Water issue divides GOP  

   Bob Tiernan told the Herald and News Thursday that given the state of the economy and other issues, the restoration agreement is an unneeded distraction that pits party members against each other.  

   The Klamath County Republican Central Committee voted to oppose the restoration agreement, which allocates water in the Klamath River Basin among fisheries, farmers, conservationists and tribes.

   “Those are the things the local party should stay away from,” he said.  Tiernan and Andrew Over, executive director of the Oregon Republican Party, were in Klamath Falls to attend Thursday’s meeting of the Klamath County Republican Central Committee.

   The focus of the visit was to encourage the local organization to continue registering Republicans, putting forth good candidates and advocating Republican principles such as fiscal responsibility, free enterprise and public safety.

   Tiernan said respective Republican Party members have addressed strictly local issues, and that isn’t a problem when those issues mesh with accepted Republican priorities and don’t divide the organization.

   Unfortunately, that’s what the local organization’s vote on the restoration agreement has done.  

   “ There’s arguments on all sides,” Tiernan said.

   Instead, the local party needs to focus on keeping Oregon attractive to business and industry, making sure citizens are safe and promoting a balanced approach to budgets. He added that the Klamath Basin plays an important role in the state party and will be needed in the future.  

   “If it wasn’t for Southern Oregon, this state would really be in trouble,” Tiernan said.

   Joe Spendolini, chairman of the local central committee, said individual party members are free to deal with local issues, but that those efforts don’t have to involve the entire organization.

   “I believe the job of the central committee is to represent all Republicans,” he said.