Page 8
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, February 20, 2008
4-act tragi-comic drama describes week for commissioners
(Continued from page 1)
missioner repeatedly inter-
rupting the other until Toler
accused Raffenburg of
“pulling a Raffenburg,” refer-
ring to the interruptions. Raf-
fenburg responded by saying,
“No, I’m pulling a Toler.”
Toler’s response was that
he felt it was actually “a Raf-
fenburg.” This exchange was
captured for all by TV cam-
DWIGHT ELLIS
eras, and video cameras oper-
ated by the Daily Courier.
Due to Ellis’ absence no
resolution to the dispute could
be achieved as any vote on
the matter would have re-
sulted in a 1-1 tie. Also, ac-
cording to other media pre-
sent, they were there to cover
other issues and had no idea
of the impending dispute.
The meeting was then
adjourned, as Raffenburg said
that even though there was
other business on the agenda,
he could see no point in con-
tinuing the meeting. A specta-
tor commented there seemed
to be no point in starting the
meeting.
Wednesday Feb. 13
The board of county
commissioners met in Anne
Basker Auditorium Wednes-
day morning, Feb. 13, for its
regularly scheduled weekly
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business meeting. Again, the
agenda indicated a routine
meeting -- but again the indi-
cations were in error.
Raffenburg requested
that two consent calendar
items be removed from the
consent section to be voted on
individually in a roll call vote.
Commission Chairman Dave
Toler turned to Ellis to ask his
opinion, at which time Raf-
fenburg raised the issue that a
commissioner can insist on
such an action without board
consensus.
The two items then were
removed from the consent
calendar.
The items concerned
acceptance of two grants
from the state. One was a
$45,100 grant to county Pub-
lic Health Services to help
with the complaint-driven
enforcement of the Oregon
Indoor Clean Air Act. The act
prohibits smoking in most
work places to deal with sec-
ond-hand smoke problems.
The second item was accep-
tance of a $60,402 state grant
to aid in ensuring that com-
munity water systems are
providing clean water to their
customers.
Raffenburg opposed both
items because he feels that
the tax dollars used for the
programs could be better used
by taxpayers. He also said
that the Oregon Indoor Clean
Air Act that applies only to
public places was “another
example of the nanny state”
where, he indicated, the gov-
ernment intrudes into private
homes.
Public Health Director
Belle Shepherd reiterated that
these issues involved only
public concerns.
“If an individual wants to
drink e-coli from a contami-
nated well, we won’t stop
them,” she said. She went on
to say that she was only con-
cerned with water systems
that serve multiple homes.
Not convinced, Raffen-
burg voted against accepting
the money, but was overruled
by his fellow commissioners.
The board also accepted a
proposed resolution brought
by a private citizen that essen-
tially would overturn Measure
49 in Josephine County. It was
passed into state law during
the last statewide election and
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amends the previously passed
Measure 37.
Raffenburg and Ellis
praised the resolution. They
noted that 80 percent of the
county voted against the
measure, and they promised
to forward the document to
county legal counsel Steve
Rich for an opinion.
Ellis stated after the
meeting that in his opinion
the resolution would be ille-
gal and a direct violation of
state law. But it was more
important, he noted, that the
county opposed the measure.
One spectator noted that by
that logic, Oregon would
have spent the last four years
being governed by President
Kerry.
Thursday Feb. 14
After a private meeting
with Copeland Sand &
Gravel executives in his
courthouse office, Ellis
agreed to reverse his vote
requiring a conditional-use
permit for the Little Elm
Ranch mining operation on
Rockydale Road in Illinois
Valley.
The board of commis-
sioners voted earlier this
month to belatedly require the
conditional-use permit in
light of documentation
wherein, according to the
commissioners, Copeland
admits that the operation is
principally a mine. Because
Raffenburg was absent during
the vote, it was passed 2-0,
but with Ellis’ reversal, the
permit requirement would no
longer be in effect, allowing
Copeland to continue mining
at the site.
Ellis gave no reason for
his reversal, but Toler said
that during a similar private
meeting he had with Cope-
land executives, they stated
that there were no other sites
where aggregate could be
mined. He continued that
when the company tried to
list a Holland Loop site as a
significant aggregate resource
site, the first step in a condi-
tional-use permit for mining,
they were “shot down.”
In fact, the planning
commission had recom-
mended that the county com-
missioners deny the request.
They have yet to vote on the
matter.
The reason the planning
board recommended denial is
because Copeland is not ask-
ing that the entire tax lot be
listed as an aggregate site.
Rather, only a small part of
the tax lot that would con-
form to the state standards for
an aggregate site would be
involved. The final determi-
nation rests with the county
commissioners.
Friday, Feb. 15
The first item voted on
by the county commissioners
in their board room was to
deny a pay raise for certain
county employees. The raise
would have brought the pay
scale to 15 percent below
what is considered the indus-
try norm and was brought to
the board by the Human Re-
sources and Public Works
departments.
During discussion it was
noted by Public Works Direc-
tor Rob Brandeis that the
turnover rate for county em-
ployees has reached 20 per-
cent annually. This has re-
sulted in additional costs to
the county of some $100,000
expended during training
periods for new employees.
The pay raises would
have cost the county general
previous trips had been ap-
proved by the board prior to
reservations being made. He
also questioned the need for
seven nights in a hotel at
$200 a night for a four-day
conference.
Ellis asked that Raffen-
burg convince him that the
trip is in fact necessary; and
after Raffenburg restated his
case, Ellis requested a vote.
At this point Toler and
Raffenburg began arguing
again, causing many of the
spectators to begin admonish-
ing the board with calls of,
“Children, children.” They
were imitating a parent deal-
ing with bickering 5-year-
olds. This act initially had a
somewhat calming effect, but
the two commissioners soon
resumed their argument.
A vote was finally called
DAVE TOLER
for, but only after one specta-
tor stood and said, “This is
just embarrassing,” and left
the room.
The commissioners then
voted 2-1 to deny Raffen-
burg’s trip expenditures. The
county will be required to
cover the cancellation fees for
the reservations made by Raf-
fenburg.
JIM RAFFENBURG
fund less than $10,000 annu-
ally, with the balance of the
costs being taken from de-
partment budgets. Brandeis
admitted that this would not
be a long-term fix, but said,
“If you have a grease fire in
your kitchen, you don’t ig-
nore it because there is a
flood approaching.”
He also pointed out that
because he is losing his most-
experienced workers, a job
such as chip-sealing roads,
budgeted at some $300,000,
is costing more than
$400,000. He said that in
2000 a Road Worker 4 posi-
tion opened, and 10 of 10
Road Worker 3 employees
applied for the promotion.
This year only one of the 10
workers applied.
Brandeis said that the
raise in pay, approximately
$1 per hour, was offset by the
increased demand and super-
visory nature of the level 4
position. He added that few of
the level 3 workers would
ever apply for the promotion
at the current pay level.
Citing the need for fiscal
restraint Ellis and Raffenburg
voted to deny the request.
Toler voted in favor.
The board then moved
on to Raffenburg’s request for
a $3,000 expenditure for a
lobbying trip to the U.S. capi-
tal. Raffenburg again stated
the necessity for the trip to
oppose environmental con-
cerns from the Colorado
counties and to lobby for the
extension of O&C Safety Net
funding.
Toler pointed out that
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