There is an unattended effect of appointing county commissioners to fill vacant Legislative seats. The staggering of election cycles for County Commissioners can be disrupted as has happened in Curry County. They are seeing all three seats up for election at the same time as a result of ORS.204.005, which provides that candidates for county commission be included on the ballot at a primary or general election, if the term of a county commissioner expires the following January or if there is a vacancy for any cause in the office of county commissioner.

To solve this problem, David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) has sponsored House Bill 2244, which provides a statutory basis, through January 2, 2030, to extend the current term of the third county commissioner by two years, when all three county commissioners are not staggered and come up for election at the same time so that the terms of the three offices remain staggered.

At the close of the January 11th meeting that appointed David Brock Smith as an Oregon State Senator, Commissioner Tim Freeman explained: “This is the 4th legislative appointment in 8 years that I have been involved in, and we have also appointed a clerk, a surveyor, an assessor and a treasurer and an interim commissioner, that’s 9 elected officials appointed in a matter of 8 years. Nine elected officials that, but for one, one gentleman died and that was certainly not an intent of his own, but the others left early. They created the problem. We are here today to try to solve a problem that we did not create. I want to make sure that folks understand that.”

At the January 11th meeting, Commissioners of Douglas, Coos and Curry counties unanimous selection by eight Commissioners led to the next two vacancies. The commissioners chose David Brock Smith for Senate District 1 to replace Dallas Heard, who resigned. That left Brock Smith’s House seat vacant. A month later Curry County Commissioner Court Boice was chosen by the same commissioners to replace Brock Smith. Court Boice’s Commissioner seat was then left vacant and Jay Trost was appointed to replace Boice.

If HB 2244 passes, Commissioner Chris Boice (Court Boice’s 2nd cousin), who is currently in Position 3 would receive the proposed two year extension. Passage of HB 2244 would result in legislation substituting and thus circumventing the voters choice for the duration of those two years.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Earlier, in 2018, another series of vacancies ensued in Douglas, Josephine, and Jackson Counties when Senator Jeff Kruse resigned on March 15, 2018. Representative Dallas Heard was appointed to replace Senator Jeff Kruse. Douglas County Commissioner Gary Leif was appointed to fill Representative Dallas Heard’s position. Christine Goodwin replace Leif as Douglas County Commissioner. When Gary Leif died in 2021, Commissioner Christine Goodwin was appointed to replace Gary Leif as Representative. Here again, the county commissioners “solved a problem” of 1 vacant senate seat by choosing 2 politicians that were already serving terms of office. Instead of 1 position being filled, the county commissioners chose to replaced 3 positions.

Appointments are frequent in the Douglas County elected positions as well. Of the 6 current elected officials in Douglas County, 4 were originally appointed and 2 were elected by the people. Sheriff John Hanlin and Treasurer Samuel Lee III are the two originally elected.

The Douglas County Clerk and Recorder position has had the last three clerks enter the position by appointment. (1) In 2019 Dan Loomis was appointed to replaced Patricia Hitt. (2) In 2013 Patricia Hitt replaced Barbara Nielsen. (3) In 2003 Barbara Nielsen was appointed to replace Doyle Shaver Jr. Each was later elected to the position as an incumbent. The Clerk’s office is the head of elections.

Special elections and appointments have taken a dramatic rise in replacing elections “by the people” in recent years. A resignation from any elected office breaks a commitment to voters, narrows the field of candidates, and causes disadvantages to unendorsed special election candidates. Whether or not the vacancy is created by the resignation of an elected official, or by commissioners filling a position with another politician serving a term of office, an election “by the people” is bypassed and the voters are disenfranchised.


--Terry Noonkester

Post Date: 2023-03-08 16:53:03

Last Update: 2023-03-07 18:09:31