AN INDEPENDENT IS RUNNING FOR CROOK COUNTY JUDGE!

I am FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE, AGGRESSIVELY PRO BUSINESS, and ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE.

I will be a new challenger in November since I was successful in my bid to obtain the Independent Party of Oregon's nomination for the Crook County Judge position.

I'd like to highlight here some of the aspects of my past life and work that uniquely qualify me for this important leadership position in Crook County.

I retired in 1992 from a 27 year career with the Oregon State Police, during which I was the State Police Academy Commander in Monmouth, moving on to General Headquarters in Research and Development, Internal Investigations, Management Audits, Legislative tracking, Public Information Officer, Professional Standards.  I was a principal instructor in Oregon Laws and Court Procedures, Vicarious Liability, Motivational and Evaluation Techniques.

I have successfully and aggressively run a BUSINESS in Kauaii, increasing their income via electronic fund transfers from about $1000 a month to over $5000 a month in only three months, with no marketing money, illustrating how effective a fiscal conservative can be.

I was the first Chairman of the Oregon State Games, the statewide Oregon Olympics, managing all aspects of the games, encompassing all counties in the state.  In my second year, I was a member of the Executive Committee.

After retirement, I managed the Nutrition and Fitness program for the College of Legal Arts in Portland, teaching there for six years.

Locally in Crook County, I was instrumental in obtaining the bulk of the funds which allowed the Powell Butte Community Center to be completed. I was Chairman in 2005 and am currently a board member of the Powell Butte Farmer's Community Club.

I was also Chairman of the Polk County SW Fire District budget committee.

I was appointed by the Oregon Department of Education to the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Committee for the State of Oregon.

I was awarded a Federal Certificate from the Safety and Health Council for supporting the joint advancement of occupational safety and health within the Federal Government.

Training of record: I completed the Northwestern's 350 hours management training on Staff and Command through BPST.

I'm proud of my service in the United States Navy, receiving Honorman of my Company during basic training over 40 others in my company.

I'm looking forward to talking with those of you from all parties in Crook County.  I'm seeking your support in November for the Crook County Court Judge position.

Wagner pressing McCabe on public openness

By Joel Aschbrenner / The Bulletin

Published: September 24. 2012 4:00AM PST

Walt Wagner

Crook County judge

For our complete coverage, visit www.bendbulletin.com/elections.
One position open

Walt Wagner, an Independent Party candidate for Crook County Judge, wants to make the county government more open.

Increasing transparency is the cornerstone of Wagner’s campaign to unseat Mike McCabe, a 20-year veteran of the county court who beat Wagner in 2008 when both ran as Republicans for the county’s top administrative position.

Wagner said his chief complaint is that the county does too little to alert people to meetings and county business, and too few people know how the county is being run.

For example, Wagner said, a county meeting earlier this month with U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., to discuss Merkley’s bill to remove water from the Prineville Reservoir was originally scheduled to be closed to the public. That was, Wagner said, until several groups found out about the meeting and demanded it be open.

McCabe was in the hospital at the time and said he did not know why the meeting with Merkley was not initially publicized.

McCabe said he disagrees with Wagner’s claim that the county is not transparent. The county sends out meeting notices to several hundred people — anyone who asks to receive them — and makes meeting agendas and minutes available to the public online and at the county courthouse.

“I don’t know how much more open you can get," he said. “We try to make everything as open as we can."

Reducing unemployment

In Crook County, which maintains the state’s highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 14.1 percent, recruiting jobs is another key issue in the campaign.

McCabe points to the economic progress since he took office in 2009, specifically the development of data centers in Crook County.

Facebook has built one 300,000-square-foot server farm on the outskirts of Prineville and is working on a twin facility next door. Apple, meanwhile, has applied for applications to build two data centers that cover more than 500,000 square feet.

McCabe said he worked for more than three years helping to recruit the data centers, serving as a point person when the tech companies had questions for the county.

While the centers are expected to employ only a few dozen people when complete, they are creating hundreds of construction jobs in the meantime and bringing in contractors who eat at local restaurants, shop at local stores and stay in local motels, McCabe said.

“That’s a pretty big kick," he said.

Wagner isn’t convinced data centers are the silver bullet for Crook County.

“I think data centers make good partners in the community," he said. “But we have to look at how many people they actually hire."

Manufacturing jobs are what Crook County needs, Wagner said. While wood-product manufacturing is down, Prineville is the perfect place for a manufacturer of outdoor clothing and equipment, he said.

If elected, Wagner said he would visit companies and pitch them the idea of relocating or building in Prineville.

Backgrounds differ

McCabe, a lifelong Crook County resident, served as a county commissioner for 16 years before being elected judge in 2008. He previously worked as a rancher and a loan officer for Farm Credit Services.

Wagner’s career is more eclectic. He is a Navy veteran who spent 27 years with the Oregon State Police as a trooper, public information officer and the head of the state police training academy. He served as the chairman of the first Oregon State Games, ran a small farm in the Willamette Valley and even did some modeling for the outfitter Helly Hansen.

Previously Wagner ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate as a Republican and for the state House, once as a Republican and once as a Democrat.

In 2008, McCabe defeated Wagner by earning 63 percent of the vote in the Republican primary.

A unique position

The county judge is a unique position in that it serves as the head of the county’s legislative body and its top executive, said Scott Cooper, Crook County’s judge from 2000 to 2008.

The judge chairs the three-member county court alongside two elected commissioners and serves as the county administrator, managing day-to-day business.

While it’s cheaper to have a county judge rather than a full-time county administrator, the judge system has been abandoned by all but nine eastern Oregon counties because it puts so much responsibility on one person, Cooper said.

Prior to 2008, Crook County looked to get rid of the judge position in favor of a full-time county administrator but balked when the recession hit and revenues shrunk, Cooper said.

— Reporter: 541-633-2184, jaschbrenner@bendbulletin.com

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Published Daily in Bend Oregon by Western Communications, Inc. © 2011

www.bendbulletin.com

Wagner rocked the boat with Listserv email

Editorial: Wagner rocked the boat with Listserv email

Published: September 06. 2012 4:00AM PST,  Bend Bulletin

Election season tensions are showing in Crook County, where a candidate has been criticized for sending campaign emails to county employees.

Walt Wagner is the Independent Party candidate seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Mike McCabe as the county’s chief administrator and chair of its governing body. In Crook County, that position is called the county judge, and the governing body is the County Court.

Wagner used the county’s Listserv when he sent out a message promoting online campaign materials. The Listserv includes the email addresses of county employees as well as citizens who asked to receive news releases and notices of public meetings.

Andrea Cantu-Schomus, director of communications for the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, said there’s nothing illegal about Wagner’s action. Wagner said that getting his campaign material out is his constitutional right.

But Assistant County Counsel Eric Blaine complained that the emails could encourage employees to violate rules that prohibit them from engaging in political activities while at work, including visiting campaign websites. Several employees had complained after receiving the email.

The election is a sensitive one. The incumbent, McCabe, won the May GOP primary, but he had only a little more than a third of the votes, with a total tally of 1,015. Opposition candidate Bradley Bartlett took 960 votes and Craig Brookhart had 972. The challengers complained about a lack of openness in county government that they said discourages citizens from getting involved.

If Wagner can attract both Bartlett’s and Brookhart’s supporters, he might unseat McCabe and upend the established order in Crook County. No Democrats have filed to run.

That possibility adds to the anxiety surrounding this election, and might increase focus on issues like the use of the county’s Listserv for campaign purposes.

Wagner has asserted that it’s not his job to prevent county employees from violating the prohibition on visiting campaign sites while on the job. That’s certainly true. However, not all that’s legal is wise. Better to find other routes to reach those voters.

(Walt's response: I don't disagree with the editorial board; however, this route was taken with the intent to inform, and as a past public employee who is sensitive to their positions, I  believe this should have been a non-issue. This has happened in other areas of the state and the burden definitely falls on governmental administrators and their legal counsel to provide the necessary information and training to employees to prevent violation of statutes. That was not done in this case.  Through personal contact with Crook County legal counsel and administrators it was obvious that they were not well versed in campaign law specifics.) 

Judge candidate's emails ruled legal

Judge candidate's emails ruled legal

Walt Wagner used Crook County's Listserv to distribute campaign material

By Joel Aschbrenner / The Bulletin

  Published: September 05. 2012 4:00AM PST

A candidate for Crook County judge was within his rights when he used a county Listserv last week to publicize his campaign Facebook page, a state election official said.

But a county official said the email put county employees who received it at risk of violating election rules.

Walt Wagner, an Independent Party candidate challenging incumbent Mike McCabe, said he accidently included the county Listserv in an email blast promoting his new Facebook page. Distributing campaign material, Wagner said, is his constitutional right.

Assistant County Counsel Eric Blaine asked Wagner in an email to “cease and desist" sending campaign emails to the county Listserv.

The county uses the Listserv to send public meeting notices and news releases to employees and members of the public who request them.

Distributing campaign material through the Listserv puts county employees at risk of violating a campaign law that prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities, like visiting campaign websites, on the clock, Blaine said. 

But nothing prohibits Wagner from distributing campaign material to county employees or using the county Listserv to do so, said Andrea Cantu-Schomus, director of communications with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office. In fact, McCabe could use the county Listserv to publicize a website of his own if he wanted, she said.

Wagner said he viewed Blaine's request as an attempt to intimidate him from continuing to distribute campaign material. “When you start intimidating someone and it could affect their First Amendment rights ... that's wrong," Wagner said.

Wagner is a candidate for county judge, an administrative position and chair of the county court — a three-member governing body — with no judicial responsibilities.

Blaine said he was only trying preclude county employees from receiving campaign material at work.

“The county's only interest is to protect employees from violating campaign rules," Blaine said.

Wagner said that is not his problem.

“It's up to the county to make sure county employees are informed that when something comes in like that, they ... should either delete it or send it to their home email," he said.

In all, 126 people received Wagner's email. Several complained to the county about it, Blaine said.

The county is now looking to secure its Listserv from similar uses in the future, Blaine said.

The county had used a simple list of email addresses that any recipient could access by clicking “reply all," rather than using a blind carbon copy feature, which prevents recipients from seeing who else received the message.