Your Douglas County Republican Central Committee hosted a very successful Candidates Night Event last evening, drawing seven candidates, and an estimated two hundred people to hear them speak.
The event was held last night at 7:00 PM, in the Annex building next to the County Courthouse.
In Attendance were candidates for: Tax Assessor: Tony Page, County Commissioner: Jerry Gindlesperger & Ronnie Murehead, State Senator: Marilyn Kittelman, Govenor: John Lim, Allen Alley's spokesperson Terry Moffit, US House District 4: Art Robinson & Jaynee Germond.
I found the backgrounds of the candidates to vary widely, ranging from first generation immigrants to school teachers, and even engineers and scientists. It speaks volumes for the party when we can field such a diverse group of candidates, united in their common believes and principles.
While each candidate focused on issues germane to the office for which they’re seeking, a common thread emerged that nearly every candidate stressed, and which the audience loudly agreed with: Our federal and state governments are rushing recklessly down the ruinous path of socialism. Perhaps Art Robinson summed up the problem best when he said referring to the socialist movement, that “Obama is moving faster than Cesar Chavez,” but, Jaynee Germond offered hope when she spoke about “Pushing back the front of Socialism” referring to the grass roots efforts by Tea Party and Americans For Prosperity activists.
Marilyn Kittleman was, at least to me, surprisingly articulate and well received by the crowd. I can remember voting for her in her first campaign for Commissioner, because I liked her ideas, and voting for her opponent in her last campaign for Commissioner because I found her style to be too combative. Now though, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of sending her to Salem to be and to do, who and what she is –an outspoken, unabashed, and unapologetic conservative. Salem could use a little of that.
The highlight of the night though had to be John Lim, whose self confidence and charming personality easily won over the crowd. A first generation immigrant that has a proven track record of winning in difficult to compete, liberal leaning districts, his sometimes broken English is I think, remarkably, an asset when paired with his witty charm and conservative values; Challenging us to follow his words by “paying closer attention.”
Tony Page made good arguments that property taxes need to be more closely based on current market values than they are now. He cited one statistic that shows properties are currently being assessed on average over $100,000 beyond sale prices. Hum, I’m not a property owner but that is at first glance a glaring problem that needs attention.
Jerry Gindlesperger and Ronnie Murehead both presented compelling cases why they would make better Commissioners than the currently serving Joe Laurance, who has to the best of my knowledge accomplished very little in terms of getting things done for the people of Douglas County. Both candidates presented two very different styles of leadership, and we’ll have to listen to each of them more closely over the next month, so to choose the best one to work closely with our other two Republican Commissioners.
Unable to attend, but sending a spokesperson in his stead, Allen Alley was well represented by Terri Moffet who stressed Allen’s great business sense and how that could work for us getting Oregon’s economy back on track.
The next event where you can listen to the candidates speak will be at the Tri City Elementary School, in Tri City. The event is a non-partisan event, so our local candidate for judges will be able to attend. The event is at 7:00 PM, on the 21st of April, and his hosted by the Tri City Citizens Alliance. You can contact me for more information: Mark Garcia (541) 375-0880 or mgarcia@lacodiatech.com.