Josephine County Democrats must be eating a lot of popcorn these days as they enjoy the spectacle of some ‘conservative’ Republicans seeking to recall a conservative Republican.
Republicans everywhere complain that government only gets bigger, more costly, and less efficient.
Yet here in Josephine County we elect John West as county commissioner based on his promise to eliminate wasteful spending and bloated county departments and now he gets attacks for following through on his campaign promises.
Even Commissioner Herman Baertschiger gets some of the attacks these days. Recently retired commissioner Dan DeYoung used to get his share of attacks as well….
Do you remember why Baertschiger and DeYoung were subject to a recall effort launched in December 2021?
The charges must have been quite serious to recall two county commissioners.
Well? What was it? You probably don’t remember.
Let me enlighten you with this report from Jefferson Public Radio:
New campaign in Josephine County seeks to recall two commissioners
A campaign to recall Josephine County Commissioners Dan DeYoung and Herman Baertschiger began last week.
The organizers say the commissioners abused their position and blocked public health efforts to stop the spread of the pandemic. They also claim that commissioners repeated COVID conspiracies and dismissed scientific advice.
A co-petitioner for the recall effort, Ken Smith, says their main complaints are COVID-related.
“They have pretty consistently blocked efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19,” says Smith. “They’ve been dismissive of public health advice and scientific fact. They’ve been abusive in their behavior towards their own county health staff.”
At the time Grants Pass Mayor SAra Bristol suggested using Covid money to give out $100 gift cards to people who got the Covid jabs.
As it turned out Mayor Bristol was wrong, and the commissioners were right. The ‘scientific facts’ turned out to be wrong. The COVID-19 jabs didn’t function as a vaccination. The shots did not prevent a person from getting infected with the virus which meant that infected person could infect other people, i.e. they were infectious.
Ballotpedia has a page on this story which quotes then county commissioner Dan DeYoung saying,
“It’s very inflammatory the whole thing is to both me and my colleague Commissioner Baertschiger, the whole petition is false.”
DeYoung also said, “This Covid thing has split our nation, it’s split my home community of Josephine County in half, it’s brought on such hatred, I’ve never witnessed the hatred that I have in the last two years.”
You can read more about those Covid days in this article from the Northwest Observer.
https://northwestobserver.com/index.php?ArticleId=1805
The 2021-2022 recall effort failed to collect enough signatures. Some people disagreed on the commissioners’ actions, and the proper course was to wait for reelection rather than recall them from office. As it turned out neither is running for reelection now.
Recall efforts should not short cut the democratic process except in extreme situations, i.e. stealing taxpayer money.
You’ll read more of my thoughts on this recall effort next week. In short, the recall petition allegations are not supported by the facts.
For now, give my editorial from the last Oregon Eagle a read.
Ask yourself, “Do we really want to recall a proven limited government county commissioner in a county strapped for money for county law enforcement?”
Today a young Republican sent me a press release announcing his candidacy for Chairman of the Young Republicans of Oregon.
What an example of someone getting involved in local politics at a young age. Makes us “Old Republicans of Oregon” look like slackers!
Tanner Elliott will gain experience which can help him be a future leader of Oregon. I wish him well. I also hope he develops thick skin to protect him from the barbs from a future elected office. They go with the territory.
Tanner should remember that “You can’t please everyone.”
It’s also true that “You can’t displease everyone either.” That’s why most recall efforts fail. People respect elected officials who make hard decisions in the public interest.
You can read his announcement here: