Drawing a distinct line in the sand

Voters preparing to cast a vote in the contest for Coos County Commission Position No. 1 cannot complain of a lack of choice or a clear dividing line.

The race between candidates John Griffith and Bob Main is a case study in opposites. Griffith, the two-term incumbent, and Main, the Coos County assessor, take varying stances on the county budget, the possibility of an liquefied natural gas terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit and what would serve as permanent solution to the county’s budget crisis brought on the expiration of federal timber payments.

Both have strong opinions. Both make their arguments clearly. Although public appearances at candidate forums have not been fiery, Main and Griffith have made it clear they would take different approaches in managing the county.

Incumbent is seeking his third term on commission

Coos County Commission Chairman John Griffith has never balked at making tough decisions. But last year’s contentious budgeting process made him think twice about seeking a third term.

“I had misgivings when we had to make such drastic cuts,” Griffith said.

Now, a year later, Griffith said he is willing and able to serve again as the Position No. 1 commission member. He’s counting on voters to recognize his experience in government and with natural resources and see him as a good fit for the position.

“I think I’m fairly well qualified to do it,” he said.

Budget

Under his management, the county has built up savings over the last several years, including part of the one-year extension of the federal in-lieu payments Congress approved last year, he said.

But Griffith not making promises. He said it is too early to identify what cuts — if any— the county will have to make in the budget this year. Careful fiscal management throughout the year can result in more carryover for the next. Just because money has been budgeted, doesn’t mean it has to be spent, he said.

Permanent solutions

Conservative spending will keep the county from using its savings too quickly.  But it won’t last forever.

With no assurance county timber payments will continue, the Coos County commissioners and the Coquille Indian Tribe have created a partnership in seeking a transfer of federal timber management to the tribe on approximately 60,000 acres of Coos Bay Wagon Road lands in Coos County. Half of the revenue generated from timber sales would go to the county’s general fund. The tribe would keep the other half, while taking on all expense of harvesting the timber. With this plan, the federal government would retain ownership of the lands.

Griffith said he thinks this is the best proposal for replacing lost funding and lost jobs in the county.

“That could put us back on our feet,” he said.

Griffith speculated that possibly up to $6 million dollars in revenue could be generated for the county from such a partnership. 

The plan, called the Coos Bay Wagon Road Cooperative Land Management Area, would take some time, at least three years.  Griffith believes it would take at least a year to have federal legislation written and approved, and then another two years to identify which lands can be harvested, according to the regulations in the Northwest Forest Plan, the plan which governs timber harvest on federal lands in the Northwest.

He added that the tribe is qualified to manage the land  because it already manages its own 5,400-acre forest, with the same regulations required on the Wagon Road lands.

Looking out for Coos County

As a county commissioner, he considers his most important responsibility to look out for the welfare of Coos County. He said he has blocked initiatives that could have been harmful to residents and businesses in the area.

One such proposal, which he is looking into while serving on the Ocean Policy Advisory Committee, is the effort to create no-take marine reserves off the coast of Oregon. He said he doesn’t oppose reserves as a concept, but believes they should only be used if needed. Off the Oregon Coast, in his opinion, they are not needed because research reserves already exist.

LNG

Land use issues have claimed his time and brought Griffith some criticism.

He’s a non-compromiser when it comes to discussing the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal. Griffith said he understood the public’s frustration with the decision-making process  — but the land use process had to be followed.

Griffith said people’s opinions, either for or against, could not play into the decision the county commission made regarding the conditional use permit for an LNG terminal on Coos Bay North Spit. Oregon’s land use process gives specific criteria for decisions. Accounting for public opinion or concerns about safety and environmental damage are not part of that criteria, he said. Because the criteria wouldn’t allow any outcome of public opinion poll to be used, Griffith stands by his decision not to allow a public opinion vote on the LNG issue.

Instead, he thinks people should have spent a fraction of the money it would have taken to facilitate the vote to learn Oregon’s land use process.

“If you don’t know how to operate the process, you aren’t at the table,” he said.

Though the last year wasn’t the easiest to be chairman on the commission, Griffith said he is ready for the road ahead.

“I’ve made a lot of tough decisions before,” he said. “I’m willing to make them again. You have to.”