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Eagle Point man seeks to replace Uherbelau By PETER WONG As a member of the Eagle Point School Board for nine years, Alan Bates says he knows how legislative decisions about state aid affect what schools can do for students. As a member of the Oregon Health Services Commission for 10 years, Bates knows how legislative decisions about budget priorities affect thousands of poor people who depend on state aid for health care. Bates is a Democrat who announced Thursday he is seeking the open District 52 seat in the Oregon House. He said he would bring his experiences to a chamber that will have at least 17 newcomers next year because of term limits. "I do not see us taking care of business," Bates said. "We have no history in the Legislature about how you take care of issues. We have too many there who represent both ends of the political spectrum, but we need more who can build a consensus." Bates, 54, is an osteopathic physician whose practice is in Central Point. He, his wife, Sam, and two children live in Eagle Point; their other three children are grown. He is seeking the seat of Democrat Judy Uherbelau of Ashland, who must vacate it because she has served the maximum three terms. She has endorsed Bates, as has Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw. Jane Hunts of Trail, a Republican who lost to Uherbelau two years ago, is making a second bid for the seat. The district, which stretches from Ashland to Prospect, is the only one of five within Jackson or Josephine counties with a Democratic registration edge over Republicans (40.1 percent to 33.6 percent). But four of the past seven races were close, and Bates said he expects this year's contest to be decided by a few votes. If no other candidates get into the race, District 52 voters will elect their first representative from the Upper Rogue since the seat was created in 1972. All six who have held that seat were from Ashland. Bates earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Central Washington University in 1969, and a doctor of osteopathy degree from the College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo. He has been in family practice here for more than 20 years. He is in his second two-year term as chief of medicine for Providence Medford Medical Center and Rogue Valley Medical Center. He has been on the Eagle Point School Board since 1991. Bates said the Legislature, which now provides about 75 percent of the budgets of school districts, must approve more money for basic instruction and do it sooner. The 1999 Legislature approved a record amount of aid, but much of it was for special purposes-- and final action came in mid-July, after school boards had to adopt budgets. "There was a lot of funny money involved, and it is not a stable way of funding schools," Bates said. "We need to do it better than this wild game we play every other year." Bates also defended the Oregon Health Plan, for which he helped set service priorities as one of the original members of the Health Services Commission appointed in 1989. "But you pay for it later," Bates said, referring to deferred treatment for illnesses that cost more as they grow more serious. "I always tell people this is not Calcutta; people are getting treated but it costs more. So let's keep hammering away and make it work." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA