County commissioners likely to see increase in annual salary for 2024-25 fiscal year

DICK MASON, The Observer, La Grande, Ore.
Updated ·2 min read

LA GRANDE — The individual elected to Position 3 on the Union County Board of Commissioners will help oversee a total annual budget of at least $61 million.

More than $83,000 of this will cover the new commissioner’s annual salary.

All three current members of the Union County Board of Commissioners have an annual salary of $83,316 for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, according to Union County Administrative Officer Shelley Burgess.

The salary will likely be more in 2024-25 because the members of the board of commissioners are expected to receive a cost of living increase that would be recommended by Union County’s budget committee. The budget committee recommends all cost of living pay increases for Union County’s elected employees, Burgess said.

The cost of living increases the commissioners are expected to receive will be identical since all three always receive the same salary, Burgess said, regardless of differences in years of experience.

Members of the Union County Board of Commissioners also receive benefits including health insurance and money for a retirement fund.

The race for Position 3 on the Union County Board of Commissioners has nine candidates. The candidates are Kathleen Cathey, of La Grande, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s field representative in 11 Eastern Oregon counties; Robin Church, of La Grande, a retired Union County clerk; Brent Clapp, of La Grande, the owner of Eastern Oregon Alive TV and Brent Clapp Productions; Merle Comfort, of La Grande, a member of the La Grande School Board and InterMountain Education Service District Board; John Coote, of Island City, the owner of Coote Auction Company; Caleb Sampson, of La Grande, a member of the Union County Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors; Brian Sather, of Summerville, a professor of physical activity and health at Eastern Oregon University; Jake Seavert, of La Grande, a division manager for Oregon Trail Livestock Supply’s location in Island City; and Mark Simmons, a former state representative, who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1997-2002 and was speaker of the House from 2000-2002.

The candidates are seeking to succeed Donna Beverage, who is completing her eighth year as commissioner and cannot run for reelection because of term limits Union County voters approved several years ago.

If a candidate receives at least 50% of the vote in the May 21 primary, that individual will be declared the winner. However, if no candidate tops the 50% mark, the top two finishers will face each other in a runoff in the Nov. 5 general election.

The winner of the race for Position 3 will be sworn in as a new member of the Union County Board of Commissioners in early January 2025.