Document text
Voters get to redefine treasurer's dual roles By PETER WONG Jackson County voters will be asked to drop the treasurer as one of the county's elected officials. But if they approve Measure 15-1 on the Nov. 2 ballot, the treasurer will continue to do his work and double as finance director. Confused? Just ask Gary Cadle of Medford, finance director for county government since 1981 and treasurer since 1994, when the two agencies were combined and Mary Jamison retired in the middle of her fourth term as treasurer. Cadle, who ran unopposed for treasurer in 1996, said it's time for voters to confirm the combined department and end his dual appointed and elected status. He said the agency saved $42,000 in its first year and continues to save money. "They are different sides of the same coin," he said. "It makes more sense to have them within a single department with a more free-flowing allocation of responsibilities and staff. It has been more efficient. It has benefited the citizens as well as the county organization." The finance functions include accounting, payroll, purchasing and the payment center, which handles property tax payments. The treasurer invests money for county government and 36 other agencies, including cities and school districts. The county investment pool exceeded $137 million this past year. Cadle said county treasurers have limited discretion in terms of the timing and types of investments. Because of cash-flow needs of the county and other local governments, nearly all investments must be short-term, and investing practices are controlled by state law and state treasury guidelines. Yet candidates for county treasurer need only be U.S. citizens, age 18 or older, and residents and registered voters of Jackson County for one year before election. Cadle said that of 1,300 local governments represented in the Government Finance Officers of the United States and Canada, 81 percent of the investment officers are appointed. "An investment officer is not elected for city government, and it is not really a political position for county government," Cadle said. "I think the policy-makers for county government should be the elected officials -- primarily the three county commissioners." Six Oregon counties, including three of the five most populous, have converted from elected to appointed treasurers. Deschutes County, whose population ranks just below Jackson County, proposes a changeover next year. If voters approve the change that Measure 15-1 proposes in the 1978 county charter, the treasurer would report to the commissioners but would no longer be elected. The measure proposes no change in the elected status of the other county department heads -- assessor, clerk, sheriff and surveyor. The district attorney is a state official, but the county pays part of his salary and most of his office costs. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA