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Murphy resident will seek HD51 seat Walker becomes second candidate By PETER WONG ROGUE RIVER -- Cherryl Walker of Murphy says she is a candidate for the open seat in House District 51, which covers southwestern Jackson County and a small part of eastern Josephine County. Though hxer area has slightly more than 10 percent of the district's voters, Walker said she knows the concerns of the largely rural district, whose largest city is Central Point. "I have lived in District 51 for a decade and Central Point for three years before I moved to the Applegate Valley, so I am familiar with the district," she said Tuesday. "I do not see it divided by the county line." She is the second candidate to announce for the Republican nomination for the seat in the May 16 primary. The other is Larry Frank of the Applegate Valley, who lost the nomination two years ago to Jason Atkinson of Jacksonville. Atkinson is vacating the seat to run for a Senate District 25 seat. Eldon Johnson, a Republican from Central Point, held the House seat for 21 years until Oregon's term-limit law applied to him in 1998. Walker said that among her campaign themes will be the management of population growth in Southern Oregon, consistent with protection of property rights and priorities for water rights. She also said the region needs to diversify its economy but continue to protect agriculture and other natural resources activities. Though she has public service experience, this race is Walker's first for elected office. I think it is important that people in public service recognize the ideas and dreams of others, and I would like to help people realize theirs," she said. "You have to be willing to reach out and take risks, and I am willing to do so." Walker, 52, retired in 1997 after 18 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, most recently as an administrative law hearings officer with its national appeals division. She earned a bachelor's degree in the agriculture industry in 1976 at Arizona State University. She also received a certificate from the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada-Reno in 1997. Among her community activities was the Josephine County Rural Planning Commission, which she chaired during her tenure from 1994 to 1997. She also is a public member of the Josephine County Budget Committee, the board of the Murphy Creek Ditch Association, and the projects committee of the Rogue Community College Foundation. She has been active in Josephine County Republican Women, Oregon Federation of Republican Women and the National Federation of Republican Women. She and her husband, Martin Hill, an emergency-room physician with Asante, live on a small farm. They have a woodlot and raise cattle. She has three sons, a daughter and two stepdaughters. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA