Drafting a new ordinance to move the county toward hiring an executive instead of the present troika of commissioners would be a wasted exercise if two of the three commissioners cannot agree to either enact it or put it on the ballot. Previously, Parry had no support from either commissioner for putting the ordinance up for a vote of the people. Bob Main argued that if the county charter had to collect a required number of signatures then so should Parry’s proposal rather than just letting the commission add it to the ballot. Messerle felt the matter was a management decision that should be made by the commissioners and shouldn’t wait for a public vote but today when I queried the board, Messerle indicated in the vaguest and most noncommittal manner that he might consider letting the people decide if they like the ordinance or not. This is important because Parry maintained again that he was steadfast in his determination to let the people decide on this change, so unless two of the three come to some agreement… the entire exercise of drafting an ordinance and holding hearings is a waste of time.
Hearings begin tomorrow at The Mill Casino, Salmon Room at 1:30 and several members of the public argued that the location, a tribal gambling establishment, was a violation of ORS 192.630 (4). The ordinance cited appears to indicate that all meetings be held within the “jurisdiction” of the governing body, in this case the county, and it was argued that tribal lands are outside that jurisdiction.
Whether the casino is a good choice for a public meeting or not, two commissioners must agree which could lead to first ever genuine debate between public officials I have ever witnessed at a local level. So either Parry will convince Messerle to put the ordinance to a vote or, more likely, Messerle will convince Parry to simply enact the new ordinance. The third option is that Main just signs on with Parry circumventing the immediate enactment.
