Lately, it seems like a week doesn’t go by without Josephine County Commissioner John West in the news after some rash decision that will either be costly for Josephine County or involve behavior that results in a further loss of trust with the citizens West claims to serve. Amid a recall petition signature-gathering effort, which organizers say is on track to place West’s recall measure on a special election later this year, Commissioner West’s actions are becoming more desperate and, unfortunately, more costly for the citizens of Josephine County.
Just last weekend, videos surfaced on Facebook showing Commissioner West threatening and intimidating a woman on the sidewalk across the street from the County Courthouse. Rumors are circulating regarding West’s attempts to intimidate any county staff members who may have signed the recall petition, and West’s personal attorney has already sent a letter to the County Clerk demanding to inspect the signed petitions.
Commissioners West and Baertschiger, just three months ago, bargained in bad faith and decided to decline the sale of a county forestry property referred to as Pipe Fork. The sale would have been at a price of $2.3 million, above the federal appraised price. After intentionally derailing a negotiation that was about four years in the making with a Williams-area community group, this property is now back up for sale. The kicker is, it’s going straight to public auction, bundled with one other nearby county forestry property, at a minimum bid price nearly 10% less per acre on average compared to the sale price Commissioners West and Baertschiger declined three months ago. Bundling this property with another appears to be an attempt to make it harder for the Williams-area community group to purchase it, and with federal funds likely no longer available to help, many citizens are extremely concerned about Pipe Fork’s future.
Commissioners West and Baertschiger appear to have turned a win-win scenario into a lose-lose situation. What’s worse, the commissioners are also auctioning five other timber properties in the Williams area, and all seven county forestry properties up for auction have a combined minimum bid price of $10.4 million. This is one of the largest forestry property auctions by the county in modern times, approved and put forward without even allowing the public to weigh in on the pros and cons of the proposed sales. One retired forestry professional noted that this is a very strange action considering these are the most productive and valuable properties within the county’s timber portfolio.
Just last summer, the County Mining Advisory Committee (which Commissioner West attends as a liaison) approved an action requesting the county provide advance notice of any forestry property it is considering selling. This is because the mineral development potential on some county properties could yield a financial benefit many times greater than that of the timber values. Owning mining companies himself, Commissioner West knows this and chose to ignore the request, not allowing the public to weigh in on the series of forestry property sales before putting them up for auction.
Questions abound. Why is Pipe Fork now being sold for potentially close to 10% less than the recently declined purchase offer? Given the relatively weak timber market this year, is this the best time to sell such a large number of forestry properties? If the properties sell, are there suitable coastal or other timber properties available for purchase as replacements? Has a financial projection been conducted to show the estimated or potential yield difference by selling these properties? Is this just the beginning, and does Commissioner West intend to sell even more county forestry properties without conducting any kind of mineral assessment? Without careful consideration, these property auctions may primarily benefit private parties rather than provide the highest total yield to the county.
While there’s much more to discuss from recent weeks, the last example today is the meeting held at the fairgrounds last month, arranged to let various groups affected by the commissioners’ decision to defund the 4H Extension Service District for the last two years weigh in on how the county may be able to help restore those services. Reportedly, attendance wasn’t great because certain programs, like the Master Gardeners program, can’t be restored without working through OSU. Perhaps the commissioners should have listened to the dozens of citizens who attended commissioner meetings last summer, warning them not to cancel these programs or defund the Extension Service District.
Commissioner West’s personal agenda is now clearer than ever. The agenda is dominated by decisions that ignore the will of the people, benefit special interest groups, and attack or threaten any agency or group of people that have slightly different political outlooks than Commissioner West. If West doesn’t like a certain agency or group trying to do business with Josephine County, they won’t be doing business together, no matter how beneficial it is for the county as a whole.
Josephine County voters have only 10 more days to sign the recall petition before the due date for submitting petitions to the County Clerk. Download a single-signature petition at https://www.recalljohnwest.com, or better yet, stop into the Recall Office at 600 SE 7th Street in Grants Pass. It’s time to rise and sign.
