ENTERPRISE — A newcomer to politics, John Amond hopes to fill Todd Nash’s shoes in Position No. 1 on the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners.

“The position was open because Todd is running for the (state) Senate,” Amond said during an interview. “I believe I have the skills to do this because I’ve got experience in management and I’ve got experience in budgeting, I’ve got experience in planning, so I’ve got the skills to do the job.”

Though he declined to give his age, he believes the activity of being a commissioner would be beneficial.

“Personally, I believe people live longer if they stay active,” he said.

Amond believes his years of experience working for IBM and running his own consulting business are a plus.

He sees the condition of county roads and housing as the two biggest issues the commissioners face.

“I’ve been studying the county since I made the decision last fall (to run) and based on that research that I’ve done, I would say the condition of the roads is a big issue,” he said, adding that it primarily involves money and personnel. “I also think that housing for the seasonal people who come into the county and support our needs during the summer months, I think that’s a really critical issue.”

With both issues he wants to find more resources to bring into the county.

Amond believes working with Wallowa Resources on housing has been valuable, but some issues need clarifying.

“There’s a lot of confusion when they talk affordable housing or workforce housing. People hear different things when they hear those phrases, those terms,” he said. “Those terms need to be defined. I think Wallowa Resources has done a good job of defining what they mean by that, but that’s not what everybody hears.”

He also acknowledges that the housing issue will take years to resolve and looking at it in terms of today’s housing market may not be an accurate reflection of the market in a few years.

Amond is also thinking ahead about what he’d like the county to be in 20 years and how to improve it for young people. But mostly that’s to retain what’s special about the county now.

“To preserve and protect Wallowa County as it is, as a culture” is important, he said. “It’s a home for the people who live here. I think it’s crucial to protect that Wallowa County feel from outside influences. … Twenty years down the road is a long way to think ahead and if we can manage to keep the feel of Wallowa County the way it is now — it’s a beautiful place, people who live here love it — if we can do that, it’ll be doing a lot. Other than that, I don’t know what the world is going to look like 20 years from now.”

Amond doesn’t think effort expended on the voter-directed issue of holding public meetings to consider the possibility of the county joining another state, most likely Idaho, is really worthwhile.

“As a county commissioner, I would focus my time and energy on other issues that are more within our control and we can do a better job of managing them. I don’t see that it’s a great benefit to Wallowa County to change the border,” he said. “The biggest issue that I see is that we’re a small county and we don’t really control a great deal what happens in Salem. That would shift if they moved the border, we would be controlled with what happens in Boise instead of Salem. I’d rather deal with the devil we know than the devil we don’t know.”

The would-be commissioner believes the current board has done a good job of maintaining openness and transparency, though it’s always something that could be improved. He said the Wallowa Resources Community Energy Strategic Plan “blindsided people but it should’t have.” He said the county did much to seek feedback and only got a significant response once the plan was published.

“That plan was three years in progress and Wallowa Resources did a lot of work. … It should never have been a surprise. People don’t like surprises,” he said. “I think it’s human nature to not worry about things that are not right on your doorstep.”

He suggests trying a more proactive approach to seeking feedback, something he found success with as a program chair for Rotary in Portland.

“I would steer my questions to get feedback,” he said. “I’d like to try something like that (as a commissioner). I don’t know yet what shape it would take, but that’s what I would like to try.”

Editor’s Note

Today, the Chieftain begins running a series of stories profiling candidates in the May 21 primary election for the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners.

Five candidates are running to replace Commissioner Todd Nash for the the board’s Position No. 1. Nash is stepping down from the commission to run for state Senate.

Today’s Chieftain includes profiles of two of the candidates for Position No. 1, John Amond and David Brandt.

Profiles of two other candidates for Position No. 1, Lisa Collier and Angelika Dietrich-Garoutte, will appear in the April 24 Chieftain. A profile of the final candidate, Devin Patton, will appear on May 1.

Two candidates — incumbent Susan Roberts and challenger David Hembd — are running for Position No. 2 on the board. Stories about Roberts and Hembd also will appear in the May 1 edition.

County commissioners in Wallowa County serve four-year terms. They are paid $50,737 annually. The positions are nonpartisan.

John Amond

Age: Declined to give.

Residence: Enterprise.

Occupation: Retired, but runs firearms training business. He ran his own consulting business for 30 years — facilities management — providing consulting and support for computer and technology clients.

Relevant political or other experience: He spent 15 years working for IBM, gained experience planning, budgeting, managing.

Family: Wife, Jude Graham. She has two adult children. He has none.

Hobbies: Likes to ski, scuba dive, reloads ammunition and do projects around the house.