I would actively engage with community advisory boards in Williams and Wolf Creek, and with the city councils of Grants Pass and Cave Junction. Not as a formality, but as a regular, working dialogue. If we’re serious about representing this county, we need to hear from the full range of people who live here, not just the loudest voices or the usual faces.
At the core of all of this is a simple belief: good decisions come from good information, and the best source of that information is the people who live here.
Amplifying community voices doesn’t mean handing over decision-making responsibility. It means making sure decisions are informed, grounded, and reflective of the people they affect. It means building systems that listen on purpose, not just when it’s convenient.
And it also means following the law.
All commissioner meetings should be properly noticed, recorded, and accessible. I will not violate Oregon’s public meetings laws. Transparency isn’t optional.
But we can do better than just meeting the minimum standard. We should provide clear summaries of meetings and votes so people don’t have to sit through hours of footage to understand what happened. Agenda items should be timestamped so residents can quickly find the parts that matter to them.
That’s how you respect people’s time. That’s how you build trust.
If we do this consistently, if people see that their input actually matters and leads to better outcomes, then participation will grow. Trust will grow. And Josephine County will be stronger for it.
We need leadership that listens, communicates clearly, and uses the tools available today to actually engage with the public. That’s how you bring people back into the process.