This morning’s commission meeting was full of subtle and not so subtle confrontations. For starters, the potty mouthed “reporter” for the Coquille paper photographed me as I was walking to my seat, even after being warned by the local PD that continuing to photograph me or my daughters henceforth would be considered harassment. This time I am ignoring it but since he is using a Sentinel camera and operating with a Sentinel press pass, I will report both him and the paper.

Then Ronnie Herne asked Commissioner Melissa Cribbins if she would comment on the proposed home rule charter entitled the Voice of the Voters and also to place the citizen initiative on the ballot this fall eliminating the need for the charter’s backers to gather signatures. During the last meeting Herne asked the same question when Cribbins was absent and Bob Main and John Sweet both declined. Likewise, Cribbins responded with a “no.” During commissioners’ comments, however, Cribbins asked her fellow commissioners if they might consider forming a county charter committee. A 1958 amendment to the Oregon constitution allows for the formation of county charters either by citizen initiative or through the formation of “county charter committees appointed by county governing bodies and by members of a county’s legislative delegation.” Cribbins favors the administrator model of county government over the current form of governance. An advisory vote on the November 2012 ballot soundly defeated the idea of hiring an administrator to run the county.

According to Herne, Cribbins then asked Herne and fellow charter organizer Jaye Bell if either of them wanted to comment on her idea of forming a county charter committee. They declined.