May ballot boasts big-time stakes in District 60 race
Both area candidates say they are confident about their chances
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Thursday, May 1, 2008 10:56 AM PDT
ONTARIO — The two candidates vying for the Oregon House of Representatives District 60 position said Tuesday they were satisfied with the way their campaigns are going and conceded fuel prices have evolved into a key subject among voters.
Ballots for the May primary election will begin filtering out to Oregon voters Friday via mail.
“That (fuel prices) was a huge issue,” District 60 candidate and Ontario lawyer Cliff Bentz said.
Bentz, who said he is planning a trip to talk to voters in the remote areas of Harney County soon, said his campaign is going well, and he had picked support in crucial areas outside of Malheur County.
“It is going really well. I’ve got great support in Grant County,” Bentz said.
Smith, too, conceded his election journey has picked up steam.
“I’m very pleased. I’ve had a very good response,” Smith, a consulting geologist and Harney County rancher, said.
Both men said the cost of fuel remains the No. 1 worry among area voters.
Ironically, the fuel cost issue is tied to natural resources, Bentz said.
Bentz said creating fuel from cellulose — woody matter — obtained through such projects as thinning trees, would not only help that situation but would be a way to get back into the forests.
“Getting back into the forests is the problem,” Bent said.
The second big issue is the economy, although the candidates expressed the challenge using different terms.
“They (voters) are concerned about economic development,” Smith said.
He said just walking the street of many small towns in the district it is apparent people are not generating the income that they want.
“Deteriorating neighborhoods shows the lack of family wage jobs,” he said.
Another problem Smith said he sees in the small rural communities is they are losing too many young people, he said.
“They are not staying around and starting businesses. That’s not a good sign,” he said.
Senior citizens are concerned they do not have money beyond what its costs them to live, Smith said.
“They do not have any extra,” Smith said.
The public and private sector must work together, Smith said.
“The services we need have to be funded by private sector jobs,” he said.
Smith said getting people into homes is another economic development key.
“I see the need for affordable housing,” he said, noting that many of the people he has met work in Ontario and live in Idaho.
Bentz admitted the economy is a growing worry among voters. Prices, he said, have people concerned.
Bentz also talked about water issues and said people are concerned that new laws will restructure water use.
One thing Bentz said he will keep an eye is the new state water policy, which the governor is having his staff create because of his concern about global warming.
The governor’s concern is that with global warming, the snowcap will be melting earlier every year, so there will be less water later in the growing season, Bentz said.
The governor is focusing on more water storage, so water can be released later in the year, which was behind the bill passed by the Legislature to study taking unappropriated water out of the Columbia for storage underground.
The challenge is to get the message across that these actions have an effect on farmers and ranchers, Bentz said.
Eastern Oregon needs to be show its value to the rest of the state, he said.
