County board hopefuls line up.

Byline: RANDI BJORNSTAD The Register-Guard

With the addition of several down-to-the-wire filings, voters should have plenty of choices among candidates for all three Lane County commissioner races in May's primary election.

Four people will be on the ballot for the West Lane seat on the commission, with five vying for the Springfield position and four more going after the East Lane spot.

The 13 candidates include two incumbents - Anna Morrison representing West Lane County and Bill Dwyer from Springfield.

Morrison, who has served as a commissioner for one term, lives in Florence, where she has been a small-business owner and activist on timber industry issues. She wants to help bring Lane County out of the current economic recession and develop a permanent solution by which Congress will reimburse counties for lost tax revenues stemming from vast holdings of forest lands by the federal government.

Her challengers in the May election include:

Dianne Burch, current president of the Florence City Council who has lived in West Lane County for more than 30 years. She works as assistant to East Lane County Commissioner Cindy Weeldreyer and cites several issues as those she feels must be addressed by the commission during the next several years: adequate police and fire protection; balancing urban and rural development and preservation; water quality; maintenance of streets and roadways; recycling and sanitation; and telecommunications.

William Fleenor runs Community Enterprises and Biogenics in Mapleton and serves on the board of the Central Lincoln People's Utility District. He would focus on making decisions that leave a positive and lasting legacy for future generations. He also would promote utilization of technology to help create livable wage jobs and would encourage the state to invest in Highway 126 between Florence and Eugene.

Bonnie Kuhn, an internal auditor for PacificSource Health Plans, would concentrate on development in the Irvington Road area; a greater commitment to the creation of family wage jobs in the county; better planning for urban-rural transitions around the metropolitan area; and the possible need for two commissioners - one for the coastal area and the other in the valley - to serve West Lane County.

Dwyer has been the Springfield member of the Board of Commissioners for one term. He said his primary accomplishments during his term include stabilized funding at the county's Short Mountain landfill; construction of a soundwall to protect residences along Interstate 105 from noise; preventing a road from being built through a senior citizen mobile home park in the Gateway area; and improved management-labor relations.

He will face four candidates in May:

Thomas Atkinson, a telecommunications executive and member of the Springfield School Board, names as his primary concerns the creation of family-wage jobs; traffic improvements in the Gateway area; and upgraded services for development in the Jasper-Natron area southeast of Springfield. He also calls for better library services and improved rural public safety.

David Cole could not be reached Tuesday to provide information.

Garrett Hinds, a sophomore majoring in business at the University of Oregon, serves as vice chairman of Gov. John Kitzhaber's Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. His concerns include "education funding, community involvement and the need for more love between citizens."

Hinds will make a final decision today about remaining in the race and welcomes comments from constituents via e-mail at: [e-mail].

Mark Jaehnig, a former law enforcement officer, now participates as a partner in Secure Transportation, a courier service catering to health and law enforcement clients. He would concentrate on improving law enforcement and education in the county while remaining fiscally responsible.

The East Lane seat on the commission will be up for grabs this spring, after the announcement by incumbent Cindy Weeldreyer that she intends to run instead as an independent candidate in the November general election for House District 7.

Four people have filed to fill that void:

Ed Kemp, who cites the need for a `healthy dose of fiscal `tough love' ' in county government, opposes "overly restrictive rules" for rural residential and commercial development. He supports increased sheriff's patrols in outlying areas, improved park development and maintenance and possible relocation of the county fairgrounds. Kemp lives in Cedar Flat, where he co-owns International Business Reports and serves on a variety of civic committees.

Tom Lininger, a Vida resident and former federal prosecutor, names as his top issues "economic development in rural areas, stronger law enforcement, improvement of services for veterans and seniors, greater protection of abused children and a balanced approach to land use planning."

Robert Spencer, who has lived in the Walterville area for 17 years, wants the chance to "serve neighbors in a great country and great community."

His top priorities include preserving the way of life in East Lane County through a balance between protection of natural resources and provision of employment. He has worked in law enforcement, respiratory therapy, retirement planning and the aerospace industry and now spends most of his time volunteering with nonprofit organizations.

Donald Staley of Dexter calls himself the "old-growth candidate" because his family goes back six generations in Oregon. He wants to pursue campaign finance reform at the local level and draw on his experience as a 20-year federal employee of the Bureau of Land Management to address labor/management relations; social services for senior citizens; managed growth and preservation of prime forest and farm land; and creative government financing and transportation planning, especially on Highway 126 and in the Jasper Road area.