Veteran and business owner Don Gomez announces campaign for Lincoln County Commissioner

Marine Corps veteran Don Gomez announces campaign for Lincoln County Oregon Commissioner.

NEWPORT, OREGON, UNITED STATES, February 6, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Marine Corps veteran and local business owner Don Gomez announced his campaign for Lincoln County Commissioner, Position 2 on Friday.

Gomez, a Newport resident, is the founder of Sterncastle Publishing, a locally based independent press whose mission is to increase inclusion and diversity in the mainstream publishing industry.

He styles his bid for office “The 4H Campaign,” shorthand for housing, healthcare, highways, and habitat, a nod to his stated priorities of increasing affordable housing stock, ensuring quality healthcare access, expanding and maintaining local infrastructure including roads, and protecting and conserving our environment.

Gomez’s goals to improve the lives of families, seniors, and our local businesses call on a “smart growth” approach to planning and development which encourages a mix of building types and uses, diverse housing and transportation options, complementary development within existing communities, prevention of urban sprawl, and robust community engagement.

Gomez feels that his experience in governmental accounting gained as a Financial Resource Analyst in the Marine Corps will play a large role in helping him serve Lincoln County residents. “In the Marines, our mission in the Comptroller shop was to prevent the fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer funds. As a County Commissioner I’ll apply the lessons learned to ensuring that county residents get value for their dollar and that the money we spend has a constructive purpose, namely improving the quality of life of all county residents.”

A tireless community advocate, Gomez has a long history of giving back. For the majority of the last decade Gomez has dedicated much of his spare time to helping veterans and military families. This includes a stint as the Communications Director for National Veterans Group, a legislative advocacy nonprofit. He also served as the Digital Media Manager for the Veterans Writing Group, a separate nonprofit, which helps military families heal through the writing process.

Gomez’s time in the military was marked with distinction. While deployed to Iraq in 2008 Gomez served as the Iraqi Security Forces Funding Clerk facilitating the mission of the military, police, and border transition teams training Iraqi troops. In a collateral role Gomez simultaneously oversaw a $363 million dollar intergovernmental purchase budget. For expertly executing these dual roles, Gomez was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal which is issued for sustained performance of a superlative nature. Gomez believes that this experience will help him identify ways to save the county money on projects and initiatives while realizing successful outcomes.

As a business owner, Gomez identifies with other local business owners who are struggling to grow amidst a lack of labor that is affecting many industries. At the same time, he realizes how the housing crisis is wreaking havoc on working families. Gomez believes that the solution to both problems is one and the same and that county government should have an active role in resolving it. At a meeting with supporters on Friday Gomez told those assembled “Tourism is a pretty big part of our economy here in Lincoln County and yet I’m talking to workers in the hospitality industry who are living out of their vehicles or driving long distances on unsafe roads just to be here to serve locals and visitors.” Gomez acknowledged the difficulty those workers face in providing an enjoyable experience for others while their own living situation is so precarious. “Those hardworking people deserve better, and I’m here to make sure that they get it.”

For more information on Gomez’s campaign for County Commissioner, including his priorities for office and how to get involved, you can visit his website votedongomez.com. The primary election date is May 21.

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Paid for by Gomez for Commissioner, Position 2 #23400

Don Gomez
Gomez for Commissioner, Position 2
don@votedongomez.com
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