REDMOND, OR -- Candidates for Deschutes County Commissioner met up for their final candidate forum Friday. At the event, hosted by the Redmond Executive Association, Rotary Club of Redmond and Kiwanis, the four candidates were asked if the new non-partisan race changes how they campaign, and if it’ll make a difference in how the board functions in the future. Small business owner Rob Imhoff says he’s glad parties are no longer involved, "The issue that I have with non-affiliation, though, is that it allows someone to maybe attempt to deceive the electorate by claiming to be something that they’re not." Sisters Chamber Director Judy Trego has come to terms with the shift, saying, "I wasn’t real happy about it in the beginning. The reason I like it is because it creates more engagement." Incumbent Commissioner Phil Chang says he fought to make the position nonpartisan, so the 65,000 Deschutes County voters not registered as a Democrat or a Republican get to vote in the primary, "Now, everyone who’s a registered voter in Deschutes County has a say in who is going to be their county commissioner." And, retiree Brian Huntamer notes he is a registered Independent, "And it’s very important that we are able to work with everyone and serve the best interests of the community." 

When asked about the county's budget, Chang called a property tax reduction six years ago a "political stunt," adding, "The problem is that by last year, that reduction in assessed property tax rate meant that the county was receiving $2 million less per year." Trego, who sits on the Deschutes County Budget Committee, said, "The biggest priority is probably with our Health Department. They have an $80 million budget and they’re funding is pretty unstable." Brian Huntamer and Rob Imhoff both said their private sector experience is valuable. "I would look at what have they funded, what’s available, are there excesses in other departments," said Huntamer. Imhoff noted, "Live within your budget, where a tight belt, trim where you can, figure out if there’s redundancy and then let’s work from there, and see if we can give a little bit of money back to our constituents."

At the end of the forum, candidates were allowed to ask one question of one of the others. Chang asked Trego why, as a member of the county’s budget committee, she approved a pay raise for County Commissioners, which he believed was unnecessary amid budget cuts. She said their salary is not the big-ticket item, "PERS is the real problem. When you talk about compensation, PERS is a huge piece of that."

Huntamer then asked Chang why he opposes a pay raise, but wants to add two Commissioners to the board, which would incerease the overall budget, "I think five Commissioners would do a better job of managing our $400 million operating budget than the current three. That’s worth a little bit of extra salary. I would actually think that if we had five, we could be part time and we could sort of even it out." Imhoff asked Chang about his stance on getting rid of juniper trees and Trego asked Chang how he would work with his fellow Commissioners in a respectful way.

Learn more about the candidates in the online voter pamphlet HERE. If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote no May 21, the top two will advance to the November General Election.