Survey Guest Editorial

The Democratic Party of Douglas County had a great time at the

County Fair. It was good to see old friends and make some new ones.

There are many issues of the day and while presidential politics are

important, the Democratic Party of Douglas County believes we have

much in common on local issues. We seek to learn where we can work

together and tend to matters right here where we live.

In following that ideal we designed a non -partisan survey to offer

people from all walks of life in Douglas County a chance to answer 12

questions. Many people walking by were obviously hostile to us but it

was not a bit surprising that when Republicans took the survey there

was no dramatic differences. There were some interesting trends and

comments.

The first question was Where to you live? Of the 240 people who

took the survey, 120 were from the city of Roseburg; 77 were from an

incorporated town other than Roseburg; 27 were from the country and

16 people lived on more than 10 acres. This means the vast majority of

respondents were from town.

The next question was how old are you? 20 people were between

15 and 21; 39 were between the ages of 21 to 40; between the ages of

41 and 65 there was 79 citizens and 102 were over 65 years of age. In

all of these groups half were from Roseburg.

The third question was: Do you see the effects of a changing

climate in Douglas County? The overwhelming response at 80+

percent said yes. This was in all age groups and all locations.

Next was: Are local governments doing enough to help the

homeless? 20 people chose not to answer and 44 people or 18.33%

said yes. 176 people said no governments are not doing enough for the

homeless. This was 73.33% from all ages and areas. One respondent

commented “Governments were doing more than enough” and another

said Governments needed to do different things but was not sure what

they might be.

 

Question 5 was: Have you considered buying an electric car? The

results were split 50-50 Across all ages and locations. Several

comments were that the price was too high, several people said they

had hybrids,

Question 6: Scientists at OSU have said a major earthquake is

coming to Oregon’s coast. Are you aware of this prediction? Slightly

over 84 % said yes and the vast majority of the people said no, live in

Roseburg.

Question 7: Are you aware that local timberland is being sold to

out-of-state investors? This was interesting the split was almost 50-50

between yeas and no but the vast majority of the individuals who live in

the country or on10+ acres said yes. There also strong comments that

the respondents did not like this; no one said they did.

Question 8: Would you be willing to consider a program where

government money allowed local communities to buy and manage

timberland as Community Forests? Without knowing exactly what this

concept might be, 72.5 % said yes and more people chose not to

answer than those who said no. What is a Community Forest?

Number 9: Should tourism be encouraged for the economy of

Douglas County? Slightly over 83% said yes and only 10.8% said no.

There were many comments on this question mostly disparaging the

County Commissioners.

Question 10: Currently timberland owners of less than 5,000 acres

pay a severance tax when they sell logs. Landowners over 5,000 acres

pay no tax. Do you think anyone selling logs should pay a severance

tax? This was a confusing question and over 10% did not answer. Of

the 62 % who said yes the people who lived out of town were

unanimous

Question 11: Do you think the State of Oregon has mismanaged

the legalization of Cannabis? Another interesting response. 52.65 %

said yes and 36.76% said no. The majority of people over 40 said yes

and the majority under 40 said no. There was a substantial number of

people who did not answer.

 

The last question was: Studies have shown that the Winchester

Damn harms fish runs in the Umpqua river. Should the Winchester

Damn be removed? This question had 15 % no answer, 43% said yes

and 41% said no. Many comments on this one. Some people said it

was beautiful and a well known feature on I-5. Others said they liked

the fish viewing opportunity. Those who wanted it gone were quite

vehement in the damage done to the fisheries and the process by which

the Water District got their permits.

Rural Oregonians have a lot more in common than we realize in a

world of controversy and sound bites. We have a lot to be thankful

about as well. The Democratic Party of Douglas County seeks civil

dialogue and honest debate towards making the Umpqua a better place

to live.