JOHN DAY — In May, John Rowell was elected to the three-member Grant County Court.

Early next month, the John Day resident will assume his new position, filling the seat being vacated by the expiring term of Commissioner Sam Palmer and joining Commissioner Jim Hamsher and County Judge Scott Myers on the court.

Rowell worked more than 40 years in the wood products industry as, among other positions, pellet plant manager for Ochoco Lumber Co. in Grant County and general manager of UAB Ochoco Lumber in Lithuania. He also spent 28 active and reserve years in the U.S. Marine Corps and saw action in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars.

Rowell holds a bachelor of science degree in agricultural science and economics from Oregon State University.

Recently Rowell sat down with a reporter for a wide-ranging conversation about some of the major issues facing Grant County and what he hopes to accomplish as a member of the Grant County Court.

What follows is a transcript of that interview, edited for length and clarity.

Blue Mountain Eagle: How might Grant County improve its economy and create more jobs?

John Rowell: As a Grant County commissioner, I’ll be active in the Blues Intergovernmental Council, BIC, a group of federal, state, county and tribal leaders that forms suggestions for the U.S. Forest Service’s upcoming forest plan on how best to manage the Blue Mountains’ forests locally. One of the BIC’s responsibilities is to evaluate the USFS management plan’s social and economic impacts on our region’s communities. I’ll work to assure any such plan both protects forest resources, water, grazing, mining, recreation, forest health, fire management and access for future generations and assures timber harvests of sufficient volume to support thriving logging and milling industries in Grant County.

As well, minerals critical to U.S. prosperity and even national security — among them chrome, cobalt, and copper — lie beneath our county’s surface. We should work to encourage a mining industry here that would extract some of those resources, provide well-paying jobs to our residents and inject revenues into county coffers.

BME: The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is underfunded and understaffed. How would you seek to rectify this?

Rowell: One thing we might pursue is a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

I’d also like to explore putting a law enforcement bond levy before Grant County voters. If passed, its proceeds could be devoted to hiring sheriff’s patrol deputies dedicated specifically to providing law enforcement services to some of the county’s more remote localities, an idea suggested to me by folks in Long Creek, Monument and elsewhere.

If implemented, these ideas also may help us raise our deputies’ pay, which is pretty low compared to that of some other law enforcement officers around the state. Too often, we’ll train a deputy and put them to work, and not long after they leave for a better-paying law enforcement job elsewhere. I want to do more to keep those good folks here. Also, cities may contract with the sheriff for additional officers if they would like additional coverage.

BME: Currently, the county has a rather frosty relationship with the City of John Day. How might this be fixed?

Rowell: In relations between people and governments, civility and courtesy are essential. This, first and foremost, is what we need to understand.

I’m impressed by John Day’s newly elected mayor and councilors. I’m confident, in the years ahead, that the county court will forge strong, amicable relations both with these new and the council’s longer-serving members. We are all Grant County citizens, and it is important for our cities and county to have good working relationships to achieve good things for all our citizens.

BME: Last month, Oregon voters narrowly approved Ballot Measure 114, which, if fully implemented, will establish a firearms “permit-to-purchase” system and ban the possession of magazines containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Eighty-four percent of Grant County voters opposed that measure. Should the county employ its Second Amendment preservation resolution to seek to shield its residents from at least some of the measure’s provisions?

Rowell: In the wake of Measure 114, I’d like to meet with our county attorney and commissioners to see what, specifically, we might do to protect our residents’ Second Amendment freedoms. Americans giving up their constitutional rights or having them infringed should never be the answer!

In the meantime, I applaud the decision of Rob Raschio, circuit court judge for Grant and Harney counties, to put, however temporarily, Measure 114’s provisions on hold.

BME: What’s your stand on moving Grant County into Idaho?

Rowell: After last month’s election, when the expected “red wave” didn’t materialize, a lot of fuel was added to the Greater Idaho movement. There’s considerable sentiment for that movement in Grant County, and I think it’s something to explore seriously.

As an alternative, Oregon’s constitution might be changed to allot a state senator to each of our 36 counties, rather than elect senators based on population as is done now. This would provide for more balanced outcomes between East and West Oregon rather than redrawing our state’s borders.

BME: Is there anything we haven’t covered you’d like to address?

Rowell: Yes. A large part of our county’s budget comes from the federal and state governments, and it can be hard to forecast our precise revenues from year to year. So I’d like to get a good head start on the county’s next budget. For a while this year a budget shortfall forced us to cut hours and pay for some county employees. They’re good, valued workers, and we should do what we can to assure a stable budget and to spare them that kind of stress and uncertainty again.

Last, to help me get a handle on my new responsibilities during the time as a commissioner-elect, outgoing county Commissioner Sam Palmer introduced me to many of the people I’ll be working with and I accompanied him to several important meetings, both in and outside Grant County. Sam was most generous with his time and expertise, and I greatly appreciate his help.