Letter: Keep local campaigns positive

I find the advertisement that Bruce Lovelin placed in the Headlight Herald on April 23rd to be very disturbing. In all my years of living in Tillamook County our candidates for office have refrained from negative campaigns. Bruce Lovelin has brought negative campaigning to our County. Bruce, you should be discussing how to solve the problems of our county and not disparaging the person who is trying to solve those problems. You may disagree with some of the discussions, but you should put forth solutions not negative campaigning.

In his ad Bruce lists some things that are misleading or just not true. First, he seems to think that leading a non -profit somehow is a negative. We have great non-profit leaders including the YMCA, Marie Mills Center, CARE and many more. These are wonderful people that put in more time than they are compensated for. You stated that Erin said, “Government is a lot like a non-profit”. If you had any experience with a non-profit you would know they have to operate like a local government, they cannot spend money they don’t have.

Another misleading fact, the County Commissioners have not passed a budget as of the date of his ad for the county. Get your facts straight Bruce. They certainly did not adopt a budget with a 4-million-dollar loss. Maybe you should know that no county or city in Oregon can run on a deficit.

By the way, none of the County Commissioners are interested in defunding the Sheriff’s Office. That is an old statement from 2020 that makes good political press. They are interested in balancing the County Budget.

Since we are losing some of our State Forest funding we need to find some new sources of revenue. All ideas should be discussed, it does not mean any will get past the discussion stage. Reducing the salary of County Commissioners will do little to solve the budget problems. They earn every penny they receive.

Another fact Bruce, if low-income housing is not subsidized by Federal State, or Local Government, no one will build it. Developers and builders need to get a return on their investment. Study a little economics and you will understand this dilemma.

Bruce, why don’t you buy another ad and state what you intend to do to solve some of our issues, rather than discrediting people who are trying to solve them.

Get your facts straight Bruce

Chris and Patsy Weber

Rockaway Beach