In the News- Jennifer Massey for Mayor
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“ A woman whose family has deep roots in St. Helens will be running this November to unseat Mayor Rick Scholl.
Jennifer Massey, a union steamfitter and multi-business owner for 18 years, is ready to take on Scholl, who is running for another term as mayor. Attorney Steven Toschi will also be vying for Scholl's seat Nov. 5.
Massey said she has longstanding ties to the community.
“My family roots go back here since 1928. My great-grandfather worked at Crown Zellerbach," Massey said. "I’m a fourth generation who has resided here. My grandmother, who's 96, actually still lives here, and I care for her.”
Massey, who has a husband and two daughters, is a second-generation steamfitter from Local 290, one of the largest building trades unions in the nation.
“I basically say, ‘I’m from boiler room to boardroom,’” she said, noting she represents people on issues including worker safety and workers compensation.
Seeking to become mayor of St. Helens, Massey said, “I just realized that there is a serious, in my opinion, lack of accountability and transparency in the city, based on actual documents we received.”
Massey said, “I would go down to city hall and give public testimony at council and I just felt it was just three minutes just thrown at a wall and nobody responded, nobody followed up, people still had questions.”
The St. Helens resident is also concerned that citizens aren’t given accurate information on financial documents.
“I also do not have confidence that we have been given accurate information,” she said. “Being on the budget committee, I found it surprising how challenging it was to get any information, which I don’t think is appropriate, so I’m not even confident in what we have financially there.”
Policing and waterfront issues are also on Massey’s radar.
“I want a staffing study for the St. Helens Police Department," she said. "We are behind the ball; we need to figure that out. We need to have a staffing plan in place.”
On tourism, Massey said, “Tourism is super important. Tourism is important to waterfront businesses here. It’s just in shambles. It did not need to be this way, although we predicted it. I think a tourism committee would be important to act as liaisons so that we can get more of a functional and operational tourism department.”
