People who do this work, the down in the trenches, hard, day-to-day work of local elected officials, they do it because they love their community and want to see it become a better place.
Let’s face it – local government service is not glamorous. We deal with issues that impact people in their everyday life, whether it is dog bites, potholes, or public health. Local government, whether county, city, or special district, is responsible for finding a way to heal those bites, fill those holes, and maintain good health; in short, local government is responsible for making government work for its citizens.
I have been a County Commissioner for almost nine years now. We don’t have a county administrator, and the three commissioners perform the day-to-day administration for all of our county operations, as well as making legislative decisions about bigger policy issues. Right now, we are starting the time of year where we do our most important work. It is the time where we tackle the county budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
My county, Coos County, is one of those natural resource dependent counties. And, as with any Oregonian in such a county, I’ve seen my neighbors and our communities go through tremendously tough times. These tough times have been decades-long. I graduated from Coquille High School in 1990, the year the Spotted Owl was listed as a threatened species. Coos County has struggled to reinvent itself ever since, and has struggled to balance the county budget too.
Two powerful and contrasting forces have made financial stability so hard to attain: higher costs and lower revenues. Coos County doing its best to navigate this perfect storm of financial turmoil. We have the second lowest permanent property tax rate in the state, generational poverty, and higher than the statewide average rates of addiction, mental health issues, and disabilities. Every year, we face a budget that is a challenge to balance while still providing for public safety, public health, and all of those other services that counties provide.
In spite of all of this, and in spite of very different political opinions, my fellow commissioners and I work closely together to balance our budget. In an era of partisan infighting, local government remains the one place where politicians of different parties come together and talk about the things that really matter to our constituents. So many of the decisions that we make impact people in their everyday life, and we are the ones that have to look people in the eye and explain why we chose not to fund certain services.
People sometimes ask me how we manage to work so closely together and get along so well even though we have such different beliefs. I think it is simple. We eat together, we laugh together, and we share the small things in life. When you share the small things, it makes the big things easier.
Simple isn’t always easy. There are definitely days where being civil is a choice, and not a first instinct. However, I have a deep and abiding admiration for the elected officials that I serve with.
People who do this work—the down in the trenches, hard, day-to-day work of local elected officials, they do it because they love their community and want to see it become a better place. They do it because they know the names of each of their employees, and maybe a little bit about their family. They do it because they still believe that they can make a difference.
I have nothing but admiration for these local elected officials, and even if we sometimes disagree about how to reach these goals, we are united by our common goals and love for our communities. For me, that is enough.
Contributed by: Melissa Cribbins | AOC President and Coos County Commissioner
*Content originally provided for The Oregon Way