I’m writing in support of Shane Alderson for the position of county commissioner. I first met Shane more than 25 years ago when I was the Criminal Investigations Division Sergeant for the Oregon State Police here in Baker (now retired). One day a young man came in to our office wanting information about the State Police. Turns out it was Shane. He introduced himself and said he wanted to get more information about law enforcement in Eastern Oregon. Particularly city, county, state responsibilities related to jurisdictions. We had a great conversation and I was impressed with the fact that a young man had taken interest in an area that he admitted he was unfamiliar with. My recollection of our meeting at the time is that he just wanted to learn more about law enforcement in his community.

Fast forward to today. I recently took the opportunity, having not spoken with Shane for many years, to contact him and inquire about his running for the position of County Chair and what his goals were for that position. I was again impressed. His desire to serve the community and what he had staked out as important issues that benefited ALL the residents of our community was appreciated.

Especially gratifying was the fact that his primary goal, if elected, was to concentrate on soliciting information from all county residents to address everyone’s concerns about the future of our community. He laid out a number of issues that he felt were important. He emphasized the items identified to address are both immediate and long term. During our conversation he didn’t engage in platitudes and pat answers for what he thought I wanted to hear but rather what he wanted to accomplish. He focused on the need for facts and evidence which can be acted upon at the county level. Not engaging in superfluous issues that can’t be addressed under the authority of the County Commissioners. He spoke of the importance of developing and maintaining good relations with representatives from local, state and federal authorities operating within our community and the fact that those relationships are necessary and need to be strengthened for the benefit of our community.

Shane said his goals are to focus on issues that affect everyone within our county. He plans to encourage department heads to gather feedback from the community and forward that information to him so as to better be able to have a finger on the pulse of what the community feels about their government. Shane expressed his desire is to solicit ideas and solutions from everyone in the county regardless of differences of opinion, political persuasion, or ideologies. He recognizes that the issues and ideologies that make local governing more difficult than is necessary can be mitigated or avoided by solicitation of the variety of viewpoints and a collaborative effort to address those problems.

Now, more than any time that I can remember, the need for clear thinking and collaborative solutions to the myriad problems facing local governments is an absolute necessity. Shane’s thoughtfulness and his dedication to Baker County citizens and the issues we face now and in the future is an example we should all support. Please join me in casting your vote for Shane Alderson for County Commissioner.

Randy Crutcher

Baker City