Fall Runoff in County Commission Race Possible
There will not be any more updates on the ballot count from the May 20th election before next week.
Ann Marie Levis (LEV-iss), the Lane County Public Information Officer, says yesterday was the deadline to resolve any ballot challenges because of signatures. She didn’t say how many of the approximately 500 ballots county-wide were rectified.
But, she said, final tabulations will not be released until Monday, June 9th; the deadline for the Lane Count Clerk to formally certify election results.
As of the latest count, released May 23rd, incumbent Jay Bozievich held a slim margin of 85 votes out of the more than 15-thousand cast in the West Lane County Commission race. Bozievich currently has 50-point-16-percent of the vote… enough to prevent a runoff election against challenger Dawn Lesley in the fall. Due to the number of write-in ballots cast, however, if Lesley were to pick up another 25 votes, it would reduce Bozievich’s tally to less than the majority required and they could wind up on the ballot once again.
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John Egar is still surprised at the public reaction to his firing from PeaceHealth six weeks ago. He had just returned from vacation in late April when he says he was fired as a primary care physician because of three letters to the editor he had written the month before. He said what followed was a public response that wasn’t expected.
205 – “I was speechless. I didn’t initiate any of that picketing, protest, any of the articles. It’s impressive and I really don’t know what more to say.”
Egar, who had practiced medicine in Florence for the past five years, never mentioned PeaceHealth by name in his letters. In them, he expressed concern about a variety of health care issues, including the trend to consolidate scheduling for physicians in a central, system-wide location.
Dr. Egar will be on this afternoon’s Our Town on KCST to talk about the issues that he says led to his firing. That program airs from four to six pm.
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Homeowners in rural Lane County are being urged to be aware of a possible scam. Cheryl DeMartinis with the Construction Contractors Board says at least one resident in the Marcola area was recently approached by someone offering to pave his driveway.
They’re not certain if that was a legitimate offer or not, but DeMartinis said legitimate contractors do not usually solicit work door-to-door. An investigation is still under way, but the incident prompted DeMartinis and the CCB to issue a warning. There are four warning signs to watch for… one is the direct solicitation. Others include out-of-state license plates on vehicles and an offer of leftover materials at a low price.
DeMartinis said sometimes unscrupulous scam artists may quote a low price, then stop work and demand more to finish.
The CCB licenses 33-thousand contractors in Oregon. Anyone who is paid to repair, improve or build a home must be registered. She says you can go to the agency’s website… www-dot-oregon-dot-gov-slash-ccb for more information.
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