Improving Neighborhood Communications with Internet

Have you ever wondered what your elected City Council representative is thinking, doing and working on? Jeff certainly has. He is the only candidate who possesses the skills and the inclination to keep you informed directly. After the election--if Jeff wins--this site will be maintained as a clearinghouse where you can learn what he is doing in office and why. Like other Council members, he will be open to phone conversations and meetings in person. But with this site, you will be able to visit at your convenience to learn about current issues that concern your home, business, family, and life in Klamath Falls.

Jeff's retired opponent has occupied the same office for 20 years. While he is clearly committed to the office, he has never worked in the private sector. This lack of experience is reflected in the incumbent's lack of understanding of business needs and inability to address the barriers facing businesses that are so crucial to the survival of Klamath Falls communities. In sum, the current policy structure harms businesses and the incumbent participated in ratifying that structure.

The incumbent has to this date failed to develop a website and clearly doesn't feel it would be useful to explain his perspective on City issues through such an accessible mechanism. Over 80% of Oregon households own computers with Internet access. Wouldn't you think an ex professor of mathematics would embrace technology like this?

The Plan

Just because we’ve been doing the same thing for years doesn’t mean it is the best way. There was once a city ordinance making it illegal to kick the heads off of rattlesnakes on the Main Street boardwalk. Times change, so must policies. We must adapt to a rapidly changing world in order to prosper and the incumbents have not kept pace.

We need to work smarter, be more efficient and be a friendlier to our citizens, our businesses and our visitors.

Highlights of Jeff Ritter’s plan for working smarter:

• Create incentives and make it cost effective for property owners to develop geothermal capacity for free heat.
• Modify the City’s geothermal system to be an effective business recruitment tool.
• Offset City operating costs by utilizing methane from wastewater treatment facilities and use more solar energy.
• Improve snow removal and streamline government operations by eliminating redundant and unnecessary processes.
• Create programs for friendlier neighborhoods with options that constantly improve our quality of life.

Goal #1: Better Snow Removal
We receive snow every winter. Most cities with snow issues develop a well-coordinated approach that ensures people can get to work, make it to church, get groceries stores and visit banks to cash their paychecks.

Klamath Falls used to be better at this, but for the past five years snow removal has slacked. There were years when the crews were out at 6 a.m. on every heavy snow day. Last year, removal was sporadic and ill-timed. Some days saw morning removal, others not. And they didn’t seem to bother at all on Sundays.

2007 snow removal was a farce and the City’s negligence hurt people. City officials said it was a bad snow year and they didn’t have the funds to cover it. Yes, it was a bad snow year. We’ve had them before. Lack of funds? Bologna. The lack of funds stems from our inability to retain commerce during the winter.

With such an obvious problem confronting the City, an elected official should have called for an immediate Council session to address the coordination problems and when the season was over, held an inquiry and adjusted policies to ensure we would never be so unprepared again.

Goal #2: Better Geothermal
The Ward II geographic area (this Council position) is situated over the most active geothermal zone in the City. Nearly every property is within range of free heat.

Direct use geothermal (tapping into hot water circulating close to the earth’s surface) is the most efficient and renewable of all options. It beats solar, wind and biomass. The federal government has allocated BILLIONS of dollars for clean energy projects. BILLIONS have been already been spent in 2008. Our municipality has has received none of this new money. 

The question that should be on everyone’s minds is: with so much money being granted for renewable energy projects, why must I pay for heat when it could be free?

We have one of the largest concentrations of existing geothermal wells in the country. Why don’t geothermal property owners see more benefits? Free heat will be possible if we create better incentives and do a better job developing our programs. If elected, I will push for:

• A fund to offset the risk of drilling a well and missing a hot water zone.
  Better tax credits for properties with geothermal.
• A program where owners can receive carbon offsets payments ($5.5 billion worth were purchased globally in 2006)...yes...you could actually make money with geothermal while helping the environment.
• Establish a program for geothermal cooperatives where groups of buildings would share a well and resources.

Goal #3: Streamline
When government is inefficient, everyone loses.

Many policies are needed, but there are many policies that are not. These excessive and unnecessary policies cost taxpayer money, harm the business climate and eventually harm residents.

The costs of interacting with the City are ultimately passed on to every resident, by flooding small businesses with bureaucracy and causing them to leave the area. If property owners are forced to spend more money, the rents go up.

Any home or business owner who has attempted to improve their property has experienced the frustration.

Say you want to install a fence. You need a permit from the City which requires a fee. You need to go a very confusing process. Then you have to do it all over again with the County.

It is the same thing for garden sheds, greenhouses, decks, remodeling, etc. BOTH the City and County extort YOUR time and MONEY.

During the building boom, the City increased requirements and permit fees. Now it is rumored they will increase permit fees gain because there isn’t enough construction going on to support their bloated programs.

Why must BOTH City and County jurisdictions regulate the same thing? If elected, I will strive to eliminate the redundancies. The City should not be adding bureaucracy where none is needed.

Our economy may be collapsing faster than the rest of Oregon, we just haven't realized it yet.

We hear about unemployment rates, which have increased 2% since last year. Nobody seems to find this alarming. However, employment numbers do not take into account how many self-employed businesses have gone under.

An indication of how serious our situation is can be found in a metric no one is talking about: food stamp applications in Klamath County are 15% higher than last year. That is a huge wake-up call.

As the tax base erodes, so will many City services. We need act quickly and as it stands now, we just can't afford for our city government to keep operating the way it has. It is time to pull together, strengthen our neighborhoods and prepare for some very, very difficult choices. It all comes down to flexibility, logical decision making, and the leadership to retire obsolete policies and rise to the challenges ahead. The time is now. Vote for Ritter Now!