Deschutes commissioner race confuses many

The Deschutes County commissioners race is spending money for your vote, but has it worked? After incumbent Tony DeBone and challenger Jodie Barram have raised nearly $100,000, we wanted to know if voters were clear on their choices.

We spoke to people in the community and not one person that we interviewed on camera knew the answer, regarding a multiple-choice of who’s running.

And then there’s an even bigger question.

When asked if they knew what the county commissioners do ,we heard, “No, not really, specifically,” and “Um…let me think about that.”

County Administrator Tom Anderson outlined the role this way: “They outline the broadest goals for the county and review and adopt the annual county budget.”

But that’s just the beginning. Anderson added that the commission deals with some of the most important issues that face the people of Deschutes County.

Their role may not be a partisan one, and Anderson says the commissioners and candidates are unified in their commitment to the quality of life the citizens of Deschutes County enjoy.

However, we found many individuals didn’t even know who the county commissioners were.

We gave several people a quiz, asking who is NOT a County Commissioner and who IS running for the office. Except for a few lucky guesses, no one really knew the answer.

So we tried to clear up any confusion people had with the multiple commissioners and multiple candidates, not all of whom have opponents.

We explained that Tammy Baney is running but she’s running unopposed. Tony DeBone is running against Jodie Barram and Alan Unger is not running because his term isn’t up for two more years.

The individuals told us they follow the news and politics, but that this race was specifically confusing for them.