Re-elect Tim Kerns

Tim Kerns has earned another four years as a Baker County commissioner.

Kerns and his colleagues, chairman Fred Warner Jr. and commissioner Carl Stiff, have in general done a good job overseeing county operations the past few years and we don’t believe there’s a compelling reason to tinker with that formula.

Kerns’ greatest asset is his advocacy for issues vital to Baker County’s economy.

In particular, Kerns’ expertise in his own profession — farming — is valuable in a county where agriculture is the biggest sector of the economy.

Kerns, a Republican who has served as a county commissioner since 2001, also will strive to ensure that the Forest Service’s pending decision on closing roads to motorized vehicles will take into account that retaining a certain level of access benefits retail businesses that rely on recreationists.

We share Kerns’ concern about the threat of catastrophic wildfires in the county — especially on the east face of the Elkhorns, which shelter the headwaters of streams that supply much of the irrigation water that Baker Valley farmers and ranchers depend on.

Kerns contends, and we agree, that the Forest Service should strive to protect those streams just as the agency did with its forest thinning and other work in Baker City’s watershed during the past several years.

We don’t agree with Kerns’ adamant opposition to Congress designating more acres in Baker County as wilderness, but we acknowledge that his stance most likely represents the majority opinion here.

Kerns impressed us with his pledge to always strive to understand the concerns of people throughout Baker County, rather than concentrating on the more densely populated Baker Valley, where about three-quarters of the county’s residents — Kerns included — live.

Kerns’ Democratic challenger, Randy Joseph, is a strong, well-qualified candidate.

But we believe that Joseph can best serve the county in the next four years just as he is doing now — as chairman of both the county planning commission and its renewable energy committee.

If elected to replace Kerns, Joseph could no longer serve on the planning commission. That would be a pity, because Joseph’s leadership on the planning commission will be crucial over the next year as the county revamps its zoning ordinance.

Joseph’s knowledge of and support for renewable energy can’t be questioned, but Kerns too has endorsed such efforts, the foremost being the Mason Dam hydroelectric plant project that Joseph first proposed several years ago.

Kerns’ tenure as a commissioner has not been perfect. He admits that although he was concerned about the lack of county oversight of Mountain Valley Mental Health Inc., he did not, as he put it, “second guess” the organization’s board of directors.

We’re confident, though, that Kerns learned a valuable lesson  from that experience, and that he will be much more likely to express his worries, up front and publicly, the next time he feels less than confident about any operation under the county’s jurisdiction.

Baker County government is in solid shape now, and doesn’t need a major overhaul.

We think it’s noteworthy that even Kerns’ opponent didn’t file as a candidate before the May primary. Joseph got on the Nov. 4 ballot after he agreed to run if he received the most write-in votes in the primary.

We urge voters to preserve the continuity in county leadership by re-electing Tim Kerns.