August 25, 2010

   The board said Tuesday it would consider the initiative. Commissioners also said they would consider putting on the ballot, in lieu of the initiative, an advisory measure that asks voters if they support the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement.     

   The restoration agreement aims to settle water disputes in the Klamath River watershed and advocates dam removal. The hydroelectric settlement would remove the dams, if feasible.

   An advisory election would only gauge public opinion and would not be legally binding.

   “It’s nothing but a fancy poll,” said Klamath County Commissioner Cheryl Hukill.

   The group, Voters Opposed to Dam Removal, filed its initiative with the county clerk last week to qualify for a special election in March.  

   Only the Klamath County Board of Commissioners can put an initiative on the November ballot this close to an election.

   Nearly a dozen county residents spoke both for and against the initiative at the commissioners’ Tuesday meeting.

   County Clerk Linda Smith said a special election costs the county about $50,000.

   Hukill said she would like to consider putting an advisory measure on the November ballot to give voters a chance to weigh in on the issue. She said the initiative outlawing the county from spending money to support dam removal was too confining, but she said she would still consider it.

   “It is my personal belief that what they are trying to do is absolutely strangle the county from doing anything that has to do with dam removal,” she said.

   Commissioner responses

   Commissioner Al Switzer said he will consider putting an advisory measure on the November ballot, but would want it to focus on the KBRA and the KHSA, not just dam removal.

   “What I don’t want to see is the county to have to spend $50,000 on a special election,” he said.

   Commissioner John Elliott said he did not have a stance on the ballot initiative yet, but like Hukill and Switzer, he would consider adding an advisory measure to the November ballot. He questioned where the county would find the money to hold a special election in March if the group continued to petition for its ballot initiative.

   Frank Goodson, one of three chief petitioners for Voters Opposed to Dam Removal, said if the county puts an advisory measure on the November ballot his group might still petition for its initiative to be voted on   in March.

   Giving county citizens a chance to vote on the agreements, he said, would be worth the money required for a special election.

   “That’s probably the best way to spend money in the world — giving people the right to vote,” he said. “I think (the commissioners) are ridiculous if they think that is the wrong way to spend money.  

   Deadline passed

   The group tried last week to get the initiative on the November ballot, but the filing deadline had passed.

   The commissioners have until Sept. 2 to put a measure on the November ballot. Their last opportunity to do so will be Tuesday, Aug. 31. The commissioners said they need to meet with County Counsel Dave Groff, who is on vacation until Monday, before they make any decision about a ballot measure.

   Siskiyou County, Calif. residents will vote on a similar advisory measure in the November election that asks residents if three dams in California on the Klamath River should be removed.