If moral indignation and malcontent is pleasurable, as author Barbara Holland asserts, then Josephine County Commissioners ended the year blissfully albeit with little self-reflection. Because of that, their 2023 meetings should be preceded by this disclaimer: The following may induce social anxiety attacks in those who believe elected officials should refrain from frumious grumbling and reality-bending performative outrage.
Throughout 2022 Commissioners made it clear they were unhappy living in a country where voters decided to buck Fox News and reject a twice-impeached President and in a state dominated by a political party they compare to Communists. They moaned about Gov. Kate Brown’s mask mandate during the pandemic, they groaned about COVID vaccine mandates, they agitated about gun safety laws and cried about money coming in to help offset pandemic business and government losses even though it was shoring up the Sheriff’s Department, funding a path to better broadband in the county and getting a lot of work done on county facilities.
2022 began with Commissioner Darin Fowler lamenting county voters. “Everyone in our community decided 10 or 12 years ago that they don’t want to be a fully funded county and we’re not. They never supported the Sheriff’s patrol, they only did it when we did the jail and juvenile justice levy and although I think you’ve done a great job Sheriff (Dave Daniel) of bringing patrol to the maximum point that you can, that’s still not what the people asked for.”
Fowler’s diatribe was a self-fulfilling prophesy. A sales tax scheme Commissioners believed they could sell to Josephine County voters by saying tourists would help pay for patrol deputies was rejected by an embarrassing margin. Commissioners might as well have asked voters to pay for heated chairs in their offices and daily massages.
Notable 2022 events also included …. Read the full article Here
December 31, 2022 @ 11:19 am
Very well said.
All sad but true.
December 31, 2022 @ 6:41 pm
Your criticism of commissioners is deserved however your support for an ordinance to over regulated a dying cannabis industry is an attack on property rights which you will do anything to take away.
Obviously the voters disagree with you and your attempt at support for larger government
failed.
Your gross mischaracterization of John West is wrong and shows how out of touch you are with local residents
As as independent and democrat for many years you clearly don’t support the ones having financial issues.
You are about more taxes and regulations not like the Democrats I grew up with.
Happy Holidays!