Roger's Response to Questions from
the Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors.

1. Who is your campaign treasurer?

     Candi Jerke, P.O. Box 456 Corvallis, Mt. 59828

2. and 10. Will you accept PAC contributions?

     No. Any individual is welcome to donate to our campaign. Accepting PAC money is too much like purchasing influence for my comfort.

3. What previous relationship have you had with Realtors?

     I have worked with Realtors since I started working in the Bitterroot in 1980. I have been called upon many times to help solve problems with water supply, sewage treatment, site drainage, grading, access, etc. on many properties to facilitate their sale and/or development.

4. Among the Realtors in your district, with whom have you discussed your campaign?

     Although they are not directly involved with my campaign, I have a good working relationship with many Realtors. Over the years I have worked with Tom Lund, Pat Zeiller, Lori Schallenberger, Diane Ayers, Bill McCluskey, Rich Miller, Shirley Dowling, Kathleen Driscoll and others.

5. Would I support Statewide Zoning?

     Zoning and growth planning is an individual choice for local communities - city, county and regional. Some issues may be of statewide significance, such as air and water quality, forest health, state transportation, energy and communication links. It may be that statewide zoning may be of use in these areas, but I would have to see a specific proposal before I could evaluate it. Primarily the state should help facilitate zoning on more local levels.

6. Should the next legislature address the issue of emergency zoning to regulate gravel pits, coal bed methane drilling or other surface and mineral rights issues?

     The state should offer assistance to local governments to develop appropriate zoning where needed. Most of these examples would be more appropriately controlled with development standards rather than zoning.

7. How are stream setbacks best handled, locally or statewide?

     There should be a state minimum requirement as many streams are state waters. However, local governments would be wise to establish their own stream protection controls before the state rules supercede them.

7A. How should stream setbacks on very narrow lots be treated?

     First, we should not be creating any new lots that cannot maintain a proper buffer and setback between the stream and the residence. For existing lots that were clearly intended as residential, i.e. approved as a State and County reviewed subdivision, each lot must have at least one possible house site. These situations are few enough that they can be handled individually. Most lots that can meet the required septic tank and drainfield setback from a stream can meet proposed stream protection setbacks.

7B. Should setbacks apply to more than just buildings?

     Setbacks should apply primarily to permanent structures, i.e. houses and barns, and their associated appurtenances like driveways. The purpose of a stream buffer is to preserve natural vegetation near a stream to prevent erosion, keep water cool, filter pollutants and maintain wildlife habitat. This vegetation should remain as undisturbed as possible.

8. What do you think of impact fees?

     Should the entire cost of infrastructure be borne by new development? It is clear that historically new development does not cover the cost of government services it requires. Certainly new high-density development should cover the entire cost of infrastructure inside the subdivision - roads, sidewalks, bus stops, bike paths, water supply, sewage treatment etc. It should also pay a pro-rated portion of infrastructure that it impacts in the community - schools, sheriff, fire protection, ambulance and roads. For development to lose its negative stigma, it is important that it not cost the taxpayers. Impact fees are one tool for this purpose. If calculated properly, they represent the portion of the infrastructure, due from the new house, that other taxpayers have been paying on for years. Schools are the perfect example.

9. and 15. Should exempt residential water wells be eliminated?

     Should each new house be on a domestic water system? The issue of new wells exempt from water rights has to do with the total overall impact on an aquifer. If a large number of exempt wells are sunk in the same aquifer they will have just as much impact as a few larger municipal wells. In some cases multi-family or public wells have an advantage over individual wells in terms of better testing, better operation and maintenance, and better aquifer protection. Deciding which system is best requires careful analysis of many engineering and hydro-geologic factors and should not be hampered by political restraints. It is certainly in all of our best interest to take very good care of our water supplies.

11. Are you interested in receiving support from the Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors?

     I am interested in anyone's support who truly wants the Bitterroot to be the best place it can, with a clean environment, good community values, and a thriving economy. We have real problems that need real solutions. Neighbors helping neighbors is an excellent start, but we also need a clear set of rules that everyone can understand. Rules should control high impact land use and eliminates community decay that reduces property values and can make houses very hard to sell. I believe we can find the middle ground that allows and encourages the best of both worlds - a clean and beautiful place and a strong economy.

12. Why are you running for office? I love the Bitterroot valley and our community here.

     I want to take care of the quality of life we enjoy by helping guide our future changes. I will avoid extremes and work to find sensible solutions. My skills as a problem solver, mediator and technical writer, plus 28 years of experience as a Bitterroot business owner, landowner and consulting engineer will help me find the balance between protecting what we value and keeping our economy going.

13. What are the 5 most significant issues influencing the quality of life in the Bitterroot Valley?

     Maintaining and improving:
1. roads and bridges
2. schools
3. sheriff's department
4. fire departments and
5. public health and eliminating community decay.
All of these are strongly influenced by growth, which therefore must be managed appropriately.

14. Would I support a sales tax? Not applicable to County Commissioner candidates.

15. See 9. above.

16. Are you in favor or a realty transfer tax?

     A transfer tax is somewhat similar to a luxury tax on very high end purchases - yachts, limousines etc. Such a tax must exempt lower level housing, say anything below $200,000. If done sensibly, it could become a source of income to help work on the growth problems listed in no. 13 above. Of course the specific language is critical and I would reserve judgment until I saw it.

17. What are your ideas to help revitalize our small towns and cities?

     To protect and enhance our valley's economy, including our towns, we must strive for predictability in both our infrastructure and our social and educational environment to create a friendly environment for new development. I will work toward sustainable business and construction growth, avoiding the "boom and bust" cycles that have occurred in the past.
     Such things as a community college and healthy neighborhoods will be attractive to clean manufacturing and research type businesses. Allowing residents to have small home-based businesses will encourage creative local economic stimulation. Dialogue with Forest Service and conservationists will help us develop new sustainable business with our forest resources.
     There may be times when it is appropriate for a County government to offer various benefits or incentives to try to lure in new business. However, this must be done carefully, and only in unique situations, so to not disadvantage existing businesses or taxpayers.

18. What changes do you feel are necessary to facilitate affordable work force housing?

     Currently, affordable housing in the Bitterroot consists of older homes in towns, and trailers. For the future we must be sure there are small town size lots available for housing, plus reasonable availability of trailer courts. Our growth policy suggests such high density housing should properly be located adjacent to existing towns. We must be careful to leave areas adjacent to towns open so that they do not fill up with larger houses on larger lots, because once the larger lots are established with on-site water and sewer, it is almost impossible to get public water and sewer service through them. The Cooper Lane area south east of Hamilton is an example of how to stop city expansion. The new subdivisions being built around Corvallis is an example of how to do it correctly.

19. When weighing the benefits of land use regulations, development standards, and the need for new housing, how can we strike a balance?

     This is the million-dollar question. It is the essential problem that must be solved or else development in this County will come to a halt. Obviously people want to move here because it is a beautiful and friendly place. If we do not establish reasonable rules and sensible solutions that make both the development and environmental protection process predictable, consistent and fair - we run the risk of serious backlash where nothing can get done. If the citizens of this county can work together to develop sensible rules in the areas most people can agree upon, we can have a very bright future. If developers and conservationists are divisive and fighting against each other, no one will get what they want.
     These are complex issues that require careful analysis and understanding. I hope and pray that I can be the leader that will help facilitate a wonderful future for our cherished valley.

Signed: Roger De Haan, P.E. June 30, 2008

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