A group called Jackson County for All of Us hopes to change commissioner positions from being partisan to nonpartisan so that non-affiliated voters, which are the biggest group in Jackson County, can participate in the primary election. They also want to increase the number of commissioners from three to five, reduce their salaries and elect them based on five geographical districts.
Having five commissioners rather than three will increase efficiency under Oregon's Public Meeting law, said Denise Krause, one of the chief filers of the ballot measures. For instance, with only three members, two commissioners talking together is currently considered a quorum, and the public must be given notice of the time and place of such meetings.
Krause said that since the hiring of a county administrator in 1980, "commissioners have ceded more and more of their authority to the county administrator. But what's happened at the same time is their salaries have continued to go up, even though their responsibilities have decreased."
Commissioners Rick Dyer and Colleen Roberts currently earn over $136,000 a year, while Commissioner Dave Dotterer earns nearly $118,000.
Jackson County for All of Us would like to increase the number of commissioners to five without increasing the tax burden on residents, so they would divide the money that the commissioners currently make among five people rather than three.
The group would also like to create five geographical districts in the county based on population, each of which would be represented by a commissioner. The district boundaries would be created by a commission of six voters appointed by the county clerk, with two nominated by the Jackson County Republican Party, two nominated by the Jackson County Democratic Party and two self-nominated Non-Affiliated Voters. All current Jackson County commissioners are Republicans.
"We want it to be representative of everybody trying to set up a fair system. So to do the geographic districts, that would give different parts of the county an opportunity to have a voice representing them on the commission," Krause said.
Krause previously ran for county commissioner and currently serves on the Rogue Valley Transportation District board. She said commissioners need more accountability and better representation of the county as a whole.
The language for the ballot measures is still being finalized. When done, it must be submitted to the county clerk's office for approval. Once it's approved, the group will need to gather approximately 10,000 signatures from registered voters for each proposal. If they do so, the ballot measures would then head to voters in Nov. 2024. If voters approve them, they would go into effect for the 2026 elections.
Klamath County transitioned its commissioners to nonpartisan positions in 2013, while Douglas County did so in 2006.
Krause said there have been two efforts to make Jackson County commissioners nonpartisan in the past, but they failed to gather enough signatures. However, she said she's received a lot of positive feedback and interest from the community and is confident that this campaign will be successful.
"This is kind of an all-hands-on-deck kind of a campaign. So we want to just involve everybody who wants to be involved," she said.
The group's website says their proposals are supported by previous county commissioners John Rachor, Dave Gilmour, Sue Kupillas, Jeff Golden and Peter Sage.
County commissioners did not respond to a request for comment.
