Issuu

FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2026

GRANTSPASSTRIBUNE.COM | $0.00

Oregon Marks Preparedness Month With Two-Week Readiness Standard for Disasters By John Oliver Oregon entered September with a statewide emphasis on disaster preparedness as Gov. Tina Kotek proclaimed Preparedness Month and the Oregon Department of Emergency Management expanded its effort to prepare households for emergencies capable of disrupting electricity, transportation, water, communications and access to essential services. The state's campaign places particular emphasis on its Be 2 Weeks Ready program, which recommends that residents maintain sufficient food, water, medications and other necessities to function independently for at least 14 days following a major disaster. The two-week standard reflects the severity and geographic diversity of hazards confronting Oregon, where wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, winter storms, extreme heat and prolonged power failures can strain emergency services and interrupt infrastructure. A widespread disaster could damage roads and bridges, interrupt fuel and food deliveries, disable portions of electrical and communications networks and prevent emergency personnel from immediately reaching every affected community. State emergency planners have consequently built Oregon's household preparedness guidance around a longer period of self-sufficiency than the traditional three-day emergency supply recommendation. For Southern Oregon, the preparedness campaign coincides with hazards that have repeatedly

disrupted communities across Josephine and Jackson counties. Wildfires have forced evacuations, closed highways and damaged infrastructure, while wildfire smoke has produced hazardous air conditions across communities far removed from active fire lines. Extreme heat, winter weather, flooding and electrical interruptions create additional demands throughout the region, where mountainous terrain and a limited number of major transportation corridors can complicate emergency access when roads become damaged or impassable. Wildfire remains among the most immediate concerns entering September. Fires continue to burn in Oregon, and smoke has affected portions of the state during the closing weeks of summer. Beyond the direct danger posed by flames, wildfires can interrupt electrical service, force highway closures, interfere with communications and require residents to leave their homes with little

notice. Utilities may also implement Public Safety Power Shutoffs when dangerous weather and vegetation conditions create an elevated risk that electrical equipment could ignite a wildfire, leaving affected households without power even when fire has not reached their immediate area. Oregon emergency officials encourage residents to know the state's three evacuation levels and prepare more than one route away from their homes. Level 1 means Be Ready, Level 2 means Be Set and Level 3 means Go Now. Advance planning becomes particularly important for households with children, older adults, people with disabilities, pets, livestock or medical equipment because transportation, shelter and health requirements may become substantially more difficult to arrange after an evacuation order has been issued. The Be 2 Weeks Ready program extends far beyond storing food and bottled water. Oregon's preparedness materials address household emergency planning, food, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, first aid and the responsibilities of emergency management. The program includes 30 preparedness activities intended to allow households to build their supplies and plans incrementally rather than attempting to complete every preparation at once. Water is among the most consequential components of the state's recommendations because damaged treatment plants, pumping equipment

•

see OREGON, page 5

Public Money, Private Development and New Contracting Company

Chad Hansen’s Housing Connections Put Before Josephine County Voters

By John Oliver Josephine County commissioner candidate Chad Hansen’s extensive involvement in affordable housing now intersects with substantial public investment, municipal land-use proceedings, county development activity and a newly formed contracting company involving Hansen and his son, Austin Hansen. The expanding record connects Home Bridging GP, taxpayer-financed infrastructure, county housing programs, property development and private business interests at the same time Hansen is seeking a seat on the Josephine County Board of Commissioners. Hansen founded Home Bridging GP and has represented the nonprofit before local governments as it pursued housing developments and participated in publicly financed programs. His government relationships have included substantial infrastructure grants, county development activity and a previous federal conflict-of-interest review involving his service on the Josephine County Budget Committee. More recently, Hansen and his son filed a new company, Rogue Pacific Contracting LLC. Questions surrounding those relationships intensified during a Grants Pass Planning Commission proceeding involving a Home Bridging development. Hansen explained that public money was being used for infrastructure while private donations would finance construction of the houses. He also said Home Bridging deliberately avoided

federal funding for construction because the organization did not want the additional government requirements accompanying those dollars. The discussion then turned to the people who would eventually receive the homes. “We want to control who we want to help. We want to provide the houses that we want to provide them to,” Hansen stated during the proceeding. He later added, “not discriminatory-wise.” Public financing has already contributed to Home Bridging developments even when government money did not directly pay for construction of the individual houses. The Grants Pass City Council awarded Home Bridging GP Inc. an American Rescue Plan Act Public Infrastructure Affordable Housing Grant of up to $747,500 in June 2024 for property at

1907 Fruitdale Drive. During the same meeting cycle, the Grants Pass Urban Renewal Agency awarded Home Bridging a separate grant of up to $749,000 for property at 235 NW Scenic Drive. The city simultaneously rescinded an earlier ARPA award of up to $800,000 associated with the Scenic Drive property after the financing arrangement for that development changed. Home Bridging’s use of publicly financed housing infrastructure predates those awards. Grants Pass planning documents for the 2022 program year allocated Community Development Block Grant money toward public infrastructure for 22 affordable, low-income single-family houses associated with Home Bridging and Habitat for Humanity at 2612 Redwood Avenue. Subsequent city planning records reported that Home Bridging installed public improvements for a low-income housing subdivision using CDBG funds and continued participating in local affordable-housing programs. Hansen’s description of privately financed home construction therefore represents only one portion of the development costs. Roads, water and sewer connections, utilities and other infrastructure are necessary components of residential development, and government grants covering those expenses reduce costs that otherwise must be financed as part of preparing property for construction. How Home Bridging ultimately selects the purchasers of those homes remains an important unanswered part of the process. Will the homes be publicly available to ev-

•

see CHAD, page 8

September Storm Breaks Oregon’s Summer Pattern By Ellen Ward Oregon is entering September under an abrupt change in weather as a succession of unusually strong storm systems descends from the Gulf of Alaska, replacing the state’s prolonged summer dryness with widespread rain, gusty winds, falling temperatures and the possibility of thunderstorms. The most consequential period is expected Wednesday and Thursday, when a deeper low-pressure system and its associated front cross the Pacific Northwest. Western Oregon will receive the greatest rainfall, but the effects will extend from the coast and Willamette Valley into Southern Oregon, the Cascades and portions of the state east of the mountains. For a state that has spent much of the summer contending with wildfire, smoke, parched vegetation and exceptionally dry ground, the change will be pronounced. Temperatures in some areas will fall 15 to 20 degrees below seasonal norms while substantial precipitation reaches sections of Oregon that have received little meaningful rainfall for weeks. Northwestern Oregon will experience some of the strongest conditions. Rainfall from Wednesday morning through Friday morning has a high probability of exceeding one inch from the coast through the Cascade crest, with considerably greater amounts possible in the Coast Range, Cascades and other elevated terrain. Portions of those areas could approach or exceed two inches. The Interstate 5 corridor will generally receive less rain than the mountains and coast, although a widespread soaking is anticipated across much of the Willamette Valley. Wednesday temperatures in the interior valleys are expected to remain largely in the 60s, a significant departure from the summer warmth that preceded the storm. Southerly winds will strengthen as the front arrives. Inland gusts could approach 30 mph in northwestern Oregon, with stronger winds through the Columbia River Gorge and Hood River Valley. Oregon’s beaches and exposed headlands could experience gusts approaching 55 to 60 mph. Conditions offshore will become considerably more hazardous. Gale conditions are forecast along portions of the Oregon coast as southerly winds increase and ocean seas build into the 10 to 14 foot range. Isolated storm-force gusts are possible near the coastline before winds diminish

•

see WIDESPREAD, page 5