Ayla Hofler seeks Washington County District 4 seat

Running in a crowded field of six candidates for Washington County Commissioner District 4, Ayla Hofler, a Banks-area resident, said she was running not to be a politician, but to solve real problems at the county. She goes by her first name.

Background

“I have a 24-acre gentlewoman farm,” Ayla said.

She attended high school in Laguna Beach, Calif., and earned her Associate of Arts degree from Saddleback Community College.

Ayla had been accepted to Oregon Health & Science University when she “moved my horse, my cats and my houseplants to Manning,” she said. She finished her BS in 1979.

Ayla also attended Portland State University and earned a Bachelor of Science in health science education, K–12, in 1982. In 2000, she began a five-year seminary program at George Fox University, earning a Master of Divinity and Bioethics.

“I basically took that George Fox education and applied it to ministry and to hospice and doing medical chaplaincy,” Ayla said.

“I’m a pastor without the cloak,” she said, describing faith as complementary to healthcare.

She also took parish nursing classes at the University of Portland and a two-year program at the Sacred Art of Living and Dying in Bend.

Ayla has worked for about four decades in healthcare as an intensive care nurse.

Running for office

It’s work that Ayla believes would suit her well as a commissioner.

“My specialty is sorting out chaos,” she said. “I thought the county might be able to use a little help.”

Asked why she wanted to run for the seat, Ayla said she wanted to address what she described as unavoidable issues, especially around the urban-rural divide in the county.

Ayla said she has been focused on land use and does land use consulting for individuals.

“I’ve been doing that since the ’80s, and once again it’s becoming so restrictive,” she said. “I have different ideas about how to solve our affordable home crisis and our available home crisis.”

“I’d like to proceed with using home rule and sorting out and taking care of the unique needs of this county,” Ayla said.

Ayla said any tax lot paying property taxes to the county should be declared a legal tax lot, and every tax lot should be allowed to have at least one home on it.

She said the cost of permits for building a home is too high. Asked about the move to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in rural areas, she said the measure did not go far enough because it does not extend to EFC and EFU districts in rural Washington County.

“As far as I’m concerned, that is not geographic equity,” she said. “And it is not diversity, because there’s no recognition of the benefit and value of rural lifestyle. It is sorely neglected in this county.”

She said the county leaves agriculture, logging and industry behind.

She said the county has two development forums for contractors and developers.

“Do they ever have a developable forum for loggers, farmers, winery people?” she said.

“There’s none. It’s like we’re invisible.”

“And some of the commissioners are getting on the bandwagon now trying to be cool about it and talk about the 1,700 acres that was gonna get land grabbed and sucked up into the Hillsboro city limits,” she said.

“I’m not against development, don’t get me wrong, but I think common sense is key when it comes to how we use our land. We only have so much of it, you can’t replace it, you can’t undo concrete and asphalt and gravel,” she said.

She believes the richest farming land in Washington County should be set aside just for farming, much like the Tillamook State Forest is largely set aside for timber use.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t be creative and let a house be on it, or a farm store, or a food processing plant,” she said.

Ayla wants the county to create vocational schools in each school district focused on agricultural training, separate from the state’s education system.

Ayla didn’t mince words when it comes to Oregon’s school system.

“Our schools suck,” she said. She believes Washington County needs to be more involved in education and student health. “We need to have some influence on maybe health, make America healthy again by the food they eat, but how about the expectations of performance?”

Ayla said if she were to pick her assignments as a commissioner, it would be public health, agricultural programming at the fairgrounds, and the county’s museum collection following the closure of the Five Oaks Museum.

She also wants to see Washington County wineries more closely integrated with each other and supported by the county.

She said she wanted to make sure that as the county grows, emergency preparedness is properly handled.

“Only so many people can get in the boat before the boat sinks,” Ayla said. “And this insanity of more density, more density, more density without being able to provide the emergency preparedness that’s required to take care of the people that move here, that’s a sin.”

Find Ayla Hofler's campaign online. Scheduled meet-and-greets include a catered May 1 event at the Red Barn in Hillsboro from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., (1050 NE 3rd Ave), a May 2 campaign event that is doubling as a fundraiser for the Banks Fire District CERT program at the Hornshuh Creek Fire Station in Buxton from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. (49021 NW Hwy 26), a May 8 event at Coyote's Bar & Grill in Hillsboro from 5 to 8 p.m. (5301 W Baseline Rd) and a May 9 event in Gaston at the One Horse Tavern from 3 to 6 p.m. (300 Front St).

The May 19 election closes at 8 p.m. Find a ballot drop site, a voters’ pamphlet, and more information on voting online.

Additional candidate interviews will be published as they become available.