Gordon Clay here. Rocky McVay, Executive Director of the O&C County Assocation said "If someone doesn't like the plan tell them to put something else on the table." Waddle said "The Legislature and governor have got to come up with some plan." Nowlin said "The state can either pick up the pieces when we fall apart, or come in and help keep us from falling apart." And here I thought we had elected people to take care of our county. I thought the job title was County Commissioner. I say "That's your job - start doing it."
Unfortunately, our County Commissioners don't seem to have any extra time to work on other ideas to grow our county besides going for more O&C funding. And 78% of our voting citizens have clearly said they won't pay any more than what they are currently paying.
The county has already received more than $16 million in stimulus funds. The Feds are a sucker for victims. Maybe we can get even more hand-outs instead of working on ways to become self-sustaining.
We could lay some of the blame on the former County Commissioners who decided not to increase property taxes to the maximum allowed by law. Afterall, why increase property taxes when we've got the feds giving us all of this money.
Oregon's population grew by over 11% over the last 10 years. Curry County grew by 11 people. Surely there's more than just timber, fishing, tourism and Federal hand-outs.
Come on County Commissioners. Get it together and start thinking about the future, not the past. That's my Thanksgiving wish. I hope it comes true so that we will start to thrive, not just survive.