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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
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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
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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. I
don’t work for the corporations.”
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