Witham excited to begin term as commissioner

Dec. 30—Christina Witham has had several months to prepare for her new role as a Baker County commissioner, and at times she's felt like she's had to learn a new language.

Except this language is made up solely of acronyms and abbreviations rather than real words.

—AOC — Association of Oregon Counties.

—EOCA — Eastern Oregon Counties Association.

—BIC — Blues Intergovernmental Council.

It's a list of formidable length.

But Witham, who will be sworn in Jan. 3 for position 2, one of the two part-time members on the three-person board of commissioners, feels well-prepared to begin representing county residents.

The swearing-in ceremony is set for 8 a.m. in commission chambers at the courthouse, 1995 Third St.

Shane Alderson will be sworn in as chairman of the board of commissioners, and County Clerk Stefanie Kirby and Treasurer Alice Durflinger, who were reelected Nov. 8, will also be sworn in. The public is welcome to attend the ceremony.

The new commission's first work session is set for Jan. 4 at 1:30 p.m. at the courthouse.

"I am very excited to get started," Witham said on Thursday, Dec. 29.

"I feel confident. I don't know everything, and I didn't expect to know everything going in. But I've been busy. A lot of homework."

Also a lot of meetings.

Witham, 53, a 1987 Baker High School graduate, announced in early 2022 that she would run for position 2. The seat is held now by Mark Bennett, who has been a commissioner since 2013 and decided not to seek reelection this year.

Witham ran against Kody Justus in the May 2022 primary, a race separated by just a few votes. Both candidates were set up for a runoff Nov. 8.

But in early August, Justus announced that he was withdrawing.

Witham said that although she had already been a regular attendee at commissioner meetings since she announced her candidacy, after Justus withdraw, leaving her to run unopposed in November, she accelerated her efforts to become familiar with county issues and her upcoming duties.

"I've been going to (commission) sessions for over a year," she said. "That has been the most helpful for preparing, I think."

Witham said she has also met with county department heads to learn about their responsibilities and understand any challenges they're dealing with.

"We have a great county staff," said Witham, who moved into Bennett's office in the basement of the courthouse on Dec. 29.

In September she attended a meeting of the Eastern Oregon Counties Association, and the next month she participated in a meeting of the National Association of Counties in Ontario.

And in mid November Witham traveled to Eugene for the weeklong convention of the Association of Oregon Counties, where she attended sessions on a variety of topics related to county government.

Focus on natural resources, public access

Although Witham has devoted much time over the past year to learning about county government, during her four-year term she plans to focus on topics with which she was familiar even before she filed as a candidate.

Broadly speaking, her emphasis is on natural resources, particularly the management of the federal land that makes up about 51% of the county's 2 million acres.

Witham said she will advocate for maintaining uses of those public lands that are vital to Baker County's economy and culture, including livestock grazing, mining and logging.

Both logging and grazing bring not only economic benefits, she said, but those uses also can reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires that have become more common over the past decade.

"We have to have a healthy forest to have a healthy community," Witham said. "It's just common sense."

In addition to the general issue of managing public land and natural resources, Witham is passionate about the specific matter of public access, including with motor vehicles, to the county's large swathes of public land.

She is a longtime member of a local group of four-wheel-drive enthusiasts who use local roads and trails and also have hosted many events to clean up trash on public lands.

Witham said she's well-acquainted with Shaun McKinney, supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, and other federal officials.

She believes Bill Harvey, chairman of the board of commissioners for the past eight years and who, like Bennett, is retiring, has done well in defending the county's interests, including the importance of public access, while the Forest Service works on revising its management plans for the three national forests in the Blue Mountains.

The agency's work on the forest plan revision has temporarily put on hold another contentious issue — how many miles of roads and trails should be open to motor vehicles.

"I don't want to give up any more access," she said, pointing out that segments of public land, including wilderness areas, are already closed to motor vehicles.

Other issues

Witham said she's excited about the potential uses for the 70-acre property the county recently bought in north Baker City, south of Hughes Lane and between the Baker Sports Complex and the Powder River.

"I think it's a good thing," she said.

Witham said potential uses for the property could include a multipurpose building hosting a variety of sporting events, year-round, as well as an expansion of the Baker County fairgrounds.

Commissioners bought the $1.4 million property with some of the $6.5 million in federal COVID-19 aid the county will receive over the next two years.

Witham said she agrees with current commissioners that it's prudent to spend the money for such projects, rather than, for instance, hiring new employees or other uses that require the county to commit to long-term costs.

Another top priority for Witham is connecting the county's Hewitt and Holcomb parks, on Brownlee Reservoir east of Richland, to that city's water supply.

The current water supply to the parks, which has considerable amounts of iron, is not suitable, she said.

Speaking of Richland, Witham said she would like to have commissioners meet occasionally with mayors from all of the smaller cities in the county, in addition to Baker City, which has about 60% of the county's population.

A good team

Witham said she's confident that although she and Alderson are both newcomers to county government, they, along with incumbent commissioner Bruce Nichols, "are going to work well together."

"The three of us aren't going to agree on everything, and that's healthy," she said.

Witham said she has met regularly since the Nov. 8 election with Alderson.

She also appreciated the mentoring of Nichols, Bennett and Harvey. Witham said the latter two, although they're retiring, have offered to help the new commissioners navigate their new positions.

Witham said she has sold Oregon Sign Company, the business she and her husband, Russell, owned, to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

She said the company did work for the Baker County Sheriff's Office and other county departments, including signs on vehicles.