Deschutes candidates question each other – pointedly

The ballots are already in everyone’s hands, the campaign ads are saturating the airwaves and many people have already decided who they are voting for.

But for those who haven’t, Tuesday night’s KTVZ-televised and livestreamed debate between the four people seeking two Deschutes County commissioner positions may have been the most interesting, if not entertaining, when each got to ask the other questions.

It wasn’t the first or last joint appearance by the two candidates for Position 1, incumbent Republican and Independent parties’ nominee Tony DeBone and Democrat challenger Amy Lowes, and Position 3 Republican Patti Adair (who knocked off Commissioner Tammy Baney in the May primary) and her Democratic foe, James Cook.

But for an hour (with no breaks), they covered a wide variety of issues and took stands one might expect, from the pros and cons of rural marijuana production to affordable housing, the desire to build a mental health crisis and sobering center and the land-use squabbles commissioners get to decide (unless they are taken to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, as many are).

But when moderator Lee Anderson stepped aside for a bit and let the candidates pose their own questions, things got bit more sharp-edged.

First, Adair asked Cook a question, prefacing that the weather in this area is “very versatile,” and said to him, “You’re always talking about walking somewhere. If you are elected commissioner, will you be getting rid of your car and using alternative means to get to the job?”

No, Cook said, noting that he lives in Redmond, his wife works in Bend and he hopes to carpool, if he gets the job.

As Adair probably knew already, Cook said he’s a board member for Commute Options, and he stressed the second word of its name.

“I support options for people,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re trying to get rid of cars.” But he also said every time someone gets out of a car, to ride a bike or walk, that’s one less car to be stuck in traffic.

“I want to see communities where it’s walkable, ridable and drivable,” he said.

Now it was Cook’s turn to post a question to Adair.

“You’ve talked a lot about how you believe county employees are overpaid,” Cook said.

He related a remark Sheriff Shane Nelson told him about competing with other entities locally and across the region for good job candidates: “Do you want me to hire the best officers or the cheapest?” The same goes for public-sector attorneys, health professions and the like.

And so Cook asked her: “What people in Deschutes County government are overpaid, and how much would you reduce their salary?”

Adair didn’t go there, as few would. Instead, she noted the costly PERS issue and the fact that county salary and benefits average $108,000, and that the workers now pay “$90 a month for their entire family’s health care.”

“I believe we have wonderful employees – they do a terrific job,” she said. But she added, “We need to be more careful and not too much of a burden on those taxpayers in Deschutes County – the retired people, the people who don’t make $18 or $25 an hour, the ones who get paid $10.25 at Macy’s. We need to be respectful of them” and their limited ability to pay more taxes.

Lowes’ question of DeBone was about the potential “all full” sign at the county’s Knott Landfill in about a decade. She said she was “ridiculed” for proposing curbside composting, with claims on social media “saying it was going to cost millions of dollars. How much do you suppose a new landfill site will cost?”

DeBone said while the economic downturn did extend the landfill’s life a few years, due to less construction debris, the site “definitely has a date to it” for closure.

But for now, he said, “the system pays for itself,” in the fees and charges it levies to customers. Beyond the cost of a new landfill, he pointed out that the county must set aside reserves to manage the existing landfill for 20 to 30 years before the state DEQ will sign off on it being stable and not in need of further monitoring.

“Anybody has a chance to compost at any time,” taking it to the facilities designed for them, DeBone said.

“Do you want to require everybody in the city to separate food waste, compostable yard waste, add a second container? I don’t think that’s a good solution,” he said.

As for the landfill, the options down the road are few and familiar – find a new location, ship the trash to a regional landfill or invest in a way to burn and reduce the debris. A solid waste advisory committee will review the options.

DeBone got more personal in his question of Lowes.

“So you’re proud you grew up in Washington, D.C., in a political family,” he began, then got to the point – noting that she’s “failed to vote in two-thirds of the elections” since 1997, including the January vote on a health care tax, and that her vote for herself in May was her first primary election ballot cast in 10 years. (By the way, you can’t look up how someone voted in the county voter rolls – but you can look up whether they did or not.)

“Why should they put their trust in you, when you have repeatedly failed your basic duties as a voting citizen?” DeBone asked Lowes, who called it an “expected question” that’s been the focus of “multiple ads” targeting her.

“Yes, I regret I have not voted” in each election, she said. In the recent example, Lowes said she had moved and “found it (the January ballot) in a moving box – no excuse.”

“Like a lot of other Americans, I’m a full-time, single working mother, going to school, managing a business. I didn’t prioritize my time to give myself the space to make informed voting decisions. I regret that, but I don’t regret the time spent with my children.”

To see and hear more of what they had to say on county issues, click on one of the three video segments accompanying this article.