Meet the New Chair!

Not everyone is as familiar with Jerry Jackson, the new Chair of the Benton County Republican Party, as we are, so we asked him for an informal interview.  It seemed appropriate to have it as the lead story in our first monthly newsletter email.

1. Tell us about yourself; your background, experience and so on.

I am a U.S. Army veteran who served as a member of the Old Guard for two Presidents.  I’ve been married to Cruz for thirty years and we now have six children and six grandchildren.  I currently work as a private investigator for our company, Willamette Valley Processors, a Process Service Company.  We offer process service, investigations and code enforcement.  In my spare time I have been taking courses and studying Political Science at Oregon State University.

2. What got you into politics in the first place?
Politics became part of my life when I was elected to the School Board at St. Mary’s Elementary in Grass Valley, California.  After moving to Philomath, I began serving on Citizens Advisory Boards.  Later I moved to the Philomath Budget Committee, then City Councilor, and I now serve as the Chair of the Budget Committee.  I haven’t given up on representing the people of Benton County as a County Commissioner, but I think I can handle the duties of BCGOP Chair at the same time once I am elected.
3. What made you decide to run for BCGOP Chair?

Running for public office allows you to see what is really needed from the GOP Central Committee.  I, and people who were running for similar and other offices, were not getting the support we needed.  County level support by individuals was outstanding, but individuals can only do so much.  What was needed was a Central Committee working to get Republicans elected.

I have worked out several strategies to work with the current OGOP Administration and Benton County GOP hierarchy to get Republicans elected at all levels in Benton County.

 4. Interest in the BCGOP has been faltering a bit lately. What plans do you have in mind to rekindle that interest?

The faltering at the BCGOP has been from growing pains, not a lack of leadership or desire.  We became complacent in doing things the way we had always done them while failing to notice that times had changed.  We need to be open to change, to what the politics of today has become.  When the systems we relied on in the past began to fail us, we became a party divided, with many voices crying for different policies.  That divide must end if we are to be successful, and it will take a strong Chair to make it happen.

5. What about gaining the interest of young people?  Do you have some ideas on that?

This is critical.  At one level we do a great disservice to the young Republicans passing through OSU.  On another, we are ignoring a valuable resource.  We started moving in that direction by simply changing the times for our meetings to allow the College Republican President to attend our meetings.  Our bylaws state that the OSU College Republican President is an executive office, which made this an obvious and critical move, in my estimation, and the expectation is that he will bring others of his group with him.  This has also opened up the ability to have joint meetings, the first being in October at OSU.  We also launched the John F. Bell OSU College Republican Scholarship award to attract more of the OSU community.

But ‘younger’ also means those younger than retirement age, which includes most of our BCGOP members.  For now I think we need to concentrate on the college age candidates and be open to issues that might capture the 30 to 50 crowd.  Maybe the college age kids will peak the interest of their parents!  Maybe we can even work on that.

6. I know you’ve already gotten the ball rolling on a few of your ideas. Can you elaborate on those?

We have initiated the Chairman’s Club with the first appeal going in the mail in October.  The Club is intended to appeal to those who are interested in politics at all levels, and fortunate to have the resources to influence things.  Imagine wanting to do something about the state of our local, state and national situation, having the wherewithal to make a difference, and not knowing where to begin.  The Chairman’s Club is intended to be just the organization those kinds of people can depend on in Benton County.

The Club will of course be politically oriented, but it will not be ‘all about politics’.  Sometimes we forget that politics leads to a gathering of like-minded people who sometimes just get together to relax among like-minded people.  There will be dues for members, but nothing exorbitant.  The group will gather four times each year, and the ‘dues’ will pay for the gatherings.  At the same time, each gathering will provide an opportunity for listening to prospective candidates and to hear about issues currently facing Benton County and Oregon in general.  There will be dining and there may be dancing to live entertainment, but it will be funded by those who paid to join, and it will be both fun and informative.  It might even be an excellent dinner experience!

But the Chairman’s Club is only the beginning.  We have other plans for the years ahead.  It’s time the Benton County GOP started having fun with politics!