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League will brief county on proposal The proposed restructuring will be presented to commissioners as the organization begins seeking signatures for ballot measures By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune Jackson County commissioners will hear details in a Feb. 13 meeting about a plan to change the structure of the board of commissioners. Oregon League of Women Voters officials will brief commissioners on proposed November ballot measures that would increase the board's membership from three to five and make four of the spots part-time. The league requested the session. "We'll just be telling them what we are planning to do," said Jean Milgram, chairwoman of a joint committee to amend the charter. "They've heard different things." Local league officials first floated the proposal a year ago following a year of study. They plan to begin a signature campaign to place measures on the November ballot after filing organization documents and a review by the county counsel. Approval in November wouldn't bring changes until after the November 2006 elections. Commissioners elected for four-year terms this fall would serve them in their entirety. A position slated for a vote in November 2004 would become a two-year term. The four part-time commissioners would be elected from geographic wards. The jobs of the three current commissioners are all full time and all three are elected at-large, by a countywide vote. Two candidates vying to replace current commissioners expressed support for the five-member board but also had reservations about some of the league's proposals. John Michaels and Dave Gilmour want to see all commissioners have equal status. Having one full-time commissioner and four part-timers would "set up a lot of problems in terms of commissioners' needs to work together," said Michaels, a Medford City Council member. He'd like to see five wards. Gilmour, a Central Point councilman, said the full-time position would not be needed with the added number of commissioners. "I disagree with one full-time person," said Gilmour. "It doesn't make a lot of sense. If you have a good administrator, you're not going to need it. " Current commissioners have not changed their opposition to the idea. "I don't like the formula they have developed," said Commissioner Jack Walker, who will seek re-election this year. "It puts too much power in one commission position and makes the other four almost pawns." A three-member board is appropriate for the county's current 181,000 population, Walker said, but should be increased when that reaches 220,000 people. Commissioner Sue Kupillas said the ward system would hurt the board's effectiveness. "When you're elected from wards, you all of a sudden start being focused on issues where there's a lot more chance to Balkanize the commissioner process," she said. "What they are thinking of is more of a city council and the model doesn't fit on rural county issues." Washington County, west of Portland, has an arrangement similar to that the League of Women Voters proposes, said Hal Cloer, a member of the group's joint action committee. Voters may face two or possibly three measures to bring about the change. Multiple votes are required to avoid addressing more than one subject in a ballot measure. Petitions to establish the ballot measures will require 3,416 signatures of registered voters. The deadline for submitting the signed petitions is Aug. 7. Cloer said the league is aiming at the structure of the board of commissioners and not its current members. "One of those thing that we are very much doing is trying to avoid any implication that we are responding to dissatisfaction with the personalities of the present commissioners," Cloer said. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.