"I think we should just go ahead and get this done, sooner rather than later."
Denise Krause, Campaign Manager, Jackson County for All
The Jackson County, Oregon charter-update group now leans toward a May election.
Signature-gathering has exceeded all expectations. Volunteers find it "an easy sell."
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| Bill Thorndike, signing the three petitions. |
Jackson County for All reported yesterday that they have nearly enough signatures to meet the 8,351 required to get three issues placed on the ballot for a public vote. The issues could have been placed on the ballot by the three county commissioners, but they refused to do so. That required it be done by citizen petition. The charter-update group is continuing to log in signatures with a target of 10,500 to ensure ample extras.
Ballot question #1 makes the commissioners nonpartisan. Ballot question #2 increases their number from three to five. Ballot question #3 cuts the salary of commissioners nearly in half from the current $143,000, by far the highest commissioner salary among Oregon's 36 counties.
The success of signature-gathering gives Jackson County for All a choice. Turn in the ballots in February, so that the election can be held at the official May primary election, or wait until this summer to turn them in to qualify for the general election in November. Jackson County is a "home rule" county. Voters can choose to organize their own form of government. So far voters have left in place the three elected partisan commissioners format established in 1853. Through most of Jackson County's history, the commissioners were simultaneously hands-on managers for county operations, county legislators, and a quasi-judicial body holding hearings on land use and other issues. Beginning in 1980, when the commissioners established a county administrator position, the nature of the commissioner job changed. The number of commissioners, their partisan status, and their salary status did not.
May or November?
A November election has the advantage of giving the public more time to learn about the issues. A newly-retired county employee, a former sheriff deputy, told me he thought he favored the three ballot issues, then asked, "What do commissioners make now? Ninety thousand a year?" He added that they weren't worth that much because they are being spoon-fed by the county administrator.
I said they make $143,000. He said he was flabbergasted, and now was motivated to find the petitions to sign. Signature-gatherers tell me similar stories.
Non-affiliated voters (voters who decline to call themselves Democrat, Republican, or any other party) are historically less likely to vote in May than November, because they are excluded from voting on the most publicized and controversial issues, i.e. which partisan candidate wins a party nomination. Jackson County for All figured that a larger turnout in a November general election might better achieve the committee's goal of wider engagement of citizens in local government.
But a May election has its pluses, too. Issue #1 makes the commissioner's office non-partisan. The charter-update committee wants to allow non-affiliated voters a voice in narrowing down the choice of candidates. The thinking is that a May election would give these non-affiliated voters something meaningful to turn out for. Moreover, by November, the committee leadership predicted that the internet and airwaves would be full of partisan negative advertising, and in that environment voters might think that partisanship is normal and inevitable, even in local county government. Better, then, to promote the cause of non-partisanship in a less partisan environment.
The committee's signature gatherers also observe that the ballot issues make simple common sense on first hearing. The issues aren't complicated. Voters know how they feel about partisan fighting; most people find it a turnoff. Going from three to five in number seems like a modest and non-controversial increase in number, given that local city councils and school district boards have eight members. And $143,000 a year -- plus ample benefits -- strikes people as a hefty cost for administration, especially since it comes atop a well-paid county administrator and his staff.
The decision on when to file the signatures is not final, and the margin-of-safety extra signatures are still to be gathered, but Southern Oregon voters should begin to be prepared for a May, 2024 election. That is the current plan.
Jackson County for All has a website.
Disclosure: I have made contributions to the Jackson County for All campaign. I was a Jackson County Commissioner from 1981-85, and am listed on their website as a supporter. I argued in my 1980 campaign that it was time to lower the compensation of commissioners. My opponent supported keeping then-scheduled salary increases. I pledged to donate the increase to local charities instead of keeping it. A Democrat, I won election notwithstanding the Reagan landslide.
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6 comments:
As a Team Leader for the Gold Hill area Petition Circulators, I am really torn over this issue of attempting to pass the Ballot Measures in May, as I feel too many voters in the County have not been exposed to the measures, and their benefits.
Just a few days ago in Rogue River, another Circulator and I set up in front of the Library and without exception, every person who passed our table wanted first to know what we were pitching, and then to sign on. The most noticeable thing for me was how many of those folks had never heard of the proposed Ballot Measures, and I'm afraid that by going to the May Election, we are going to come up short, and perforce must start over, as we will not be able to get the needed reforms on the November Ballot. I can also say with certainty that since I started circulating Petitions, I do not need all yhe fingers on one hand to count the number of people who thought these measures are a bad idea.
Ed has a good point. Newspapers have become pretty much passé, but voters still need to be informed somehow and there are too many who aren't.
If the measure passes, I wonder if Peter would be a good fit for the new administration.
Ed: the average voter is almost always tuned out, and no amount of ‘education’ will help. As Peter says, it’s a no brainer. On the November ballot, voters get tired after the top of the ticket and will never find their way to the measures at the bottom.
I haven't spoken to Peter about that possibility, although in my personal opinion, he would be a very effective County Commissioner.
You make such a solid point, reinforcing my belief of the need for a several month campaign of repetitive information, not several weeks, and of a need for the local TeeVee Stations to start talking about these issues, on at least a weekly basis.
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