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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1961)
4 B SUNDAY. APRIL 16. 19B1 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON iryp C Cltarteir Sherman Is First State County To Draft Proposed Charter -r- w w Sherman county Is the first . 'Oregon county to have a pro posed draft ol a nome ruie charter,' Orval Etter, research attorney for the bureau of mu nlclpal research, reported to the Jackson county home rule committee last week. " J 1 The Sherman county char ter oroooses a board of super- visors representing five ele mentary school districts which : is : given complete control over county administration. : The board operates through an executive officer directly responsible to the supervisors, The board would have the power to appoint all county officials and employes, pre scribe their duties and set their salaries, appoint offi cials, boards and commissions they think necessary, require bonding of all county officials and employees they think re quire bonding. . Publish Set of Rules The supervisors would pub lish and enforce a set of rules "consistent with the charter and the general laws of Ore ' con." Such rules would de- : scribe the duties of all offi cials. The board, under the charter, would also let all contracts for public works. The county executive offi cer is responsible for enforc ing all ordinances, resolutions, orders or regulations passed by the board. The executive officer Is required to attend . all meetings of the supervis ors, prepare an annual budget, keep the board informed of financial condition of the county, and report on general and special funds, Such an officer would be In charge, also, of all ; county buildings and property, exam ine and verify all claims against the county and act as county purchasing agent, ac cording to the proposed charter. However, the county execu tive Is limited in his powers. He would not have any legis lative authority, cannot spend any money not provided In appropriations, ordinance or resolution of the board. He cannot sell or dispose of any county property, real or personal, grant or revoke any franchise. , : A county Judge, who Is a non-voting ; member of the board of supervisors, would have judicial powers, accord ing to the proposed charter. He apparently would be in charge of a small claims court and act as juvenile court Judge. This is the same Judi cial authority possessed by county judges in many small eastern Oregon counties. How ever,' they act as chairmen of the county court, and are vot ing members of that body. Term of Office The county Judge's term of office Is four years. He Is elected oh a non-partisan bal lot and elected at large, the charter proposes. The board of supervisors Is charged, also, with assessing property and collecting taxes "under the general laws of Oregon' I : The budget committee mem bership is set by state law, And this doesn't change. The board would appoint one citi zen from their respective dis tricts to serve on the committee The Sherman county char ter would set up stricter su pervision over the county budget by the taxpayers. An election would be held after public hearings on the budget, Then citizens would vote on budget Items "separately by. classification." Other Stipulations Other stipulations under the charter state that no monies can be withdrawn from pub-', lie funds unless the board of supervisors orders it. No coun ty officer Is allowed to have any business Interest In any county contract or Is his pub lic Interest allowed to conflict with his private Interest. Resident requirements for a supervisor are that he must have lived in Sherman county for five consecutive years prior to his election, and have full-time residence In the dis trict he represents. Terms of office are four years. These would be stag gered to provide carry over board members. The first elec tion would set a two-year term for members from odd numbered districts and a four- year term for members from even numbered districts. Aft er that all members would be elected for four-year terms. Supervisors' Compensation Supervisors' , compensation is $30 a month and 10 cents a mile for official travel. A board chairman would be elected at the first meeting of each year, and cannot serve more than two consecutive years. ' All board actions would re quire approval of a majority of the board. Regular meet ings are established and these would be open to the public, Public notice must be given of all adjourned meetings. Final power under the char ter remains with the voters. They, would have the right to propose laws (Initiative pow er), or resolutions and to amend the county charter. Ten per cent of the voters participating in th. last elec tion must sign a petition to propose any resolution. Then the board must call an elec tion within 60 days. A major ity vote of the citizens voting Is required for approval of any resolution. Preliminary Approach Is What Powers County Should Assume Automatic FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY'S NEEDS .. llll-. HOT WATER...all you need all the time! TRADE-IN ALLOWANCE for Your Old Water Heater! on a New "Day and Night" Jetglass Water Heater Regular Price $87.50 Leu Our Allowance......$25.00 Ott rout Kon'i thsre I del witti with a nittproef, waterproof JITGLASS 0u wits? Hum, Guaranteed 10 yeerit - , YOU PAY $ ONLY . . 4 This Offer Is Available Also Thru Your Plumber " 'CALIFORNIA-PACIFIC UTILITIES COMPANY Phone SP 2-5284, Modford MU 5-5291, Ashland What powers would Jack son county have under a home rule charter? The Jackson county home rule study committee made a preliminary approach to this question last week by review ing illustrative provisions for home rule charters for Oregon counties as presented in ten tative form by Orval Etter, research attorney, for the bu reau of municipal research, Eugene. Chief aim of the committee should be to draw a charter which will be brief, flexible and general in terminology, the research attorney suggest ed. The committee should de cide first, tentatively, what powers the county could and should have under a charter. Then, the committee should "tie Into the administrative set up," he explained. The kind of powers assumed may indicate whether legisla tive and administrative pow ers of the county government should be separate, Etter ex plained. ' Completes Draft Sherman county, In eastern Oregon, completed its pro posed draft last week and will hold a hearing some time in May, Etter announced. . Prime mover has been Giles French, publisher of a weekly newspaper In the eastern Ore gon wheat country. The Sher man county charter proposes a five-man board of supervi sors, all county officials ap pointed and centralized coun ty administration. : For the first time since the charter- committee has been holding Its weekly meetings, a number of people made up the. audience. Most of them were college students. One was a barber and another an engineer. Seeks Answer William Doernbach, 143 Mace ave., Medford, asked how the committee could de cide what powers it should assume under a charter when neither It nor the county court knows what powers It already has. Etter offered to bring a booklet from Multnomah county which lists Its powers. Doernbach said the League of Women Voters, Jackson coun ty chapter, had published a booklet describing the struc ture and duties of local coun ty government, but the book let does not give the powers. The main questions to be answered by the committee In its charter work are: (1) should the county merely con tinue with the powers author ized by the Oregon constitu tion or should it adopt new or added powers? (2) should the governmental structure be changed? or, (3) should a char ter provide both new powers and government struc ture changes? v Purpose of Charter Main purpose of a charter is to give the county govern ment authority over county affairs without requesting new law's from the legislature, Etter said. ; : Earl Day, former Jackson county judge, questioned what good a charter would be if U only allows a county to con tinue to perform under the same powers ; The committee agreed to await appointment of a ninth member to the committee to replace recently resigned Eu gene K. Hicker, and the return of Frank Farrell, Medford at- Humble Cancels Lake County Lease Salem-IUPp-Humble Oil and Refining Co. has canceled its oil and gas exploration lease with the state on 55,476 acres in Lake county. The State Land Board said Humble exercised a 60-day cancellation clause in the lease. The action means a loss of $13,000 in annual rentals to Oregon. E. T. Pierce, board clerk, said Humble contracted for about 300,000 acres, in Lake county, the rest from the fed eral government and private parties. - The Humble operation was the only major oil drilling operation in Oregon. Pierce said Humble drilled two wells on the state land, one 12,000 feet and the other 9,000. Both were dry. CONTRACT TALKS OPEN Portland (UPD Contract ne gotiations between the Inter national Wood workers of America and the Timber Op erators Council representing employer groups In the lum ber and plywood Industry opened here today. torney, before making any tentative decisions. ' . : Dr.1 Arthur Krelsman, South ern Oregon college professor, joined the committee for the first time. He replaces G. H. Wenner, Ashland, who re signed recently. Asks Questions , ' '. j. A member of the audience asked the committee if it shouldn't first consider need ed additional powers from the standpoint of main Jackson county problems. However, the 'committee members felt it should provide only a general framework of powers to deal with any existing problems and any possible future ones. The research attorney ex plained that the county should acquire new powers under a charter by'a"appropriate char ter provisions, for specific powers." General ilustratiohs of pos sible assumed powers are to prevent and abate nuisances. to provide public transporta tion, to construct, maintain and operate stadiums for ath letic contests and provide wa ter for domestic and Industrial purposes. Etter said the Mil waukee Braves baseball team operates from a county-owned and managed stadium. Etter indicated that cases were brought before the courts to further interpret city home rule provisions, and this would probably be . true of county home rule charters. May Accept Little Power The county may accept as little power as it wants or even parts of specific grants of powers, Etter explained. The power to pass ordinances could apply to counties as it does now to cities, he added. If both the county and state legislate on the same thing, then the state would be given preference, according to the law, the research attorney ex plained. ' Initiative and referendum powers included in a charter will give the people a' chance to prevent the county from as suming too much power, Etter indicated. Patronize This PARK & SHOP MEMBER DONT FORGET TO USE PARK & SHOP WHEN YOU STOP AT . . . PICK'S APPAREL 112 E. Main SP 2-9922 FOR ALL YOUR OFFICE FURNISHING Desks Wood or Steel ... Files . . . Safes Cabinets . . . Chairs ... Card Files ,; Also... 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Industry recog nizes that new products and processes are the key to growth-of a company, an industry, the nation. For each invention leads on to many others. The more we learn, the faster we go ahead. Funds spent on this mobilized knowl edge are the most vigorous of all "Seed money." That's why American research expenditures have more than doubled ij tho past six years are expected to double ag-aln during the Sixties. From less than $100 million in 1928 to more than $22 billion by 1971 ! 1 Research pat ysofi in busmess compe tition and in better living for millions. Out of the laboratories that produced the. , atomic reactor, the earth satellites, anti biotics, television, synthetic rubber and modern detergents, still more wonders are coming soon. And new "think" fac tories are springing up everywhere. . Some of their inventions, like the tran sistor, will launch whole new industries. And as the pace of technical progress ac celerates, thousands of new jobs will be created-better-paid jobs filled by better educated workers. We may have some nps and downs en route -we've often had them in the past But the future is bright with promise and it's a bigger, better future than any we have ever known. FREE Write for utustrated booklet, "The Promiee of America." Box 350, New York If, X. Y, Medford GET READY FOR AN UPSWIrtO! MORE ResiARCH-We're now spending $12 billion a year-and that's doe to double during the Sixties! MORE INCOMI-Today's average $6600 per family represents an all-time high! more SAVtNOS-Nowatthehlghestlevel ever-$375 billion! more jobs There are 25 million more :.k. will W. n,77iAM M more by 1976! MORE EDUCATION-By 1970 well have 20 million more high school graduates and 3 million more college graduates. They'll earn more, live better! more leisure-40 million Americans get paid vacations, and there are 18 million people over 66, many ot them with retirement income to spend I more markets -U.S. exports, pins output of U.S.-owned plants overseas, already account for over $50 billion in annual salesl i MORE NEEDS-Schools, hospitals, high ways, homes we need billions in im provements right now! Tribune
