Grants Pass Now

Meet Dave Toler
Josephine County Board of Commissioners

As he puts it, Dave Toler is the new kid on the block elected as one of three commissioners to a four-year term two years ago by the good citizens of Josephine County. Dave is a pleasant and straight forward kind of guy. His smile reaches you and he speaks direct with a touch of eloquence. You have the feeling he’s genuinely interested in the conversation and his ability to gain your immediate trust is extraordinary. The Commissioner displays a sincere passion, as well as reason, for what he feels is best for the county and its people.

Dave, who is now single, was born into a military family and traveled throughout his young life spending a lot of time in the traditional South. He came to our beautiful section of the Earth’s surface about twenty-five years ago as a forest service employee and raised his family on fourteen acres of Illinois Valley land, where he resides today. Approximately twelve years have past since he switched to non-profit administration. I asked the Commissioner, “If someone had mentioned when you first arrived in Josephine County, that you were predestined to become a member of the Josephine County Board of Commissioners, what would you have said? “You must be kidding! By the way, what does a County Commissioner do, anyhow?” A keen sense of humor has to be on a future commissioner’s job prerequisite list.

Q&A TIME-

REPORTER: “What would you say is most important to the County Commissioners, today?”
COMMISSIONER TOLER: “Gaining the confidence of our voters.” Toler explained, “I have two measuring sticks for citizen confidence in county government. One is a survey the city of Grants Pass conducts each year. The results of this survey indicate that confidence in county government is significantly lower than other local governments. But, the most important measure is the citizens’ willingness to support local services. And, that is where the county has had serious problems for decades.”

The Commissioner continued, “While Grants Pass citizens enjoy quality services day in and day out while support for county government has been rejected repeatedly for over ten years, now. So, what is it that makes Grants Pass citizens support city government on a regular basis and reject support for the county, such as jails, prosecution of criminals, animal control and libraries to name just a few? I’m convinced it is an inherent flaw in the county’s management structure. I believe it to be the main problem.”

Commissioner Toler looked directly into my eyes, assuring his point, “Unlike city government, the everyday management of county government can be politicized media events rather than routine management decisions. The micro-management of the county on the front page tends to shake citizens confidence in county government.” Toler finalized, “The solution is to take three politicians out of daily management, hire one professional manager and enable the commissioners to focus on governing the county.”

REPORTER: “What is the current condition of our county law enforcement and criminal justice system?”
COMMISSIONER TOLER: “We are about to lose two thirds of our county general fund budget. Most of that goes to fund our criminal justice system. We are, in effect, about to lose the system. And, that is an issue every person should be concerned about. Businesses, the elderly, families, everyone should be extremely concerned over what not having a criminal justice system will mean for them. It doesn’t matter if you live in the city of Grants Pass or out of it, it’s going to effect you similarly.”

Toler continued, “The argument can be made that because the city pays their own patrol they will be much safer than those outside the city limits should this scenario play out. I disagree with that. I feel for the fine men and women who serve the Grants Pass Police Department who will be patrolling in a situation where there’ll be no prosecution of the vast majority of crimes in this county, and there will be no jail space in which to lodge the offenders for prosecution.” The Commissioner raised both open hands over his head, “In effect what’s it going to be like? We can’t intervene on crime when the criminals all know that all you’re going to do is drive them to the jail parking lot and let them go.”

REPORTER: “Operational funds will be needed. What should the county do?”
COMMISSIONER TOLER: “The other issue that’s just as important, if not more important, is that in order for us to replace the $12 million plus dollars the county received from the Federal Government, we’re going to have to depend on the citizens of Josephine County to help pay for county operations. The needed funds will probably not be coming from Washington, DC any longer. If it does, it’s only going to be for another year or two. The bottom line is that some time out, they are not going to pay our bills any more. So, if we have to come to our citizens for that money, they have to have confidence in county government. This is why I think this issue, in some ways, looms larger than the funding issue.”

The Commissioner asks, “How do we gain confidence from the county citizens to open up their checkbooks, so to speak, and assure that we have adequate criminal justice in Josephine County? I believe the key to doing this is through professional management. I think a long time flaw in county government, the reason why county government has not for decades enjoyed very much confidence from its citizens, is because you have three lay people (elected commissioners) who basically manage the day to day operation of this $105 Million business (Josephine county government) in the 21st century. It is simply not the way to manage a large organization. What successful corporation would just say OK, who do you like the best? No resume, no experience needed. It’s just who do you like the looks of, or whatever, the most? There is that problem and the bigger issue is, how many corporations would hire three of them to make decisions that one should be making? And, that is where the crux of the issue really lies. Right now, everyday management decisions in this county are being made by a collective of three. This is a structural issue, not one of competence.” The Commissioner explains in a parody, ” If we place three of France’s best chefs in my kitchen to cook dinner, my prediction is that’s going to cost me three times more than it should and will probably take longer for the dinner to be made. And, they know the best way to do it. So, it isn’t a competency issue at all, it’s structural. Consequently, I believe we’re spending more money doing it this way.”

Toler continues,”The citizens of Josephine County are paying its Board of Commissioners over $300,000 per year in salaries and benefits to make a decision where you could spend about half for a manager that will give us professional results. But, way more important to me, is gaining the confidence of the citizens due to this professional watching the day to day management of the store. The biggest argument I hear about this is, ‘oh, you’re removing management decisions from the democratic process’. And, my answer is, yes you are absolutely right. This has been the problem all along.”

“The majority of persons opposing the professional manager approach to running a government entity is a person who has a very different measuring stick of successful government from most citizens. It seems a government that does nothing is a successful government to them.” The Commissioner sat straight in his chair, “It’s their mentality, they don’t want to pay any more taxes, even if we lose the criminal justice system. What they are saying is, ‘we don’t really want you to be more efficient, we don’t really want this to be an effective government because an effective government would gain the confidence of the populace and that would mean the passage of some sort of tax that I don’t want to pay.’

Toler sums it up, “Grants Pass residents are about 40% of the county population. These citizens have consistently rated county government below the city. Actually, they have rated the county below all other government entities such as school districts, etc. They show confidence in their own city. The product of that is my big measuring stick. They have enough confidence in their city government to pay taxes that are required for good services. To me, that’s what local government is, or should be. The county, by state statute, shall provide some of their services, such as the jail, criminal prosecution, public health, restaurant inspection, etc. This of course means if you live in the city or county you rely on those services. The difference is, one entity provides, the other does not. Like a tale of two cities. So, for those who really want to meet that goal for the county, I’m all ears. Or, if they say continue doing it the way we are doing it, now? Show me how that’s going to work?

REPORTER: “Now, the bottom line. How do we pay for these needed services?”
COMMISSIONER TOLER: “I know that a professional manager can save the county money. And, this would allow the commissioners to do the job they were elected to do. And, that is to govern. I advocate a sales tax as the method to raise county operating funds. This would absolutely be capped, not allowing any tax increase without the voter’s consent. I’m suggesting one and a half percent (1 1/2%). With this we can replace that lost $12 Million and pay 5 % of the collection to businesses for handling costs and 8% to the county for monitoring, enforcement and accounting. The ballot would read, ‘This is capped at 1 1/2 % and cannot be increased except by a vote of the citizens.” This is the way to go.

REPORTER: “What is Dave Toler’s goal as commissioner of Josephine County?”
COMMISSIONER TOLER: “By far, our mission is to provide our citizens with the basic services that all American citizens need in the 21st century. That is primarily a good criminal justice system, animal control, public health services, decent roads and parks, libraries, the very basics. We’re not sure we can provide that next year. And, that is a measuring stick that falls far short of reaching our mission’s goal. The citizens of Josephine County have got to get by the debate on county services. We have to have it. We will do it as cheaply as we can, as efficiently as we can, but we have to do it, we all need it. It’s decision time. Let’s figure out together how we’re going to pay for it.”

You can reach Commissioner Toler at the Josephine County Courthouse, 500 N/W 6th St., Grants Pass, OR 97526. Call (541) 474-5221 or email: dtoler@co.josephine.or.us -Mike Case