Over the past years, the Baker County GOP organization has experienced a decline as duly elected Precinct Committee Persons (PCP’s) have become disenchanted with the style exhibited by the chairperson. Many individuals have indicated they were forced out or just had enough of the internal pressures placed on those with opinions other than those of the County Chair. As of last year of the 50-plus positions, 25 to 30 of the PCP district positions were vacant.

This year, several individuals (who are not under the auspices of Baker County United) decided to determine if there was interest to rejuvenate the Baker County GOP with free minded individuals who could work with others without throwing sand at one another. As one of those asking for input, I had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful individuals who decided changes should be made and that they would make the effort to serve as PCP’s representing the districts where they lived including in many where no one had represented the district for many years. Within a short period of time, these discussions led to over 25 ranchers, business men and women, and others who were inclined to serve in Baker County. A great outpouring of selflessness was the basis of their intentions.

The election rules allow for PCP’s to represent districts other than where they reside. All newly elected PCP’s will receive proper training to support them through the initial stages of their responsibilities. This is common procedure before and after being elected. A great resource is “Precinct Strategy.com” by Dan Shultz if you are interested in learning more about the importance of the local PCP’s.

A question for our citizens: Over the years, how many times has a PCP stopped by to discuss the activities of the Baker County GOP? I for one have never had such a discussion until getting involved with this project. It is time for transparency so the people of Baker County can become aware of this important organization and have input.

In some districts it was noted that they had been represented by current PCP’s for years while in some elections they had received very little support from the voters of the district. In an effort to have a healthy competition in those districts, some well intentioned individuals decided to compete for those positions.

This is a time for accusations to cease from the Baker County Chair. Also, all GOP candidates need to be welcomed into our County during the primary election season and whoever wins the primary races, those individuals need to be uniformly supported through the general election by the county GOP organizations throughout Oregon.

This year, there are over 90 PCP’s on the ballot in Baker County. This should be celebrated rather than disputed by our county GOP. We in Baker County are setting a high bar for the rest of the counties in Oregon in that we might be the only county to fill every PCP position this year. This is another reason to be thankful there are so many selfless individuals willing to serve.

Danny L. Johnson

Halfway