Primary Election 2022: All races for Lane County commissioner are contested; 1 has 4 candidates

All three races for a seat on the Lane County Board of Commissioners are contested this year. Two of the races include incumbents running for reelection and one race has four candidates for a seat to be vacated by Commissioner Jay Bozievich, who is not running for reelection.

The five-person board legislates and administers county government and is a full-time, paid body.

Three seats on the board are on the ballot this year:

• District 1: Western Lane County

• District 2: Springfield

• District 5: Eastern Lane County

Here’s what candidates in each race told The Register-Guard about why they’re running for office and why voters should cast a ballot for them.

District 1

Four people are running for the seat representing western Lane County after Bozievich decided not to run for reelection. A fifth candidate, Rod Graves, has withdrawn from the race.

Ryan Ceniga

Ceniga said he's "always been involved" within the community and enjoys local politics because it's a way for people to "raise their hand to contribute."

Though Ceniga never pictured himself getting into politics full time, he said friends approached him about running for county commissioner after he was elected to the Junction City School Board.

"There was a need for a community-minded leader. After some thinking and talking with others, I decided it was the right decision," Ceniga said.

He added while it would be hard to leave his job as a utility contractor for the Eugene Water & Electric Board, he couldn't ignore "the call to be a voice for west Lane County" and he wants to make a difference and give voters "commissioners our communities are proud of."

If elected, Ceniga would focus on:

• Prioritizing public safety

• Making real progress on homelessness

• Addressing skyrocketing housing costs

All three issues are related to funding and having a balanced budget, he said, and he has "a vast knowledge of how budgets work" because of his experience in public and private construction.

Ceniga also has been a union and non-union employee and "sat on both sides of the bargaining table." The commissioners give the county's final seal of approval over union contracts for employees.

He said his experience on the school board and the district's Long Range Facility Planning Committee also have given him "a lot of insight into the commissioner position."

Terry Duman

Duman wants to provide "desperately needed" representation of the diverse needs and areas of western Lane County, which runs from the rural areas outside Eugene to the coast.

"Historically, I worry that decisions have been made for our county without enough representation or advocacy," Duman said. "I’m passionate about supporting and preserving the land, and know the importance of adapting, changing and maintaining our communities."

The county needs to step up to support the needs of rural areas, which are growing and expanding, he said.

If elected, Duman would focus on:

• Advocating for access to services in western Lane County

• Additional police protection in rural areas

• Addressing housing crisis and zoning deficits in "resourceful and logical ways"

• Increasing access to transportation to remove barriers for traveling to Eugene

• Improving access to technology, internet and in-person services

Duman said he's "confident and ready" to lead as commissioner and help with continued progress. He pointed to his small business and career experience, which has included commercial fishing, farming, dune buggy guiding and owning a bicycle shop.

Duman said he has experience contracting with government agencies through work in road reconstruction and maintenance, wetland restoration and habitat creation for salmon and snowy plover. He's also been involved in many stages of land development.

He's a third-generation Florence resident who's raising his own family in the Siuslaw valley and said he has more than 10 years of experience on a political board and is currently board chair of the Siuslaw Port Commission.

"I’m ready to move forward in a new direction, representing our collective needs as community members, consumers, taxpayers, business owners, friends and family," Duman said.

Misty Fox

Fox did not respond to a Register-Guard reporter's request for answers, but according to her Facebook page and information she submitted for the county voter pamphlet, she works as a private law enforcement officer and has been a precinct committeeperson.

Fox wrote that she grew up in Triangle Lake and Junction City and learned about community involvement from her grandfathers and the need for renewable natural resources from her parents.

She chose to run for office because she sees a "great need for a change" and thinks people need to take a stand to change the way they're represented.

"I am sick and tired of seeing public servants doing as they please and throwing our concerns to the side and squandering our hard earned money," Fox wrote on Facebook.

People need to stop choosing politicians, she added, and vote for everyday people running for office.

Fox wrote she's against mandates, believes in government transparency and supports:

• Local law enforcement

• Election integrity

• Second Amendment and constitutional carry

• Medical freedom

• Parental rights

• Education choice

• Logging and grazing over letting it burn

Fox added she's been involved in politics since 2006 because she's "sick of our voices being muted, our liberties being trampled and our communities being overran with crime." She testified in person and in writing and collected signatures for ballot petitions, including the Lane County Second Amendment Sanctuary Amendment.

Fox says she has a "proven backbone of standing up and doing what is right" even if it means standing alone and gets out to learn about community concerns that elected officials should be addressing.

Dawn Lesley

Lesley said she's running "out of a fierce sense of urgency" because she wants to do more to address "critical challenges facing our community," such as the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, wage increases falling behind inflation, the housing crisis and inequities in public safety and health care.

She said one challenge is the most critical: the current political climate.

"The thing that most endangers us is our current inability to talk with each other and work together across political and social divides," Lesley said. "We must be able to cooperate on humane, creative solutions to the problems we face."

If elected, Lesley would focus on:

• Climate action, especially curbing greenhouse emissions and preparing for disasters like wildfires and droughts

• Affordable housing through taking "bold steps to ensure more housing of all types," being creative about where and how to build and using policy to meet needs rather than creating barriers

• Better representing rural areas in western Lane County

• Improving public safety, especially by reducing delays on rural 911 response

Lesley said in her career as a scientist, she has to solve problems using data and find consensus between people with different perspectives and interests.

"I also have to be excellent at asking questions and explaining processes in a way that makes sense to everyone at the table," Lesley said. "I will bring these same skills to my work daily as county commissioner, creating data-driven solutions, ensuring transparency and building trust."

Lesley also has stayed "deeply involved and invested" in the community.

She is vice-chair of the county's budget committee and an executive board member for the Santa Clara Community Organization and said she's volunteered "thousands of hours" in public schools, Egan Warming Centers, the YMCA's Big Sister program and "with many other community organizations."

District 2

The incumbent representing Springfield is running for reelection and has one challenger.

Joe Berney

Berney said he initially ran for the seat four years ago after retiring and looking for ways to "best use my life experience to serve the community."

He scored an "upset victory" then and now is offering himself on the ballot for "one last term of public service" as a commissioner.

"And, frankly, I’m worried about the divisive political climate and will fight to keep a calm, rational, inclusive, compassionate and business perspective when making policy decisions," Berney said, adding he brings people together and gets things done.

He said that's why he has support from five of the six people on Springfield City Council, the city's mayor and most of the Springfield School Board, Lane Community College Board and Willamalane Park District Board as well as support from a variety of local businesses and several organizations.

If reelected, Berney would focus on:

• Expanding on the "invest local" procurement priorities he helped build into county government, such as a requirement for living wages, contracts with local businesses and provision of health care and retirement

• Significantly increasing the availability and ease of recycling

• Decreasing the county's carbon footprint in "smart, business-friendly ways"

• Increasing housing stock by offering incentives not just for more rentals but also starter homes and by developing ways to keep seniors secure in their homes

Berney and his family have deep roots in the community and love Springfield, he said, and he brings pragmatic and successful business experience, including job creation, to the table.

His experience includes co-owning a broccoli processing and cold stage business, developing a training center for migrant farmworkers, developing a clean energy commercial and industrial retrofit business, and teaching in both secondary and post-secondary education.

Berney pledged to continue his legacy, which he says includes keeping money circulating locally, increasing the number of deputy sheriffs to "keep rural areas safer," increasing pay to keep officers and attract new applicants, prioritizing good jobs in county partnerships, advocating for more behavioral health resources and supporting local businesses and workers.

David Loveall

Loveall describes himself as "a hands-on, partnership-driven kind of guy." He said he's helped redevelop downtown Springfield and could help the county with similar efforts, adding he sees a lot of areas where the Board of Commissioners needs work to be more effective.

"The taxpayers need a greater return on investment," Loveall said.

If elected, Loveall would focus on:

• Getting the county back into timber

• Fully funding public safety, citing concerns about "just two deputies roaming the county on any given shift"

• Restructuring and reallocating the way the county spends money addressing homelessness and related issues. He said there's a "toxic charity arena" of spending on the homelessness crisis that isn't really fixing the problem.

Loveall's career and life experiences have taught him how to work through challenges, he said. He knows how to work through red tape but also understands "government isn't the savior of all our problems" and would bring his entrepreneurial spirit to help build up the county, he said.

"It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you’re on, people have the same concerns in their community," he said, something he's found by knocking on "thousands of doors."

Loveall said voters should "elect the person who can do what's right by the citizens." He thinks the coronavirus pandemic became a "cloak for transparency" and said if elected, he would be employed by the people.

Officials need to get back to grassroots approaches, he added, because much of people's animosity is "because they don't feel they're being heard."

Communication is part of Loveall's lifestyle, he said, and he would fight for Springfield and "for those people who want us to fight for them," and he's "happy to make hard decisions to get that done."

District 5

The incumbent representing eastern Lane County also is running for reelection and has one challenger.

Kyle Blain

For Blain, the county's response to the Holiday Farm Fire was "the straw the broke the camel's back." He said when survivors needed less barriers to rebuild, Lane County "went the opposite direction" in its response.

"After years of watching public safety issues spiral out of control, the lackluster response from county leadership regarding the fire motivated me to want to make a difference and to throw my hat in the ring," Blain said.

Blain has owned a small business and worked in loan origination and the timber and construction industries. He's also currently a city councilor for Coburg and touts his work on fiscal goals, land use and other code updates, street repair, and attracting small businesses and helping them during the pandemic.

If elected, Blain would focus on:

• Trimming "pet projects and excessive office budgets" and focusing on timberlands to prioritize and restore funding for the sheriff's office and prosecutors

• Providing affordable housing

• Removing barriers and regulations that make building time-consuming and expensive

• Increasing the supply of buildable lands and making it easier for rural residents to build on their own land

Blain said these areas of focus would help the county be more secure and less expensive for families. He knows about the latter from experience — his family spent a "year wading through the county's expensive planning and building process."

In his career, Blain has created innovative products and helped others achieve their dreams of owning a home.

He also has practical experience in local government from his time on the Coburg City Council.

"Not a single business closed due to the COVID lockdowns," he said. "We created three new neighborhoods and are working on bringing 107 acres of employment lands into the City of Coburg, which will create local jobs."

Heather Buch

Buch said she initially ran four years ago because of her background, experience and "desire for change in Lane County."

She's proud of the work she's done as a commissioner through natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic, including directing federal CARES Act and American Rescue Plan funding to her district, publicizing "dependable public health information" to residents, helping secure funding for wildfire recovery and waiving more than $1 million in permits fees for rebuilding after the Holiday Farm Fire.

"I’m proud of this work, yet there is so much more we can do to ensure the resiliency of Lane County and big projects underway that I want to see realized," Buch said. "I love my job, and I’m not done fighting for Lane County families."

If reelected, Buch would focus on:

• Continuing efforts to rebuild and restore the McKenzie River area

• Improving housing affordability

• Finding solutions for unsheltered neighbors

• Strengthening public safety

Buch said one of her top priorities is implementing the county's Affordable Housing Action Plan, which she said is a comprehensive approach that incorporates strategies to sustain affordable housing programs.

For Buch, that action plan is a good start toward "a more regional approach to addressing housing and homelessness rather than our tradition siloed method." She also plans to continue to champion ongoing projects like a mental health care stabilization center, a rural health care center in Cottage Grove and a version of CAHOOTS — a crisis response team that's an alternative to police response — for southern Lane County.

She also touted recent work to pass funding for 12 new deputy and detective positions, invest millions in upgrades to the jail system and secure funds to update emergency communication technology.

"I want to build upon this progress," Buch said.

Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: 2022 Primary: Voters have options in each race for county commissioner