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SUNDAY. APRIL 16. 19B1
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
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Sherman Is First State County
To Draft Proposed Charter
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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
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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.
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