Candidates in Nov. 4 election present platforms during forum
From our weekly issue dated September 24, 2008
(Photo by Michelle Binker for Illinois Valley News)
Three of four candidates for Josephine County commissioner were on hand, as was one of two candidates for county treasurer, during a forum held Thursday night, Sept. 18, at Fruitdale Grange Hall in Grants Pass.
The forum was sponsored by the John Birch Society (JBS), and moderated by Scott Jorgensen, news director at KAJO/KLDR Radio.
Attending were Position 2 candidates Harry Mackin, and Sandy Cassenelli; and Position 3 candidate Jack Brown. Brown’s opponent, incumbent Dwight Ellis, did not attend. Neither did John Harelson, the incumbent county treasurer. His opponent, Dale Matthews, was present.
The meeting was punctuated with “Amens” when candidates expressed a strong anti-tax position.
Each candidate gave an introduction. Jorgensen then opened with questions from the audience. Most questions were directed to Mackin, whose stance in support of a county manager and the proposed law enforcement tax districts ran counter to the opinions apparently held by most of the 50-some audience members.
But Mackin held fast in his insistence that the county has suffered for lack of knowledgeable and experienced leadership.
“I don’t think we elect the best people around and we don’t allow them to hire somebody to make sure it works,” Mackin said. “So we have a dysfunctional county that can’t provide the services.”
Cassenelli disagreed, stating that in her opinion, the city of Grants Pass, which has an administrator, was less well managed than the county. Brown stated that he is flatly “opposed to any appointed supervisor, by any name, which would be paid more than the commissioners and (with oversight of) other elected officials.”
It was asked if any of the candidates had other plans for increasing revenue. Cassenelli pointed to the many recommendations given by the governor’s taskforce on forest payments, noting that most of the recommendations for increasing county revenue involved tax increases.
“I oppose this,” she said. “We cannot tax the people into prosperity. I don’t want any new taxes until we get complete accountability for every cent that goes through that courthouse.”
Matthews weighed in on the question by suggesting that his opponent, Harelson, had put forward a program of accelerating the redemption phase of foreclosures on some neglected properties. The revenue from sale of these properties, Matthews averred, would be used to fund county departments.
“The state allows the county to seize the entire value of the property,” Matthews said. “You see, we do have a natural resource here in the county. It’s called ‘property owners’.”
Brown said that the problem is that the county’s natural resources, such as timber and minerals, have been locked away.
“You cannot have wealth unless you take something of low value and put sweat into it,” Brown said. “We need employment opportunities -- not created by government -- but employment opportunities not thwarted by government. Government needs to stand back and let free enterprise do its work.”
Mackin declared that the others were “dreaming” if they thought that timber and mining were going to affect the immediate crisis posed by the continued lack of federal timber dollars from O&C land. He predicted dire consequences in the event that the proposed law enforcement districts are voted down in the Nov. 4 election.
“If we do not get funded, come July 1, we will not be safe in our homes and on our streets and highways,” he said.
Several audience members scoffed at the comment, and one woman replied, “We’ve got our shotguns.” From the back of the room an angry shout accused Mackin of wanting to raise taxes.
“Sure,” he replied, “it’s about time we started paying for our own safety.”
Asked to explain why it is so many people have no trust in county government, Cassenelli pointed to her own experience with Public, Educational and Government (PEG) television funds. She and Matthews, and others who have investigated the issue, believe that there appears to have been misuse of those funds. This originally spurred her distrust of county management.
Matthews said the source of distrust is the preponderance of the “old boys network.”
“We can put an end to that,” he said. “But we have to vote a little bit out of the norm. Referring to Harleson, Matthews remarked, “Twelve years without an opponent ..? I think there are some new ideas that we can bring into this.”
“It’s the misplaced priorities that make people not trust government,” Brown asserted. “People inherently distrust government because, as someone said a long time ago: It is not eloquence. It is not reason. It is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
“We’re talking about going back to basics,” he said, “because all we can afford are the basics. And the basics worked pretty well in the past. Those who don’t think so can go back to the East Coast and get off the Oregon Trail.” At this the crowd broke into applause.
One year ago, Mackin stated, he decided to run against outgoing Commissioner Jim Raffenburg, because “he was losing money that belonged to us because of poor management decisions.”
Mackin listed several “glaring” examples he said were the results of poor management, citing loss of still untold amounts of county money during the past six years through what he termed insurance fraud and embezzlement. He also noted numerous lawsuits.
“We have had problems in this county because we don’t have knowledgeable and experienced commissioners,” said Mackin. “We elect them; we give them the responsibility to run the business; and we suffer the consequences. And that is the reason why I filed to run, because I think I can do a lot better.”
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