Candidate rounds out enhancement district ballot

Vote-by-mail ballots have been sent to landowners in the valley for election of members of the Grays River Habitat Enhancement District Board of Directors.

The district, which is essentially a flood or erosion control district, has a three-person board of commissioners, and all positions are up for election.

Candidates are, Position 1, incumbent Delvin Fredricksen and challenger Kurt Steinke; Postion 2, incumbent Poul Toftemark and challenger Terr Satterlund, and Position 3, incumbent William Karwoski and challenger Karen Bertroch.

The positions are non-partisan.

Qualified electors will be able to vote by mail or in person at a polling place in the Johnson Park Cafeteria, Rosburg, which will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on April 27.

Last week, The Eagle was able to publish brief statements from all candidates but one; Steinke's comments came too late for last week's edition.

Steinke said he's running for the position "because I believe that I can be effective at protecting the properties of the landowners of the district."

Steinke feels his engineering background and experience make him well qualified for the position.

"I’m a landowner on the Grays River proper," he said. "I’m a professional engineer with an extremely broad background. I’m unbiased and can relate to the interests of all the stakeholders in the district. I’m experienced dealing with private, state, and federal agencies.

"I have a proven ability to work with others to find innovative solutions to difficult problems."

He said that if he is elected, he intends to:

--Increase the transparency and accountability of the enhancement district." This can be accomplished by making the board meeting minutes, budgets, expenditures, bids, and proposals available to the public, preferably on a web site," he said.

--He would decline reimbursement for mileage expenses related to this position. "I would like to see every penny of the assessments you and I pay applied to directly benefit the district," he said.

--Explore alternatives such as bank stabilization, sediment control, and dredging. "The frequency and severity of flooding of the Grays River has increased over the years," he said. "The drivers for this are largely outside the district, thus, the GRHED is not a self-contained entity, but must deal constructively with other agencies."