King would offer county welcome respite for re-set
Dear readers:
We’ve chronicled every twist and turn of Lindsay Berschauer’s four-year tenure as a Yamhill County commissioner, including her narrow escape from recall at the hands of exasperated constituents part-way through.
We also published substantial pre- and post-election editorials when Newberg farmer and businessman David “Bubba” King outpolled her in the May primary, but not by enough to claim an outright majority, thanks to intervention of a perennial nuisance candidate.
So we’re going to settle for something a little lighter and less formal this time around. We’re opting to share our thoughts more conversationally in a letter format.
Just so you know, we’ll end up awarding King our enthusiastic endorsement, viewing him as the steady Eddy we need after Berschauer’s never-a-dull-moment high-wire act, which we’ve found increasingly tiresome. We don’t want to keep you unduly hanging on that score.
We find it telling, in our analysis, that Berschauer isn’t trying to run on her accomplishments, as incumbents with actual accomplishments almost invariably do. Instead, she’s tying her re-election bid largely to fighting metro infiltration into our bucolic rural haven — you know, the kind she perpetrated when she moved down here from metro herself in search of a more favorable political climate.
But there’s not a soul in sight down this way who’s yearning to Portlandize our home county, turning its charming and distinctive communities into miniature Tigards and Tualatins, Greshams and Gladstones. And we’re perfectly capable of maintaining our universal aversion to suburbanization on our own, without need of imported help.
Berschauer also portrays herself as a champion of smaller government and less regulation.
But she has reached up in an attempt to overrule state and federal authorities and down in an attempt to overrule city, district and department authorities. She seems to view county government as an all-powerful entity entitled to impose its will without limit, and be quite open to spending tax dollars fighting the inevitable legal challenges.
She has berated professional staff and appointed cronies to posts of influence. She’s repeatedly micromanaged staff, brushed off expert advice and dismissed input from advisory committees.
She’s kind of like that cantankerous cousin many families have to put up with — the one who always seems to know best, or at least believe that’s so.
Berschauer was elected on a non-partisan basis to function in a non-partisan fashion, but has never even paid lip service to the idea. She’s a creature of ideological commitment, and the way we see it, that’s colored much of her decisionmaking.
In case you have been following this as closely as our jobs require of us, here’s how we described her opponent, King, in an earlier editorial:
“A former youth pastor, King’s a family man married to a George Fox grad with deep roots in rural Newberg. He’s owned and operated successful ventures in the concrete, restaurant, farming and dairying trades, and dabbled in Oregon’s burgeoning wine industry along the way.
“He’s familiar with regulatory overreach first-hand, having had to battle government attempts to treat the lone dairyman with two or three cows the same as the corporate goliath with a herd of 25,000. And he’s led a local chamber of commerce, traditional bastion of business and commerce.
“But unlike his leading opponent in the non-partisan commission race, who’s made a career out of politics, first in the Portland Metro Area and more recently in its Yamhill County fringes, he has no background in party politics. He’s a longstanding non-affiliated voter.”
The bottom line?
We need a commissioner able to work calmly and collaboratively with staff, citizens, fellow commissioners and other elected officials. We need a commissioner able to do so without regard to their backgrounds, styles, politics and personalities.
We think King fills that bill a lot better than Berschauer. He’s kind of like the affable uncle some lucky families are able to fall back on — the one who always seems to find a way to charm, defuse and disarm.
Sincerely,
The News-Register Editorial Board
Comments
Grizzly fan
Berschauer has parroted Starrett's lie about Metro for several years. My contact with Metro (a Commissioner) says they have zero interest in any expansion into Yamhill County - and they never have. This is simply a made up (lie) scare tactic to try to convince people that the enemy is just over the hill and coming for us. Complete demagogue tactics. She has said a number of things that are flat out false. If someone is dishonest, there's no trust in anything they say. Berschauer nearly lost the recall when she wasn't running against anybody. Bubba brings a breath of fresh air to finally turn the county around after 20 years of self-serving politicians who only care about their contributors. Time for an actual leader and Bubba is it.
aim
…calmly and collaboratively…
Grizzly fan
aim - indeed, I think they call that leadership.
madmacs
The county desperately needs commissioners who will serve the needs of all county residents and leave the grandstanding alone. We need competent, thoughtful decision makers willing to listen to the citizens and staff of the county. We have on one like that on the commission at present, King would be a voice on the commission that works for all county residents.
treefarmer
I appreciate this thoughtful fact-based editorial. I will hope it receives due consideration and sparks serious research as the voters in our county make this consequential decision. ALL citizens deserve to be represented - our taxes pay the Commissioner’s salaries. That has NOT been the case for quite a while. The deep-pocket donors have been calling the shots for too long and the rest of us get taxation without representation. Bubba King has worked tirelessly to meet us where we are, to share his plans for good governance, and he LISTENS to our concerns. We are extremely fortunate that he is willing to serve and I am proud to support him.
Bigfootlives
The NR’s coverage of Lindsey Berschauer’s four years with the county has been an embarrassment. Do you want to know what would be refreshing? If the NR would only approach its news coverage “on a non-partisan basis to function in a non-partisan fashion”, as if. Do you remember the five W’s?
In a week to 10 days, the NR will run one more attack piece on Berschauer before the election and one more glowing piece about her opponent. Don’t pat yourself on the back, Bubba. You are not important; you are just somebody in the seat. It was the same slobbering drivel about the last one. Will it be about the George family, a failed business, or something else? My guess is that it will be a lazy piece, rehashing the George donations. All of which are legal.
The irony is that the liberal slant you put in everything you do is killing you financially, though you won’t admit it. It's kept me from giving you my money for long periods of time over the years.
If you look at the list of endorsements for Bubba, they are the same people who have driven up taxes in town, have lied to us about the fire levy, overspent their budgets, sucked us into fees to pay in perpetuity for one-time budget shortfalls, and have put McMinnville into a position that the state of Oregon has put us on a watch list for severely rent burdened areas. And the same people who said, don’t believe your lying eyes; there is nothing to see here. And here they all are, trying to pass the sins of McMinnville on to Yamhill County.
Re-elect Lindsey Berschauer.
Lulu
Bigfoot--Who needs money from you? Is integrity too much to demand, or will we be forever embarrassed by lousy, pushy, conceited commissioners?
tagup
It’s not the coverage of Berschauer that’s an embarrassment, it’s her actions and decisions in office (and business). A million dollar annual tax break for Hampton lumber, while county budgets run short? Does that make sense?
treefarmer
How amusing to read a rant from someone who resents spending money to subscribe to our awesome local paper but does it anyway. (If I understand the process correctly, only subscribers can post comments?) The resentful person accuses the N/R of lying, laziness, liberal bias, casts aspersions on those of us who do not support his/her candidate, and fails to acknowledge the well-documented evidence of maladministration by Ms. Berschauer. Irony? Looks more like a clear case of: when the facts upset you, “shoot the messenger.”
I believe the voters in Yamhill County are ready for fair and representative governance from at least one of our Commissioners. I remain grateful that Bubba King is willing to serve. He won more votes in the primary, I predict he will prevail in the general, snarky unfounded “opinions” notwithstanding.
Bleepbloop
Bigfootlives just wants to be outraged to be outraged. Two weeks ago, this "liberal" editorial board backed Starr, Scharf and Elmer. All three of these candidates are republican. Bigfootlives does not let facts get in the way of their arguments. It has been there MO whenever they post.
Moe
Bleepbloop
"Bigfootlives just wants to be outraged to be outraged."
Thinking you know what someone else is thinking is a classic symptom of psychosis.
Dr. Moe.
Bleepbloop
Moe, thinking the government is controlling the weather is insanity and extreme gullibleness.
Moe
Who said anything about the guberment controlling the weather?
Oh, maybe Bleep & Prez. O'Biden, who said the same thing.
And nobody said nothing about no weather anything in this thread, before the last comment by Bleep.
tagup
Troll alert…
yamhillbilly2
BF says….’a lazy piece rehashing the George donations. All of which were legal’. I am very sure NR never referred to the George family donations as illegal. The article clearly stated they were legal, maybe you missed that part.
As far as the drama queen performance goes, it really kills your argument when everyone on this forum knows you are a subscriber, because you can post a comment. You need to rehearse a new performance.
Moe
This sounds like a levelheaded argument to me:
Bigfootlives
"If you look at the list of endorsements for Bubba, they are the same people who have driven up taxes in town, have lied to us about the fire levy, overspent their budgets, sucked us into fees to pay in perpetuity for one-time budget shortfalls, and have put McMinnville into a position that the state of Oregon has put us on a watch list for severely rent burdened areas. And the same people who said, don’t believe your lying eyes; there is nothing to see here. And here they all are, trying to pass the sins of McMinnville on to Yamhill County."
Attacking Bigfootlives based on alleged "hypocrisy" for having a N-R subscription is a weak argument. How else could someone conveniently voice their opinion in this venue?
tagup
Nobody “lied” about the fire levy. The tax impact information was available for those that dug into the details. Bigfoot complains that the people who support Bubba caused budget overruns….He conviently overlooks the shortfalls in the county budget currently . The difference is the county commission chose to give a huge tax break to a single company, and then laid off county employees & cut budgets. Do you see that as a good decision? Was that best for county taxpayers? I think not.
Moe
tagup
'Nobody “lied” about the fire levy.'
Just kidded us a little.
CubFan
Tagup:
This story is about Bubba, but somehow comments started to include the fire levy, so, I feel obligated to chime in. You and I will never agree about the fire levy.
To quote fellow commenter “BC”, who eloquently stated what happened…
"Regarding the fiasco with new fire district tax language and the old fire district tax money…this has been a particular piece of brilliant word play by those who wrote the surveys, and (most of) the city who knew full well the implications but didn't make them clear. To come back later and say, ‘We told all of you this was happening. It's not our fault that you didn't comprehend it’ is abuse of power.”
tagup
Actually Cub, I think we do agree that the fire levy windfall should not be used. I just don’t recall any obvious false statements from city officials that could be called lying.
I personally think the council’s ability to hang a ( permanent?) service charge on all utility customers is a much larger problem. It’s a true end run around voters.
CubFan
tagup:
The false statements I witnessed were on the McMinnville Community Task Force Facebook page. There were lengthy posts by one member of the city council with promises about how a survey would be created where citizens would have an opportunity to opt "Return the $1.50 to citizens". The first city survey did NOT provide this promised option. The second city survey DID have this as an option, however, this survey received only 42 responses, and of those, only 16 people favored letting the city keep the $1.50. I cannot find the thread on Facebook with those conversations. So, I prefer to not use the word "lie", but rather "brilliant word play which misled voters".
And I absolutely agree with you about the service charge on utility bills. You can be sure it is permanent, and is very likely to go UP next year. But Drabkin, who promises to be "transparent", has not bothered to explain to citizens: where the excess money has been going (since the city has collected enough to pay twice this shortfall back), if/when this charge will stop, and that there will be an increase in this fee next year.
tagup
I think the transparency question shouldn’t be only for the mayor…. Any or all of the council should have the ability to explain the basis for the continuing utility charge, yet none have stepped up…. Including Mr Chenoweth.