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Challengers outspend commissioners By Alberto Enriquez Final pre-election campaign finance reports show that spending by Jackson County commissioners and their challengers has ranged from about $10,000 to more than $20,000. That's a substantial chunk of what the job pays. Commissioners earn $52,168 annually, get a $400 monthly car allowance, and enjoy a benefits package including health, life, dental, vision, long-term disability and retirement. Low-spender Ric Holt has spent an amount equal to just under 19 percent of his annual salary. His challenger Cleve Wright was the biggest spender with expenditures equal to nearly 41 percent of a commissioner's salary. Spending was far more even in the race for Position No. 1. Both the incumbent Jack Walker and challenger Jon Deason spent about 20 percent of a commissioner's annual salary. Deason edged Walker by $895, spending a total of $11,140 to Walker's $10,245 total. Walker said the spending, though high, was in line with what it takes to run a campaign, particularly considering the cost of getting one's name before the public. His major advertising expenditures for the final pre-election reporting period included: Mail Tribune $1,630, Falcon Cable $2,000 and KTVL $1,505. Deason spent similarly: Mail Tribune $1,709, Falcon Cable $1,108, KTVL $1,302, KTMT $532 and $834 AutoMail. Holt said he tried to hold costs down by recycling signs from the last election and moving them around the county for greater exposure. His biggest single cost was an $11,123 charge to himself. It repaid a loan to his previous campaign that ended in the red. "After that campaign, I kept my committee open so I could cover that cost," Holt said. Other major Holt expenditures in the current reporting period included $1,292 to Broadcast Services Engineering, for radio ads; $550 to KCMX, also for radio ads, and a $500 charge for his own expenses. Wright spent heavily on direct mail and signs, a total of $10,700 to AutoMail Plus, and $400 to Outdoor Media Dimensions. Broadcast buys included Citadel Broadcasting $1,104 and KOPE radio $270. Major contributors to each candidate: Deason -- Southern Oregon Central Labor Council, $400; Citizen Action by Public Employees, $375; Charles McHenry of Central Point, $300. Walker -- Oregonians for Affordable Housing, homebuilders, $200; Bill Thorndike, Medford Fabrication, $100; Jackson County Republicans, $100; R.B. Browns, trucking co-owner, $100; Randall Jones, builder, $100. Holt -- Rick Anderson, Eagle Point rancher, $500; Oregon Smith Fund, PAC, $500; J.A. Skinner, car dealer, $300; Quality Rock Products, rock crushing, Ashland, $250; Ever Ready Construction, $250; George Harshman, road builder, $250; St. Laurent Land & Cattle Co., Eagle Point ranch, $200. Wright -- Lois Wright, retired, Medford, $3,600; Dorothy Kurlander, Santa Rosa, Calif., $1,050; Sunshine Landscape Maintenance, Medford, $1,450; Mary Louis Wagner, Sacramento, $876; Judith and David Brainard, Santa Rosa, Calif., $600; Raymond Byrne, Union, Wash., $500; Janet Post, Talent bookkeeper, $230; East Main Associates, Ashland law firm, $200. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA