Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

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To the Editor:

We'd like to clear up a few issues that have been raised by opponents of the proposed Home Rule Charter for Deschutes County.

They claim that county commissioners could create new taxes without a vote. We have both promised that if the charter passes in May, we will refer an amendment to the charter in November, 2000, that would require a vote for any new taxes.

They claim that commissioners would have "political appointees" for clerk, treasurer and assessor. This is false.

Deschutes County has a personnel ordinance that establishes rules for selecting department directors. The recent hiring of our new mental health director is a perfect example. We conducted a nationwide search for the most qualified candidates. We had four interview teams made up of citizens, staff, program managers and community partners. This was a comprehensive selection process that we believe has resulted in the hiring of the best person.

The same high standards will continue be applied in the hiring of all department directors.

They claim that a commissioner could be elected with 19.5 percent of the vote. There is nothing we can do about low voter turnout. This is a separate issue and has nothing to do with the charter.

They claim that the charter does not include many of the proposals from earlier versions. We trust the charter committee considered all proposals and included those they believed were best suited for Deschutes County at this time. Amendments can be voted on in subsequent elections.

Finally, we're doing our best to make your county government as efficient and cost effective as possible. We believe the surveyor should be part of our road department. There is no need for two separate departments. The assessor should be part of the finance department. Tax and assessment functions belong under one roof. The only way to make these moves toward more efficient government is with the passage of the Home Rule Charter.

Tom DeWolf

Linda Swearingen

Deschutes County Commissioners