community
april21
2016
County Voters The Differences Between Candidates
there is a lot left to do. It’s going to take
Have Decisions By Scott Laird
steady and knowledgeable leadership to
continued from front page
permanent hospital tax in 2010. He has
worked with the cities of St. Helens and
Scappoose on urban renewal and eco-
nomic development. He has served as
a Community Ambassador for The Ford
Family Foundation and has been in-
volved with CASA. He is the owner of
Preheim Business Center (formerly Pre-
heim Computers) for the last 18 years.
He previously ran for County Clerk in
2014.
Margaret Magruder of Clats-
kanie has served as a member of the Co-
lumbia County Budget Committee for
almost 20 years and as Coordinator of
the Lower Columbia River Watershed
Council since 1996. She was a mem-
ber of the Oregon Board of Agriculture
for eight years. Magruder currently is a
member of the Oregon Sheep Commis-
sion and the Oregon State Weed Board.
She has been a Board member of the
Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership
for over 15 years. She is a member of
the Clatskanie - Quincy Citizens Plan-
ning Advisory Committee (CPAC).
Magruder formerly served on the Co-
lumbia School District 5J Board of Di-
rectors.
Wayne Mayo has served as a
Park Commissioner in St. Helens and as
a Planning Commissioner in Scappoose.
He has worked as a lumber broker and a
property manager and has been a build-
ing contractor since 1980. He has raised
seven children and has 11 grandchil-
dren. Mayo previously ran for County
Commissioner in 2014.
The race for Position 3 is a clash
of differences.
Tardiff, a tax professional run-
ning for his first elected office, currently
serves on the Scappoose School Board
Budget Committee. He is positioning
himself as a “new voice” for Columbia
County who says his experience audit-
ing local, county and state governments
around the country gives him the skills
and knowledge to understand budgets,
finances, state regulations and tax laws.
Hyde, of Vernonia, has been a
Columbia County Commissioner for
twenty years and points to economic
and business growth during his time in
office. He chairs economic develop-
ment steering committees at both the
state and federal level and lists his in-
volvement in the development of the
Crown-Zellerbach Trail as one of his
accomplishments while in office.
Alex Tardiff is opposing Tony
Hyde in the race for County Commis-
sioner, Position 3. The difference be-
tween the two candidates is pretty clear.
Tardiff is young, new to run-
ning for elected office, and is running on
a platform of change. He says Colum-
bia County has been mismanaged in the
past and needs more accountability and
transparency.
Hyde has been a County Com-
missioner for twenty years after previ-
ously serving as a Vernonia City Coun-
cilor and then the Mayor. This may be
Hyde’s last run at elected office. He
says Columbia County is on the brink
of great things and this is not the time to
change leadership.
Tardiff recently met with citi-
zens in Vernonia on Saturday, April
9 over coffee at the Blue House Cafe.
Following that meeting, I met with Tony
Hyde for coffee at the Black Iron Grill.
The following are some of issues both
candidates discussed.
Why they are running
Tardiff opened his comments by
talking about growing up in Columbia
County and seeing less and less access
for residents to natural places, along
with a lack of investment in the county
park system. “If we’re going to take
away our natural settings and our natu-
ral playgrounds then we need to devel-
op our parks and rec system and make it
something we can all be proud of,” said
Tardiff.
Tardiff points to his background
in accounting, financial analytics, and
tax regulations as a way for him to
positively impact government at the
county level. “I feel like I have the skills
necessary to step in to the struggles that
Columbia County is facing and provide
viable solutions needed to move us
forward,” said Tardiff.
Hyde points to his role in help-
ing bring the newly announced Oregon
Manufacturing Innovation District
(OMID) to Scappoose, as just one of
many economic development projects
he has helped shepherd into Columbia
County. The OMID will partner with
Portland Community College
to
develop an apprenticeship training
and manufacturing center in Columbia
County. “This will be transformational,
not only for Columbia County, but for
the state of Oregon,” said Hyde. “There
is no other site like it in the entire United
States. I’ve had a big role in that and
make that happen.”
While Hyde points to numerous
business projects he’s helped develop,
he also admits he’s concerned that 75
percent of Columbia County workers
commute out of the county. “That is
devastating to our economy and the so-
cial infrastructure of our communities,”
said Hyde. “That has been, and always
will be, my main focus.”
Port Westward development
“I think Port Westward has been
a huge thorn in our side,” said Tardiff,
discussing the large industrial site on the
Columbia River. “We’ve invested mil-
lions and millions of dollars out there,
and when you really start looking at it
and the trail of where it goes and how
that money is being spent, you start to
question why all of us in the county
are paying for this multi-million dollar
bust? Why aren’t our communities get-
ting that money? Vernonia could use
that money to help get it back on its feet.
We need to fix that and stop wasting our
money.”
When asked about the waste of
resources trying to bring industry and
jobs to Port Westward, Hyde sees it dif-
ferently and responded that the County
used the tools available, including the
creation of an urban renewal district,
to develop what he described as one of
the most beautiful industrial sites left in
the state of Oregon, with a deep water
port. Hyde said the County invested in
the infrastructure and has since captured
taxes from new industry to pay off that
April 28, 2016
7-9 pm
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30380 NW Hwy 47
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Interested public welcome
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Publisher and Managing Editor
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continued on page 10
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