October 29, 2000 REVISIONARY HISTORY

With just one week before Election Day, some people and groups are getting desperate to convince voters to vote in favor of their cause.  

Before I continue, however, I’d like to take this opportunity  to thank Broccoli Media for their hard work and commitment to getting valuable information to the citizens in communities throughout Marion County.   You are much like Fox News who says, “We report, you decide.”  Without your many shows, not just mine, but the many others, voters would not have access to important and timely information that is critical to understanding local politics.  Thank you! 

Over the weekend,  just like thousands of other viewers around Marion County, I tuned into the Mt. Angel Chamber of Commerce Candidate Night.  It was very interesting.  By the way, thanks Ed McKinney and Maureen Ernst for putting together yet another informative evening with local candidates. 

As you can imagine, I found particularly interesting the comments by Commissioner Mike  Ryan and his opponents for Marion County Commissioner.  This was the first debate I’d had the opportunity to listen to all of them. 

My, Commissioner Ryan has certainly rewritten history!  I’ve heard others call him a revisionist, but when I sit in my living room and listen to his version of what has transpired in Marion County over the past two years, I am shocked that he has distorted events so tremendously!  

Mike says,  “The  first day on the job as County Commission Chair, I issued a challenge to the Board, ‘I said, let’s get off the dime, build an intake and assessment center and juvenile detention facility for our community within our tax resources and operate it.”

Perhaps he forgot we had already been regularly discussing how to improve our juvenile center for a year, when he became chair.  And perhaps, he forgot many of the statements he has made publicly.

And, this from the man who wanted the “full meal deal” and suggested borrowing from the Solid Waste Fund and selling the Franklin Building.  Yes, he had also talked about COP’s and other taxing schemes that would have circumvented the voters and approval by the taxpayers. 

He finally relented after months and months of meeting after meeting, to the fact that there was no way whatsoever I would not consent to doing anything but what could be done within existing resources, period!  This is one reason we had our discussions over juvenile mediated – so we could cone to agreement on how to downsize the plans to fit into our budget!

Our final plan for Juvenile was completed in

Our M.C. goals were completed in December of 1999, while I was chair.  One aspect of our goals is improvement of the juvenile facility.

This was all completed before he took the chair! 

FIMS is still a black hole that has not been touched!  We continue to pour millions of dollars into the DATA Center.  One of the main reasons I voted ‘NO’ on the budget last June was because I said I would not spend one more penny until we get a handled on the money we continue dumping into this black hole, until we re-evaluate our Charter with the Data Center and until we get an IT Policy Committee in place to get us on the right course.   By the way, Mike continues to stall these efforts.  We are no closer to looking into this black hole than we were in January of 1999. 

The question should be to Commissioner Ryan, “What IS IT you have done while chairing the Data Center?”

CH2 - No, we are not under budget!  We’ll be lucky to be AT budget when the books are balanced!  Any credit due for good management should go to Billy Wasson and Randy Curtis.  They have been overseeing the project for Marion County, and have done a good job. 

In January of 1999, when Commissioner Ryan and I were new to the Board of Commissioners, we three commissioners agreed that we would protect at least $2 million – not spend $2 million -  to keep the budget in line and to make that first payment. This is the way we budgeted.  There is no $2 million savings!

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend from the home builders’ industry.  As we chatted, I said, “Oh, I heard  The Oregon League of Conversation Voters ad on the radio.  They hit you pretty straight forward.  I know they are opposed to all you stand for and  I see Mike Ryan proudly displays their endorsement in his newspaper ad.” My friend was both embarrassed and surprised!  “My goodness,” I said to my friend, “You’ve got the enemy in your own camp!”

It looks like the Republican in this race for County Commissioner is more liberal than the Democrat in the race! 

I just want to remind my friends from the building industry to look at Mike Ryans’s endorsements.  I’ve never known the Oregon League of Conservation Voters to help folks in the building industry!

Another interesting item in the Statesman Journal Sunday caught my husband’s attention.  Commissioner Randy Franke is “proud to share reasons why Mike Ryan is the best candidate.”  Yes, Randy Franke is listed as an endorser of Mike’s as well.

What is interesting to me is that Randy expresses pride in endorsing someone whose behavior he called unprofessional over the course of the last several months.  As I’ve asked for meetings to deal with polices and procedures that would help address inappropriate conduct of business, Randy has repeatedly said, “Yes, you are right, this is unprofessional behavior and we must address it.”

With these two guys, one can never know what they might say, or to whom!