Welcome to the City of Maupin, Oregon… 

As I see it, even though the city began as a convenient place to cross the Deschutes River and has grown into one of the premier places to enjoy that river, the city itself is and has been a continual work in progress.  Over the years the city’s economic engine has shifted its base from sheep and cattle to wheat ranching and lumber and now to recreation.  We face many of the usual challenges of eastern Oregon cities – a tough economy, losing our young people to the draw of the big city and rising numbers in the percentage of senior citizens.  But underneath all that, as with most of our counterparts in eastern Oregon, is a feeling of optimism in the future, a sense of growth in the imagination of people who are starting to make things work again.  Where once timber, family farms and cattle, wheat and wheat ranches were in the mainstream of community life people are creating new opportunities.  We are adapting to the conditions that have evolved and instead of waiting for smokestacks to come over the hill, we are improving what we have now.  As a community we have organized to address some of the challenges living in a small rural town can bring.  We founded an assisted living center for our seniors and a medical clinic for everyone.  We have improved our communications access with DSL and plan to bring in even better communications infrastructure as it becomes available.  We instigated the establishment of a public library in Maupin to serve southern Wasco County and are quickly creating a new problem as the library outgrows its building.  We have improved our parks, both for the city and its guests.  And we just completed the heavy work of building a new main street – Deschutes Avenue- and are putting the finishing touches of baskets and banners on it this summer. And we have fun doing it. 

These projects have gotten the ball rolling and the appearance of the town is changing because people care about the community.  But things don’t look all-of-a-sudden different; we strive to retain the basic rural heritage of the area.  Somebody asked me the other day what kind of a deal I could make his company to come to Maupin.  I said, “well, you can go fishing in the morning at the break of day, fish till 10, work till 6, fish till dark, and do it again tomorrow, all year long.”  The point is that Maupin is the “deal”- people come here because they want to be here whether they visit or stay forever.  Those kinds of people are citizens when they arrive.  And we welcome them.  Visitors are just as welcome, because if you come here often enough you will stay.  And join the Garden Club.  And the Town and Country Players.  And run for School Board or the City Council.  Or the High School Pep Band.  Or help form a rock group.

But you won’t be the first – I’ve already done almost all of that.  The fact that my thumb is orange has limited my participation.  Just wait till the baskets are up….

Dennis Ross

Mayor

City of Maupin, Oregon