558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6205
Crook County resident Don Fox sees a problem with the level of openness in government these days. As a county commissioner, he wants to change that.
The 51-year-old Republican filed for Crook County Commissioner position 2 on Wednesday. He is the third Republican candidate in the race, which includes Seth Crawford and incumbent Lynn Lundquist.
Fox says he decided to run because he believes voters' voices aren't being heard by politicians. His goal, if elected, is to be accessible to citizens at all times.
"I want to be available to the people," he said. "They're the ones that are paying my salary and I want to try to help them as much as I can. I don't know what I can do yet until I get in there, but when I get in there, I'll do the best I can for the county, not for me or the government."
Fox has lived in Crook County for most of his life and began working on his father's well-drilling and pump service with he was 10 years old. He later ran the business for around 7 « years until health issues prevented him from working. He has no previous government experience, but says he has practical business experience and has run several other businesses around town.
"I was in the military and then I traveled and moved here and there, but I came back in 2000 and this is where I plan to stay until I retire," he said.
One of his priorities if elected is education. He plans to approach the Lottery about getting more money to the schools.
"That money is supposed to be helping our schools, but it hasn't been doing a very good job at it," he said.
The number-one issue facing Crook County, however, is unemployment, Fox says.
"We need to figure out some way to get jobs into this county," he said. He plans to investigate ways to attract companies to Prineville that will create jobs for the community, not import them in.
"Some of the stuff that's coming in right now, I don't see how it's going to provide any jobs for the people here," he said. "Like Facebook, how many people is that going to put to work from Crook County when it's all done? If I had to bet, I'd say none. I'd say the 35 highly trained people that are going to come in here are people they've already trained to do the job."
The filing deadline for the May primary election is Tuesday, March 9.
