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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2016)
8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016 Local Election CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Other election results from across Baker County are as follow: Votes followed by Percent Democrat President Hillary Clinton 493 37.46 Bernie Sanders. 743 56.46 Write-In 80 6.08 Total 1,316 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 90 US Senator Ron Wyden 1,022 78.49 Paul B Weaver 79 6.07 Kevin H Stine 183 14.06 Write-In 18 1.38 Total 1,302 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 104 US Representative in Congress, District 2 James (Jim) Crary 861 96.96 Write-In 27 3.04 Total . 888 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 518 Governor Kate Brown 881 70.20 Julian Bell 87 6.93 Chet Chance 26 2.07 Kevin M Forsythe 62 4.94 Dave Stauffer 75 5.98 Steve Johnson 89 7.09 Write-In 35 2.79 Total 1,255 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 151 Secretary of State Richard Devlin. 313 28.40 Brad Avakian . 416 37.75 Val Hoyle 352 31.94 Write-In 21 1.91 Total 1,102 Over Votes 0 Under Votes . 304 State Treasurer Tobias Read 904 97.73 Write-In 21 2.27 Total 925 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 481 Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum 946 98.75 Write-In 12 1.25 Total 958 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 448 State Senator, 30th District Stormy Gayle Ray 377 39.60 W Mark Stringer 554 58.19 Write-In 21 2.21 Total 952 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 454 State Representative, 60th District No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In. 66 100.00 Total 66 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,340 County Commissioner, Position 1 No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In. 235 100.00 Total 235 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,171 Republican President Ted Cruz. 680 19.11 John R Kasich 471 13.24 Donald J Trump 2,330 65.49 Write-In 77 2.16 Total 3,558 Over Votes 1 Under Votes 156 US Senator Sam Carpenter 1,106 39.83 Mark Callahan 1,017 36.62 Faye Stewart 354 12.75 Dan Laschober 267 9.61 Write-In 33 1.19 Total 2,777 Over Votes 2 Under Votes 936 US Representative in Con- gress, District 2 Paul J Romero Jr 665 19.30 Greg Walden 2,772 80.44 Write-I 9 .26 Total 3,446 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 269 Governor Bruce Cuff 616 19.11 Bob Niemeyer 330 10.24 Bob Forthan 43 1.33 Bud Pierce 1,238 38.40 Allen Alley 969 30.06 Write-In. 28 .87 Total 3,224 Over Votes 3 Under Votes 488 Secretary of State Dennis Richardson 2,503 82.77 Sid Leiken 500 16.53 Write-In 21 .69 Total 3,024 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 691 State Treasurer Jeff Gudman 2,391 98.72 Write-In 31 1.28 Total 2,422 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,293 Attorney General Daniel Zene Crowe 2,188 98.96 Write-In 23 1.04 Total 2,211 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,504 State Senator, 30th District Ted Ferrioli 2,798 98.76 Write-In 35 1.24 Total 2,833 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 882 State Representative, 60th District Cliff Bentz 2,876 99.00 Write-In 29 1.00 Total 2,905 Over Votes 1 Under Votes 809 County Commissioner, position 1 Bruce Nichols 1,684 46.95 Jeff Nelson 249 6.94 Kody Justus 1,646 45.89 Write-In 8 .22 Total 3,587 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 128 Under Votes 201 Independent President No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In 144 100.00 Total 144 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 114 State Representative, 60th District No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In 56 100.00 Total 56 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 202 US Senator Steven C Reynolds 64 44.14 Marvin Sandnes. 29 20.00 Write-In 52 35.86 Total 145 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 113 County Commissioner, Position 1 No Candidate Filed . 0 Write-In 89 100.00 Total 89 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 169 US Representative in Con- gress, District 2 No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In 71 100.00 Total 71 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 187 Governor Patrick Barney. 46 28.93 Cliff Thomason. 52 32.70 Write-In 61 38.36 Total 159 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 99 Secretary of State Paul Damian Wells 113 70.63 Write-In 47 29.38 Total 160 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 98 State Treasurer Chris Telfer . 127 81.41 Write-In 29 18.59 Total . 156 Over Votes . 0 Under Votes . 102 Attorney General No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In 57 100.00 Total 57 Over Votes 0 State Senator, 30th District No Candidate Filed 0 Write-In 57 100.00 Total 57 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 201 Nonpartisan Judge of the Supreme Court, Position 4 Rives Kistler . 3,245 99.08 Write-In 30 .92 Total 3,275 Over Votes 1 Under Votes 2,560 Judge of the Supreme Court, Position 5 Jack L Landau 3,247 99.27 Write-In 24 .73 Total 3,271 Over Votes. 0 Under Votes 2,565 Judge of the Court of Ap- peals, Pos. 2 Rebecca Duncan 3,257 9.36 Write-In 21 .64 Total 3,278 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 2,558 Judge of the Court of Ap- peals, Pos. 3 Darleen Ortega. 3,305 99.25 Write-In 25 .75 Total 3,330 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 2,506 peals, Pos. 7 Meagan A Flynn. 3,311 99.37 Write-In 21 .63 Total 3,332 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 2,504 District Attorney, Baker County Matt Shirtcliff 4,037 96.65 Write-In. . . 140 3.35 Total . 4,177 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,659 County Assessor Kerry B Savage. 4,097 99.22 Write-In 32 78 Total 4,129 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,707 County Surveyor Tom Hanley 4,136 99.23 Write-In 32 77 Total 4,168 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 1,668 1-70 Library District Baker County Library District Yes 4,586 83.09 No 933 16.91 Total 5,519 Over Votes 1 Under Votes 316 1-67 Weed Control Yes 3,967 72.87 No 1,477 27.13 Total 5,444 Over Votes 1 Under Votes 391 1-68 Vector Control Vector Control District Yes 3,036 74.96 No 1,014 25.04 Total 4,050 Over Votes 1 Under Votes 288 1-69 City of Sumpter Yes 33 37.93 No 54 62.07 Total 87 Over Votes 0 Under Votes 3 Judge of the Court of Ap- County Compensation Board approves raises CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Martin also provided the Board with wage informa- tion (as of July 1, 2015) for non-represented personnel. This included: Managers (Weed, Facilities, Juvenile, Parks, Trial Court Admin- istrator), from $46,416 (Grade G, Range 15, Step 1), to $56,376 annually (Grade G, Range 15, Step 5); Assistant Roadmas- ter, from $48,708 (Grade H, Range 16, Step 1), to $59,220 (Grade H, Range 16, Step 5); IT Director, HR Manager/Executive Assistant, Emergency Management/Projects, Patrol/Parole & Proba- tion/Jail Lieutenants, from $51,168 (Grade J, Range 17, Step 1), to $62,244 (Grade J, Range 17, Step 5. Grade J, Range 17 also includes advanced Steps and pay scales for certain positions); Administrative Services Director, Deputy District Attorney II, from $53,712 (Grade K, Range 18, Step 1), to $65,316 (Grade K, Range 18, Step 5); and Roadmaster, Depu- ty District Attorney I, from $56,376 (Grade L, Range 19, Step 1), to $68,616 (Grade L, Range 19, Step 5). Other pay scales include Grade M, Range 20, Step 1 ($59,220), to Grade M, Range 20, Step 5 ($72,048), and Grade O, Range 20, Step 1 ($68,616), to Grade O, Range 20, Step 5 ($83,352). Neither range included any listed person- nel. Beuhler asked Martin how the pay ranges were formed, and she said that a consultant was hired in 2000, to assess the values of positions, to form job descriptions, and to deter- mine those ranges. Martin discussed a list of salaries for City supervisors, provided to her by Baker City Human Resource Manager/City Recorder Luke Yeaton. This included (base pay, to Step 5): City Manager, from $0 to $110,000 (an- nual base pay, up to Step 4--Martin explained the zeroing out on Step 5 is probably due to to $6,592; Fire Chief, from $5,633, to $6,592; Chief of Police, from $5,633, to $6,592; City Recorder/HR Manag- er, from $3,420, to $4,002; Building Official, from $4,515, to $5,284; City Engineer/Project Manager, from $4,515, to $5,284; Assistant Fire Chief (three personnel), from $4,776, to $5,589; Operations Su- pervisor, from $4,300, to $5,032; Shop Supervisor, from $4,300, to $5,032; Technical Administrative Supervisor, from $4,300, to $5,032; Construction Engineering, from $4,300, to $5,032; and Police Lieutenant, from $4,800, to $5,839. Martin provided the Board with an Associa- tion of Oregon Counties (AOC) Elected Officials Salary Survey, compiled in late December, for Baker, Lake, Malheur, Union, Wallowa, Curry, Crook, Jefferson, and Morrow counties, as an overview, to use to compare salaries and benefits. According to Baker County’s responses (Mar- tin completed the county’s survey), the form of gov- ernment implemented in the County is General Law (other options were County Court, and Home Rule); the annual County budget (as of December 2015) was $25,720,687; there are 140 FTEs (full-time equivalent employees) in the County, with 115 enrolled in PERS; the County pays employ- ees’ 6% PERS contribu- tion for elected officials (the City does the same); elected officials do not receive deferred compen- sation contribution, or 401(k); elected officials do not receive longevity pay; elected officials do not receive paid leave; elected officials do not receive a car allowance; elected officials do receive a cell phone allowance, a $30 monthly reimbursement, with proof of coverage; the County contributes towards elected officials’ medical insurance (County pays 95%, elected officials pay 5% of the total pre- mium for medical, dental, and vision); the County contributes towards elected officials’ group life insur- ance (a $20,000 policy); the County contributes towards elected officials’ LTD (long-term disability) insurance; and elected officials do not receive ad- ditional compensation not mentioned above. The Board discussed similarities, and differenc- es in populations, infra- structure, and businesses, between the counties, and Buehler commented that Crook County’s Commis- sion Judge is a well-paid position, at $90,022 a year, according to its survey. Southwick asked Martin about a survey item, insur- ance contribution from the County, and Martin responded that elected officials, SEIU, and non- represented employees pay 5% of the premium cost (part-time employees pay a pro-rated amount), and the County pays 95%. After further review of documentation, Southwick made a motion to approve a 2% wage increase for elected officials, Buehler seconded the motion, and the motion carried. On Tuesday morning, May 17, 2016, the Baker County Budget Board reviewed the Compensation Board’s recommendation, and ap- proved the 2% increase, effective July 1, 2016, the start of the 2016-2017 fis- cal year. Sheriff’s Association speaks out against BLM The Oregon State Sher- iffs Association (OSSA) along with numerous other organizations have reviewed the newest management plan released by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for 2.5 million acres of O&C timberland here in Oregon. OSSA takes a strong inter- est in this plan because federal law provides that the primary use of these O&C lands is to be used for a sustainable timber harvest that provides a revenue stream for Oregon counties. That revenue stream is supposed to help these counties provide a variety of public services, includ- ing law enforcement. Quite simply, the BLM plan ignores clear law and proposes a timber harvest plan that will conti nue to place these counties in a fiscal crisis. The BLM refused to even consider revenues for counties as an objective in developing its plan, even though that is mandated by statute and case law. It has routinely ignored comments from affected counties, concerned citi- zens, and state and federal legislators. There are many ways the BLM could have balanced jobs and revenues for vital County services while creating habitat for endangered species, providing clean water, rec- reational opportunities, and improving fire resiliency. This federal agency has once again failed the communities where these public lands are located. In light of this, nearly half the counties in Oregon have announced they would challenge the plan in federal court. No county wants to use precious taxpayer dollars to sue the federal government, but the BLM's arrogance has left these counties with no other viable options. The law governing management of the BLM lands states that all timber- lands shall be managed for sustained yield production, with the revenues shared with Counties to help pay for public services. The law also mandates a minimum harvest each year of 500 million board feet. The BLM's final plan violates both requirements, with more than 75% of the lands locked up in permanent reserves, and a projected harvest little more than half the required minimum. The O&C lands were once in private ownership. After the lands were taken back by the federal govern- ment, they were set aside by Congress to provide a permanent sustainable revenue source to the com- munities they border. The counties are legally enti- tled to 50% of the revenues generated from the sale of timber, and the revenue pays for all kinds of public services: mental and public health, sheriff patrols, jails, libraries, social and many others. Mismanagement of these forest lands since the early 1990's has decimated county budgets, reducing some as much as 80%. Several Oregon counties are on the brink of insol- vency, and the inability to pay for public services has led to increasing crime rates and poverty. This plan is the culmina- tion of over two decades of ineffective manage- ment by the BLM, and it is a product of the failure to listen to, or cooperate with local governments, organizations, and citizens who live near or around these forests. OSSA fully supports the decision by Oregon counties to file a lawsuit to try and force the BLM to follow clear federal law.
