November 28, 2000

TV watching is not one of my favorite past times.  But, I find myself glued to the television in these three weeks since Election Day.

Events change minute by minute, hour by hour, not day by day or even week by week. 

With all the political wrangling, what cannot, must not, get lost in all of these events is the absolute need to follow the law.  The absolute need to keep our state constitutions, not just the Florida constitution, and above all else, our United States Constitution intact.

Watching these events unfold before our eyes, thanks to the immediate, media and multi-channel access of television, I am reminded once again of my oath of office.  Yes, my job as your Marion County Commissioner is really quite simple.  Uphold the United States and the Oregon state constitution and the laws thereof.

The Oath of Office states, “I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Oregon and the laws thereof, and that I will faithfully demean myself in, and impartially discharge the duties of COUNTY COMMISSIONER in and for the County of Marion according the best of my ability.”

(To demean mean to “behave, conduct in a property manner.”)

Ironically, the events going on in Florida as a result of this presidential election, are a stark reminder for all of us as elected officials.  Governor Bush and Vice President Gore, among others involved in what is at stake in the election, have all taken oaths of office.  They are currently serving under an oath of office.

 Although the wording varies, the oaths of office for every elected position is the same.

Modern society has expanded the “job duties”  of elected officials, nonetheless, the job is rooted in supporting the constitutions, and doing so with proper conduct and impartiality.

How do our elected officials stack up for their jobs?

To bring you up-to-date, the Marion County Board of  Commissioners is in the process of doing strategic planning.  It is appropriate that a year after adopting our Board Goals, we should re-evaluate these goals.  And, with a new county administrator it is prudent to update not only our goals, but our mission statement.

Just before Thanksgiving, we met to begin strategic planning.  We had a very productive meeting and identified some key issues.  In spite of the difficulties the Board of Commissioners is facing, we did reach consensus in that meeting, which allows us to move forward in our planning.

Our meeting today, which focused on our mission statement, got off to a rocky start when the other two commissioners were quite late and in and out of the room several times after the meeting began.  However, once we settled down to work, again, we had a very productive meeting and made great strides in updating our mission statement.

It is important I share with you, the people of Marion County, what these meetings are about.  You deserve to know we are doing your work.  These meetings are public, but the public does not attend them. 

I have requested that these meetings be audio taped so that a concise record is available for anyone’s review.  These two meetings I have reported on were not.  Therefore, I will be reporting more regularly so you are aware of what work  we are accomplishing.  I will notify you when we do have audio tapes so you may request them and listen to them.