East Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch is facing two challengers in her bid for re-election: political consultant Jake Pelroy and forest management advocate Bob Zybach.
Heather Buch is seeking her third term as a county commissioner. She said she’s the right candidate for this moment, when the federal government is rolling back its commitments to public health, social services and the environment.
“We need somebody in office who has the experience to navigate, and advocate for our community, and that’s what I’ll do,” Buch said.
Buch has a professional background in real estate and affordable housing. She said she’s been there for her constituents when they were struggling, pointing to her work to bring resources to Holiday Farm Fire survivors, and vote to waive permit fees to help them to rebuild.
Jake Pelroy has previously done campaign work for many local conservative campaigns and worked on policy issues in Salem.
He said he’s running for commissioner now in part out of frustrations over the county’s efforts to build a food waste diversion facility, the CleanLane project, by raising fees on haulers.
County Waste Management
Pelroy’s family owns a local hauling business and he previously was the spokesperson for an association of haulers opposing the project. The County estimates the project will cost about $150 million with a private partner paying $100 million.
Pelroy said he believes it will cost far more, around $11 million a year. He argues that money could have gone toward Lane County’s struggling criminal justice system or road maintenance.
"There's a lot of things that could be spent with that 11 million dollars,” Pelroy said. “I feel like that's a wasted opportunity on the board of county commissioners on something that was unnecessary."
Pelroy argues the county will still come out ahead if it gets out of its contract to build the CleanLane project, and refocuses on essential government services.
Buch said she still supports CleanLane, saying its environmental win and economic development opportunity. She said the project will pencil out if Waste Connections, the Texas-based company that owns Springfield’s hauler Sanipac, stops hauling Lane County’s trash to its own landfill near Medford.
Buch said she believes Waste Connections actions will also ultimately harm trash haulers, and has siphoned revenue away from the county’s overall waste system.
“We have this national company coming in and doing what in the business community we call vertical integration, gobbling up our small haulers and cornering the market and setting the rates,” Buch said. “We are now at a place where they are jeopardizing the system of the transfer sites in our rural communities.”
Pelroy said he’s also running to address what he sees as another missed opportunity at the county, red tape in the building and planning department. He said the department takes too long, and charges too much for permits and other legal hurdles to building.
“I hear from people who have done work in Lane County and other counties, and they say that Lane County is the worst to do anything,” Pelroy said. “It’s not just for business interests, it's mom and pops wanting to do things with their land.”
The third candidate in the race is forest scientist Bob Zybach.
He said the Trump Administration has given communities a once in a generation chance to regain the timber revenue they used to rely on for public services, and remove fuels that cause catastrophic wildfires.
"We should be taking advantage of these changes and restoring active management to our federal lands to the county's advantage, specifically our schools and roads," Zybach said.
He also argued that many of Lane County’s other challenges, healthcare, homelessness and housing would be solvable if county residents had access to living wage forestry and timber jobs.
Campaign Contributions
Both Buch and Pelroy have fundraised well into triple digits this election cycle.
Pelroy’s biggest supporters include Kathleen Jones-McCann, whose family owned several timber businesses, Swanson Group, Inc., Wildish Land Co., and winery owner Ed King, who is also locally known for seeking county approval for a gravel mine near Oakridge.
Pelroy is also one of a few candidates running for county commission this year that’s received a $2,500 campaign contribution from Waste Connections.
Buch’s biggest financial supporters are unions, including one that represents Lane County workers. She’s also supported by the Eugene REALTORS for Community PAC and the McKenzie River PAC.
Heather Buch has also received a $2,000 donation from Steve Miller, the CEO of Bulk Handling Systems, the company Lane County has a contract with to build equipment for, and operate, the CleanLane project.
Zybach has raised considerably less than his two opponents. His most significant campaign donations came from Oregon Natural Resource Industries, previously known as the Timber Unity Association. Most of the contributions to his campaign are from individual donors.
The East Lane District includes Oakridge, Cottage Grove, the Coburg area and the McKenzie River Corridor.
