ENTERPRISE — Devin Patton may be lacking in actual government experience, but he’s sure he has what it takes to be a member of the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners — experience in agriculture.

In the Nov. 5 election, Patton hopes to take the seat on the board Todd Nash is vacating where he keeps watch on the ag and natural resources sectors of the county. Nash is running for the state Senate, to take the seat Bill Hansell is vacating.

“I’m deeply involved in the agricultural sector,” Patton said during a recent interview. “The ag sector is the foundation of which everything else is built (in Wallowa County) and one of the roles of the county commissioner is to advocate for the interests of county residents.”

He noted that the other two commissioners, Susan Roberts and John Hillock, are not as involved in agriculture as he or Nash are. Roberts primarily looks over administrative and Road Department issues and Hillock keeps an eye on business and energy-related issues, though they all address all county issues to some degree.

Patton’s opponent, Lisa Collier, has experience as an educator and as mayor and a city councilor in Joseph, but not as much in the ag sector as he, he said.

“I would be the only one who could effectively advocate for the ag sector in the county,” he said. “That would be the role that the two current commissioners and Lisa can’t fill as effectively as I can. Without an ag sector representative, that leaves a big gap. It’s vital that they have a voice for our county. That doesn’t mean anyone else is antithetical to the ag sector, it’s just they don’t understand it as intimately to be able to communicate it effectively.”

Not only does Patton farm and ranch, he works with other farmers and ranchers in agricultural market risk management, helping them get the best prices for their crops or livestock.

The 34-year-old Patton has been married to his wife, Rebecca, for 11 years. Together, they have three daughters and a son ranging in age from 2 to 8.

For fun, he enjoys the outdoors in Wallowa County, hunting, fishing, riding his horses in the mountains and in town playing basketball.

“There’s lots of things I enjoy, but I don’t always make the time to do them,” he said.

Patton said he’s running for office to fill that gap being left by Nash’s departure.

“I entered the race because the other people, I felt, that none of the other candidates could represent my community (the ag community) as well as I could,” he said.

But he doesn’t want the county as a whole to deteriorate.

“I want what everyone wants, for Wallowa County to be a place where young families can stay and raise their families here for generations,” he said. “Having a strong ag sector is critical to be more than a destination for wealthy outsiders to come and play. That’s why the ag sector’s important.”

Patton said he believes Wallowa County still retains much of what America has always been about.

“I think people want to have their kids safe … there are lots of places that have lost that,” he said. “If we don’t defend it, it’s something we can lose.”

As a commissioner, he would follow in the footsteps of the others and be a constant advocate for rural life to stand up to the urban-rural divide.

When it comes to the county budget that the commissioners are responsible for, he sees maintaining county road and law enforcement as intertwined expenses the county must support. County residents need the roads to get where they’re going and the Sheriff’s Office to keep the roads safe.

“Also, I’d like to be able to steer the county back to a position to be as self-sufficient as possible so we don’t have to make values trade-offs to qualify for grant money,” he said.

One issue Patton addressed that needs the approval of Salem; Boise, Idaho; and Washington, D.C.; is that being pushed by the Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho. The proponents have gotten local measures passed in 13 rural counties in Eastern Oregon to discuss the best interests of their counties if the state line was changed to move them into Idaho.

Patton said he’s more concerned about local conditions in Wallowa County than he is about which state it’s in.

“I’m not so concerned what state Wallowa County is in as I am concerned about Wallowa County as my home, whatever state it’s in,” he said. “It’s more about the problem of the urban/rural divide and if we moved the county to Idaho, with the way Boise is growing, we’d find a similar problem there.”

Openness and transparency in government also is an issue Patton addressed, since residents often complain when they miss out on something the commissioners have done. But, he said, government can’t make residents inform themselves.

“The only reasonable thing to do is publish when the meetings are and the minutes afterward,” he said. “Citizens also have a responsibility to inform themselves.”

Age: 34

Residence: Enterprise

Occupation: Patton is a farmer and a rancher. He also works in agricultural market risk management, helping clients get the best prices for their crops or livestock.

Experience: Longtime experience in agriculture.

Family: Wife, Rebecca; three daughters and a son, ranging in age from 2 to 8.

Hobbies: He enjoys the outdoors — hunting, fishing, riding horses, playing basketball.