1 2 - SANOV (Or» ) POST Thur»
O<l 28 1982 ($•< I)
In county race, man to work fo r $1 a year
by M IC H A E L P. JONES
Po»t C u rrr.p o n d rn l
The
in c u m b e n t
C la c k a m a s
C o u n ty
t r e a s u r e r is ru n n in g
against a retired physician
who says, if elected, he will
run the office for the salary
of a dollar a year
Thelm a E
Hooper, a
D e m o c ra t and c u rre n t
county treasurer, said she
is running on her past
record She began working
in the treasurer's office 23
years ago as a file clerk
and, since that time, has
worked every conceivable
job in that office
In 1978 she was elected
county treasurer She said
th e jo b is im p o r ta n t
because the office receives,
c o lle c ts , in v e s ts and
disperses all the funds that
come into the county This
in c lu d e s ta x e s , fin e s ,
lic e n s e
fees
and
assessments
In addition, all accoun
ting and auditing is con
ducted through that office
Currently the treasurer's
office operates with an an
nual budget of $204.000 and
has a staff of six
Investments are an im
portant function of the
treasurer's office, Hooper
said in a telephone inter
vie w fro m her Canby
home She said of “about 95
percent of all the funds the
c o u n ty
re c e iv e s ,
we
invest ” Last year the
county's investments earn
ed $11 million
H o o p e r's R e p u b lica n
c h a lle n g e r ,
a
s e lf-
proclaimed “ m averick” in
the political arena, said the
treasurer's office is too
secretive and a rubber
stam p for the commis
sioners If elected he said
he would open up county
spending to the scrunity of
the taxpayers and would
d is trib u te the m onthly
treasurer's report widely
John G. Vandenberg, a
urologist who just recently
retired after 30 years of
practice, professes to be a
pnvate investor, an inven
tor of medical devices and
a frustrated taxpayer He
calls the treasurer's posi
tion “ the most important
and sensitive office in the
county "
" I'v e been living and
paying taxes in this county
for 30 years and I've been
s c r e w e d .”
s a id
Vandenberg
“They (the
commissioners« waste too
much money.”
V a n d e n b e rg ,
a
.Milwaukie resident, said he
never intended to run for
public office But when the
primaries arrived and the
c u rre n t tre a s u re r was
unopposed in her bid for of
fice, his supporters wrote
in his name Thirty-eight
votes later, his hat was in
the ring But he stressed,
" I 'm
am not ru n n in g
against the incumbent I
am running for the people
who pay taxes .”
If elected, Vandenberg
said he will not accept the
$41,000 a-year salary the
office currently pays He
said he will bill the tax
payers one dollar He said
he could not see paying
taxes on the $41,000 when
he doesn't really need it.
When asked about her op
ponent, Hooper said she
doesn't know why he is run
ning She said she believes
his involvem ent "m u st
have started out as a joke"
that went too far
‘ ‘ It 's (th e o ffic e of
treasurer) a very im por
tant function of county
government and one that
we should not take lightly,"
said Hoover “ I don’t know
if this guy is serious or
not."
Hoover said Vandenberg
la c k s
e x O e rie n c e
in
municipal finance, “ a job
you just can’t learn over
night." She said over the
years she has built up "a
great deal of trust and
credibility” in the office
and she wants to continue
that
" I'v e been listening to
that crap down at the cour
thouse and no one seems to
be able to get a voice down
there,” said Vandenberg
“ Does this really sound like
I ’m running as a joke?"
As for his experience
with finance. Vandenberg
says he's well qualified He
said he learned about in
vestments when he was in
the first grade
Vandenberg said when
he was in the first grade his
mother used to give him a
penny, a nickel or a dime
each day to take to school
He said his teacher would
collect the money from all
the students and place it in
a bank account This was to
teach them how to save
money
But in 1932 the bank went
broke and he lost $4 85
That was the last time, he
said, he ever lost money
When he was 16 years old
he started playing the stock
m arket and reportedly has
done well for himself
" I ’ve never been in a
n e g a tiv e cash b alan ce
since I was in the third
grade," said Vandenberg
" I don't believe in spending
more than you've taken in,
like the county.”
If elected for another
term . Hoover said she "w ill
continue to provide the
same quality of service
that the people of the coun
ty expect to receive."
COUNTY
C O M M IS
SIONER
Bev
H e n d e rs o n ,
Republican nominee, and
Dale Harlan, a Democrat,
w ill be vying for Stan
Skoko's place on the board
of county commissioners
H e n d e rs o n said she
would bring “ a fresh, new.
positive approach to county
government and a balance
to the commission that's
long overdue."
“ If I'm elected it won't
be the good ol' boys politics
as usual." said Henderson
“ People are tired of this
a n d m y a p p ro a c h is
something that my oppo
nent doesn't have to offer ,"
Two years ago Hender
son ran unsuccessfully for
a seat on the commission
Her platform was tighten
ing the budget to cut costs,
to work on maintaining
good working relationship
w ith the o th e r b oard
members and to listen to
the concerns of the citizens
with courtesy and an open
mind "Today, this situa
tion has not gone away, it
has intensified."
She said if elected she
would not m anage by
crises, as is currently being
done She said she would
establish p rio ritie s and
operate under “ hold-the-
line budgeting ”
Henderson said she has
had 22 years of "diversified
em ploym ent," which in
clude stints in the forest
products industry, educa
tion, business and public
relations She served eight
years on the Lake Oswego
city council
Harlan called his two
terms as a State Represen
tative "a good education."
In addition, he feels his ex
perience as an attorney
also gives him an advan
tage over Henderson
“ I've protected people
from local government I
think I know what it ’s like
to be on the other side I
know how fr u s t r a t in g
things can be,” he said
Harlan said he has bipar
tisan support, with four
fo rm e r
R e p u b lic a n
legislators behind him
Harlan said he feels he
could help people reach a
consensus on local land use
issues He said the county
has done a good job of zon
ing in some areas, but add
ed that areas like Sandy
and Canby have been miss
ed
About development in the
Mt Hood corridor, he said.
" I 'm inclined to think
grow th's in e v ita b le
It
should be w ell-planned
with good services to pro
tect the environment ”
CO UNTY CLERK
In the race for county
clerk Juanita Orr, a pro
perty tax analyst, is runn
ing against Robert W Riel
ly, president and manage
ment consultant of a per
sonnel agency
When asked how the
clerk's race is shaping up,
O rr, a Democrat, respond
ed "Who knows’’ I never
cour.t my chickens before
they hatch." But “ if ex
perience has anything to do
AppV**'
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Portland Area — Fill out an
application for a BIG-O
INSTANT CREDIT CARD and
receive a litre o f delicious
Drive a safer, smoother.
better-running car
________________________________________
C O M B IN A T IO N
SPECIAL
$
O f FRONT E N D
COUNTY SURVEYOR
Thom as
A.
M iln e ),
surveyor candidate and a
Republican, said he has the
necessary experience and
qualifications for the job
He is c u r r e n tly the
engineering unit super
visor with the Division of
State Lands
M a r t in A
G age, a
Democrat who is running
fo r
th e
o f f ic e ,
w as
unavailable for comment
The latest voters’ pamphlet
lists his current occupation
as a registered profes
sional land surveyor
24 HOUR
EMfRGfNCY MRVICf
J»rry So/ronfco
WESTERN
LOCKSMITH
1 r 1 51 SE O rie n t D riv e . Boring
668-7795
Senior
C tíren
Discount
74 h» phon« *«rvt<«
His prior governmental
experience include w ork
in g
fo r
th e
c o u n ty
surveyor's office and the
D e p a rtm e n t
of
En
vironmental Services
Thelma E.
Hooper
Democrat
for
County Treasurer
Re-election w ill assure
all taxpayers continued
leadership in cash
m anagem ent and
investm ent of your
tax d ollars . . . .
Qualified
by
Experience
'. n m it t e e to Re Elect Hoopei lot Treasurer
785 NE 2 3 (0 Canby OR 9 7 0 1 3
E ffe ctive S aturday, O c to b e r 30 th ,
th e re a re n e w te le p h o n e n u m b e rs
fo r G e n e ra l T e le p h o n e 's R epair Service.
PEPSI COLA FREE.
ALIG NM ENT
“ an opening for someone
with a strong business
sense “ If elected he would
manage the cle rk’s office
like he would any other
business
My background in com
p u te rizatio n of o ffices,
m anagem ent consulting
and personnel “ fits in very
nicely," said Rielly
From a management ap
proach, R ie lly said he
would firs t conduct a
survey of the office This
would include interviewing
all the staff members and
studying the needs of the
office.
New Telephone
Repair
Service Numbers
Let's Drink to
Your N e w _
Credit Card
WE DO ALL THIS:
with it, 1 should do pretty
good “
Drr's previous political
experience includes four
years as a State Legislator,
with two sessions as ch air
man of the financial affairs
com nittee She also served
eight years as the county
assessor
One of the changes O rr
said she would make if
elected is upd ate the
precinct list As a precinct
committeeman since 1951.
she said she knows the con
dition they are in
O rr also said she will
seek out better places for
voting polls in the county
At some of the precincts
currently being used there
are stairs to climb This
makes it difficult if the
voters happen to be elder
ly
Her opponent, Rielly, a
Republican, has operated
Robert Rielly
Associates
Personnel Agency Inc for
seven years in Portland
He has served in various
c a p a c itie s
w ith
th e
Republican party in the
county.
Rielly said he is running
for the office of clerk
because he feels there is
To re p a ir se rvice p ro b le m s, o u r
G re sh a m and Sandy a re a cu sto m e rs
should d ia l these to ll-fre e
n u m b e rs:
MOST
CAATS
SAVE AT
LEAST St2.00
$x COMPUTER BALANCE ALL 4 WHEELS
ROTATION A l l 4 WHEELS
BRAKE INSPECTION ALL 4 WHEELS
CUSTOM
WHEELS
EXTRA
HL FINANCING AVAILABLE
1-629-2121
Residential Customers
1-629-5151
Business Customers
IN GRESHAM
rn U N t
phone
BIG-O 2001
TIRE
CENTER
E Powell
665 3154
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