Al Densmore for Jackson County Commissioner

Good News.

Al Densmore is planning to run for Jackson County Commissioner as a nominee of the Independent Party. 

Out of state readers will be tempted to skip this post. Tarry a moment. 

Observing something positive happening in local government in Southern Oregon may bring a happy thought of recognition to readers elsewhere, too. The government that most touches our daily lives is local government. We count on it hundreds of times a day. Water comes out of faucets, toilets flush, traffic lights cycle, fire and police people are at work, roads get built and maintained, park litter gets cleaned up, airports get managed, and kids get educated. 

Al Densmore

If local government works well in your own community, please take a moment to be conscious of it. It happens because public employees do their jobs and because local citizens serve on the boards and commissions that supervise those services. If one watches cable news, one might wonder if Americans are capable of self-government. At the local level at least, yes we are.

Most citizen service on these governing boards is thankless, time-consuming, and unpaid. The Jackson County Commissioner job is an exception. It is thankless, time-consuming, but paid. It is a full time job with serious responsibilities. That creates a new problem. There isn't a clear career path leading to that job, or from it, so the job doesn't make sense for most people. Then, because it is a partisan office, there is the risk of a tough election. That combination limits the candidate pool of good people. Voters grouse about that. They certainly did 42 years ago, when I was a candidate.

No Democrat filed for one of the two County Commissioner positions up for election this year. Both have Republican incumbents running for re-election. This creates an opportunity for something unusual and good, a head-to-head, two-person contest, with the "minor party" Independent candidate having an excellent chance to win. He wouldn't be a spoiler. He would be an alternative.

A very high quality candidate expects to run the way he hoped to run, as an Independent. The candidate is Al Densmore.

Al Densmore has been a civic asset in Southern Oregon for five decades. He was a Democratic State Representative representing this area for six years back in the early 1970s, when he was in his 20s and working as a Medford High School teacher. Later he became a financial advisor and he changed his party registration to Republican, which he had been for decades, until he changed yet again, now to Independent. He was Mayor of Medford--a nonpartisan office--for six years, from 1977-1983, when he was in his 30s.  He served again on the non-partisan Medford City Council for six years from 2007-2013. Throughout those decades he provided leadership on the Bear Creek Greenway and dozens of other civic projects. A pedestrian and bicycle overpass on the Greenway was named in honor of his work.

Photo taken from the "Al Densmore" overpass

I came across something Al Densmore had written about partisanship in the Oregon legislature:

Unfortunately, in today’s partisan atmosphere, if you’re a Republican, your views may be dismissed by the Democrats before they are even considered and if you’re a Democrat, your views may be equally dismissed by the Republicans. As an Independent, I would listen and discuss issues with both Democrats, Independents and Republicans, acknowledging the good ideas from each party. 

I have been a commissioner. I know first-hand that it makes no sense for the office to be partisan. The problems commissioners address have little connection to the ideological and cultural battles that roil national and state politics. Is there a Democratic or Republican position on property line setbacks on barns in Exclusive Farm Use zones? 

Al has the knowledge and temperament to be an excellent commissioner. I worked with Al back when I was a commissioner and he was mayor. He gets along with people. He has good sense. He knows things. He is moderate and reasonable. 

I have praised Al to Democrats who have asked me if his long period as a Republican was a concern to me. This is, after all, normally a partisan office. I said I am thrilled he is running. There was nothing particularly partisan about Al back when he was a Democrat in the legislature pushing for the landmark Oregon bottle redemption bill nor in his life since then when he was a Republican on the City Council. Al is a problem-solver. He would be a great county commissioner. We would be lucky to have him.