Remarks by Paul Savas
128 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 6
- Play at 5:01
“Yeah, thank you, Chair, for accommodating that and making a special exception. Steve, I just want to just say thank you for you and the Boren community for all you do. You have done an extraordinary amount of work in that area. I feel really bad about the irrigation thing we learned, you know, very, very late about, but I just want to just personally share my gratitude on behalf of your community, our community, for what you do. You're a model, and I just really appreciate the work you've done.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 20:21
“Yeah. I think I know the answer to this, but it'd be great to hear it from you directly. Um, I'm noticed the August 13th deadline for people to register to vote, correct?”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 20:35
“Yeah. 13th. And then next day the ballots are dropped in the mail and maybe people don't realize until maybe a week afterwards, you know, or towards the election, a couple of weeks before the election, I didn't get my ballot. I didn't get my ballot and maybe they were registered or maybe they're not. Um, But really if they discover that they're not registered or assume they were registered Really that October 13th is the drop-dead date if they were never registered, right?”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 21:14
“That's what I want you to say. Thank you.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 32:12
“Yeah, I just want to thank everyone here today and others that are out there that have, in particular, dedicated their lives after recovery to this cause and helping others. And I think those personal experiences are powerful, and I think that is something I've learned over my years of service here, is meeting people, seeing people who dedicated their lives to helping others and are the walking, living example of success, of recovery. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here and others out there that are doing that work every day.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 47:05
“Yeah, just curiosity about two things. Number one is your availability. You probably don't use a lot of water, probably. That's one question.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 47:32
“Yeah. And the other question I have is on the air quality side. I mean, is there a humidity factor, a temperature? I'm sure that's ideal.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 48:01
“Are mushrooms light sensitive as far as timing? You know, the long days, short days, typical crops, you know, grow and harvest a certain time. Do mushrooms have that same kind of sensitivity to light as far as timing and harvesting?”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 48:47
“Well, thanks for that. Appreciate you investing in Clackamas County as well. Thanks. Yeah.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 52:15
“No chair just a comment. I you know I got way back on the council wanting to transfer some of their roads over the city can be City Council, so It just goes to show that progress sometimes is inches along, but we eventually get there, so thanks for all the great work All right, I'll now open the public hearing on this item and clerk you want to help us moderate that”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 1:09:25
“Yes, Chair. I just want to make a comment on this effort. We have been very deliberate in trying to encourage our partner agencies, as well as our own WES in this case, to develop and support low-income programs for rate relief. And that's what this is about. And this partnership with Portland General Electric, as they are agents so to speak to do that billing directly through PGE. So I just want to just acknowledge that partnership and our deliberate efforts to try to in these very difficult times to for low-income families and households to offer that discount program and also take this…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 1:15:57
“On a similar note, as far as 9-11, I was in my elected position in 2001 on the Oak Lodge Water Board. I had signed up for the AWWA conference in Washington, D.C. It was a pre-conference class that I had also signed up for. on domestic and international terrorism. And it was quite the weekend, actually. It was a two-day pre-conference. And the whole theme there was, we know something's going to happen. We just don't know what and where it's going to be. And they had a lot of the, you name it, anyone involved in the national security or security services around the country and abroad was in…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 1:34:02
“I'm sorry, I'm having a hearing challenge. I'm working on it. What'd you say? What part were you anxious to hear?”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 1:34:57
“Yeah, well, I'm happy to, and it'd be actually even better maybe to even have a small work session and bring Patrick from CCSO Finance and bring whoever might want to be, whether it's Cindy Becker or others from County Finance or who help with that. We did discussions at the work group. There was consensus on that, understanding. So it was no disagreement on the staff side of this. Math is math. I love math. And dollars are math. So it all reconciles. And I think the... In hindsight, maybe if that work group was public and everyone could have participated, then yourself and others and Sheriff…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 3:05
“Commissioner yeah, so just to make sure I understand so this gives the opportunity for a department to come to us month or whatever department it is and do what we used to do which was at the Budget Committee meeting present what they're doing what their progress are what their needs are so it would be something like that right this is that opportunity but broken up in the 12 sections”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 3:39
“Okay. So there will be an educational element to it, obviously.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 8:25
“Yeah in a way you know this is somewhat similar to the work group that we kind of put together prior to the budget and the levy and the math and all those things that we discovered during that period of time has been extremely valuable so I would really like to see us really continue on that path and I don't know if the makeup of the makeup you're suggesting for the composition of this group, would it be similar to the, I mean, what similar people would be at the table that were at the work group? It would be basically the commissioners and finance staff. Okay. It wouldn't be anyone else? The…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 11:05
“Yeah, well, I'm looking at, so thank you, I'm looking at, just to verbalize it, two commissioners, the sheriff, which we didn't have in the work group at the time, acting sheriff, right? CCSO finance, which we did have in the work group, county finance, which we did. And I think county admin staff yourself. Right. Right. So there's some similarities there. Correct. Right, right. Well, I like the structure. I'm good with it. But I really feel that the errors that were made were more mathematical in the levy. they were the content of the levy so I really think that that's really imperative so I…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 15:42
“Yeah. As my memory serves me I know the first came on the Commission I forgot exactly what year it was that the levy was up for renewal Chair you were the sheriff at the time and I Was learning and I was learning about e led in the budget and the shortfalls and why e led was not penciling Budget Committee members had brought forward the fact that were underwater meaning we weren't collecting enough money and to meet what was promised in the measure that created ELED and I immediately went to the levy to say are those same mathematical problems exist there as do the levy and the answer was…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 24:58
“Go ahead. Chair, thanks for the history lesson on ELD. I think those are relevant arguments regarding ELED and the tax base and our ability to... what funds we have for general fund. My point specifically about bringing up ELED is the, you know, the disparity in math was a means of discovering the fact that the levy was been off for all this time and every year that delta grew and grew and grew. So I don't know what analogy to use if, you know, if we're I'll just use, top of my head here, if we're going to charge, if you're going to pay $50 for a gallon of paint and you walk home and you're…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 38:43
“Yeah, I appreciate the report and as I'm reading on the KPIs I'm glad to see things are falling in line and falling in compliance that's great. Just to build on Commissioner Helms question that 90% Whatever that number is I am a little bit curious about the impacts. I know we were put in a very tough spot is either signed the contract or lose ambulance services, so it was like It was a very duff and I you know I know that and I apologize to staff that you know I was I Was really struggling with this and I was really trying to figure out a way to negotiate something better right because of…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 40:28
“Okay, yeah, I just like to know what that number of people are that are impacted by that. I don't need it now, of course, but yeah, thank you.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 46:31
“I am. There's a policy question or two in all of this and appreciate the history. And I was watching some of this work. And again, most significantly since COVID, there's been a very difficult for some of these committees to fill vacant positions or positions, period. And I'm now rethinking, frankly. this thing about how many terms a citizen can hold on a committee. But maybe instead of asking that question, maybe the best way to ask the question is, why would we have a term limit? for advisory committee people? Because I'm seeing where it's not working out so well on a couple committees…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 48:23
“Yeah. you know, I appreciate staff's input on that, and sometimes it's, you know, some of these advisory committees are more about the community than they are about, you know, staff, let's just say. Maybe they're not even staffed at all, for example. I think that we need to revisit that one. Again, on the term limit thing, I can see where, obviously, If the term is, let's say, three years and it's up for the board to reappoint, then the board has an opportunity and so does the incumbent to know that they're up for renewal or not. And I think that's an appropriate check-in, whether that's a…”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026
- Play at 50:24
“And I don't recall ever saying we wanted to have term limits for all our ABCs. So I think you characterized it correctly. So yes, define the terms, but not have a term limit.”
Board of County Commissioners · Sep 9, 2026