The commissioners are defending their fortress.
The supporters of the ballot measures are trying to make the county citizen-led. In the cities elected officials provide oversight and direction to city administration. It works. These three measures would make Jackson County commissioners nonpartisan, they expand their number from three to five, and they cut commissioner pay back to a median household income. This isn't new and strange. It makes the county more like the cities, where elected citizens provide representation and oversight.
Currently county commissioners are managers with step-increases as they progress in tenure in the job. It makes the commissioner job a career position, supposedly more valuable to the organization as they gain experience within the institution. That encourages loyalty to and defense of the organization and its internal team. They look inward. They don't oversee the management team. They are the management team. They have become in effect the support staff for the administrator. Where is the watchdog function? Who is there to push back against a three-year guaranteed-income severance package for the administrator?
The measures change that. They convert commissioners back to citizen representatives of the people who supervise the county administration.
Like the wagon trains of the old Oregon Trail, the commissioners and administrator have circled the wagons to protect themselves from the public. They can run such a huge campaign because they raised money from the very people who have franchise agreements and building and paving contracts with the county.
If people want to open up county government, they will vote yes on the three measures. They may not. The people enjoying the benefits of the status quo don't want it opened up and they have run a huge campaign.
4 comments:
Currently, the commissioner positions are partisan and held by Republicans. What we’re talking about here is the same Jackson County Republican Party that passed a resolution rejecting the results of the 2020 presidential election. Considering what the GOP has degenerated into, I didn’t think they’d be interested in relinquishing power just because it makes sense.
Another supporter and I spent several days knocking on doors in Gold Hill, and made several determinations;
One was that a significant number of people had already voted in favor of all three proposals, another was that several had voted NO on Nonparsanship and 5 Commissioners and yes on cutting salaries, and were surprised to learn that salaries would not be curtailed unless we went to a 5 member Commission, which told us they hadn't completely understood the measures, it had been seated by the disinformation spread by the Opposition.
We also noted that the Pro voters greatly outnumbered the Anti voters.
My opinion is that it's a crap shoot as to what outcome will be on Wednesday after all the Ballots are counted.
Thank you, Ed and Peter, for working in support of these measures!
I, for one, appreciate the dislosure of the measures' opponents as I will not be spending money at those businesses!
I vote with my wallet.
Thank you, Mc. I'm in the hospital this morning being evaluated for possible stroke and somewhat anxiously awaiting the Results of the Ballot Count.
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