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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2016)
10 community april21 2016 The Differences Between Candidates continued from page 3 debt. Hyde points out that the ethanol plant there has struggled recently because of current low fuel prices. “There is a rumor that the debt is being paid by the taxpayers of the county and that is not true. It’s com- ing from new industry. We have three quarters of a BILLION dollars in new industry out there.” Economic development, jobs, and revenue Tardiff says the County has set up their tax in- centives to fail. “We set these up in Enterprise Zones and Special Investment Project (SIP) Zones. All of the Highway 30 corridor is an Enterprise Zone. Spe- cial zones can be great as an incentive to bring in busi- ness, but you can’t put them all in one spot. You have to diversify how you do it and you have to make sure you’re getting the tax benefit from what you are do- ing, not spending all the tax payers’ money and then asking for more to keep funding it because you didn’t structure it correctly. We could have a good tax base here, it just needs to be re-evaluated.” Hyde eagerly points to the success of manu- facturing and other companies like Rightline Equip- ment, Teevin Bros., and United States Gypsum in Rainier, and Pacific Stainless Products in St. Helens, as a measure of the economic growth and job creation in the county. “I’m so proud of these companies and what they are doing for our communities,” said Hyde. “To say that we need to change direction because things are going wrong is very short sighted.” Tardiff says the county needs to look at ways to increase revenues from natural resources. He points out that just 2.5% of county timberland is owned by the federal government, the rest is privately owned. “Why don’t we look at what we can do for a value add to all our raw materials that are being taken and being shipped out of our county?” Tardiff suggested passing ordinances that create incentives to process raw materials in county and penalties for shipping raw materials out of the county. “There’s a multitude of ways to get money from natural resources and thereby create jobs and promote growth and economic stimu- lus.” When asked about additional taxes on natu- ral resources, Hyde responded that the County does retain mineral rights and is paid for the extraction of natural gas and aggregate. “But quite frankly, we don’t have surface rights and those natural resources don’t belong to us, they belong to the people that own them. We already tax the timber, it’s a deferred tax, but they are taxed when they harvest. As far as in- creasing the tax on aggregate, I will not support that. Those are good, high wage jobs and if we push too THE RUSTY NAIL & THE Open 7 days from 10 am ANNEX 805 Bridge Street 503-528-4957 Thursday-Saturday 12-4 725 Bridge Street, Vernonia, Oregon hard they will go away.” So how does Columbia County increase rev- enues? “Get more industry into this county,” says Hyde. “But first let’s help the industry we already have expand and make them more robust. It takes a lot less effort to take a company that is preexisting, like we have right here in Vernonia with Photo Solu- tions, and make sure they don’t go away. I’ve spent a lot of effort doing just that.” “I’m looked at as an expert on economic de- velopment,” says Hyde, “I’m not just bragging when I say that. I’ve studied this and I know what it takes to bring new business and keep business.” “What kind of jobs are we creating, and how many, and for who?” asks Tardiff. “We don’t create jobs for the residents of Columbia County. We need to focus on what we have and what we can do to cre- ate jobs for the people.” Tardiff says there are systems in place at the county level that he believes need to be changed, which will be difficult to dislodge. He says Colum- bia County has a lot of great people, good natural re- sources and river frontage. “We need to play to our strengths—our natural surroundings and our natural settings—and utilize our renewable resources to help us get a leg up. We have vast agricultural land that we need to promote, develop, and utilize.” Other issues Hyde spent quite a bit of time explaining in detail what happened with the proposed Columbia County hospital and the controversy surrounding the disbanding of the health board, the tax funds that were collected, and the property that was purchased. Hyde stands by his claims that the situation was handled properly and followed required law and that there was no wrong doing on the part of the county. As far as transparency and accountabil- ity, Hyde says he doesn’t understand those concerns. “My office is always open and I invite anyone to come in and ask me questions.” Tardiff says he believes there has been mis- management of finances, and used money taken from the parks fund in the past and a plan to take money from the jail and move it to the general fund as ex- amples. “When I worked as a tax auditor, that’s when I saw all the brokenness in government,” said Tardiff. “It stems from the top down. You need a leader who is going to hold people accountable. We need people who are going to be open and honest about what is going on and that stems from having a leader who forces that.” Tardiff also suggested a review of when the County holds their Board of Commissioners meet- ings, and the possibility of holding them different times to allow more accessibility to the public. Hyde says the County is preparing to pass a budget that will reopen the courthouse five days a week and eliminate furlough days. “That’s another indicator that things are getting better,” said Hyde. Hyde said he took the recommendation of O noohmn O `hmshmf 503-429-7101 Shl Onoohmn 19025 Vnncr Qn`c Udqmnmh`, NQ 97064 Khbdmrdc Anmcdc Hmrtqdc BBL#90548 Grey Dawn Gallery 879 Bridge St. (503) 429-2787 Photography - Bronze Jewelry - Glasswork Pottery - Custom Framing www.greydawngallery.com Featuring the finest in northwest art the Transit Board and placed the ballot initiative to form a transportation district and fund the operations of Columbia County Rider. “I’m not sure I would wholeheartedly say we need a transit district, but that was the recommendation, so we’ll see what happens. I do think we need a robust transit system; that is the kind of infrastructure pieces that we have in place to attract new business, because that is the kind of thing they look at.” Tardiff says he is concerned about questions surrounding the proposed transportation district and the Board of Directors that voters are being asked to vote for in May, noting that he was unaware of the opportunity to citizens to run for those positions. (All seven candidates running for the Board are running unopposed.) “We recently had someone appointed to the County Planning Commission, that was unbe- known to anyone on the Planning Commission,” said Tardiff. “We need to promote partnerships within all our communities. If elected the first thing I would do is look at all our boards and make sure we have representatives from each community to help guide the county forward. We need to open up the lines of communication and the transparency so everyone can really see what is going on.” Tardiff also addressed a concern about find- ing volunteers willing to serve on government boards and committees. “It stems from a broken trust in government. People don’t trust their government and they don’t want to be involved. If we had a leader that actually showed them that it mattered, that their involvement meant something and that your opinion was valued, I think more people would step up.” Closing thoughts “People are saying everything is wrong in this county,” said Hyde. “Everything isn’t wrong. Every- thing is good as a result of a whole lot of work I’ve done. Vernonia is a good example. I’ve helped pull this town, and Clatskanie to a certain extent, out of the abyss...not once but twice. I led that.” “One of the reasons I’m running again is be- cause we’ve spent so much time making the ground fertile here in Columbia County for economic devel- opment and this is a very, very, important time,” said Hyde. “That’s why I want to stay at the helm and con- tinue our efforts. This is no time to change horses.” “Even though I have no official government experience, my time as a state official working as a tax auditor has shown me how we need to get things done, how we need to work for the people and not for the corporations,” saidTardiff. “Yes there are com- promises that we need to make, but we need to find beneficial solutions.” “I have made it a point to not accept money from outside the County, and I’m taking no corporate money at all,” said Tardiff. “You can look and see who my opponent and other people are taking money from - from rock, from rail, from natural gas. I owe nothing except to the people. That’s who is electing me, the people, and that’s who I’m working for. 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