Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce thinks officials on the west side of Oregon might be paying closer attention to the east side.
That’s one result he sees from the campaign started several years ago to move parts of eastern Oregon into Idaho.
“There’s been a noticeable impact with more meetings on this side” by state agencies and officials, Joyce said.
But voter-mandated requirement that the Malheur County Court meet three times a year to discuss the border move hasn’t been effective. No more than 10 people showed up, Joyce said, and the special sessions lasted less than 30 minutes.
Malheur County voters on Nov. 5 will decide on a new ballot measure that would cancel the meeting requirement.
Voters imposed that requirement by approving a 2021 ballot measure. The county court was directed to hold a meeting three times a year “to discuss promoting Malheur County’s interests regarding relocation of the Oregon-Idaho border.” The measure passed 3,059-2,592.
Similar measures passed in other counties.
Petitioners placed the repeal on the November ballot, contending the special meetings were a waste of time.
Attendance has “never been good,” Joyce said. “I supported having the meetings so there could be discussions.”
Promoters have been urging Oregon legislators and others to redraw boundaries to put several Oregon counties into Idaho. Political leaders of all stripes have said that’s impractical.
In Malheur County, Joyce said, interest in that idea has been “very limited.”
But he thinks the talk prompted state officials to pay more attention to rural Oregon.
Commissioner Jim Mendiola said both supporters and opponents of the border move agree that Salem leaders aren’t giving eastern Oregon its due.
“We need some more cooperation with everybody to get what we want over here,” he said. The meetings “kind of did some good in Salem. They figured out that eastern Oregon is not very happy.”
He said attendance at the county court meetings on the border move trailed off. Border move supporters “got kind of tired of beating their heads against the wall.”
Two other counties are considering similar repeals. Baker County commissioners themselves proposed a repeal, and petitioners in Lake County got enough voter signatures to put a measure on the ballot.
In the May primary, voters in Harney County did repeal the mandatory meetings. The vote was 1,181 yes to 914 no.
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