candidate questionnaire
october15
2020
9
November 2020 Election Candidate
Questionnaire Responses continued from page 8
county residents while protecting
livability. My vision has always been
of a prosperous and productive Co-
lumbia County, utilizing our natural
and citizen resources to create a
thriving county serving all citizens.
Position 3
Casey Garrett – I have lived in
Saint Helens for the past 14 years,
and was raised outside of Scap-
poose in the heart of Chapman.
I have nearly 20 years of
work experience in the private sec-
tor, plus 5 years working in gov-
ernment administration. For over
15 years I have managed complex
operations, projects and schedules,
and multimillion-dollar budgets.
I have a track record of success
and know how to navigate govern-
ment processes. I have led efforts
to make drastic changes within the
county’s General Services Depart-
ment, proving we can do better. I
take a hands-on approach, and am
never afraid to get my boots dirty.
I take great pride in the
history of our County and I want
to do everything I can to make it
an even better place for our resi-
dents, workers and visitors. I am
active in our community and have
volunteered thousands of hours of
my time to support local causes.
As your County Commissioner I will
work tirelessly to manage public re-
sources responsibly, and make the
absolute most of what we have.
Alex Tardif – I live on a farm with
my young family in Scappoose,
where I was born and raised. I’m
running for re-election to serve
you. I will lead a government that
is fiscally responsible, transparent,
and accountable, in order to create
a strong, vibrant, healthy commu-
nity. Prior to being elected County
Commissioner I was a tax accoun-
tant. I have years of accounting
and financial experience with multi
million dollar corporations, leading
highly successful teams. I support
business development and inten-
tional growth by creating family
wage jobs and attainable housing.
I serve on local boards to gain in-
sight and serve my community.
Serving as Columbia County’s bud-
get officer for three years has pro-
vided the opportunity to dive deep
into the county budget and develop
a long term strategic financial plan
that provides for a strong financial
future. I am the financial leadership
this county depends on. The people
of this county deserve a respect-
ful, approachable, and balanced
commissioner that will make their
needs a top priority, I am that can-
didate.
2. What do you think are some
positive things, or things that
are going well in Columbia
County?
Position 1
Brandee Dudzic – I moved to
Columbia County 15 years ago be-
cause it was a safe place to raise
my family, a beautiful place to live,
and provided me the community I
yearned for since leaving the Mid-
west in the late 90s. I feel astound-
ingly grateful to be able to walk my
husky along the Columbia River,
waving good morning to friends and
neighbors as I go. I love that I live
in an area that has strawberry pan-
cake breakfasts at the grange and
salmon and sauerkraut festivals.
Columbia County has an
abundance of one of the most
sought-after resources: natural
beauty. Flanked by mountains on
one side, and a river on the oth-
er, we sit in a kind of geographi-
cal cul-de-sac. As the surrounding
metropolitan areas grow, Columbia
County provides us a refuge. We
must protect those aspects of our
community so that it can continue
to grow in a direction that protects
our livability while still feeling warm
and welcoming to new faces and
families. A good leader doesn’t just
make decisions for today, but for
generations to come.
Margaret Magruder – There are
many positive things happening on
the economic development front
with Columbia County commis-
sioners and staff, the various cit-
ies, State Senator Betsy Johnson,
State Representative Brad Witt,
the Port of Columbia County, the
Columbia County Economic Team
(CCET), business/industry leaders,
and educational institutions work-
ing together to bring desirable jobs,
training, and an increased tax base
to our county.
The development of the
Oregon Manufacturing Innovation
Center (OMIC) in Scappoose is con-
tinuing with Portland Community
College (PCC) increasing its com-
mitment with the construction of
its new training center on the OMIC
campus.
The NEXT Renewable Fuels
proposal for Port Westward near
Clatskanie will produce recycled
green energy biofuels and will em-
ploy hundreds during the construc-
tion process and over 200 perma-
nently.
The Columbia County Tour-
ism Initiative has involved business
people and public agency repre-
sentatives in developing a plan to
capture tourism dollars by improv-
ing and promoting our waterways,
trails, parks, and other natural and
cultural assets.
The pandemic has spurred
the need for more robust Broad-
band for Columbia County residents
for distance learning and working
from home. There are now private/
public partnerships working to im-
prove this service.
Projects like these will make
Columbia County thrive.
Position 3
Casey Garrett – Columbia Coun-
ty is a great place. We have vast
natural resources, amazing out-
door spaces, people that take pride
in living here, and huge potential
for economic growth. We can enjoy
Portland Metro from a distance, but
have our own identity and can form
our own destiny.
Columbia County has: over
a quarter million acres of sustain-
able timber lands; vast aggregate
resources; hundreds of miles of
rivers and streams; thousands of
acres of parks and public lands with
lots of room to create new recre-
ational opportunities; a growing
workforce who would rather work
here instead of elsewhere; numer-
ous opportunities to bring in in-
dustry and increase our tax base;
great people and great history.
From a county administra-
tive and operational perspective,
we are at a pivotal moment. Many
of our long-term directors and
managers have recently retired, or
are soon to do so. Columbia County
is an attractive place to move to,
which makes us more competitive
in recruiting a talented workforce.
The stage is set for us to hire smart,
improve how we operate, and make
our county a better place to live,
work and visit.
Alex Tardif – I believe that the
county’s investment in technol-
ogy and system improvements has
been good. Prior to taking office the
county was operating on obsolete
and outdated technology. I led an
effort to improve technology, allow-
ing departments to better interact
with the community and work more
efficiently. I think the roads depart-
ment is doing amazing. After re-
viewing the budget, and identifying
the amount of money the county
spent on buying rock, I encouraged
the Public Works director to look at
crushing rock in our own pit. This
move allowed the county to have
twice as much rock for the same
price. The roads department has
also realigned its organization to
create efficiency and produce more
work. They now have a 5 year plan
and are prioritizing the worst roads
for maintenance and updates. The
county has created a financial plan.
When coupled with community in-
put and the strategic plan, the
county will be positioned to create
a path forward for a strong finan-
cially stable county that meets the
community’s needs. I’m proud of
the work we’ve done to build out
and enhance our parks system and
I look forward to working with com-
munity partners and residents to
improve what we have.
3. What are some specific is-
sues or concerns you would
like to try to address if you are
elected and what would you try
to do.
Position 1
Brandee Dudzic – Columbia
County is growing; we can resist
that growth and be forced to adapt
in reactionary ways that limit our
choices, or we can elect leaders
that will responsibly step into this
role in order to prioritize our com-
munity’s values. I am worried that
we lack many of the resources nec-
essary to sustain a growing popula-
tion. We are in jeopardy of losing
what little farmland we have left,
we don’t have enough childcare
for the influx of families joining our
community, and we lack adequate
resources to support our teens as
they plan for their futures. I sup-
port efforts to bring a drop-in cen-
ter to Columbia County so that our
teens have a safe place to access
peer support and vital life skills and
I will partner with agencies that
provide expanded access to child-
care and preschool.
I am also concerned about
barriers to civic participation. To
solve this, I support rotating our
weekly commissioner board meet-
ings to ensure that every single
person has the chance to be heard
in their own town. I will also make
my work calendar a public docu-
ment, so you know exactly where
I am, what I am working on, and
how I am fighting for you. This is
transparency in action.
Margaret Magruder – Colum-
bia County has an extremely high
percentage of residents who must
commute outside the county to
their jobs, robbing us of the com-
munity involvement of active,
healthy families. I am dedicated to
expanding existing businesses and
to bringing in new enterprises to
provide the jobs we need and the
tax revenue that runs our county.
During the last year there
has been a nationwide effort to ex-
pand internet connection to every
region. The National Association of
Counties developed the TestIT app
which evaluates internet connec-
tion speed. This data will provide a
specific and detailed picture of the
areas lacking in broadband con-
nection, and will highlight the need
for federal and state funding to ad-
dress it. We can see, in the current
pandemic, the need for better con-
nections for students to engage in
online learning and for job-holders
to work efficiently from home.
While we remain rooted in
our natural resource base, Colum-
bia County is changing and growing
in exciting ways with new families,
fresh ideas, exciting businesses.
With that growth come complex
problems. Every day I bring my ex-
perience and commitment to solve
the issues that impact the livability
of our County: jobs, safety, trans-
portation, and the environment.
Position 3
Casey Garrett – I will focus on
strengthening the county’s rela-
tionships with local businesses and
agency partners. I believe we can
do a better job working together.
All too often, progress is held up by
a lack of effective collaboration.
For Columbia County to
thrive, we need to continuously
build and maintain positive rela-
tionships with representatives from
our cities, port, tax districts, state
and federal agencies, and private
industry partners. The more effec-
tively our county leverages these
relationships, the better results we
can provide to our residents.
As with any organization,
there is always room for improve-
ment. I believe our county can op-
erate more efficiently and improve
customer service. I will work tire-
lessly to manage your tax dollars
and public assets responsibly, while
always pushing to make customer
service our top priority.
Alex Tardif – I will continue the
work that we started to bring in-
novative family wage jobs to our
community. I am concerned about
the county’s ability to operate long
term without a diverse tax base.
Columbia County has the second
worst road system in the state and
I will pursue advocating for our res-
idents to have safer, passable roads
that are well maintained. I believe
that public safety is extremely im-
portant and I will continue to advo-
cate for public safety funding. We
recently did a parks survey and we
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