As a guy who had no political experience and just wanted to make a positive difference in his community, I am lucky to have had so many of you come out and vote for me and share my message.

I was interviewed this week by Jefferson Public Radio for a story on crime and proposed tax increases in Oregon. (photo by Justin Higginbottom / JPR)

Ensuring government officials are responsibly spending our tax dollars has been and will continue to be a focus of mine regardless of the outcome of this month's election.

The current county leadership and my opponents have no plan to fund law enforcement without raising taxes. Their plan is to defund the police, and I will not stand idly by while that happens. With all the taxes we currently pay we deserve safe neighborhoods.

Reversing our current trend toward lawlessness is something I'm passionate about and something I believe in, which is why I would never feel comfortable cashing a $74k/yr Commissioner paycheck knowing deputies are being laid off and we are releasing criminals back into our neighborhoods without consequences.

We need transparent leaders who can make tough decisions and stand behind them -- not career politicians who obscure their voting record and take money from the Democrat party while claiming to have no affiliation.

Our leaders need to prioritize funding to law enforcement departments FIRST so that they receive financial support necessary to fully open the jail and hire enough deputy district attorneys to effectively prosecute all of the crime in the county.

When talking about the ever increasing homeless problem, I am often asked “Okay, but what are you going to do about it?” This would be my approach.

Sex offenders and criminals with active warrants should not be living in the woods anywhere near our schools. These encampments behind Blossom Gulch Elementary in Coos Bay have been ignored by our local leaders for years.

“Castleman thinks the county should remove restrictions and barriers for businesses and homeowners. He objects to homeowners and businesses paying more taxes because they improve their properties.”

The incredible hypocrisy of pushing your constituents to vote to pay more taxes to fund the jail and district attorney, while being unwilling to set an example and pay for it yourselves is beyond me. I ask that you reconsider how this vote speaks volumes to the true priorities of your administration.

Handing out money, clothes, and food without any accountability does nothing but enable drug addiction, mental health, and crime. How can the county help build strong families/communities? It is only with strong families and strong communities that we can have any hope of a long term solution. But there are a few things we can do in the short term.

The current county leadership has the money available to fully fund the jail and District Attorney's office, but they choose to spend it on other projects and departments that are lower priority.

I filled out a questionnaire the other day, and while I don't feel like these are high priority issues affecting Coos County, but they are issues nonetheless. I hope this helps people understand how I view these topics.

With the proposed cuts I mentioned in my last post, this would bring the grand total to 30.5 full time positions cut if they fail to raise taxes this year.

Treasurer Megan Simms explained that each General Fund department was asked to prepare a budget with a 15% cut. The county is facing a roughly $5 million shortfall which they hope to patch by raising taxes through a "Public Safety" levy that is only supposed to be used for the jail and district attorney.

Based on an analysis published by the Oregon Department of Revenue in 2021, Coos County property owners pay an average actual tax rate of $13.23 per $1k of assessed value which places us 10th from the lowest out of 36 counties in Oregon.

We need strong leaders of strong character to stand up for the freedoms and values that our country was founded on. I am running for County Commissioner to stand up for you and your rights. I am not running to be the "nice guy" who gets along with everyone because guess what... we've all tried that and it's not working.

The Commissioners received a 10% raise last year while at the same time claiming the county is out of cash.

There is simply no legitimate reason to keep the jail closed and continue the daily release of criminals which endangers the public and holds no one accountable for their actions. Here are seven solutions to fix this crisis.