Five Lake Oswego City Council candidates squared off over who should enforce rules on Oswego Lake at a Wednesday, Sept. 23 forum hosted by the Lake Oswego Corporation.

The forum, first reported by the Lake Oswego Review, exposed a gap that has grown since a 2024 court ruling declared the lake a public resource.

A Clackamas County judge found the lake was navigable at statehood and ordered the city to open a public access point at Millennium Plaza Park. The city opened the access point in 2025.

As candidate Neil Tunmore noted at the forum, the ruling came with no roadmap for enforcement. The Lake Corporation hires water patrol staff who lack authority over the general public. Marine board rules fall to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, which has a small water patrol team, a large coverage area and rarely visits the lake.

The city did not rehire a parks ranger for the access point this summer, unlike in 2025.

At the forum, residents who live along the lake said there have been close calls between paddlers and boaters, with the public not following rules meant to keep them separated.

Tunmore, a former Intel director of corporate services who has lived in Lake Oswego for 26 years, put it bluntly: "The Lake Corp. patrol guys have no authority over the lake right now, and there's nobody else there to control and help people when they're breaking the rules and giving themselves a chance to get injured."

Bryan Guiney, a Lake Oswego planning commissioner and Marine Corps veteran, said two overlapping rule systems are creating confusion.

He cited Marine Board regulations and Lake Corporation rules operating side by side with no mechanism to enforce either.

Patrick Walsh, chair of the Lake Oswego Library Advisory Board, was the lone candidate to call for returning the lake to private status.

He praised the Lake Corporation's stewardship and said the lake was better off before the ruling.

The other candidates focused on a future with public access. Suzanne Miles, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said the state of Oregon needs to clarify its role in managing the lake, given that the state holds title to the water body being litigated. Peren Tiemann, a Lewis & Clark law student, called for stronger community education, especially for visitors from outside Lake Oswego.

Heather Ramsey, the sixth candidate, did not attend.

All six are competing for four open council seats in the Nov. 3 election. Three seats carry four-year terms starting Jan. 1, 2027. The fourth seat, left vacant by Councilor Aaron Rapf's resignation in April, carries a two-year term.

The Lake Corporation's appeal of the public access ruling remains pending at the Oregon Court of Appeals. In its opening brief filed in August, the organization argued the court incorrectly applied the public trust doctrine to Lakewood Bay, the man-made portion of the lake where the city's access point sits, because that section did not exist at statehood.

Additional candidate forums are planned this election cycle, including events hosted by neighborhood associations, the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, and the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network, Respond to Racism, and LO for LOve. Dates have not been announced.