Freshman Politician

UNION, OREGON - Kyle Corbin is the new calm in the middle of a town torn asunder by political chaos in recent years.

Kyle Corbin is the nation's youngest mayor.

Kyle Corbin pumps gas to make ends meet.

Kyle Corbin is a college freshman who lives at home with his parents, whose girlfriend is the captain of the cheerleading team. The Union High School cheerleading team.

And she wears braces.

But his mother says he is "an old soul," always has been. That would explain much. That would not only explain why Corbin never liked playing with toys as a child, but also why the young man who wears more hats than any 18-year-old probably should, is the mayor here.

"Kyle is refreshing," says Gary Graham, 55, a former city councilor who lives in one of the century-old Victorian houses that line Main Street. "I'm already impressed with the way he's conducting meetings. They're orderly. He wants to find answers to things. He wants people to work together on things."

Corbin was elected to a two-year term Nov. 7 with 46 percent of the vote in a three-man race. He ran an old-fashioned, door-to-door campaign as a write-in candidate last fall out of necessity; as a 17-year-old when he announced his intent to run in August, he was too young to be a registered voter and qualify for a spot on the ballot. His 399 votes topped the 271 received by outgoing City Councilor Scott Morrison, 59. A former city councilor, Dick Middleton, 64, finished with 200 votes.

"I know the procedures and rules," Corbin, Union High's student body president last year, told The Oregonian after being elected. "I've run a meeting with a bunch of high school kids."

Now, he's running a meeting with six City Council members whose average age is about 68.

Like your mom.


.. Wait...

No no, you must have yourself mistaken with someone else.

Ouch, that was my ego you just kicked in the balls

Alright, just putting a thumbs up in every single post is too little substance even for here. It does NOT help! Cut it out.