‘I just need to convince people that this is a great idea’: Voters make the call this fall on Deschutes County Commission expansion

(Update: Adding video, comments from Heylin and Commissioner Adair)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)— The citizen initiative to expand the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners from three to five members has officially received enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.

"A lot of the pressure is off, and now I just need to convince people that this is a great idea," said John Heylin, creator of the initiative and Deschutes Represents campaign, said Tuesday.

Heylin said they gathered and submitted nearly 7,000 signatures for verification before Wednesday's November ballot deadline, and county Clerk Steve Dennison confirmed recently they made the ballot as Measure 9-173.

"I think that the frustrations with the county finally hit a hit, a breaking point. And I think that this shows a way forward that could potentially fix a lot of these problems. And I think I just timed it right," Heylin said.

County Commissioner Phil Chang has shared his support for the expansion in recent months, highlighting budget issues that he believes have come from a small commission. But fellow commissioners Patti Adair and Tony DeBone have said the initiative is unnecessary, due to the size of the county.

Adair said Tuesday, "We've been growing, but our growth currently has slowed down. I just feel, you know, it's sometimes when you add more people, it adds more confusion."

Adair says she believes if the measure is passed by voters, it'll take some work to implement. 

"What I think is important, if it does pass, is that the commissioners need to be appropriated per region, like they do in Lane County. That would only be fair," she said. "Otherwise, we could come up with five commissioners from Bend."

Heylin submitted 6,581 required signatures last month for review and was told the usual margin of error was 20 percent. 

In this case, the County Clerk's Office found only a 6% margin of error, bringing his total of signatures after the second submission to almost 7,000. 

"I was like, 'Oh my God, there's no way we'll make 1,500.' I'm like, 'Yeah, we'll shoot for it. But oh my gosh, this is really cutting it close,'" Heylin said Tuesday. "And when they came back and said, 'Your error rate was only 6% and you only need another 508,' I was like, 'Wow, I've already got 475 in the baffles here."

Heylin says no matter the outcome of the vote, he's still proud.

"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work," he said "But, you know I had to do something. I feel like I had to contribute to Deschutes County somehow."