During its meeting on Sept. 18, the Harney County Court discussed how to fill the vacancy that will be left by Sheriff Dave Ward.

At the previous county court meeting (held Sept. 4) Ward presented a letter stating that his last day in office will be Jan. 2, 2020.

During the meeting on Sept. 18, Harney County Judge Pete Runnels asked, “Do we want to look at an interim or do we want to look at appointing [someone]?” He said, “An interim would be somebody not running for the office so that you have a fair election.”

He explained that, if the court appoints someone who is running for sheriff, some might perceive the appointment as an endorsement.

However, he asked, “Would an interim make change or would he just kind of go status quo until the new sheriff came on?” He added, “If we were to appoint somebody who’s interested in running, I think you would see change right away.”

Harney County Commissioner Patty Dorroh said, “We’re talking about basically a year of somebody being a sheriff. What’s that expectation? Are they just a holding figurehead?”

She added, “They have the title of sheriff. I’d like to think they can do sheriff things that year.” However, noting the importance of the position and voters’ right to choose, she added, “I hear what we’re saying about what it implies when we appoint somebody.”

Runnels noted that he doesn’t know who would be available to serve as an interim, as the applicant must have graduated from the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) and lived in Harney County for one year.

“When you say they’re not actually going to be running, you’re kicking qualified applicants out of the pool,” Harney County Roads Supervisor Eric Drushella said.

Harney County Commissioner Mark Owens suggested finding a qualified, in-house interim, as this would save the county costs and prevent anyone from having an advantage in the election.

Runnels noted that retired law-enforcement officers may also be interested in the interim position.

The court agreed to advertise for an interim sheriff who doesn’t intend to run for the office. The position will be open to both internal and external applicants.

The court also discussed the interview process. The court is considering forming a committee to select the top candidates who would then appear in front of the county court during a public meeting.

“I think that’s a good thing for elected-official positions,” Dorroh said.

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The court received an update from Dorroh regarding workforce housing and strategic planning.

Dorroh has presented the Harney County Workforce Housing Road Map 2019 to the Community Response Team, cities of Burns and Hines, and Harney County Planning Commission.

“The road map set an aspirational goal of five new houses every year for five years to have a pool of moderate- to upper-level-income workforce housing available in the community to just kind of reset our housing market,” Dorroh said. “It would help all levels if we had some additional moderate- to upper-wage homes in the area.”

Dorroh added that she’s committed to working with the cities to create incentive programs, if they are ready and willing.

She also noted that the road map could be included as a reference document within the Comprehensive Plan, which “could open up opportunities for certain types of grants.”

Dorroh serves on the state’s Workforce and Talent Development Board, which approved a new strategic plan on Sept. 13. Some of the plan’s goals include increasing the use of the workforce system and efficiency for job seekers, improving engagement and consistency with local workforce boards, and creating and recognizing industry-driven certifications.

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In other business, the court:

• recognized Dan Jenkins (five years), Chris Nisbet (10 years), and Lucas McLain (15 years) for their service to the Harney County Sheriff’s Office;

• recognized Angela Lamborn (10 years) for her service to the Harney County Senior and Community Services Center;

• read Ordinance 2019-86 once by title only. The ordinance establishes criminal history record-check policies concerning applicants for employment and appointed volunteers. The court will consider adopting the ordinance during its next meeting;

• received a report from Owens regarding the first Harney County Natural Resources Advisory Committee (NRAC) meeting, which was held Sept. 17.

The committee elected Bill Wilber chair and George Heinz vice chair and discussed how the NRAC will function and interact with representatives from land-management agencies, Harney County Stockgrowers’ Association, Harney County Farm Bureau, and collaboratives.

The next NRAC meeting will be Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the basement meeting room of the courthouse. The public is welcome to attend;

• reappointed Tony Sanchez and Barbara Arnold to four-year terms on the Harney County Planning Commission. There is still one vacancy on the commission;

• approved an order in the matter of appointing a pool of members for the Harney County Board of Property Tax Appeals.

Runnels, Dorroh, Owens, and Hilda Allison were appointed to the chairpersons pool;

• upon recommendation by Drushella, approved an application to install a cattle guard on Best Lane in Riley. The application was submitted by Jason Yob of Depcom Power Inc.

Drushella explained that the solar-power company needs the cattle guard to be bigger, stronger, and wider to accommodate its trucks.

“It’s a county road, but they’re willing to basically make it happen. So it’s kind of a win-win situation,” Drushella said;

• discussed Public Notices of Water Use Requests.

Owens said he will work with the Water Resources Department to inform permit holders about procedural changes;

• learned from Runnels that Harney County had two confirmed cases of West Nile virus in humans, and one in a horse. He said there was an additional human case that didn’t fully meet the virus’ definition.

Runnels will meet with the cities of Burns and Hines to discuss spraying the lagoons for mosquitoes.

However, he noted that, “Spraying is going to be a hot topic because of the bees and other insects;”

• is creating an ordinance in the matter of videotaping and posting its meetings to the county’s website;

• received a report from Owens regarding his recent trip to Washington, D.C.;

• will appoint a budget-committee member during the next county court meeting;

• will invite Emigrant Creek District Ranger Josh Giles to attend the next county court meeting;

• will hold rural community meetings in Drewsey Oct. 9 and Riley Oct. 15. Both meetings will be from 5:30-7 p.m.;

• will hold a budget-committee meeting Oct. 15 at 9 a.m.;

• learned from Runnels that Rep. Lynn Findley will provide an update during the county court meeting on Oct. 16.

The next county court meeting will be held Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. in Runnels’ office at the courthouse.