Ritter for Klamath Falls City Council.

Welcome

Thank you to the nearly 40% of voters in Ward II who cast their vote in my direction.

You were unhappy with the cronyism inherent in the current City government.
You were upset with policies that served to weaken our our local economy.
You were enraged by the the City's failure to take advantage of huge opportunities to secure massive federal funding for geothermal initiatives.
You believed your elected representative should work for you by keeping the administration in check, NOT work for the administration.
You wanted proactive problem solving, you wanted vision and leadership and you wanted to break the corrupt ties that have been holding Klamath Falls back.

You voted to support your ideals. Unfortunately, that was not enough. Defeating an incumbent is extremely difficult. It requires significant grass-roots support. More than hearing from the candidate, neighbors needed to hear support from neighbors. This is the level of involvement that has been missing and nothing will change without it. So please consider stronger involvement when your next opportunity for improving City government emerges.

We have an entrenched, unresponsive government and the same problems I addressed in my campaign will continue to exist. I'm not going to run for office again. I will continue to keep this website updated on City barriers to quality of life in Klamath Falls, hoping that voters will be willing at some point in the future to mobilize themselves for their vested interests. We can form effective political action committees. With evident support of a core agenda, another challenger can step forward that we can rally behind. We can implement our own initiatives.

The Charter

I extend thanks to the voters who defeated the initiative to restructure County government. Many people were confused by the debate, but it came down to a very simple and clear point: did the proposal advance democracy? The answer: NO.

Imagine if the United States of America didn't have a president, but a manager. A manager appointed by Congress. It sounds absurd, but that is what the Charter Initiative amounted to. You may not agree with the policy direction or leadership in Klamath County, but if you are upset enough, you can run for office or elect someone who can be directly involved in changing the administration for the better. The appointed manager form of government takes democracy a step backward. Most of the issues citizens have with their local governments deal with the administration. In the manager form, the elected representatives are prohibited from being administratively involved. This cuts off the information flows necessary for investigation and is far less responsive to the voters.

Klamath Falls -- It is interesting that the voters won't change the figureheads when none (except the staff and their families) are very happy with the government. I have not spoken with a single resident or business person the last several years who likes and trusts their City government. Following the trail of barriers back to the source of the problems, I am convinced that the malaise of the City can be directly attributed to the Council-Manager form of government...the very structure many people wanted to replicate at the County level. It doesn't work for the City. You can't hold an elected official accountable for administration in the City. Administration lies to Council (I have direct and recent evidence of this). Council accepts their policy recommendations instead of researching their own. The city manager controls the flow. It is a terrible system. There is no City elected official fairly compensated for the time and effort required to "lead," therefore you have no leadership. This system needs to end. We need direct democracy in Klamath Falls.

I say we should get our own initiative on the ballot: one that will provide a system where the voters can hold elected officials accountable for operations. One that will create leaders. Leaders that will be highly motivated to continuously improve our situation.

We NEED a strong MAYOR form of government. The current City manager will be retiring soon, so it would be a good time to embark upon this journey. We could take the approximately $120,000 in wages and benefits paid to the manager to compensate the new leadership at a minimum level. The majority could be allocated to the mayor who would take over manager duties. At least $10,000 a year to the council members. It isn't much, but it is better than the nothing they currently receive. With minimal compensation, a candidate would be able to recoup some of their costs of running for office and we'd see more interest and higher quality candidates in the future.

Email me if you are interested in working toward this goal of making Klamath Falls a direct democracy. You MUST be involved if this is to happen. True democracy is not a spectator sport.

- Jeff Ritter

Jeff Ritter Stands For...

Livable Communities
There has been much development in recent years, but do our communities feel any more livable? Considering the looming fuel cost constraints, every person in every neighborhood should be able to walk comfortably and safely to a nice restaurant, coffee shop and local grocery store. We need to bring back the mixed use friendliness of the 50s while maintaining the efficiency modern technology allows. If fuel costs rise again as they have over the past several years, it will become impossible to provide basic civil services. Beginning over a year ago, many cities developed plans to address this, but Klamath Falls' government has ignored the hard facts and done little or nothing to prepare for the crisis to come. The world is changing faster than we are and doing nothing is not an option. Leadership from officials who understand this transition, have broad based experience turning around communities and are committed to incorporate best practices from other areas are essential to our collective future.

A Strong Business Climate
Homes and properties of all types are losing value because we don't have enough jobs to maintain demand for housing. Many people rely on their property for their life savings and retirement plan. Even people who are against growth realize that demand stabilizes value and creates equity. Residents depend on businesses to support neighborhoods and both are major sources of revenue for the City. These groups need to be nurtured, not exploited for the sake of backfilling budgets. When the business environment suffers, all the essential services provided by government decline because it is impossible to sustain services with an eroding budget. The best way to ensure core government roles are supported is to work harder to reduce barriers to doing business in Klamath Falls. Policies put in place during our growth period are now turning away businesses. Local government has a lot of work to do if it hopes to be perceived as business friendly. To this end, we need to elect officials who better understand the barriers facing businesses. The incumbent hasn't worked in the private sector for over 20 years, if ever. It is time to elect someone with recent private sector experience. This experience and understanding will help to ensure better policies for business growth and the stability of our City government.

Efficient, Friendly and Streamlined Government
Can administrations work smarter? Always. While many staffers do their best to appear friendly, the policies and procedures often come across as hostile. Instead of bombarding people with forms, we should be asking if we need the forms in the first place. Why for example, must a resident apply for a permit from the City that is already required by the County? Is it truly necessary for two entities to regulate the exact same thing? The old guard has failed to recognize and remove such redundancies, putting in place a huge mess. Simple questions sink citizens in a quagmire: try to improve your property and you are met with an arsenal of dictates that may or may not be necessary. Instead of overwhelming property owners with a barrage of bureaucracy, we should be helping people who must work with the City feel more comfortable doing so. Only then will we achieve true progress. This kind of change must begin at the top with new council members who are not afraid to challenge the administration or the status quo. It should be possible to define and exemplify our small town character with smarter policies that drive investment while improving quality of life. It should have been done already. This is exactly why a change in leadership is needed.