Opinion
Working families, retirees, homeowners, renters, and small businesses in Josephine County are already paying more for groceries, utilities, insurance, housing, and basic services. They need county leaders who treat every taxpayer dollar as a limited resource not leaders who repeatedly expand government costs and seek additional revenue.
Appointed Commissioner Colene Martin’s record raises serious concerns about whose interests come first when the county faces a financial choice.
Since joining the Board of Commissioners, Martin has supported adding personnel, expanding county office capacity, increasing fees, accepting temporary state homelessness funding, and sending additional tax measures to voters. These are not isolated decisions. Together, they show a governing pattern: expanding county obligations while relying on future revenues to sustain those costs.
There is no public record of her casting lone dissenting votes against the major budget expansions and the growth of local government.
Higher costs, fewer safeguards
Martin has made no effort to roll back the park day-use fees which have doubled this past year and has voted to increase solid-waste and SOS-related charges. Those decisions may be described as modest adjustments, but residents experience them as another bill. For a family already making hard choices, or a retiree living on a fixed income, every fee increase reduces money available for food, prescriptions, utilities, repairs, and housing.
Martin also supported expanding county staffing and office space despite concerns about available revenues. New personnel are not a one-time expense. They create continuing payroll, benefit, equipment, supervision, and facility costs. When revenues weaken, government must either absorb those costs, reduce other spending, use reserves, increase fees, or seek additional revenue.
At the same time, county voters have been asked to shoulder a growing series of dedicated taxes:
- The animal-shelter levy adds 16 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value for operations.
- The jail and public-safety levy renews 93 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
- The jail levy does not guarantee full funding for juvenile detention, leaving residents to consider whether a separate juvenile-detention levy may be needed in the future.
- County discussions have included potential additional levy requests in the range of 30 to 40 cents per $1,000 for the District Attorney’s Office and juvenile justice.
Josephine County needs public safety, animal services, and a working justice system. But responsible leadership requires first proving that unnecessary costs have been cut, priorities have been set, and existing funds are being used efficiently. Martin’s record raises questions about whether the county is doing enough on those fronts before turning to additional fees and levies.
State money is not free money
Martin criticized Josephine County’s earlier decision to decline state emergency homelessness money and favored accepting those funds. But emergency state funding is not simply a gift. It can include conditions, compliance costs, reporting requirements, program mandates, and an expectation that the county will continue services after the grant money expires.
That creates a potential long-term funding concern: state dollars can establish or expand a program, the grant can end, and local officials may then face a choice between continuing the service with local funds or reducing or eliminating it.
Josephine County should address homelessness in a way that protects public safety and treats people with dignity. But the county should not surrender local control or create permanent taxpayer obligations through short-term state funding without a clear exit plan, measurable results, and a guarantee that property owners will not be asked to pay more when the grant expires.
Undermining independent oversight
Taxpayers also deserve an independent Budget Committee that challenges spending rather than simply approving it.
Martin voted to remove all three existing citizen Budget Committee members and supported appointing Dorothy Yetter as a replacement. Yetter is a former chair of the Josephine County Democratic Party and is now listed as a citizen member of the county Budget Committee.
That decision raises an obvious question: Why remove all three citizen budget watchdogs at once, only to replace them with an appointee who has previously held a leadership position in a political party?
An independent Budget Committee should include people willing to question spending, test revenue assumptions, protect reserves, and demand proof before county government grows. Replacing experienced oversight with appointments that have established political connections can raise questions about public trust at precisely the moment Josephine County needs more not less—financial accountability.
Voters should see the pattern
Martin’s 2024 commissioner campaign received Democratic Party support, and her recent campaign material has reportedly been supported by an organization associated with electing Democratic candidates. Those facts do not automatically disqualify anyone. But they provide context when considered alongside her policy record.
The issue is not whether Martin uses a particular party label. The issue is whether her decisions reflect a taxpayer-first approach or a greater willingness to expand government spending and seek additional revenue.
Her record points toward:
- Adding county personnel and capacity.
- Increasing resident fees.
- Supports accepting state emergency money that can create future local obligations.
- Referring repeated levies to property owners instead of making deeper spending reductions.
- Supporting a jail levy that does not fully secure juvenile-detention funding.
- Entertaining further levy discussions for juvenile justice and the District Attorney.
- Replacing citizen budget watchdogs with appointees who have established political connections.
Each decision might be defended in isolation. Taken together, they provide voters with a record to consider.
The November choice
Josephine County voters should not be asked to choose between essential services and fiscal responsibility. They deserve both.
The responsible path is to protect public safety, fund core county duties, maintain strong and independent budget oversight, use grants cautiously, safeguard reserves, and reduce lower-priority spending before increasing taxes or fees.
Colene Martin’s decisions represent an approach that expands county government, relies on outside funding, raises local fees, and returns to taxpayers for additional revenue.
In November, voters should ask whether that is the direction Josephine County can afford and whether the county is getting enough value for every additional dollar it asks taxpayers to provide.
Sources
Park day-use fees and solid-waste/SOS rate increases:
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/6897204/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-adopts-new-fee-schedule-residents-object-to-proposed-park-day-use-increase
https://www.josephinecounty.gov/parks/fees,_rules___info/day_use_parking_fees___passes.php
https://kobi5.com/news/josephine-county-raises-fees-at-the-kerby-transfer-station-301990/
Personnel and capacity / solid waste and building code positions:
https://www.ijpr.org/podcast/the-jefferson-exchange/2026-09-30/josephine-county-commissioner-colene-martin-john-west
Animal-shelter levy (16¢):
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/06/oregon-josephine-county-animal-shelter-tax-levy/
https://www.theivnews.com/2026/05/07/animal-shelter-in-peril-without-levy-approval-volunteers-say/
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7647837/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-considers-16-local-option-levy-to-fund-animal-shelter-and-control
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7647834/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-commissioners-refer-animal-shelter-tax-measure-to-May-19-ballot
https://kajo.com/news/news_story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1772123061&ucat=2,4&template=KAJO17Column
Jail/public-safety levy (93¢):
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/9568997/oregon/josephine-county/commissioners-refer-five-year-jail-and-juvenile-detention-tax-renewal-to-november-ballot
https://kobi5.com/news/top-stories/josephine-co-jail-juvenile-detention-tax-renewal-on-nov-ballot-313291/
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/9569086/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-commissioners-agree-to-pursue-93-cent-renewal-for-jail-levy
State emergency homelessness funding comments:
https://www.ijpr.org/podcast/the-jefferson-exchange/2026-04-08/osephine-county-commissioner-seat-1-candidates-primary-2026
Budget Committee termination and Dorothy Yetter appointment:
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7893903/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-commissioners-terminate-Budget-Committee-call-for-reapplications
https://citizenportal.ai/articles/7898540/oregon/josephine-county/josephine-county-commissioners-appoint-three-members-to-budget-committee-to-restore-staggered-terms
https://josephinedemocrats.org/what-been-happening-at-the-commissioners-meeting/
2024 Democratic Party support:
https://josephinedemocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/GeneralElection24Slate.pdf
