To the Editor:
With election day right around the corner, I wanted to take a moment to encourage Philomath residents to exercise their civic duty — and vote! There are a lot of important decisions on this year’s primary ballot, and I truly hope you’ll be part of making those decisions.
Once you’ve voted, it’s best to turn your ballot in to the drop box at the Philomath Community Library.
In a strictly personal capacity, I wanted to address a few decisions on the ballot that I think are important to Philomath and western Benton County:
First, I strongly urge a “yes vote” on Measure 2-155 to stabilize funding at Philomath Fire and Rescue. In my opinion, this is the most important ballot measure for our community this year. Call volumes have skyrocketed in recent years, with no corresponding increase in funding. No one ever receives a bill for rescue services from Philomath Fire and Rescue.
Measure 2-155 would allow the fire district to use money that is currently spent paying off bond debts, and instead spend that money on firefighters and first responders. Since the debt will be paid off next year, it makes good fiscal sense to now redirect that money towards operations — but they need voter approval to do so.
I also want to be clear that this levy would replace an expiring bond measure — so it wouldn’t increase property tax rates! You may see that your ballot says “this measure may increase property taxes by more than 3%.” That is simply because the expiring bond measure is going away, so property tax rates would normally decrease — but this measure would prevent that decrease and keep rates the same while giving more support to our outstanding first responders. Join me in voting yes for fast, professional, lifesaving emergency services.
Second, I wanted to offer my support for Benton County Commissioner Pat Malone. Pat has been a great partner in government and has always been responsive to the needs and concerns of Philomath and rural western Benton County. He’s been a champion for improving county roads in Philomath and for protecting our nearby natural areas.
Pat is a tree farmer, a former rural fire chief and a friend to Philomath. It would be a loss to not have his experience and his roots on the Benton County Commission. I hope you’ll join me in supporting him this year.
Christopher McMorran
Philomath