To the Editor:

There is a very loud group of people that don’t want things to change in Grant County. When I moved here 30 years ago, I asked, “Why?” I was told that this was how things had always been done, and I probably wouldn’t understand it because I was not a “real Grant Countian.” So I’ve been watching how Grant County really does things.

One thing I’ve noticed is that when there is an opening on a board or a council, the people who get appointed are the ones that ran best in the last election and lost. Again I asked, “Why?” I was told that anyone who couldn’t be bothered to actually run for that office and expected to be appointed just because they had friends on the council was probably not going to be a good councilor. Oh, and I probably wouldn’t understand because I wasn’t a “real Grant Countian.”

There is an opening on the John Day City Council. If we did things the way we always do them, then Ron Lundbom would be the appointee. If he didn’t apply, then Shannon Adair would be next in line. This is how we’ve always done it, and anyone who suggests differently doesn’t understand Grant County, probably because they’re not “real Grant Countians.”

Rich Lallatin

John Day