by Larry Van Elsberg

I recently watched a video (http://coosmediacenter.pegcentral.com) from a candidates forum that the group “American for Prosperity” held. I was somewhat amazed when candidate Tim Bishop publicly stated that the current candidates including him were not qualified for the job and he thought a county administrator was the answer to all of the county’s woes. How arrogant of a statement. This is the mentality of his group of supporters and how much they would like to add another layer of government to further depress public involvement in county matters. He touts his involvement over the last 30 years in getting jobs to Coos County. Where are they? To quote late Commissioner Nikki Whitty, “no one is tracking this”. As a member of “Friends of New and Sustainable Industry” (FONSI), his group was involved in selecting the project managers for the County’s 12” gas pipeline. Having been involved in that project, it was clear to our department in several weeks these people were in over their heads, which resulted in a multimillion dollar lawsuit. Will we get the same results if they are involved in hiring a county administrator?

When you cast your vote, get past the hoopla of job creation. Everybody wants jobs in Coos County, it sounds good, but in reality it’s much more difficult.

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of MGx.