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Portland Observer, January 12, 1963 Page 3
Economic woes greet new commissioner
by Landa Duke
A rn o ld
B isk ar, M u ltn o m a h
C o u n ty's new C o m m ittio n e r, was
appointed to fill the vacancy created
when Dennis Buchanan was elected
Executive Director.
Biskar, an accountant with inter
est in art, assesses the economic con
d itio n o f M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty as
"lo u s y .” " W e have some real seri
ous problems to contend w ith. W e
have the same problems that every
one else has in government and that
is that services supercede our reven
ue. W e have to decide where the
monies w ill have to be cut. M y
priorities are going to be on deliver
ing the m axim u m am ou n t o f ser
vices, but at the same time I do not
believe in cu ttin g jo b s. W e keep
talkin g about the need to get em
ployment back up again and every
body w o rk in g . Som ehow cu tting
jobs ont o f a budget doesn't seem
the way to get the economy rolling
again."
B iskar is prepared to m ake u n
popular decisions, which will be op
posed by at least half o f the County
he represents. Biskar believes in a
co n so lid ation o f C o u n ty and C ity
services. "W e must redefine the role
o f governm ent. M y personal fee l
ing is that some sort o f consolida
tion is necessary to perserve the f i
nancial stability o f our area. There
is a duplication o f some services and
I do not think we need ten Commis
sioners for the City and County. We
have five C ity Comm issioners and
five C o u nty Comm issioners along
w ith a C o u n ty E xe cu tive. T h a t is
eleven officials for the C ity/C o u nty
area. That's a lot o f money wrapped
up in personnel; there are other
ways o f doing it. As new as I am I
do not know w hat those ways are
but a lot o f my energies will be spent
finding o u t." Biskar recognizes the
fact that East County has some real
concerns about being swallowed up
by Portland.
The m ajor source o f County rev
enue is property taxes. This Novem
ber the voters came out against the
co n tin u ou s rise in p ro p e rty taxes
w ith Ballot M easure N o . 3, a pro
perty tax lim ita tio n measure that
was defeated. " I do not know how
we co u ld reduce real estate taxes
without supplanting them with some
other fo rm o f ta x a tio n . I do not
think we can reduce property taxes
w ith o u t replacing th em — we need
the money. Either that or we would
have to redefine the role o f govern
ment; some the the things the Coun
ty is doing now will have to be done
by the State or regional government.
For example, I do not think M u ltn o
mah County is the proper producer
o f health services (P ro ject H e alth).
T hat is either a State or a regional
function. We cannot carry those ser
vices alo n e . It 's to o big fo r the
C o u n ty . I f som eone is h u rtin g in
Yam hill C ounty it is going to affect
the people in M ultnom ah C o u n ty ."
Biskar said strea m lin in g C o u n ty
government w ill create a new prob
lem. "E fficien cy breeds unemploy
ment I f we start producing the most
efficient possible government that
we can produce we w ill need fewer
people. Fewer people w ill do more
w ork. W e 'll have trouble w ith the
unions but w ill just try to w ork it
out the best way that we can. W e
would have to re-train or place them
in other areas.”
The cuts in County, City and Fed
eral programs are creating a popula
tion o f have-nots. "T h e se cuts are
wiping out a segment o f our popula
tion; the lotfter middle class. There is
a certain section o f the population
that continues to have m oney, but
there is a much larger percentage o f
the population who does not. Now ,
we are able to avoid them but soon
er or later we are going to feed their
families some way. Taxation is just
a way o f distributing wealth. W e are
not doing enough o f that right now
so the country is not moving. I f we
do not do it v o lu n ta rily people
might start takin g i t . " B iskar be
lieves w hat happened in M ia m i
could happen here.
W hat can we, the public, expect
out of Arnold Biskar, County Com
missioner? " Y o u can expect a lot. I
want the public to know that what
ever my decision is, there was a lot
o f e ffo rt in m aking that decision.
M y m a jo r concern is th at people
stay in jobs, be fed and cared fo r.
But we must do this within the con
fines o f a certain budget. I'm going
to try and squeeze the last possible
d o lla r out o f th at bud g et, so the
C o u n ty can do the things it's
supposed to do for its residents."
=
COMMISSIONER ARNOLD BISKAR
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