The community-minded Pastor is a nice complement his more fiscally minded Republican allies.
Erik Rebstock is a simple man. He likes sports. Enjoys fly fishing. Married for 23 years. Four kids. Drives a 26-year-old Jeep Wrangler.
Throughout his conversation with The Sun, town council candidate Rebstock, who hopes to take Jeff Beenstock’s spot on council — Beenstock opted not to run for re-election — makes sure to drop the usual talking points about fiscal conservatism and fiscal responsibility. He’s proud of how the current administration has handled its finances. However, more so than the other Republican candidates, his focus is on tangible things such as parks and recreation. He stresses community. He’s proud of Medford’s Freedom Park and the emphasis the town has on maintaining facilities for people to go outside and be active.
“We have a nationally recognized dog park here and that’s great,” said Rebstock when The Sun interviewed him at a Freedom Park picnic table. “Things like that are wonderful.”
Rebstock said one of his goals would be to interconnect the parks and streets “so that you can make your whole way around town with everything connected on a bike path.”
It’s important to Rebstock that residents get out and about in the community. Rebstock has coached basketball, soccer, track and baseball. He’s also a men’s pastor at Fellowship Alliance Chapel — that’s his day job.
“I work with men with the goal of developing leaders and developing individuals in a community. That’s why community is so important.”
But don’t make too much of it.
“I’m not running as a pastor any more than Chuck [Watson] is running as an electrician or Brad [Denn] is running as a CPA,” he said when asked about how his job shapes his view on government. “But with that I think there are certain things that really play hand in hand. This is a family town that really desires great community and I’m a family man that really desires great community.”
Rebstock entered the race at the request of Watson, the mayor, who’s running for re-election. The two have known each other for decades. Rebstock said it took him about a week of deliberation with family and friends to make the decision to run.
“You know what?” he asked rhetorically at the time of his decision, “this is a great opportunity for me to do something I think is really important.”
Rebstock has lived in Medford for 15 years, “going on 16,” and before his job as a pastor he was a general contractor.
Something residents might find they like about him is that he doesn’t really come off as overtly political or partisan.
“I don’t particularly find this to be a very political town,” he said. “I am not a politician so I didn’t become a pastor to be a politician, and I’m not running for a government office to extend my platform because I really don’t have one.”
