New commissioners take county seats

Mary Zemke. Photo by Conrad Weiler

Final results from last week's election elevated two new occupants to the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners.

Democrat Walter Ponsford defeated Republican Mike Goss and Republican Mary Zemke ousted Democrat incumbent Mike Ahern. They join Bill Bellamy (not up for re-election this year) in forming the three-member board in Jefferson County.

Camp Sherman, which is part of Jefferson County, followed the overall county trend by supporting both winners although by larger margins than the rest of the county.

Ponsford won 91 votes in Camp Sherman (58.3 percent) to Goss' 65 (41.7 percent). Ponsford won 49.6 percent of the vote countywide to 46.6 percent for Goss.

Zemke won 100 Camp Sherman votes (64.1 percent) to 56 votes (35.9 percent) for Ahern.

Walter Ponsford. Photo by Conrad Weiler

"The vote from Crooked River Ranch (CRR) helped put us over," said Ponsford.

"Camp Sherman also voted for us. Some of these people have felt out of the loop with the county seat in Madras. We want to keep closer contacts with these outlying areas and service their needs better."

Ponsford had predicted during the campaign that these outlying areas were the sleeping giant in county elections.

Vern Bowers, president of the CRR Homeowners' Association, was campaign chairperson for the combined Ponsford/Zemke election effort. This area now makes up nearly 25 percent of the county electorate.

Money in the election was pretty evenly divided with Ahern leading the way with $10,312 amassed, Goss collecting $7,758 and the Ponsford/Zemke joint campaign taking in $19,042.

Jefferson County spreads over more than 1,700 square miles with precincts in such diverse locations as Warm Springs, Madras, Metolius and Camp Sherman.

"I feel good," Ponsford said after the election. "I also feel overwhelmed. There's so much to do but we'll make things work."

Long-time Camp Sherman political activist Chan Cathcart said, "I thought Ahern did a good job. It may be tough for Bill Bellamy and I hope the three commissioners can work well together."

Oddly, Ahern and Goss won the political sign war in Camp Sherman with more signs but that did not translate to more votes.

One of the points highlighted during the campaign was that sitting Commissioner Bellamy is a Realtor as are Ahern and Goss, although the latter has not made any real estate transactions in over a decade.

Some voters apparently worried that a single mindset might prevail if all three commissioners were real estate licensed.

This may have resonated with some voters in choosing Ponsford, a farmer, and Zemke, a medical transcriptionist.

Also, Zemke had led the fight against Cogentrix and gathered grass roots support that seems to have remained with her even after the Cogentrix issue faded.

Popular Jefferson County Sheriff Jack Jones, running unopposed, garnered 4,327 votes and heads up that office for another four years.