July 9, 2000

Summer around Marion County is pretty quiet.  Spring is all about the budget process and life is  pretty hectic consuming most of our time and attention for several weeks leading up to the Budget Committee hearings and concluding with the final Board action in June.

Now that the dust has settled, we can direct our attention to carrying on with day-to-day county activity.

And while I am anticipating my own vacation, I am meeting with department heads and community citizens to discuss where Marion County goes over the next several months.  The Board of Commissioners does have a set of goals, and we have a new budget and some budget notes that provide some parameters. But while armed with this goals, a budget and some budget notes, I am frustrated about where Marion County will go.

I voted No on this budget, just as I voted No last year on the budget.  Let me explain. 

But it is the budget that is the most visible responsibility an elected official has.  We spend most of our time as commissioners working issues that all come back to the budget.  Everything is related to the dollars!  But that is why it is important to have policies that guide how the dollars are spent.  As I put the budget books away and try to key into the many other issues and projects before Marion County, it all comes back to money time and time again. 

Perhaps it is just coincidence that our fiscal year coincides with Independence Day, the Fourth of July, but I do believe the reminder

From a practical standpoint, the most visible responsibility an elected official has is to approve a budget.  No, elected officials do not create the budget, they approve it, or disapprove it.  This is why policy is so important.  Budgets must be based on policy.  County commissioners are the policy makers.  With good policy in place, the county administrator, who is charged with creating a budget, knows the boundaries, the goals and principles to which the dollars are allocated.  The county administrator working together with the department heads can carry out policies through the budget.

Our United States constitution and our Oregon state constitution are about the process of government.  My job as your county commissioner is to be a keeper of the process and to protect our freedoms.  And, as I have said many times before, I represent you, the citizens of  Marion County.  I do not represent Marion County government.  As a constitutionalist, my votes are always votes for the people.  Votes that protect your freedoms and liberties.  Votes that protect your pursuit of happiness.

When the process fails the people, it is the elected officials who must be held accountable.   If elected officials fail to take a stand or fail to represent the people’s welfare, we violate the trust of the people.

Governments are created by the people as instruments of the people to ensure our unalienable rights and establish a civil society.  The powers of government are only derived from the consent of the people. 

When I was sworn in as a Marion County commissioner, I took an oath of office that is pretty concise:  To uphold the United States Constitution and the Oregon state constitution; and to do so with demeanor and to impartially discharge the duties of the office.

So you see, my job as your commissioner is not about writing laws, enacting resolutions and ordinances; it is about protecting our liberties and upholding our freedoms.  The positions I take on issues, and the votes I make do not come about because of party affiliation, nor is it about personalities; my votes are about principles.

This is why I always seek your advise.