Accusations fly at commissioner candidate forum

Douglas County Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman took aim at her opponents Tuesday evening, calling Susan Morgan a proponent of tax increases and saying Patrick Starnes has “a little darker ulterior motive” in running for office to promote a plan to expand the Board of Commissioners from three to five members and hire a county manager.

Speaking at a candidate forum held at the Frank Hart Discovery Theatre at Wildlife Safari, Kittelman hammered Morgan, a member of the Oregon House of Representatives for the past 10 years, for her vote on Measure 30 during the 2003 legislative session. She called the measure, which was later rejected by voters, the “largest tax increase in Oregon history.”

She said she doesn’t believe Starnes, who was behind the measure that turned Board of Commissioner positions nonpartisan, is running with the expectation of winning. Kittelman said there would be danger in electing commissioners by geographical areas, as Starnes has discussed. She also said it would not be wise to hire a county manager that would create an extra layer between the commissioners and county residents.

“I don’t work for Douglas County. I work for you and were hired by you each and every time. We are answerable to you and it needs to remain that way,” Kittelman said.

Former Commissioner Mike Winters served as moderator for the forum, sponsored by the Winston-Dillard Area Chamber of Commerce.

Morgan answered Kittelman by saying she would attempt to “remove a couple of stilettos from my back.” She defended her vote on the 2003 legislation saying the state had lost 20 percent of its revenue and the Legislature had been in session nine months — the longest session in history — and still hadn’t come up with a budget that was acceptable to her Republicans and the Democrats.

Schools were set to open in a week and no funding had been approved for the K-12 system.

“A group of us stepped to the middle of that arena and that was a pretty fearsome proposition, but the need for leadership was very clear. We stepped to the middle and we crafted a set of bills that put revenue on the table to fund the budgets that we passed,” Morgan said.

The group also built into the legislation spending reductions that would go into effect when the measure was rejected by voters.

“I think that is a great example of people stepping in the breach when leadership is needed and bringing leadership to the state of Oregon,” said Morgan, who challenged Kittelman to release a budget that fits with the incumbent’s views that Douglas County should live within its means.

Starnes, a Lookingglass cabinetmaker, said he has the skills to bring the timber industry and environmentalists together to work on a logging plan that would be beneficial to both sides. He said he’s the only candidate who has proposed a timber tariff on imported lumber to benefit the timber industry and to create a source of revenue that could be passed on to counties currently under the federal safety net.

“If you think the way the county is going with the constant controversy is great, then you probably shouldn’t vote for me. If you think the state is doing great, then you probably shouldn’t vote for me,” Starnes said. “But if you want some fresh ideas and somebody willing to work hard to make those things happen. ...”

In the other race being contested in the May 20 primary, Commissioner Doug Robertson rejected the notion from challenger Rich Raynor that he has been in office too long and hasn’t work hard enough to develop a forest plan that would get people working again and would replace safety net revenue with actual timber receipts.

“I have put specific plans working with the BLM on managing the O&C lands. I haven’t heard anything specific from Rich Raynor except complaints and criticism about me,” Robertson said.

Raynor said many of the forest management plans promoted recently involve thinning. He said thinning was necessary but that it shouldn’t be the emphasis.

“I don’t believe thinning is the answer. I think sound forest management performed by professionals is the answer and it’s time to get back to that,” Raynor said.

John Ayer, who is running against Robertson for the second time, told the audience the nation is headed for a depression and that the county needs to prepare for that reality. He predicted that home foreclosures will “skyrocket in the next year” and that the nation’s currency will become virtually worthless in the next couple of years.

“We’re only at the tip of the iceberg right now,” said Ayer, who predicts the depression will be worse than the one that hit in 1929.

The fourth candidate in the race, Mike Folino, said the county needs to look for a job base outside the timber industry. He said greater efforts should have been made in that area before now.

If elected, the self-employed masonry contractor said he would bring a common sense approach to government.

“I think we can run the whole government under common sense,” Folino said.



• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.