April 13, 2022

More Metro Mission Creep

More metro mission creep

One of my core philosophies is that the government should work on doing a handful of things and try to do them as well as possible. Where government agencies frequently run into problems is when they try to do too much and lose focus on those things they’re supposed to be doing in the first place. The State of Oregon…

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April 6, 2022

Part of the Problem

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Back in 2016, voters in Clackamas County took a chance and chosen then-Commissioner Jim Bernard to serve in the chair position. They also voted Ken Humberston onto the board of county commissioners that same election. Because Bernard had previously been a commissioner, that meant his seat would become vacant. A replacement would have to be appointed. The newly left-leaning board…

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March 30, 2022

Managing Our Forests to Reduce the Risks

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Even though Clackamas County is considered suburban, the truth is that the vast majority of it consists of small towns in rural areas. I think that’s an important perspective to keep in mind as I campaign for Position 5 on the board of county commissioners. I’ve been fortunate enough to serve my community as a member of the Wilsonville City…

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March 23, 2022

What Do We Have to Show for Metro?

Property investment, house mortgage financial planning and real estate home refinancing concept with piggy bank saving budget and money coin stacks -cm

Many people don’t know this, but Metro has been around in some form or fashion for about 65 years. It began as the Metropolitan Service District in 1957 and ran under that name until 1966, at which point it became the Columbia Region Association of Governments. A statewide ballot measure passed in 1978 that created its current incarnation. So what…

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March 16, 2022

Local Government Matters

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As a longtime Wilsonville resident, I’ve gotten to watch the traffic through town get gradually worse over the years. What began as your typical rush hour years ago now extends for several hours and often sitting bumper to bumper on I-5 on Saturdays and Sundays. These kinds of traffic issues are especially concerning to me in my role as a…

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March 9, 2022

Availability and Affordability

Concept of selling a house. A hand is holding a model house above green meadow.-cm

Housing is, and has been, a huge issue, especially in Clackamas County and the Portland metropolitan area. It’s easy to see why—constant increases in rent and housing prices have been straining household budgets for years now. However, when politicians talk about “affordable housing,” it’s taken on a different meaning. It’s become a euphemism for subsidized housing and other expensive government-run…

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February 23, 2022

Moving Forward from COVID

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The COVID pandemic has been challenging for all Oregonians in the last two years and much has been learned and changed since it started. However, many of Governor Brown’s COVID mandates and administrative rules from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) disproportionately impact lower-income households, small businesses, children, communities of color, rural communities and our most vulnerable populations. These misguided policies…

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December 1, 2021

Ben West runs for Clackamas County Board of Commissioners

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Published in Pamplin Media Group – Wilsonville Spokesman “I enjoy public service and find a lot of fulfillment in that, and I think in my first full term on City Council I’ve been able to be effective and learn a lot … and think some of my skill set is conducive to being a county commissioner. I’m looking to serve…

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