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MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 4, 2005 Sue Kupillas talks about life after the county board of commissioners, including working as a consultant and acting as executive director of a forest resources group. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Kupillas: a legacy of achievement A Jackson County Commissioner for 16 years with a commitment to rural issues, she leaves office with a reputation for strength, practicality By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Sue Kupillas jokingly referred to Monday as her first day as a free woman. After 16 years on the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, the longest for any commissioner since the board was formed more than a century ago, she was free to chart her own course. Of course, she had a few things to do: operate her new consulting business, complete a monthly report as executive director of a natural resources utilization group and plan a trip to France. "It’s one thing to move out of your office after 16 years and another thing to set up a new office where you’re the sole staff," she said during a break Monday afternoon. "I’ve been working day and night and weekends since Thanksgiving on this." After C.W. Smith was sworn in at 8:30 a.m. Monday, chairwoman Kupillas, 63, was no longer on the board. Advertisement It was a job that Kupillas, who lost a hard-fought re-election bid in the Democratic primary last year, found both rewarding and frustrating. "It was always a mind game with me to find the thing where everybody wins," she said. "As long as what they want is reasonable, it can be achieved. But there are groups out there who demand everything goes their way. It just doesn’t work." Protesters from political left and the right visited the board’s meetings over the years, she recalled. "Our society is set up so that the minority position gets extra weight," she observed. "The underdog really has the advantage in our society. "I can’t think of a better system but it does make it frustrating," she added. Kupillas, who has lived in Jackson County for nearly 30 years, was born in Ontario, in Malheur County, and reared on the family orchard on the Idaho side of the state line. She has a bachelor’s degree in interior architectural design from the University of Idaho and a teaching certificate in art from Western Oregon University. A former Eagle Point school board member, she entered her first commissioner race in 1988. She figures she knocked on more than 30,000 doors in that election. "What I told people, against all political advice, was that county business was really about rural issues," she recalled. "I told them I knew rural issues really well. There were grazing issues, mining issues and, of course, forestry issues. "I got elected on dealing with rural issues, and I’ve very consistently done that," she added. Proponents and opponents agree. "Sue was agreeable to work with," said Dave Hill, former executive secretary of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association for seven years until he resigned to pursue other interests last year. "She gave us a fair consideration of our point of view, even though we didn’t always agree on the points," he added. "The association found her to be a very responsible county commissioner." Bob Hunter, staff attorney for WaterWatch, an environmental group which periodically locked horns with Kupillas over dam issues, characterized her as a strong advocate for those who shared her point of view on natural resource issues. "Sue worked very hard and was very efficient in putting forth her agenda," he observed. "It was her social, cultural, ideological belief that dams were good, rather than looking at the facts of a particularly case." But Hunter didn’t always disagree with her stance. "On other issues she was one of the more reasonable commissioners," he said. "She did a lot of good on non-natural resource issues." Kupillas doesn’t make any apologies for fighting tooth and nail for completion of the half-finished Elk Creek Dam near Trail. "I came from an area that was fully dependent on irrigated agriculture," she said, noting the Rogue Valley’s climate is similar to southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon’s. "I know how important water is if you are going to do farming." Shortly after joining the board, she also focused on trying to determine which lands in the county had valuable natural resources and which did not. She worked with Oregon State University land- use experts in that project. "I wanted to look at which alternative futures were available for growth in the valley," she said. "I thought land-use planning should be looking way ahead." Thorny issues that arose during her tenure weren’t made any less prickly by the media, she said. "What I’ve found frustrating is when reporters come in with preconceived notions and try to lead you to say what they want you to say," she said. "That I find terribly frustrating." Kupillas, who sees herself as one who often took a center position, believes that politics have become more difficult in recent years. "I think it has gotten more extreme," she said. "It has gotten more shrill. People don’t believe in compromise now. They don’t believe in finding a good solid middle position. I find that really frustrating." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Natural resource issues will continue to be her focus Now that she’s off the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, Sue Kupillas has started her own business. Allied Solutions by Kupillas, or ASK, is a Medford consulting firm focusing largely on natural resource issues. She also has been named executive director of Communities for Healthy Forests, a nonprofit group based in Roseburg. The group’s goal is to prompt restoration and recovery of conifer forests after a catastrophic wildfire or similar event. In addition to working on natural resource issues, she has been active over the years on countless social issues. She started the first Childcare Task Force in the county, served on the Oregon Corporation for Affordable Housing board, served as co-chairwoman of a state human services committee and worked closely with White City residents to develop an urban-renewal district in that unincorporated area of the county. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers