Top two primary winners race for Jefferson County commissioner spot

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Seth Taylor

The two opposing candidates for Jefferson County Commission Position 3 share a desire to do more to serve their community.

Brandie McNamee, an accountant, and Seth Taylor, a teacher at Jefferson County Middle School, have both lived in Jefferson County for about two decades, and helped county residents in various positions. Now they want to step up to the next level.

If the primary race is any indication — McNamee received 1,337 votes and Taylor received 1,276 — the final vote could be close.

Brandie McNamee

McNamee, 41, has lived in Jefferson County for nearly 20 years. Her husband is a fifth-generation cattle rancher, and she’s lived at their ranch in Antelope off and on, but also had a home in Madras. The ranch is right on the line Jefferson County shares with Wasco County, she said. Their house is built on the Jefferson County side because she was the elected treasurer for the county when it was built.

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“This is going to be our forever home, so I’m going to be a Jefferson County resident probably the rest of my life,” said McNamee.

McNamee was inspired to run for the commission so she can ensure rural residents are able to use county services. As treasurer, she would listen to residents say they pay taxes but weren’t getting any services in return.

“As commissioner, I want taxpayers to know where their dollars are going. I want them to be proud of where their dollars are going, and that’s the reason I’m running as commissioner,” she said. “I’m an auditor, so it’s part of my daily job. When I feel like our tax dollars are not being utilized in the best interest of the public, I really want to see our community thrive, but if the dollars are not going to those areas to allow it to thrive, that’s where I want a change.”

She wants to see funding go into public services, including law enforcement, which she said is understaffed. The county can only fund so much with the money it has coming in, she said, due to a lower population than Deschutes or Crook counties.

“Even though our tax rate’s high, we don’t have the assessed value to collect on,” she said. “I really want to improve communication from the county so that voters realize that.”

McNamee was born in Prineville and raised in Powell Butte. She attended the University of Oregon before moving to Madras, her husband’s hometown. She has worked in accounting for Mountain View Hospital, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the City of Madras and Jefferson County. She ran for county treasurer in 2016, and served until January 2022. She now works for Jones and Roth CPAs & Business Advisors, though she works remotely as an auditor.

McNamee wants to focus on financially supporting the Jefferson County Fire and EMS district to ensure it continues. McNamee plans to put together a top 10 list of countywide initiatives, and find funding to build a history museum.

“We need to be showing, on paper, that we are supporting projects countywide,” said McNamee. “As a commissioner, I want to say, no, we have a living, breathing document that the public can hold us accountable as leaders.”

McNamee plans to be fiscally accountable, fiscally transparent and improve communication for the public.

Seth Taylor

Taylor, 44, settled in Jefferson County in 2005, where he continued working for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for the next 17 years. He now works as a behavior intervention teacher at Jefferson County Middle School.

“I have served our county for almost 20 years, whether it’s been feeding the homeless, coaching our youth, cleaning up our public lands or serving in official roles of being a chair of a road district or chair of the Culver School Board,” Taylor wrote in an emailed statement.

He sees becoming county commissioner as the “next level of service” for the community, and said he’s prepared for the work.

Taylor has served on the Culver School District board for nearly seven years, and said serving as county commissioner is similar to serving on a school board.

“As a Christian man, my love, compassion and positivity has overflowed into my work life. Working with people from different backgrounds and belief systems and maintaining positive healthy relationships shows the kind of temperament needed to be a successful leader,” he wrote.

Taylor has also served as the chair of the Juniper Butte Road District and chair of the school district board.

Taylor said he will collaborate with commissioners Simmelink and Wunsch to help farmers with water, work with the Oregon Department of Transportation to fix the “dangerous” stretch of U.S. Highway 97 between Redmond and Madras and “bring economic development to our residents,” he wrote.

Taylor said he will meet with business owners and go to meetings the other commissioners can’t attend.

“I will work with communities to move forward, bringing common sense and intentional solutions to the county,” wrote Taylor. “I believe having a commissioner available on hand at all times is needed for the success of our county. I am going to be a public servant, because that’s what it’s all about.”

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