Rod Taylor, the Southcoast’s most notorious election denier is now Coos County Commissioner Elect. During the last Presidential election he traveled 3 times to Washington D.C. trying to stop Joe Biden from taking office. His last visit was on January 6, 2021 where he participated in the Stop the Steal rally and the march to the Capitol.
Mr. Taylor may be part of a national trend. Writing in The Atlantic about the 2022 Election Elaine Godfrey said, “Even though prominent election deniers lost big in the November polls in both Arizona and elsewhere, the election-denial movement is still alive, and evening thriving, at the state and local level around the country.”
After defeating the incumbent Melissa Cribbins Mr. Taylor told KCBY, “I’m ideologically different from Ms. Cribbins so there are going to be some big changes.” Regardless of what he achieves Mr. Taylor is a cultural warrior who will generate conflict at the Courthouse. Coos County has a unionized work-force divided into 7 union bargaining units. Mr. Taylor has said public employee unions should be “outlawed”. He will soon join the three-person Board of Commissioners (BOC) who are in charge of bargaining, and other labor relations with county employees.
Mr. Taylor will need at least one other vote on the BOC to pass his policies initiatives there. Commissioner Robert Main may be willing to support him. In August 2021 Matthew Wilbanks reported in The Daily Resistor that Commissioner Main attended a meeting of Mr. Taylor’s group Citizen’s Restoring Liberty and advised the group on political strategy.
State law and budgetary restraints may block much of Mr. Taylor’s agenda. One of his proposals is for the County to end vote by mail and return to in person voting with ID required using paper ballots that are hand counted without the use of voting machines. This would violate Oregon Law. The County Clerk, not the BOC, is in charge of Coos County Elections. ORS.254.465(1) states “County Clerks shall conduct all elections in this state by mail.” Voting in person would also substantially increase election costs.
Mr. Taylor told KCBY he wants to stop “County government being involved in the promotion of transgender events.” What Mr. Taylor means is unclear but his statement is red meat for his right-wing base.
During his campaign Mr. Taylor supported increasing County jail beds. However, he opposed the tax level to pay for them. At the League of Women Voter’s Forum he said, “There are other ways to fund the jail.” He never told us what these other ways are – perhaps he will do so when he takes office.
Mr. Taylor has an extensive agenda beyond what I have discussed here. Mr. Taylor thinks his proposals can be implemented inside Coos County even when they conflict with state or federal law by using voter approved ballot measures or a voter authorized Home Rule Charter. KCBY reported he is assembling a team to draft such a charter.
