Josephine County candidates for sheriff and county commissioner, face off

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – The Josephine County Republican Party hosted a debate for its county commissioner and sheriff candidates.

Organizers say the main purpose of the debate was to inform voters about the candidates and what they plan to do for the county if elected.

County commissioner candidates John West and Brian Delagrange faced off over issues like fire risk and homelessness.

John West said the following while talking about Josephine County’s wildfire problems, “Folks the solution is, we have to go after the federal government and make them manage the forests and hold them responsible.”

In response to a question about who should deal with homelessness, Brian Delagrange stated, “Who needs to address the homeless issue? It’s not the county, it’s not the city, it’s not y’all. It’s all of us together, it’s all of those things all at the same time because if the county tries to do anything on its own it is going to be less effective.” 

During the sheriff, candidates debate incumbent sheriff Dave Daniel and his challenger Jon Knapp talked about issues affecting the sheriff’s office.

That includes a proposed sales tax to fund the sheriff’s office and Measure 114 that would ban ammunition magazines over 10 rounds in the state and require people to go through local law enforcement for a “permit to purchase”, and would require showing a photo ID, taking gun safety training, and passing a background check.

When talking about the proposed sales tax, Sheriff Dave Daniel had this to say, “Where we could actually have some stable funding to where I can recruit, retain, and pay our deputies what they really deserve.”   

Jon Knapp had this to say about Measure 114, “If the voters approve it, I will not enforce it. I am your candidate that is not endorsed by the Democrat party. And I am not going to lean over to their changing the rules and trying to get stuff done.”

If you want to vote for any of these candidates in the November election in Oregon, October 18th is the deadline to register to vote.

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