A Mighty Task
By Scott R. Cooper, Crook County Judge
In October of last year, the Governor called. Well technically, the Governor’s office called. The guy on the other end of the line is a higher-up in the Governor’s office and someone who has deep ties to Crook County, his grandfather having been a founding rancher in the Powell Butte area and a former county commissioner.
“Scott, the Governor has a favor to ask,” the staffer said.
I was instantly on alert. Every time the Governor asks for a favor, it ends up costing me, politically or financially.
“I’m awfully busy,” I replied, hedging my bets “but what does he want?”
“The Governor wants you to serve on a task force about resolving the county payments problem,” my friend said.
I ruminated about this. “The Governor wouldn’t like what I have to say about that issue,” I replied. “The county payments problem is partially about the failure of the federal government to do its job, but it’s also about some counties that don’t want to pay their own way. Besides, Crook County has tightened its belt and fixed its problems, and I’m not really sympathetic to people who are sitting around waiting for a miracle, that probably isn’t going to happen.”
“That’s definitely a point of view,” my friend said diplomatically, “and that’s why the Governor wants you to serve so you can say that.”
“Who else is serving” I asked, still suspicious?
“Bobby Green, C.W. Smith and Mark Labhart.”
“Who else?”
“You, if you accept.”
I thought about this. Bobby Green is a formidable commissioner from Lane County with a lot of clout statewide. He is the immediate past president of the Association of Oregon Counties. He played football for the University of Oregon and has been trading up on his athletic bona fides ever sense. C.W. Smith is the former sheriff of Jackson county turned county commissioner. C.W. is everybody’s best friend and keeps everybody laughing. It’s hard to win arguments with C.W. because he is so likable and he uses humor so well. Mark is a very bright commissioner from Tillamook County. He has a mastery of the intricate details of county government that few people could match. If the three of them were to gang up on me, I’d get clobbered.
“Anybody else,” I asked?
“Every agency head in state government, members of the House and Senate appointed by the Speaker and the President, staff from the governor’s office and a representative from the cities. We may add other people as we go along. The deputy chief of staff is going to chair the task force. I’ll tell you what. Try it, and if you don’t like it, you can quit.”
Feeling vaguely suckered, I hung up. I grumbled to myself that the last thing I need was more time out of the office for some Salem-boondoggle. Adding insult to injury, because the task force wasn’t given a budget, there wasn’t even going to be mileage or lodging reimbursement. On the up side, how often does someone in my position get the chance to get on a first-name basis with the key movers and shakers of state government, and to deal with them all in the same room at the same time? I decided that I would at least to a couple of meetings and decide what to do later.
Six months later, the task force birthed its baby: a report containing 54 recommendations, mostly for Legislative consideration, but some which can be implemented immediately by agencies and counties, suggesting ways to mitigate the impact of the pending loss of these payments.
And the report didn’t whitewash just what these payments mean to Oregon. On its opening page the task force forecasted the fiscal calamity that is about to befall Oregon. The state administration’s political leanings didn’t deter it from squarely blaming Washington for all but killing the vibrant forest industry of this state, and then terminating that support before coming up with a long-range solution to the problem the federal government created. The report noted that in 24 of Oregon’s counties, revenue losses will average 26 percent of their discretionary general funds and 44 percent of their road funds—a loss which will “compromise public health and safety, degrade county roads and exacerbate job losses in almost every region of Oregon outside of the Portland metropolitan area.”
It isn’t a pretty picture.
At best, the task force’s recommendations, even if all of them were adopted would mitigate maybe 20 percent of the loss. At worst, without the restoration of these revenues, some counties in the southwestern part of the state could be facing bankruptcy as early as July 2009. It’s an ugly picture, no matter how you paint it.
At the end of the day, the task force was clear: there are only four ways to completely address the loss of these monies: restoration of payments by the federal government, more taxation, drastic reductions in services or a freeing up of the forests within the state’s boundaries so they can be used responsibly for the benefit of wildlife, watersheds, forest health, AND rural economies and communities.
Barring any one of those outcomes, the task force suggested sensible tweaks such as requiring the state to make up losses to county general funds it creates by exempting certain businesses from income taxes; allowing federal income tax refunds to be attached to pay tax debts owed to state and local government; and allowing state and local road departments to co-locate facilities.
Other proposals were more radical and open to debate: raising the beer and wine tax or raising recording fees. I didn’t support all of the proposals, but it was educational to learn how other regions of the state and their elected officials view the world and how Salem-based officials of state government view the world.
In t he end the task force report is food for thought. You can view it online yourself at http://governor.oregon.gov. Look under the tab “Task force on federal forest payments.” Comments are being accepted through mid-August.
I’m glad I accepted the post. I learned a lot about my State and the unique challenges of its regions. I learned about how other counties operate the business side of their houses, and came home with some good ideas. I made interesting contacts which are useful in working with state agencies. I spent too much time away from home and family dealing with this issue, but in the end, the investment was worth the time.
Most of all, I learned to appreciate Crook County and Central Oregon even more than I already did. We have our challenges for sure, but compared to the rest of Oregon, things look pretty good from where we sit.
In October of last year, the Governor called. Well technically, the Governor’s office called. The guy on the other end of the line is a higher-up in the Governor’s office and someone who has deep ties to Crook County, his grandfather having been a founding rancher in the Powell Butte area and a former county commissioner.
“Scott, the Governor has a favor to ask,” the staffer said.
I was instantly on alert. Every time the Governor asks for a favor, it ends up costing me, politically or financially.
“I’m awfully busy,” I replied, hedging my bets “but what does he want?”
“The Governor wants you to serve on a task force about resolving the county payments problem,” my friend said.
I ruminated about this. “The Governor wouldn’t like what I have to say about that issue,” I replied. “The county payments problem is partially about the failure of the federal government to do its job, but it’s also about some counties that don’t want to pay their own way. Besides, Crook County has tightened its belt and fixed its problems, and I’m not really sympathetic to people who are sitting around waiting for a miracle, that probably isn’t going to happen.”
“That’s definitely a point of view,” my friend said diplomatically, “and that’s why the Governor wants you to serve so you can say that.”
“Who else is serving” I asked, still suspicious?
“Bobby Green, C.W. Smith and Mark Labhart.”
“Who else?”
“You, if you accept.”
I thought about this. Bobby Green is a formidable commissioner from Lane County with a lot of clout statewide. He is the immediate past president of the Association of Oregon Counties. He played football for the University of Oregon and has been trading up on his athletic bona fides ever sense. C.W. Smith is the former sheriff of Jackson county turned county commissioner. C.W. is everybody’s best friend and keeps everybody laughing. It’s hard to win arguments with C.W. because he is so likable and he uses humor so well. Mark is a very bright commissioner from Tillamook County. He has a mastery of the intricate details of county government that few people could match. If the three of them were to gang up on me, I’d get clobbered.
“Anybody else,” I asked?
“Every agency head in state government, members of the House and Senate appointed by the Speaker and the President, staff from the governor’s office and a representative from the cities. We may add other people as we go along. The deputy chief of staff is going to chair the task force. I’ll tell you what. Try it, and if you don’t like it, you can quit.”
Feeling vaguely suckered, I hung up. I grumbled to myself that the last thing I need was more time out of the office for some Salem-boondoggle. Adding insult to injury, because the task force wasn’t given a budget, there wasn’t even going to be mileage or lodging reimbursement. On the up side, how often does someone in my position get the chance to get on a first-name basis with the key movers and shakers of state government, and to deal with them all in the same room at the same time? I decided that I would at least to a couple of meetings and decide what to do later.
Six months later, the task force birthed its baby: a report containing 54 recommendations, mostly for Legislative consideration, but some which can be implemented immediately by agencies and counties, suggesting ways to mitigate the impact of the pending loss of these payments.
And the report didn’t whitewash just what these payments mean to Oregon. On its opening page the task force forecasted the fiscal calamity that is about to befall Oregon. The state administration’s political leanings didn’t deter it from squarely blaming Washington for all but killing the vibrant forest industry of this state, and then terminating that support before coming up with a long-range solution to the problem the federal government created. The report noted that in 24 of Oregon’s counties, revenue losses will average 26 percent of their discretionary general funds and 44 percent of their road funds—a loss which will “compromise public health and safety, degrade county roads and exacerbate job losses in almost every region of Oregon outside of the Portland metropolitan area.”
It isn’t a pretty picture.
At best, the task force’s recommendations, even if all of them were adopted would mitigate maybe 20 percent of the loss. At worst, without the restoration of these revenues, some counties in the southwestern part of the state could be facing bankruptcy as early as July 2009. It’s an ugly picture, no matter how you paint it.
At the end of the day, the task force was clear: there are only four ways to completely address the loss of these monies: restoration of payments by the federal government, more taxation, drastic reductions in services or a freeing up of the forests within the state’s boundaries so they can be used responsibly for the benefit of wildlife, watersheds, forest health, AND rural economies and communities.
Barring any one of those outcomes, the task force suggested sensible tweaks such as requiring the state to make up losses to county general funds it creates by exempting certain businesses from income taxes; allowing federal income tax refunds to be attached to pay tax debts owed to state and local government; and allowing state and local road departments to co-locate facilities.
Other proposals were more radical and open to debate: raising the beer and wine tax or raising recording fees. I didn’t support all of the proposals, but it was educational to learn how other regions of the state and their elected officials view the world and how Salem-based officials of state government view the world.
In t he end the task force report is food for thought. You can view it online yourself at http://governor.oregon.gov. Look under the tab “Task force on federal forest payments.” Comments are being accepted through mid-August.
I’m glad I accepted the post. I learned a lot about my State and the unique challenges of its regions. I learned about how other counties operate the business side of their houses, and came home with some good ideas. I made interesting contacts which are useful in working with state agencies. I spent too much time away from home and family dealing with this issue, but in the end, the investment was worth the time.
Most of all, I learned to appreciate Crook County and Central Oregon even more than I already did. We have our challenges for sure, but compared to the rest of Oregon, things look pretty good from where we sit.
posted by Scott Cooper | 11:48 PM
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