Last year, the voters of Deschutes County overwhelming passed a ballot measure to expand the board of commissioners from three members to five. One of the objections raised by opponents of that measure was the cost to taxpayers, as commissioners are currently paid a $135,364 salary, even as the county faces a looming $3 million budget shortfall.

To address this funding challenge, in March a county committee recommended spreading the current budget for commissioner compensation over five members. This amounts to a $50,000 pay cut for the incumbents.

Ultimately, the board of commissioners will decide whether to follow the committee’s recommendations when they adopt a budget later this month. Commissioner Phil Chang has previously rejected pay raises he felt were overly generous, so he may support the cut. Commissioner Patti Adair might, as well, given she has already opted out of PERS, which she is entitled to as a county employee, saving taxpayers more than $27,000.

But of the three commissioners, it is Tony DeBone who has made the strongest case against raising pay for county employees. At a 2022 board meeting, he said the following: “I’ve only taken one career for a pay advance, and the specific salary wasn’t why I was going to take that position… If you get grounded in what you want to do, where you want to be, and why you want to do it, salary is not the driving factor. And yes, everything is costing more right now, but I want to hire employees that are following their dreams and providing customer service and community service in these public jobs.”

Of course, context matters, and in this case, Commissioner DeBone was not speaking about his own salary. Rather, it was his justification for refusing to give county employees a 2% pay increase. A mere year later, after winning reelection on a platform of fiscal responsibility, he voted to increase his own salary $111,422 to $125,149 – a stunning 12% increase. How did he pay for this? By voting to raise property taxes on county residents to $1.2783 per $1000 in assessed value, the highest permanent tax rate available to the county under Oregon law. He and Commissioner Adair raised their salaries again in 2024 – another $10,000 raise.

In case that wasn’t clear, let me repeat: Tony DeBone raised your taxes to give himself a raise.

How did he justify this? “We’re full-time commissioners working hard for the people.” That is quite a departure from the man who claimed salary is not a driving factor and public employees should follow their dreams.

I ran against Commissioner DeBone in the 2022 election. At the time, I was earning a six-figure salary managing two primary care clinics for St. Charles. While I have enormous respect and admiration for my colleagues at the health system, I found the work unfulfilling. So I left, first for a position as a Nurse Care Coordinator at Mosaic Community Health (a significant pay cut), and then to become a Consulting Registered Nurse at Bend-La Pine Schools (another big cut). I’m in my second year as a school district nurse, and I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled at work.

I’ve lost count of the number of people who have reached out since the 2022 election and asked me to run again. I love my job, but I care deeply about Deschutes County and the people who live here. And given the important role Deschutes County plays in our health care system, I think it’s important that we have a commissioner with clinical experience, preferably in community health.

But one thing I know with certainty: If I do run for County Commissioner in 2026, it won’t be for the salary. Can our current commissioners say the same?

Oliver Tatom is a registered nurse. He lives in rural Deschutes County near Bend.