Burge quits Springfield council.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Just 10 months into his second stint as a city councilor, Stu Burge resigned Monday night, ending 17 years of public service to spend more time with his wife and family.

Known for his towering presence and blunt nature, the 67-year-old Burge will also leave a huge hole on the council where passion is concerned, Mayor Sid Leiken said.

"I always thought Stu was the heart and soul" of the council, Leiken added. "He has seen things that maybe the rest of us haven't."

Burge, who resigned earlier in the day but will represent Ward 1 in the city's northwest corner through Nov. 4, underwent open-heart surgery in June 2002.

The operation came less than two weeks after he won his council seat unopposed in the May primary, and Burge considered bowing out before the term began in January of this year.

Instead, not wanting to quit "before the game's over," Burge opted to serve, but changed his mind over time after talking with his wife, Nadine, about the new lease on life he'd been given with surgery.

"It kind of gives you a new vision on life and the volatility of life," Burge said. "It makes you realize a lot of the things still to be done."

The announcement came after a meeting at which Burge was true to form, scolding his city, Eugene and Lane County for dodging responsibility for homeless people who abuse the Willamette River in the Glenwood area.

"I'm almost ready to believe that I could homestead that land because nobody has jurisdiction to it," Burge said, wryly.

"Going to be tough to fill your shoes, Stu," Council President Tammy Fitch said later, hugging Burge.

Burge will continue as the head of a downtown redevelopment association, but he plans to scale back elsewhere, including his position as president of METCO Investment Realty, a commercial-industrial-residential property firm downtown.

Burge said his company is pursuing merger offers from two companies, either of which would "make METCO considerably larger."

Burge hopes to relinquish day-to-day management of the company, although he would retain certain investors and clients, he added.

Formerly a Springfield planning commission member, Burge joined the council in 1993 and stayed until 1998, when he resigned while moving from his home in Ward 4 to McKenzie Crest Drive, in Ward 1.

Burge also served 3 1/2 years with the Willamalane Park and Recreation District board, starting in 1999. He was board chairman of a children's mental health center, a board member of Junior Achievement and chairman of the State Citizens Review Board Advisory Council.

A lover of Native American history and fishing, Burge plans to travel with Nadine and spend time with their six grandchildren.

Leiken said a search would begin immediately to appoint someone to fill the three years left in Burge's term.

Burge would most likely counsel his successor to avoid the labels of "liberal," "conservative" or "moderate," just as he, too, rejected them.

Instead, Burge said, he suited his political philosophy to the issue at hand: Feisty liberal for children in need, "as conservative as you can get" on fiscal matters and, for everything else, "right square in the middle," he said.

"If you can't be all three," Burge added, "you can't be representing your citizens very well."

BURGE-ISMS

Stu Burge has been among the more outspoken of Lane County's public officials:

On Commissioner Bill Dwyer and road fees: "What Bill Dwyer ought to do is go back to his cushy job in Lane County, vote himself another salary increase and stay the hell out of the city of Springfield's business."

On PeaceHealth, regarding McKenzie-Willamette Hospital: "If you had real class, you would go a little out of your way to make sure the smaller opponent is still OK."

On a plan for a downtown center: "I don't think you've got a product worth selling."

To a citizen, after an emotional vote when Burge served on the Willamalane park board: "Don't get in my face - I have a right to cast my own vote."

On development: "When you go into the city of Springfield and request services, the attitude on the other side of the counter seems to be, `What can we do to make this work?' In Eugene, it's `Let's see how in the hell we can keep this from happening.' '

On a controversial sculpture: "It may be good art, but I have another name for it."