ROSEBURG, Ore. — Sure, it’s been a busy fall for Yoncalla’s 18-year-old mayor-elect, Ben Simons.
But the Umpqua Community College student, current city councilor and volunteer firefighter said he hasn’t been overwhelmed by the wave of national and state media attention since the election.
News of Simons’ win sparked a wave of stories and interviews from Roseburg to the United Kingdom.
The hype of being elected the youngest mayor in Yoncalla’s history has died down, and school has paused for the holidays, Simons said, which has allowed him to think more about how he will lead his town.
His mission is to increase town pride and bring people together, he told the News-Review. He has ideas to increase transparency within city hall and build trust between the public and local government. He said a key component of that goal is to get residents more involved in the decision-making process.
Simons won by 25 votes over two other candidates. Three-hundred and seven people voted in the town of one thousand people. But residents are confident in Simons.
“He’ll be a good mayor,” said Tammy Eveland, manager of the Yoncalla Deli, as Simons paid for his chicken sandwich, fries and coke a few hours before a city council meeting.
Simons is a regular at the deli, according to Eveland.
“It depends on how busy I am up the street at city hall,” Simons said of his lunch attendance.
Simons is putting Yoncalla back on the map with all the media coverage he has received, Eveland said.
Earlier in the day, Simons participated in a training as a volunteer for North Douglas Fire and EMS in Drain. The department now has two mayor-elects; first responder Justin Cobb was elected mayor of Drain.
“A lot of people give (Simons) a hard time over his age,” Cobb said. “But that kid has a really good sense of city issues. He has that natural charisma about him. I think he’s going to be good for the city of Yoncalla.”
When Simons was in eighth grade he started attending school board meetings with his mother, a high school math teacher. As a high school sophomore, Simons sat on one of its planning committees.
The experience sparked his interest in public service. As a junior in high school, Simons ran for school president and won.
