I’m writing to ask voters to support Jake Pelroy for East Lane District 5 county commissioner.

Since declaring his candidacy, Pelroy has made a point of attending a wide variety of community events across the district to introduce himself and explain why he would be honored to serve. I saw him helping serve a fundraising meal at Bohemia Mining Days and a month later at the Cottage Grove Heritage Fair with his two sons, meeting people and listening to their concerns. By contrast, the only time I saw our current commissioner in Cottage Grove this summer was during the Bohemia Mining Days parade.

Pelroy’s determination to be present in the community reminds me of the way my wife, Cindy, served during her eight years as the East Lane commissioner from 1995 through 2002. She spent countless evenings and weekends at meetings and events, and she took constituent calls at all hours because she wanted to understand people’s concerns regardless of their political persuasion.

Pelroy shares my conservative principles in ways Heather Buch never has. When given the chance to listen to her constituents and slow down the financial disaster now facing our waste‑management system, she chose not to. She believed she knew better than the packed meeting room of opponents asking her to put the issue on the ballot.

I take great exception to the Sept. 7 letter to the editor in Lookout claiming Pelroy “has accepted many large donations … from the timber industry and their deep‑pocketed allies,” while Buch supposedly relies on “small donors.” Since when do contributions from her own deep‑pocketed allies in the Democratic Party and labor unions qualify as “small donors”?

I was especially grateful to see Pelroy at the Sept. 17 Honor Flight ceremony that sent two buses of elderly veterans to Washington, D.C., many for the first time, to visit the memorials honoring their service. Sadly, I saw no other candidate for public office there.

Buch has had eight years in this position. It’s time for a change.

Ralph Weeldreyer
Cottage Grove