Sally Wantz Poised to Become Florence’s Next Mayor

Florence City Councilor Sally Wantz held a 353-vote lead Wednesday in the race to succeed Mayor Rob Ward. Unofficial returns showed 2,117 votes for Wantz, 1,764 for Daniel Lofy and 327 for Shannon Warren, with 12 write-ins. That gave Wantz just over half of the 4,220 votes counted in a three-way race. Ward did not seek reelection. If the result holds, Wantz will take the oath of office January 4 and begin a two-year term. Oregon Secretary of State election returns · City of Florence election calendar

When Wantz and her spouse, Jennifer French, visited the Oregon Coast in the summer of 2003, they still owned a home in Denver. Within two months, they had sold it. That September, the couple arrived in Florence with their dogs, Buster and Jute. A PeaceHealth biography puts the attraction in terms anyone who has sat in Denver traffic can appreciate. They were ready to trade ten lanes of highway for a town with four traffic lights. Wantz’s account of the move · Peace Harbor Medical Center Foundation biography

Wantz had come a considerable distance to find those four lights. Born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, she grew up in a conservative household. In an October interview with Will Yurman of West of the Tunnel, published by Lookout Eugene-Springfield, she recalled a father who owned a business and opposed unions, and a mother who considered child car-seat requirements an intrusion by government. Living in New York City and later Denver gave Wantz occasion to reconsider convictions she had grown up hearing around the family table. Read Will Yurman’s candidate interviews

Soon after moving to Florence, Wantz joined Toastmasters and enrolled in a local leadership program that introduced residents to elected and appointed office. She dates her ambition to serve on the City Council to that program. But first she needed a job, and the casino under development on Highway 126 needed someone to manage human resources. In early 2004, Wantz went to work for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians at what would become Three Rivers Casino Resort. She stayed for 16 years. Wantz’s career history · Siuslaw Childcare Friends board biography

There she encountered a problem that would follow her into public office. A parent could have a job waiting at the casino and still have no dependable place to leave an infant or a preschooler. Wantz helped found Quality Child Care of Florence in response. After retiring in 2020, she returned to that work as a director of Siuslaw Childcare Friends. This past August, she welcomed guests to the ribbon-cutting for the Elm Park Apartments and Early Learning Center. The program listed her in both capacities, as a Florence city councilor and a childcare board member. Siuslaw Childcare Friends · Elm Park ribbon-cutting

Other residents knew her long before they saw her name on a ballot. Theatergoers saw her perform with the Last Resort Players, where she also produced shows and served on the board. She and French, a mixed-media artist and the author of two young-adult novels, were among the founders of Backstreet Gallery in 2005. That same year, Wantz joined the Rotary Club of Florence, which she eventually led as president. Her community work also took her to the Peace Harbor Medical Center Foundation, the Western Lane Community Foundation and the Florence Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. PeaceHealth biography · Wantz’s community service record

Florence first elected Wantz to the council in 2020 and returned her for a second term in 2024. When Siuslaw Country Magazine spoke with her before the mayoral election, she described the council’s accomplishments as a team effort. Asked what stood out across those six years, she pointed to housing projects, childcare opportunities and changes to the city’s childcare codes. She also brought up the written standards council members sign governing how they conduct themselves. She expects the next council to honor them. City of Florence council standards

Working with colleagues has sometimes meant losing a vote in public. In February, Wantz moved to end Florence’s contract with Flock Safety and shut off the city’s automated license-plate readers. She said she trusted Florence police. What concerned her was whether federal agencies could gain access to information gathered about people here. A council majority disagreed, and Florence voted 3–2 to keep the system. When Siuslaw Country asked her about it months later, the possibility of information reaching federal immigration authorities still troubled her. KLCC’s coverage of the council vote

Wantz has offered a local example of the economy she would like to build. In her interview with Yurman, she pointed to RipTide Sports, a maker of skateboard components that relocated from California. Florence might attract other small manufacturers, she argued. But an employer considering a move has to be able to hire people, and those people need somewhere to live and somewhere their children can go while they work. For Wantz, those questions belong in the same conversation. West of the Tunnel’s interview with Wantz

The mayor of Florence presides over a council of five. If the returns hold, Wantz will need her colleagues’ votes to carry out the work she described during the campaign. She will also have to preside fairly when those colleagues disagree with her, as they did over the cameras. Florence voters have had six years to see how she handles both. City of Florence council structure

One measure of her tenure may be found at Elm Park. The apartments and early learning center brought together two needs Wantz first saw from an employer’s side of the desk on Highway 126. For a parent trying to make it to work, the distance between home, childcare and a job can determine whether taking that job is possible at all. If Wantz takes the mayor’s chair in January, she will bring more than a campaign position on that question. She will bring the better part of two decades spent trying to answer it. Elm Park Apartments and Early Learning Center dedication · Siuslaw Childcare Friends