In selecting the next Chair of the Baker County Commission, we need to be mindful of the past when at times we did not have the leadership in county government needed to assure that our access to government recreational and forest lands would not be blocked by larger entities. Fortunately, the present chair of the Baker County Board of Commissioners, Bill Harvey, has been a pivotal player in the battle to protect our access to national forest lands.

Never did we dream, in this day and age, that your access to Pine Creek Reservoir, and our access to a 10-acre private recreational land our private cabin (we have owned for more than 20 years), could be, or would be blocked by an errant private party without legal authorization; but it has happened to all of us. Under Bill Harvey’s leadership the Commission went straight to the fight, in the ongoing effort to recover your, and our future access rights to lands we pay to enjoy. We desperately need that kind of leadership to take us into the future. Someone who has a proven understanding of the complex issues of agricultural and recreational water rights, mineral rights, public and private property rights, and can apply good stewardship to manage the fiscal assets of Baker County.

To that end, there is only one candidate who has demonstrated that successful degree of commitment and resolve: the only one who has faithfully attended the County Commission meetings to orient himself to the process; one who has a successful work history of professional business management and ventures that required working with government. A man of integrity, who has demonstrated his commitment to working with Forest Access For All, in the struggle to retain our access to national lands, and one who understands that responsible land use does not denigrate effective forest management. That man is Dan Garrick.

Please join us in voting for Dan Garrick on November 8th.

James and Sharen Sanders