After watching and listening to recordings of just about every public meeting the Josephine County Board of Commissioners has had in the last 12 years and talking to or working with most of the Commissioners during that time, I have a decent feel for what I think it takes to be a successful County Commissioner. Over the years I’ve regularly volunteered with efforts to help restore County Law Enforcement services since the system was decimated in 2012 and I try to be informed as to what is going on with the County.
Some past County Commissioners have told me the job is mostly political and policy in nature. At least one past Commissioner has told me the job is 90% administrative. Perhaps the job is what you make of it, but I tend to think a successful Commissioner needs to be versed and capable in both policy and administrative skills and a good Commissioner likely spends about half their time in both major areas.
Many years ago, I started sending emails to Commissioner candidates to see how they responded to certain policy type questions. After observing how well and whether they respond to emails as a candidate, I’ve found there is a direct correlation to how well they performed as Commissioner if they were voted into office. Their response also speaks to how responsive they might be if elected to office.
Case in point, during one past Commissioner race, the candidate that ended up being elected to office never responded when I emailed their official campaign email address during the campaign. During that Commissioner’s first year in office, I sent seven emails to that Commissioner, almost all of which related to official business one of my companies had with the County. The Commissioner never replied to any of those emails despite having a key role in the County business at hand.
Email is still heavily used in business these days. I correspond regularly with dozens of VC-funded technology startups and even they heavily use email. At the local government level, email is important both for business and for collecting public input. Not everyone can attend a public meeting to provide input in person or by zoom, and if someone from the public takes the time to send local government an email, that email should receive a response (unless of course it’s a chain-type email or a repeated political email chain).
In my experience, 90-95% of emails I send to local elected officials go unanswered. Despite being unpaid volunteers, City of Grants Pass elected officials tend to be slightly more email responsive than Josephine County Commissioners who are paid full-time salaries to serve in their role.
Without further ado, here are the results of an email test sent to all eight Josephine County Commissioner candidates. Commissioner candidates were sent four questions related to mineral development opportunities on both County-owned and federally managed lands in Josephine County. As Josephine County has a huge amount of mineral development opportunities both on County-owned land and on the two-thirds of land in our County that is managed by the Feds, this is a big deal. And the topic of preserving multiple uses on the two thirds of the acreage in Josephine County that is managed by the BLM and USFS can’t be overstated in importance if one cares about our County’s economic future.
Sadly, only three of eight Commissioner candidates responded to the email, and they were given more than a week to respond. And it took pulling up the candidates’ filings on the County Clerk’s website just to find the email address for a couple of the Commissioner candidates. I have a huge amount of respect for anyone that takes the time to run for this office but make your email easily accessible and pay attention to your email candidates! Good job to Mark Jones, Nathan Gonzales, and Ron Smith for your quick email responses.
Mark Jones came out as the clear winner for the email test. Not only did Mark Jones provide a comprehensive and fast response, but Mark also followed up with a related industry question a few days later. This makes sense as I’ve observed Mark Jones in attendance at just about every County Commissioner meeting for the last 2+ years doing his homework and preparing for a potential role as a County Commissioner. Mark Jones wins the gold, and just know that Josephine County is quite literally sitting on gold within certain properties in its “timber” portfolio.
Ron Smith wins the silver in the email test for a comprehensive and quick response. But Ron if you make it past this upcoming primary vote, please make your email easier to find! You might have heard Ron’s ads on the radio saying he’s the “people’s commissioner” candidate. Ron has a long history of working to help people and their properties protect their rights and it shows through even in the email test. Nathan Gonzales wins the bronze for a quick yet brief email response.
Honorable mentions go to Pat Fahey, Chris Barnett, and Colene Martin for being responsive through other means of communication during their recent campaigns. They’ve communicated by phone, text, different emails, or social media.
Above all, for the large percentage of registered voters in Josephine County that have not yet voted, make sure you vote! With just a couple days left to vote, at this point I highly recommend dropping your ballot in one of the many Official Ballot Drop Site locations. Just google “Josephine County ballot box locations” and you’ll see the official list on the County website.
