Deschutes County Commission, Pos. 1
Jamie Collins
The Commission is getting bigger and the County exploding in size. And because of those changes, we agree with challenger Jamie Collins when he says what’s needed is a more strategic, thoughtful approach to the challenges ahead. We think Collins, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, disaster responder and climate scientist, could be in a better position to do that
During our interview with Collins for this endorsement, he talked about wanting to see the county commission better articulate the values of Deschutes County. We agree with his assessment that largely, the commission has been reacting to problems rather than leading on them. Case in point: The county commission dragged its feet for a long time about collaboration with the City of Bend on the issue of homeless camping on rural lands. These are not just humanitarian problems; they’re also real threats to everyone’s safety when it comes to fires, and more. The County, as the larger, more overarching government of the two, should be leading the charge in addressing this issue, and we have to lay at least some of that concern at the feet of Tony Debone.
Collins’ ability as a strategic thinker was also on display when talking about land use. (When we’re talking about land use, we’re talking about the instances in which lands previously zoned as rural farmland or forest lands were re-zoned for more housing or denser development.) According to Collins’ own analysis, 90% of the land-use decisions that have come to the Commission during DeBone’s tenure have been in the wildland-urban interface. That can increase risk and raise insurance rates for everyone else. Collins, who said he’s in favor of denser, more compact cities, used that as one example of how he’d apply a more systematic approach.
With his experience in disaster response and his obvious investment in doing the homework of understanding the biggest needs in the County – including providing access to clean water and air, a living wage for residents and the ability for residents to continue to access wildfire insurance, we think it’s a safe bet to say that the challenger can outdo the incumbent here.
Deschutes County Commission, Pos. 3
Amanda Page
Amanda Page, an enrolled tribal member, is a flight paramedic who’s running after several years of serving on the Redmond School Board – certainly a place for people with varying opinions to learn to find common ground. And boy, does this county commission need some skills in finding that.
Each candidate we spoke to seemed to understand the biggest issues the County is facing: affordability and providing basic human services. Among these candidates, voters will find lots to admire about either Amy Sabbadini, Lauren Connally or Page. But in speaking with each of them, we found Page to be the most prepared, with some of the most well-articulated ideas of how she would lead in the new iteration of the Board of County Commissioners. We found her the most decisive of the candidates on some of the issues, including how to find some measure of accountability for a sheriff’s office that’s long gone off the rails. Considering that some of the lingering issues the County is tackling seem to stem from a measure of wishy-washiness (currently, when and how to run a managed camp among them) we think that decisiveness is needed. For this May primary, our support in this race goes to Page.
Deschutes County Commission, Pos. 4
Rick Russell
Rick Russell, a former pastor and now the head of the nonprofit, Mountain View Community Development, has proven over the last several years that he has the ability to lead. He saw the issue of homelessness in Central Oregon as not one that should be pushed to the margins, but one that could be addressed with meaningful solutions. Thanks to his work, we’ve seen more people in our community move off the streets and into transitional housing. At the end of this year, the permanent supportive housing project he’s worked on will begin to break ground. This type of can-do spirit is what we need on the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners, where up to now, we’ve seen too much hesitation and waiting for someone else to lead. When Russell says he wants to see the commission be more proactive and less reactive, we believe him. We’d like to see how he can port his experience in the nonprofit space into a seat on the newly expanded commission.
Opponent Chet Wamboldt was in support of the district mapping proposal that splits Deschutes County voters into five separate voting blocs. Russell pointed out that “parochialism” like that can actually slow down the construction of affordable housing, when commissioners move to protect “their” turf from potentially contentious projects, like low-income housing developments or supportive housing. We like that type of systems thinking from Russell. With the county commission covering everything from public health to law enforcement to the landfill and land use, we think that’s a valuable skill.
With the new, five-person makeup of the County Commission, we believe Russell will emerge as among the strongest of the five. Vote Rick Russell for Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners, Pos. 4.
Deschutes County Commission, Pos. 5
Morgan Schmidt
We would have liked to see more concrete ideas about county-specific issues from Jennifer Letz, given her background. As the leader who helped usher in new home-hardening codes around wildfire in Sisters, we know she’s capable of more.
These were both examples of creative thinking that could help the County work through some of its current issues.
Included in this race are local business owner Rob Imhoff, sisters Mayor Letz and Morgan Schmidt, who’s spent the last 20 years as a pastor, activist and nonprofit executive director.
Both Schmidt and Imhoff have attended the Deschutes County College, which allows residents to learn more about their counties. That education was on full display during our interview. We liked Imhoff’s ideas to bring more dollars into the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center by building a sports complex that could sell sponsorships to pay for itself. (That idea, we soon discovered, is also being touted by other candidates in this vast field of county commissioner candidates.) From Schmidt, we liked her idea to create an in-house ombudsman’s office to handle internal investigations — like the ones that happened often during the tenures of recent sheriffs.
Schmidt differentiated herself on the topic of homelessness, and how to handle it at the county level. Imhoff is advocating for a six-mile “UGB buffer” around Central Oregon cities, where homeless camping would be banned. That sounds good as it pertains to concerns around wildfire – except that it would be difficult to enforce in practice, and, as Schmidt pointed out, would only push people farther into the forests, or back into the cities, where County officials wouldn’t have to deal with them at all. Schmidt has a more realistic view of the issue: safe camping and safe parking programs are not what anyone wants, but people need safe places to be, to avoid the nightmares of illegal dumping, unsanitary conditions and the threat of fires for the entire community. The County is in a position to lead on helping those experiencing homelessness, and the housing affordability crisis, to boot. We are overdue for leadership that is ready to address the issue, not push it further out of view. Our endorsement in this May primary goes to Schmidt.
Oregon House District 54 Democratic Primary
Jason Kropf
In this race between Democratic incumbent Jason Kropf and a newcomer, Andrew Caruana, we support Kropf and the work he’s done for the region. One of the high bars we set for elected officials is their ability to bring dollars back to our region. A leadership role in the House Democratic Caucus matters in this respect. Kropf has his fingerprints on both Mosaic Medical Community Health’s $4 million boost in funding and Oregon State University-Cascades’ triumph of $42 million in the last session. His work in early childhood literacy is exactly the type of support our education system needs.
The mess of Measure 110 and drug policy fell to Kropf and a Senate colleague to find a meaningful path forward. It is not flashy work. It requires someone who can work with the various stakeholders of both political persuasions – many of whom do not agree.
Kropf’s work as chair of the House Judiciary committee is nuanced and requires time and effort. Perhaps no issue reflects that more than the recent resolution of the recreational immunity bill surrounding liability waivers. Striking a balance between insurance companies, trial lawyers, recreational and event companies and individual rights groups is no small task. Yet most agree that the compromise bill struck a balance. The bill in the previous session did not do that and it took political courage on Kropf’s part to continue to work toward the best solution.
During Kropf’s time in the legislature he has not shied away from difficult issues and has the temperament to work well across the aisle to represent a broad cross section of Central Oregon and the state.
Our interviews are on video!
See the candidates talk about their ideas in our endorsement interview videos, found on each candidate’s endorsement on our elections page.
(We regret that a video is not available for Deschutes County Commission, Pos. 3)
Elections in 2026:
5 Things We’ve Learned
From local to national elections, it’s a weird world out there. Here are some things we’ve learned locally this season.
The next version of the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners is going to be a step up.
Two things are at work here: One is quality. During our endorsement interview process, we continued to be impressed by the caliber of candidates who have stepped up to run. We may not agree with all of their positions, but this crop of candidates came well-prepared. Second: the Board is expanding from three to five. That alone is going to increase the amount of expertise and attention present at the board level.
Deschutes County could use a glow-up.
From the yearslong disasters at the sheriff’s office, to the deferred maintenance and funding issues at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, to the managed camp the County built but now can’t staff, we have some big issues to tackle here in Deschutes County. We look forward to seeing what the new, bigger Commission can do.
Housing and homelessness — don’t let the broken record make you apathetic.
During our endorsement interviews, we took the issues of housing and homelessness seriously and were listening keenly to how candidates answered questions about how they’d address them. Without places for people to live across the economic spectrum, all of Central Oregon is going to suffer. The candidates we selected are those who we felt would be most effective on the housing front. We know people get tired of politicians beating the drum about housing, but it’s Maslow’s Hierarchy, people. Food, shelter and housing are key. If candidates are simply mentioning “housing” and then not offering any perspectives on increasing middle-income housing stock or ensuring affordable housing stays affordable, they’re having the wrong conversation.
More choice in races is a good thing.
While non-affiliated voters are the most prominent voting bloc in Deschutes County, the party with the highest number of registered members is the Democrats. In Bend, their margins are even higher. As it pertains to candidates, it means that in more races, Democrats are running against Democrats and forcing the local party to make tougher choices and endorse one of their own over another. In a place as blue as Bend, we think we see the emergence of multiple candidates as a good thing: more options for voters, and more opportunities to talk about the issues that matter.
Politics don’t have to be batshit crazy.
Yes, it’s true that on the national stage, politics are out of control now, with lies and scandals the norm. Dirty campaigning has leaked into our local scene on occasion, but for the most part, local politics remain a place where people are still keeping it cordial and focused on the issues at hand.
May Election Key Dates
April 29 – Ballots mailed to voters.
May 1 – Ballot drop boxes open in Deschutes County.
May 19– Election Day – Drop boxes open til 8pm.
This article appears in the Source April 30, 2026.
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