SHERIFF GILBERTSON,

PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGY…

Last election cycle I voted “NO” on the Sheriff’s tax levy. It was the first time I voted on a property tax as a home owner and I would like to say, as a conservative, I studied the issues carefully, looked at my budget and made an informed decision; but that is not the case. The equation I used was more like this…LEVY=PROPERTY TAX=NO.

As the months passed I began to notice the frequency at which the Josephine County Sheriff appeared on the local news to convey his due diligence to Public Safety in the face of yet another budget cut. I began to both appreciate the dignity of our sheriff and disdain the humiliation I was beginning to feel for Josephine County for somehow being so broken.

In early summer of last year I expanded my business to include web development and was looking to donate high profile websites to promote my business. At that time I was also becoming a more concerned citizen regarding county funding issues and found myself realizing I would be more willing to donate money to Public Safety and decided to approach Sheriff Gilbertson to see if he were interested in a gifted website that could receive public donations.

Sheriff Gilbertson was gracious enough to meet with me and the first thing that came out of my mouth was “I did not vote for your last levy, but I am a concerned citizen and would like to help.” Mr. Gilbertson was empathetic to my position and open to my ideas nonetheless and we discussed over the following months my ideas for leveraging web technologies to better connect the local citizens with the needs of Public Safety. I came away from that meeting with a deep respect for our county sheriff, Gil Gilbertson.

These encounters lead me to a higher regard for civic mindedness regarding the plight of our county, and I decided to create my own “blog” to help carry the message and focus on O&C funding issues. Last fall I rented an office in the Guild Building and met Herb Carter, Chairperson of the Josephine County Republicans and began asking him about the nature of O&C and how our county got to where it is today.

With very few words, Herb explained to me that property taxes were low in Oregon due to money that was paid to the counties by the federal government regarding timber. That the federal government was attempting to discontinue these payments as timber was no longer the driving force in our economy. Between the time the message was conveyed, that O&C revenues were slated to be reduced and now, Oregonians voted to prohibit tax increases without a majority vote. Therefore, no matter how constrained the budget was, it would always be in the voters hands to deny the increase of taxes. Finally, Herb then stated that Josephine County has the lowest property tax in the state.

My mind immediately reflected on my summary execution of the Sheriff’s last tax levy and only then did I realize that I was a dumb voter. I had looked Sheriff Gilbertson in the eye and told him I voted no on his levy with a level of arrogance that now shames me. So now I publicly say this:

SHERIFF GILBERTSON,

PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGY FOR BEING A DUMB VOTER.

As a conservative, I will always be summarily against raising taxes. But as a civic minded citizen I pledge to vote more intelligently and better seek to know the issues.

As a conservative, I am amazed to learn that HOME OWNERS PAY ZERO DOLLARS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY IN JOSEPHINE COUNTY.

As a conservative, I am opposed to my Public Safety Funds being fodder for the US Senate and Congress to argue over and pork stuff into unrelated bills.

As a Conservative, I am ashamed my county is so screwed up that our local sheriff has to diminish his honor and office in weekly press conferences that broadcast all over the region.

As a conservative, I see my values well conflicted in these contemporary issues and believe my attention is best utilized on solving local problems locally: even if this means voting against my knee jerk reactions.

Ron Dowell
Editor, GrantsPassNow.com