Baker County Commissioner Christina Witham is proposing that commissioners hire a full-time administrator to take on many of the tasks that Shane Alderson, the commission chairman and only full-time elected commissioner, does now.

Alderson, who is halfway through his four-year term, said on Friday morning, Jan. 3, that he opposes Witham’s proposal.

“That’s not what I ran for,” said Alderson, who was elected as chairman in November 2022 and took office in January 2023. “I like my job.”

Alderson said he also believes that any changes to commissioners’ duties should be made by voters, through a ballot measure, rather than by an order approved by commissioners, as Witham is proposing.

“This is the wrong way to go about a change like this,” Alderson said.

Witham and Alderson, along with the third commissioner, Michelle Kaseberg, who was elected in May 2024 and sworn in Jan. 2, will discuss Witham’s proposal during the commission’s first meeting of the new year, Wednesday, Jan. 8, starting at 9 a.m. at the courthouse, 1995 Third St.

In an email to the Baker City Herald Friday morning, Jan. 3, Witham wrote that “nothing is set in stone, this is just a proposal. This is about county first and seeing a need for change.”

Kaseberg, who will attend her first meeting as a commissioner on Jan. 8, replied to a message from the Herald Friday morning:

“This subject came up with Bruce Nichols early last year after the election. Christina brought it up at a couple of recent commission meetings that she was going to present the change. I know that county counsel was asked to draw up the change to present at the 1/8 commissioners meeting. Shane and I talked about it a couple of times. I have also talked with Christina about it. And have talked with county counsel as well. I have also talked with other counties about how their counties are structured both pro and con. I agree with the concept as it gives continuity between elections. The duties of the commissioners continue to be more complex and I feel this change will help the entire county. I look forward to the discussions on the 8th.”

Here’s how the county administration works now:

Voters elect each of the three commissioners, one full-time and two part-time.

The commission chair is the only full-time position. The chair oversees day-to-day county operations in somewhat the same way that a city manager does for a city. Alderson was elected to that position in November 2022 and started his four-year term in January 2023.

His salary for the current fiscal year, which continues through June 30, 2025, is $96,276.

The two other elected commissioners are part-time positions, with annual salaries of $48,136.

Witham was elected in 2022 to a four-year term that started Jan. 1, 2023.

Witham’s proposal, which she outlined in a Dec. 31 email to the two other commissioners and county department heads, would make all three commissioners “equal in duties and pay.”

Her plan doesn’t propose a salary for commissioners. That amount would be determined later by the county’s compensation board based on the budget.

In addition, the commissioners would hire a full-time administrator to take over the management duties from Alderson.

The commissioners, as elected officials, would oversee the administrator, and have the authority to hire and fire that person. The system would be similar to what Baker City uses, in which seven city councilors, elected by voters, choose the city manager, who is responsible for the city’s day-to-day work.

One significant difference is that the city’s department heads, including the police and fire chiefs and public works director, are hired by the city manager, not by councilors.

In the county, by contrast, several department heads, such as the sheriff, treasurer, assessor and clerk, are elected by voters.

In her email to Alderson, Kaseberg and county officials, Witham wrote that the administrator she is proposing to hire would not oversee the county’s elected officials.

“That position must work with and through the commissioners who have oversight over the administrator,” Witham wrote.

Alderson said that although Witham’s email doesn’t list any suggested salaries for commissioners, he presumes that if commissioners hired a full-time administrator, they would need to at least reduce his salary, which is twice as much as Witham’s and Kaseberg’s salaries.

In her email Witham wrote, in explaining what prompted her to propose the change, that hiring a full-time administrator would be more efficient and ensure continuity to county employees and the public.

Under the current system, in which the elected chairman handles administrative duties, a new person takes over those tasks when voters elect a different chair, as happened most recently in 2022 when voters picked Alderson.

Witham also wrote in the email that during her two years as a part-time commissioner, she has “seen an increase in administrative duties/needs.”

“Many counties throughout Oregon have administrators in place, very few still have a commission as we have currently,” Witham wrote.

According to the Association of Oregon Counties, of the state’s 36 counties, at least 17 employ an administrator appointed by commissioners. Baker County is one of eight counties in which the elected commission chairman (called a county judge in six counties, a title Baker County changed in 1997) is the administrator.

Witham pointed out in her email that former part-time commissioner Bruce Nichols, who retired on Dec. 31, when his second four-year term expired, proposed a similar change in 2021 and 2022.

There were differences, however, between Witham’s proposal and what Nichols suggested, first in November 2021 and again in February 2022.

Unlike Witham, who is proposing that commissioners make the changes, Nichols suggested asking voters to approve a ballot measure changing commissioners’ roles.

Nichols, unlike Witham, did not suggest that the county hire a full-time administrator to take over duties from the commission chairman.

Nichols’ concept was that those administrative duties would rotate among the three elected commissioners on a yearly basis rather than have the chairman continue to be solely responsible for those duties.

Nichols said at the time that his goal was to distribute management duties more evenly among the three commissioners rather than delegating most of those tasks to the chairman.

Witham, who was a candidate for commissioner at the time, opposed Nichols’ proposal, including writing a letter to the editor to the Baker City Herald in March 2022. Witham wrote that she was leery of the idea in part because Nichols suggested it during a year when voters would be electing two new commissioners (they chose Witham and Alderson).

In her Dec. 31 letter to Alderson, Kaseberg and county officials, Witham wrote that she has “changed my position on this issue after serving in this seat for two years.”

In particular, Witham cited the “increase in administrative duties/needs” as a reason for her proposal to hire a full-time administrator.

“I see this as a positive change that will provide additional support to not only the Commissioners, but to all departments and provide continuity for years to come,” Witham wrote.

In Witham’s proposal, one of the three commissioners would continue to serve as chair. But that commissioner, instead of being responsible for county operations as is the case now, would oversee commission meetings but otherwise have the same responsibilities as the two other commissioners.

Witham suggests that the commissioners themselves choose the chair at the start of each year, and that the chair would serve for one year.

A draft order that Witham wants the commission to consider Jan. 8 states that no commissioner would be eligible to serve as chair unless the person has been a commissioner for at least one full year.

If two commissioners couldn’t agree on appointing a chair, the commissioner with the longest tenure would serve as chair.

Interim administrator proposal

Witham’s plan includes a draft order, which commissioners will consider Jan. 8, creating a new county job, “interim executive administrator.”

Witham proposes that commissioners hire an interim administrator for six months, with the option of extending the position for six more months.

During that period, the administrator would take over day-to-day county operations and work with commissioners, county department heads and other employees to “further define the job description of the permanent position of County Executive Administrator.”