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Commissioners failed leadership test on COVID By Terrie Martin Apr 17, 2022 12:00 AM A A In March, we reached a sad milestone in Jackson County: 500 people have now died from COVID-19. The number may seem small when you know that more than 42,000 people in our county have tested positive over the past two years of the pandemic. Thousands of those were hospitalized, and thousands more will live with long-term effects from the virus that we are just beginning to understand. But no death is small: 500 families in our county have lost someone they love. And, today, like every day for the past two years, there are still people with COVID-19 on ventilators at our local hospitals, fighting for lives they will probably lose. This war is not over. The death toll continues to rise. We have not won. Unfortunately, the Jackson County commissioners have failed in their leadership on this crisis. While our hospitals have struggled to find beds, while our health care workers slept in their cars to prevent taking the virus home and infecting their families, while the county’s medical officer and administrator pleaded for leadership and were ignored at every meeting, while our state called out the National Guard to help at local hospitals and our elderly and immunocompromised friends and family hid at home, trying to stay safe, our commissioners stubbornly refused to try to protect us. They fought closures of buildings and businesses at the beginning of the crisis, when staying home was the best way to stop the virus early. They fought mask mandates at every opportunity. And in September of 2021, they made an embarrassing public stand opposing vaccine mandates for teachers and health care workers, who have fought valiantly every single day on the front line. As The Oregonian editorial board wrote, just seven months ago, when the state “reopened’’ last summer: “Jackson County, which is less than one-third the size of Multnomah, reported that 18 of its residents died from COVID since the June 30 reopening — a higher death toll than any other county in the state, according to data from Oregon Health Authority news releases. … And unlike Multnomah County, only 57% of adults in the Southern Oregon county have received at least one dose of the vaccine.” Could our county commissioners have prevented all of those 500 deaths? No. But could they have encouraged people to take the pandemic seriously and take precautions so that number might be lower? Yes. Absolutely. It’s not too late. While caseloads have certainly dropped and more people have gotten vaccinated, Jackson County was still losing at least one person to COVID every single day. That’s one father. One mother. One sister or brother. One son or daughter. That’s one grandparent who should have lived longer to see their grandkids grow up. One friend who will leave a hole in our hearts forever. We, leaders and advisers of ORD2 Indivisible, don’t expect Commissioners Rick Dyer, Colleen Roberts and Dave Dotterer to change their messaging on this. And we don’t expect an apology. But we do think they need to be held accountable. Our commissioners are paid extremely well — more than almost every other commissioner in the state of Oregon, by far — and for that, we should expect leadership that puts the health and safety of our families first. Here’s what you can do: Learn what county commissioners do and what their responsibilities are. Pay attention to their meetings, their discussions and their decisions. Demand that local media cover county politics so we know what’s going on. Speak out by calling, emailing, writing letters to the editor or, better yet, showing up in person, when you feel their decisions aren’t in your best interest. Finally, we urge the people of Jackson County to remember your power and your responsibility as voters. When the virus returns — and it will — and when the commissioners don’t take it seriously — and they won’t — we may need new leaders. Terrie Martin is one of the leaders of ORD2 Indivisible. This opinion was signed by 10 other members and advisers of the group.