Starnes enters commissioner race against Kittelman, Morgan

Patrick Starnes became the first independent candidate in modern time to file as a primary candidate for Douglas County commissioner on Friday.

The Lookingglass cabinetmaker filed paperwork with the Douglas County elections office to oppose Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman and Rep. Susan Morgan in the May primary.

Starnes’ entry in the primary race came as a result of the 2006 ballot measure approved by Douglas County voters making the commissioner positions nonpartisan.
Previously, independent candidates could run not until the general election.

“The folks are ready in the Umpqua to start working together. We don’t want the kind of backwards change that was promised four years ago by our incumbent commissioner,” Starnes told a group of two dozen supporters who stood in a driving rain in front of the Douglas County Courthouse. “Douglas County is ready to return to civility and security.”

If elected, Starnes pledged to promote a 30-year thinning that he said would “provide a steady, predictable supply of timber for our mills and workers while at the same time providing fire protection and restoring habitat.”

A longtime member of Umpqua Watersheds, Starnes said he has the skills to bring together timber folks and environmentalists to resolve “old differences.” He said the county must also do a better job of adding value to the wood products produced locally.

“When we see trainloads and truckloads of plywood and 2-by-4s, those are our jobs leaving the county. We need to do more with our forest products and our farm products we produce here in the Umpqua,” he said. “We should be building finished wood products.”

This spring, Starnes said he plans to release a long-range water storage plan. He said it will prove more valuable than the mothballed Milltown Hill Dam proposal advocated by Kittelman.

“It will incorporate hundreds of small impoundments across the county rather than the old mega-million-dollar dams of yesterday,” Starnes said.

When Starnes filed to run against Kittelman, the 2004 Republican nominee, and Democrat Joyce Akse, he was criticized by some as being a “spoiler candidate.”
Starnes, who later withdrew from that race, won by Kittelman, said some people didn’t take him seriously as a candidate.

Not only is he able to run for commissioner in the primary, but the 11,333 Douglas County residents registered as independents will be able to vote, as well. Previously, independent voters could not vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries, unless they changed their registration status to join one of those parties.

“Now that folks are able to come to the primary and not choose a party, we’re going to see a huge turnout. That’s what is great about the process. Now, all of the candidates have to talk to everyone, rather than their narrow base. It’s going to be an open field for everyone.”

The Republican Party has the most members in Douglas County, 27,990. There are 19,354 registered Democrats. Altogether, the county has 60,985 registered voters.

Starnes said he was buoyed by the strong support shown presidential underdogs, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee, in winning their respective caucuses Thursday evening in Iowa. It showed the nation, he said, is ready for a change. He said he hopes Douglas County voters are looking for a similar change.

Whether he’s elected or not, Starnes said he would work to expand the Board of Commissioners to five members, with commissioners chosen by geographic area. He said many coastal residents feel they don’t have a voice in county government because at least in recent times, all of the commissioners have come from the central part of the county.

The county could also consider hiring a county manager and doing away with the salaries of the commissioners, making them volunteers much like city council members.

Starnes said he was eager to enter the race and said he gives Douglas County voters a valid alternative to the other two candidates, both Republicans.

“It is time for people to vote with the strength of their convictions rather than traveling the path of least resistance or voting for the lesser of two evils,” Starnes told his supporters. “And this is why I stand before you today — to offer you a fresh positive and constructive choice.”

• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.