A third candidate enters race for Buch’s county commission seat 

Jake Pelroy is running for the Lane County Board of Commissioners, and the county’s planned CleanLane recycling project is front and center in his campaign.

Pelroy, 40, a former Marine and consultant, announced Wednesday, Nov. 5, he is running for the East Lane District 5 seat now held by Heather Buch. Buch is running for reelection to a third term and faces another challenger, Bob Zybach.

It’s Pelroy’s first run for public office.

“Lane County is facing real challenges right now — from the high cost of living that forces families to move, public safety issues that make our communities less safe, and a dysfunctional county bureaucracy that hurts small businesses and workers,” he said in a statement.

Pelroy is also president of the Lane County Garbage and Recycling Association, which started last year when regional garbage haulers and recyclers had concerns about the CleanLane project’s estimated $178 million cost and its location in Goshen. A land-use officer has ruled out that site, but that decision is under appeal. Separately, the county is considering Short Mountain Landfill as an alternative site.

The project is intended to allow Lane County to handle its own recycling and waste. When finished, it’s projected to divert an estimated 80,000 tons of material from the landfill every year. But fees for haulers have raised concerns.

“We’re already paying for it, and it’s increasing the cost of living, and it’s a wasteful program,” Pelroy said in an interview with Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

Cottage Grove Mayor Candace Solesbee offered support for Pelroy in his campaign announcement.

“Some county commissioners have placed their focus on a massive, poorly planned, and wasteful garbage project while crucial public safety investments remain under addressed,” Solesbee said. “We find ourselves in a position where we cannot afford another four years of this type of mismanagement. Jake Pelroy brings a thoughtful, solutions-oriented approach.”

Pelroy has worked as a consultant and started his career in trash hauling. He’s worked as a legislative staffer for Republican lawmakers, and says he’s done consulting work for clients of different political backgrounds. 

County commission seats are nonpartisan, meaning candidates do not officially identify themselves as allied with a particular party. 

Buch said Pelroy is a “longtime partisan Republican political consultant.”

“I don’t think that’s what Lane County needs more of right now,” Buch said. “I’m focused on delivering for local communities and getting back to basics: affordable housing, dependable law enforcement and accessible healthcare.”

As for the CleanLane project, Buch said her priority is reducing long-term costs for county residents while evaluating the two different locations and hearing from people across the community.

“This is about creating jobs, modernizing our old systems, and keeping rates affordable for all families,” Buch said. 

Pelroy lives in the Churchill neighborhood of Eugene with his wife, Kelly, and their two boys, Graham and Marcus.

The East Lane District 5 commissioner represents Cottage Grove, Creswell, Oakridge, Lowell, Westfir, Coburg, portions of west Eugene, and numerous unincorporated communities, such as Goshen, Pleasant Hill, Dexter, Walterville, Blue River, McKenzie Bridge and Marcola.

Other commission seats up for election

The other two seats on the five-member board are up for election in 2026:

• Ryan Ceniga, who represents western Lane County — including Florence, Veneta and Junction City — has filed to run for reelection in his district.
• Board Chair David Loveall, whose district represents Springfield, has not yet filed to run for reelection. He has not responded to Lookout Eugene-Springfield inquiries about his election plans.

The filing period opened Sept. 11 and lasts until March 3 for elected incumbents. The deadline is March 10 for candidates who are not incumbents.

Candidates will face off first in the May 19 primary election. The winner is decided if a candidate gets one more vote than 50% of the votes cast. Even then, the winner would appear on the November ballot and could still face a write-in candidate.

If no candidate gets a majority of the votes, then the top two vote-getters face off in the November election.

County commissioners are paid an annual salary of $114,026.