Three candidates competing for two West Linn City Council seats offered different views on the Tannler Drive development, the $45 million operations center and housing policy ahead of the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election.

City Councilor Kevin Bonnington, former Councilor Mike Kapigian and Planning Commission Chair Kate Nelson answered questions in a Q&A published by the West Linn Tidings on Monday, Oct. 5. The two winners will serve four-year terms through 2030.

The clearest divide centers on the Tannler Drive development and whether the council should have hired an outside hearings officer to handle the appeal.

The West Linn Planning Commission voted 5-0 on Aug. 26 to deny Tannler Holdings LLC's proposal for a 320-apartment, mixed-use project at Tannler Drive and Blankenship Road. The developer appealed to the City Council and filed a complaint with the Oregon Housing Accountability and Production Office (HAPO). On Sept. 22, the council voted 4-1 to delegate the appeal to an independent hearings officer at a cost of $10,000 to $15,000. That ruling is still pending.

Kapigian said he is "absolutely opposed to the use of a hearings officer to hear decisions that are the responsibility and duty of the City Council to hear."

Bonnington, who voted for the hearings officer, said the legal complexity of new state housing laws created enormous legal risk and that council members faced so much public pressure any decision would invite legal challenges. Nelson, who chairs the commission that denied the project, declined to comment on the Tannler application because it may return to her panel. She supported using a hearings officer for the separate operations center appeal because the city itself was the applicant.

The candidates also disagreed on the proposed $45 million operations center on Salamo Road, which would replace a public works facility built roughly nine decades ago when West Linn had about 3,000 residents. The city now has about 28,000. The council voted in December 2025 to secure $45 million in bonds, repaid through fees residents pay for streets, sewer, storm, water and park services, The Oregonian reported. A $5.20-a-month parks maintenance fee increase began in March.

Kapigian said he would not have committed $45 million without voter approval and faulted the city for not studying alternative sites before choosing the Salamo Road location, which sits on a bluff that was the site of a 1969 landslide. Nelson said the center will improve efficiency for the staff who keep the city running. Bonnington said the council's prior vote to fund the project made it impossible to hear the appeal without the appearance of bias.

On the Abernethy Bridge waterline replacement, Kapigian said he would not have supported what he described as a $12 million city payment and argued the city should have required environmental and noise monitoring before construction began. Nelson said a state agency had made some residents' homes unlivable and praised the city's advocacy for those affected. Bonnington said the issue came to his attention months ago and that he took it up personally.

Housing policy drew a three-way split. Kapigian said the city's approach encourages density that does not meet a reasonable definition of affordable and called for preserving older, smaller homes. Bonnington said adding housing is not optional but expressed frustration with state laws that limit local control. Nelson linked recent school closures to the need for low- and middle-income housing and said she would push for mixed-use development along Highway 43 and the Waterfront.

Each candidate named a signature priority. Kapigian proposed permanently protecting the Willamette wetlands by creating a new city park. Nelson said the council should take a more active role supporting West Linn schools. Bonnington called for a comprehensive review of the city's funding model to maintain quality of life without raising costs.

Bonnington joined the council in 2024 through a special election after Councilor Steve Erwin resigned. He works as a realtor. Kapigian served on the council from 1997–98 and 2001–04. Nelson has chaired the Planning Commission since 2024 and has a background in law, finance and publishing. The Nov. 3 election will fill both open seats.