LOC stands for local control
By Terry Murry on Monday, March 4th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Oregon cities face similar challenges with housing shortages, the homeless, and aging infrastructure. Hermiston Mayor Dave Drotzmann says that from his view as president of the League of Oregon Cities, there’s one thing upon which they agree. They want to solve those problems on their own.
“A lot of our local control has been taken away from us at the state level,” Drotzmann said. “We’re always looking for opportunities to claw back some of that local control.”
Drotzmann says the fix to Measure 110 is a step in the right direction in returning controls to Oregon’s counties for drug counseling programs.
“A lot of us are now facing challenges we’ve never faced before,” he said. “We feel like cities should have the right to develop the way they want to develop. We’re all unique – 241 of us.”
Drotzmann says the common bond among cities and counties is the desire to face their challenges on everything from housing to jobs.
“We want our own destiny controlled by our own community members, not Salem,” he said.
