the city about the lack of a nearby shutoff valve for the Kinder Morgan pipeline and the associated safety risk if the pipeline were to burst. Eventually Kinder Morgan agreed to add a shutoff valve.
He wants to use his experiences to foster a more united and inclusive community as mayor, and “build bridges that bring us together.”
After living in Wilsonville for 16 years and running his legal practice in the city for 10 years, O’Neil said he cares about the community and its issues. He added that he does not want to use the position as mayor as a stepping stone to a higher office.
“I have a commitment to focus only on Wilsonville and Wilsonville’s concerns,” O’Neil said, adding that he lives and works here, and is the only candidate who has owned a business in Wilsonville for 10 years. “It may not be a huge law firm, but I live and I earn money here and I work here. I deal with the same issues that everybody else does.”
The experience he gained through working on city boards and commissions is something O’Neil believes would be an asset to serving as the mayor, and something that differentiates him from the other candidates. He also believes the relationships he has built through his involvement with the city, such as those with Sen. Aaron Woods, D-Wilsonville, and Rep. Courtney Neron, D-Wilsonville, would be beneficial as mayor.
O’Neil’s other community leadership roles have included working to pass a city inclusivity resolution in 2016 and advocating to change the earthquake evacuation policy at Inza R. Wood Middle School so students do not evacuate onto the field the Kinder Morgan pipeline sits under.
“(The position of mayor) requires leadership and relationships and knowing people,” O’Neil said. “And I’m the only candidate of the three that (has) it.”
Being inclusive of marginalized groups, like people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, is important to O’Neil, in part because he has a multi-racial family. While once a member of the Republican party, he said he left due to concerns about inclusivity and he now is neither Democrat nor Republican. The role of mayor is a nonpartisan position.
He noted his dismay at a social media comment speaking negatively of the city’s temporary Pride mural that was on display during the month of June. He said this was one incident that sparked his decision to run for mayor, and “set off alarm bells” for him.
“That bothered me, and we have that in our community. I am not going to have that in our city again,” O’Neil said.
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