Home Rule

Chip Bradley for Curry County Commissioner #2

I believe that Curry County should develop and implement a Home Rule Charter, just not the Charter that is being presented to use. I strongly feel that the Charter that Curry County Charter Committee has presented does have some very good points in it, but also has some grievous errors that would take Curry County down the wrong road.

I will be the first to admit that I have not read the Charter in its entirety, and really have only read what has been printed in our local newspapers, but that little bit has been enough to know that I will not sign a petition or vote for it if it makes it to the ballot. But, as I said above, it does have some strong points that I believe a new Charter could be presented. Some of those points are, if some changes are as follows:

1. Expanding to 5 part time commissioners. But I feel that the current presentation is unbalanced in its districting, and while not truly unconstitutional, is not in tune with the thoughts of our founding Fathers. I would propose in a new Charter that the districts be defined by the boundaries of the local high school districts, with each district have one commissioner to represent it. With the remaining two commissioners, I would propose that those positions would be voted on Countywide, or "At large."

2. Making the County Government more accessible to the general public. While I would disagree that ever meeting that the commissioner's have should be held after 6 P.M., I would propose in a new charter that not only there should be at least one meeting after 6 P.M. on any issue that required public comment. I would also propose that there should also be townhall meeting in the Port Orford, and Brookings-Harbor areas in which public comment could also be given when needed.

I reserve the right to add more to this section as I have time to read the Charter proposed by CCCC.

Now I would like to go over some of the points that I feel would be major mistakes to implement in the County, and what I would propose in a Charter instead.

1. Appointed Sheriff. I can understand how the CCCC might feel it would make it easier to fine a qualified individual to be our Sheriff, but it completely takes the power away from the people to choose the top law enforcement official in the County. By going to a Charter based County Government, we would be able to write our own residency requirements for the Sheriff position, and I would propose in a new Charter that we would require anyone running for Sheriff to have been a resident of Oregon, for 12 consecutive months.

2. Limiting commissioners' supervisory roles. While I do not believe that it is the role of a Commissioner to micro manage departments that already have someone hired to manage it; I believe that the Commissioner should have the ability to supervise department heads, especially if a flaw in the system has been identified, or things are not going right. I would leave anything out of a new charter about this, because, historically, that is the way our commissioners have behaved, and we should not dictate over future commissioners because some of our resent commissioners have gotten into the habit of micro managing departments.

3. Reining in commissioner spending is something that would be difficult to regulate, but it is possible, but not the way the CCCC Charter proposes. This issue needs a stronger look to determine a reasonable way to put in a check and balance system to oversee commissioner spending, and ensuring the public that what the commissioner's are spending taxpayer money on is prudent and necessary. My first thought is a public oversight committee, but I run into the issue of how do people get on this committee, because I don't believe that the commissioners can appoint them and be able to have the public trust. Any comments on my forum would be welcomed.

4. Removing all benefits from the County Commissioners. While I have not made up my mind if a County Administrator is the way to go, I do believe that even if that is what is best for Curry County, that it is a mistake to take all benefits away from County Commissioners. Even the board of directors of Coos Curry Electric receive medical benefits. With the time and energy that even a part time "Volunteer" Commissioner would put in, we would owe them at least medical benefits for that time and energy.

I reserve the right to add more to this as I learn more about the proposed Charter.

This website is a free service, I, Chip Bradley do not endose, nor get any compensation for any product or service advertised on this site, nor my online forum.