Voters in East Lane County will decide the fate of the Board of County Commissioners this November. Newcomer Heather Buch is challenging current Commissioner Gary Williams for the fifth seat on Lane County’s governing body.

Although the board is technically nonpartisan, the seat will shape the balance of the Board between liberal or conservative-leaning commissioners. After the May primary, the Board was left with two of each, with the remaining seat up for grabs between Williams, endorsed by the Lane County Republicans, and Buch, endorsed by the Democratic Party of Lane County.

Williams has held the seat since he was appointed in 2017 to replace Faye Stewart after he stepped down from the Board. Prior to his appointment, Williams served in a number of elected positions in Cottage Grove and the county, which he points to as his most important qualification.

“I have 20 years of local, elected experience,” said Williams in an interview. “I have a great deal more elected public service. She has really none.”

While Buch has never held an elected office, she said she believes her business background and her community leadership experience are what voters in East Lane County need.

“I come with a lot of other experience that people are really looking for nowadays,” Buch said in an interview. “They’re tired of the way the government has been working over and over and feeling like nothing is getting done.”

One experience Buch points to as a sign of her preparedness to serve the county is her work in the real-estate industry. Housing affordability, according to Buch, is the biggest issue the county faces and requires someone with a professional background in housing to make improvements.

“We are in the second-largest housing crunch in the nation,” Buch said. “People are really feeling it here all over the county.”

In response to the housing challenges in Lane County, Williams cites his experience on the board as a sign of his readiness to continue to take on the challenge. He said the county board  is working with partners to reshape land use and zoning laws to make building new homes easier.

One of Williams’ main messages has been surrounding the county’s timber industry which, he says, provided economic stability to the county and its residents until “the spotted owl and radical environmentalists killed that industry.”

According to Williams, the timber industry has supported western Oregon communities for 150 years, and he wants the county to take advantage of changing federal forest rules and increase timber harvests.

Buch, while recognizing timber’s significance to the region, encouraged ensuring sustainable management of the county’s timber resources. County officials and timber companies, she said, should come together on agreements for sustainable business.

The theme of coming together was prevalent for both candidates: while the two may differ in experience and priorities, both can agree on the importance of bridging divides and reaching beyond political affiliations while on the board. Buch and Williams both expressed their hopes that their service on the board would bring representation to all viewpoints in East Lane County.

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