Vast candidate list makes for intriguing vote; back the MACRD

It looked for much of the winter that it might be a quiet political season in Jefferson County. Little did we know.

There was only one county commissioner seat open and Culver resident and Madras teacher Seth Taylor threw his hat into the ring early. No one else followed his lead. It got near the filing deadline, and still silence. Surely pockets of people knew candidates waiting in the wings, but there was little widespread knowledge of pending filings.

Then the filing deadline came, and a candidates storm ensued. When the dust cleared, a full seven had entered the race. What was a quiet preseason became a candidate carnival. A unique and intriguing field emerged: well known people with great resumes that are hard not to vote for; others with great passion pushing a change in focus and energy that make you want to vote for them; and others who have exemplary and inspiring public service records that arguably deserve our vote.

This election more so than many will be an interesting test for the local electorate as we vote for who will be the third person on a three-person board. Do we want someone similar to Commissioners Simmelink and Wunsch, someone likely to shake things up, or someone who is a wildcard?

The top two vote-getters will face off come the fall, unless someone gets over 50% of the vote, which seems unlikely with the vast number of candidates and the hard campaigning most have done. The guessing game of who will be the top two is a fun one. Whichever candidates make the top two, considering the unique and colorful seven now in the race, we can expect a robust runoff in the fall.

If you watched or livestreamed or read about the April 29 forum, you should have been impressed by the field. You could feel the commitment all of candidates had, and could sense that they were running for the right reason: they believed their talents, commitment and passion could benefit our county and its citizens. They answered very difficult questions on the fly and very intelligently. You and me, we wouldn’t have wanted to be in that position, and those ladies and gentlemen did themselves proud.

The Pioneer doesn’t do endorsements in candidate races for various reasons. But all of the seven candidates deserve our thanks and praise for making the commitment to run. It’s tough, takes a time and money commitment, and you put yourself up for judgement by not only the public but people that you know. And in the end, only one can win the office. Local politics is not for the weak.

That said, I can’t wait to see who the electorate moves forward.

Funding the MACRD

Over the years, the Madras-Metolius-Warm Springs area voters have routinely said yes to various MACRD funding requests to keep the local swimming pool and recreation district operating, backfilling the various needs that its small, original tax base hasn’t been able to fund. The MACRD is before voters again, and this current request would take what we have already approved, combine it, and make it permanent.

Certainly this 2024 MACRD ballot entry is convoluted. It’s asking to extinguish the current tax base and establish another, two separate requests. To support the MACRD, voters have to mark yes twice — and this isn’t Chicago ... you can do it on one ballot.

That’s exactly what we should do.

The arguments for voting against the MACRD aren’t hard to make, they are valid, and they’re the same ones the MACRD always goes up against: taxes are already too high and we need relief; I don’t use the pool; the MAC is too fancy and we shouldn’t have built it in the first place.

It’s hard, if not impossible, to budge potential voters of this ilk, to change their stance.

But the outstanding pool and the recreation district, which provides youth and adult activities, is a vital component to our health and livability as a community. Sure, not everyone at every stage of life uses it, but then again not everyone uses or needs the local hospital or local fire department, but we need them both for a healthy, safe community.

Madras isn’t flush with fantastic community elements. We should value, protect and support what outstanding components we do have. Our aquatic center is a community gem, a showpiece that serves us well when funded. The recreation elements are extremely valuable, for both youth and adults, and are primed to grow in the future, just as our community will.

The request is to support the MACRD to the level we currently have committed to, through the standing tax base and two bonds. There is no extra funds requested above that combined amount. Let’s keep that commitment level. Vote yes, twice, and put the MACRD on firm financial footing for the long term, for the first time in its history.