People with Agendas Need Not Apply

Commissioner Bob Main is adamant: He does not want people with agendas on county committees. He said so on May 10th when the finalists to replace the late Commissioner Nikki Whitty were interviewed, and he said so again at the June 7th Board of Commissioners meeting when Mary Geddry asked him to define what he meant by ‘agenda’ (he couldn’t define it) and Jody McCaffree asked him for examples of people with agendas. His examples were a county employee who wants to be on the advisory committee for his own department, or some guy on a street corner claiming the world is going to end, or a critic of the Police and Sheriffs Department whose good buddy is a murderer.

But Commissioners Main and Cam Parry did appoint someone who has an agenda. Fred Messerle was sworn in as Commissioner Whitty’s replacement on May 17th, and on May 24th, Commissioner Messerle proposed, and the County Board adopted, three review committees:
A Forestry Advisory Committee
A Governance Review Committee
A Operations, Structure and Organization Review Committee

The Forestry Committee will use the $50,000 forestry inventory update (also proposed by Commissioner Messerle) to determine how best to manage the county forest, and advise the Commissioners on leasing mineral rights, establishing a carbon-credit system, and fine-tuning timber harvests.

The Governance Review Committee will explore options for changing the County’s system of governance, perhaps to a County manager and part-time commissioners, and changing some of the County Department heads from elected to appointed positions.
The Operations, Structure and Organization Review Committee will advise the Commissioners on restructuring departments, reducing expenses, and developing new revenue streams.

In other words, Commissioner Messerle’s agenda is to reinvent the Coos County government. How’s that for an agenda? And, how is that even possible?

In 1958, the Oregon Constitution was amended to allow voters the right to adopt charters to prescribe how their county’s government will be organized, what powers they will have, and what procedures will be followed in the administration of county affairs. Since that time, nine of the thirty-six counties have adopted charters. Charter counties have more options than general law (non-charter) counties with respect to reorganization, and they have a greater degree of local discretionary authority with regard to policy making and administration.
Central issues involved in creating a brand new Coos County government include the number of, and the method of nominating and electing members of the board of commissioners, whether county department heads should be elected or appointed, and whether the executive should be elected or appointed. The power of the central executive is increased by leaps and bounds when department heads are appointed rather than elected. An appointed executive is better shielded from accountability, from politicized environments created by the need to stand for election, and from the endeavors of community activists.

Although a central executive is accountable to the board of commissioners, who have the authority to hire, discipline, and if necessary fire, a county manager typically has broad powers and operates with great independence. With a strong central executive in place, the reorganizing, reducing, combining and eliminating of county departments, with corresponding cuts in expenditures and services, is streamlined — and that is the real agenda.

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Information Sources:

County Home Rule in Oregon, Tollenaar and Associates for the Association of Oregon Counties, June, 2005

Coos County Commissioner Meeting, Coos Community Media Center, June 7, 2011

Coos County Screening Panel, Coos Community Media Center, May 10, 2011

County solicits advice, by Gail Elber, The World, May 25, 2011

Elected or not, leaders should lead, The World Editorial Board, The World, May 26, 2011

Process may have been flawed, by Gail Elber, The World May 17, 2011

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Bob Fischer is a retired sociology professor who lives in Bandon.