K-9 Bolo and deputy Michael Zaugg. Photo: Washington County Sheriff’s Office
This week’s installment of the county dispatch – quick hits that you should read, that we want to write about, but don’t have the staff and time to fully dive into.
Filing deadline for local office approaches
The May 19 primary election in Oregon is, as of this article’s publishing, exactly 75 days away.
Interested in running for office? The filing deadline for county and district candidates is Tuesday, March 10 at 5 p.m.
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A comprehensive list of open state political offices can be found at the Oregon Secretary of State’s website by visiting sos.oregon.gov/elections/Documents/open-offices.pdf. A few other positions are open at the county level, though the main county district for this newspaper’s coverage territory — District 4, held by Commissioner Jerry Willey — is not open this election cycle.
Districts 1 and 3 are, however, and one other race in the county is drawing attention, with incumbent Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett facing a challenge from one of his employees, Red Wortham.
Want to see everyone who’s running for office in the state of Oregon? Visit the Oregon Secretary of State website.
County seeks public input on short-term rentals
For the most part, Washington County does not regulate short term rentals, such as Airbnb listings. In order to further understand the issues and ideas behind such rentals, the county has written a very government sounding document, titled “Short-term Rentals: Issues and Considerations, Washington County Long Range Planning Issue Paper No. 2020-01,” and would like county residents to review and comment on it through March 26.
“In recent years, several community members have raised concerns with these rentals, including noise, on-street parking, trash and other issues associated with community livability,” the county said in an email.
Coronavirus
There’s a lot of news out there about the coronavirus. Here’s the latest from the county.
Washington County’s new K-9 tracking team
Our friends over at the Forest Grove News Times profiled German shepherd Bolo, who is almost 2, and deputy Michael Zaugg of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. You can read the profile by Gabby Urenda here.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.