Sean C. Morgan
Tucker says he’s experienced, gets things done
Commissioner Will Tucker says he brings experienced, proven leadership to Linn County.
Tucker faces Chris Ruck in the Republican primary for county commissioner Position 3 in the May 15 election. The winner will run unopposed in the general election in November. Local ballots will be mailed beginning on April 27.
“I’m a consistent, mature voice that has worked diligently to strengthen these communities and grow jobs,” Tucker said. “It’s a proven record – not just I hope to do things.”
The commissioners will decide the fate of some 380 acres of industrial land in Sweet Home. The county foreclosed on the former Willamette Industries mill property owned by Western States Land Reliance Trust for nonpayment of property taxes at the end of 2010. The property had been slated for commercial and residential developments.
“That 380 acres out there is a beautiful piece with its industrial connections,” Tucker said. It’s got power, a rail connection and infrastructure. The county is in a due- diligence process with the property, but anything that happens on the property should benefit the residents of Sweet Home and Linn County.
The county is addressing the environmental issues on the property with the previous landowner, Weyerhaeuser, and the state, Tucker said. Attorneys are still exchanging letters with Weyerhaeuser.
Knife River, which previously owned the northern part of the property along the South Santiam River when it was Morse Bros., is working with the county preparing that section for possible use as a quarry again, Tucker said. It also may provide public access to the river.
He looks at the land and thinks it would be great to have a boat ramp there, he said. He thinks it would provide a great fishing spot.
The county has no plans to hold onto the property, he said. “We don’t plan to own them.”
The county’s intent is to get the property clean and safe and then work out a process to benefit Sweet Home, Tucker said.
The county also is looking seriously at offers on the land. It recently had a man make an offer.
But the property is not ready yet, Tucker said. It makes it attractive if it’s cleaned up.
“I am actually very excited about the possibilities there,” Tucker said. “There’s a piece of that, that could be recreational or homes. There’s a chunk that I believe should stay industrial. It could be lots of different things. I believe it should always have an industrial component.”
Both Sweet Home and Linn County are dependent on local option levies to fund law enforcement as a result of property tax limitations enacted during the 1990s. Both are now struggling and have had to cut service levels because local option levies are reduced prior to district permanent rates to meet property tax limitations. Three local option levies exist in Sweet Home, including the Sweet Home police levy, the library levy and the Linn County law enforcement levy.
Tucker doesn’t like the idea of adding new taxing districts into the mix and compressing revenue further.
“Realistically, I got in trouble in the last campaign for not supporting a countywide library,” Tucker said. His concern is how the district permanent rates impact the local option levies.
Not everyone understands the impact of those districts, he said, and when communities and their leaders ask to form them, the county needs to think about the compression issue.
Linn County Sheriff’s Office recently cut 17 positions and laid off 13 employees, he noted.
Sweet Home has cut a police officer position and a dispatch position. City officials are exploring ideas to address the problem.
“I’m open to anything the city needs to operate the city,” Tucker said, and he plans to learn more about possible solutions.
Economic development and jobs are the biggest challenges facing Linn County, he said.
“In the care of our natural resources, for a while we’ve over-responded to the environmental mistakes of the past,” Tucker said. “Now there is forest being put at risk.”
There is forest that can be logged, Tucker said.
Economically, there are glimmers of hope, he said, not only in timber but in a call center that employs 125 in Albany and another firm moving into Millersburg using the enterprise zone designation to receive an exemption on property taxes for its equipment. Two other companies recently have made improvements using the same benefit.
The medical school in Lebanon is another success.
Tucker has had several accomplishments serving the past four years, he said. Among them, the county’s outdoor assembly code has been strengthened, and the county is doing more.
The changes have stopped raves, Tucker said. They’ve been held, with music blaring all night long, on Linn County farms.
When this was going on, he said, he couldn’t answer his phone or listen to messages fast enough.
Tucker said he was able to get the Upper Calapooia Road opened up again. It had been closed by Weyerhaeuser for several years. With assistance, he was able to locate a document recorded in San Francisco that showed Weyerhaeuser had promised to return property in the area to the county.
“There are so many things,” Tucker said. “Everything from relationship building (which helped locate that document) to building infrastructure in our local communities.”
The planned Veterans Home in Lebanon is another accomplishment for the county, he said. Directly and indirectly, it means jobs.
Ruck says she’s a problem-solver, with fresh eyes
By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Chris Ruck says she knows how to find creative solutions to problems, and she brings a set of fresh eyes, allowing her to look at things from a different perspective.
Ruck faces incumbent Will Tucker in the Republican primary for commissioner position three in the May 15 election. The winner will run unopposed in the general election in November. Local ballots will be mailed beginning April 27.
Ruck was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She moved to the United States with her family in 1963, and she is now a citizen – by choice.
Ruck was a lab technician in the 1980s in research and development, she said. After college, she worked for companies that manufactured implantable medical devices, like artificial veins and arteries, often working as an engineer without a degree. She has worked at numerous plants, including France and Denmark, auditing processes at manufacturing plants.
She moved to Lebanon in 1993, and her husband, Bob, relocated his tool and die business there, and her most recent job has been to provide him with computer support. She got involved in civics, serving on numerous committees in Lebanon. She and her husband are both pilots.
Her husband has retired, and she is semi-retired, so she has time to pursue an office. She could have run for House District 11, but that is primarily Lane County. She didn’t feel she could best represent that district, so Linn County Commissioner was the best choice for her. Her goal is to “get in and find those efficiencies we need to make the budget,” Ruck said. If 5- to 10- percent reductions are something the county must deal with every year, she has the skill set to look and find solutions.
She also would look to the employees, she said. “A lot of times, the best ideas come from the employees. You just have to ask the right questions.”
She and Tucker have different backgrounds, Ruck said. Tucker has a background in sales, real estate and marketing. Ruck’s is in engineering and process improvement.
It’s two different ways of running things, she said. “I’ve got a different perspective because I haven’t been doing the same thing.”
She doesn’t have preconceived notions or emotional attachments, she said. She is here to listen and ask questions. She’s already asking them, having visited each community in the county; and she has returned with a variety of observations and questions, such as “why does it take X amount of days to get a certain permit?”
Every observation, she said, is an opportunity.
Hearing something repeatedly means it probably needs someone to look at it, Ruck said. She looks at the data and figures out how to solve the problem. That’s where her analytical skill set comes into play.
“The only thing I’m asking anybody is to really take a look at both candidates then make their best decision,” Ruck said.
The commissioners will decide the fate of some 380 acres of industrial land in Sweet Home. The county foreclosed on the former Willamette Industries mill property owned by Western States Land Reliance Trust for nonpayment of property taxes at the end of 2010. The property had been slated for commercial and residential developments.
What needs to happen is the county needs to sit down with the mayor, council and Chamber of Commerce and figure out what’s missing and what’s needed in Sweet Home, Ruck said. “Number one, I’d want to see what infrastructure there is on the property.”
If the infrastructure is there, then it should be shopped around, Ruck said. Lebanon has spent a lot of money to make its properties shovel-ready.
Likewise, she hopes “it gets squared away where it can be used for something else,” Ruck said. It’s too early to say what should happen to the property. The question right now is how soon it will be cleaned up.
Both Sweet Home and Linn County are dependent on local option levies to fund law enforcement as a result of property tax limitations enacted during the 1990s. Both are now struggling and have had to cut service levels because local option levies are reduced prior to district permanent rates to meet property tax limitations. Three local option levies exist in Sweet Home, including the Sweet Home police levy, the library levy and the Linn County law enforcement levy.
As a new Linn County Budget Committee member, Ruck said, she sat down with the county treasurer in January to learn her way around issues like this one.
“We’re going to be looking at a lot of things,” Ruck said.
The compression problem results from districts competing for tax revenue, she said. Some districts that have outlived their purpose could be closed to help relieve some of the compression. There are couple of soil and water districts that were originally established as flood control districts, for example. They predated the dams, and the dams have taken over their function.
She also looks at budgets for solutions, where improvements mean savings, she said. The Veterans Home in Lebanon is another answer, probably one of the most solid things done in a long time to improve the economy and ultimately help with revenue problems.
Likewise, the tourism industry is important, and county parks are economic development to her, Ruck said. Parks near the cities help generate business locally.
With economic development, “every single idea that comes to light hopefully is well-vetted and finds a plan to get some traction and take hold,” Ruck said. As she explores economic development, the county needs to know what skill sets employees have, finding out what businesses have closed, but that information hasn’t been tracked.
“As a candidate, I don’t have access to what’s there,” she said.
Meeting with people throughout the county, Ruck said, she has asked whether anyone has looked at what’s going on in North Dakota, which is experiencing a business boom.
“What can we make and send there?” she asked. One person thought it was an interesting idea. Another said it would be a waste of time. A third person told her it was funny because two companies had asked for a quote on shipping to North Dakota.
“As a temporary solution, it’s something to think about,” Ruck said.
Ruck also wonders about things like demolition fees, she said. A permit may cost $500, while an old building sits and rots, spreading blight and deterioration in the cities. She suggests reducing those fees to zero and looking at other development fees.
It’s not going to cost taxpayers anything more, Ruck said, and it may result in development and putting people to work again.
“That’s more important at this point than raising revenue on somebody’s balance sheet,” Ruck said. “We need to review what’s in place and put the welcome mat out.”