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FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2026

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Unfinished Budget, Unresolved $25,000 Follow Simon Hare into Josephine County Treasurer Race By John Oliver Simon Hare is campaigning to become Josephine County Treasurer with an unresolved $25,000 county payment still attached to his brief tenure as budget officer, a financial dispute that has persisted since he resigned before completing the county’s budget assignment in 2025. No repayment of the disputed money has been publicly documented. No repayment agreement has been disclosed. Questions submitted to Hare and Josephine County officials concerning the status of the money have yet to produce a definitive public accounting of what was returned, what remains outstanding or what action the county intends to pursue. The Grants Pass Tribune again contacted Commissioners Ron Smith, Colene Martin and Gary Richardson, county legal counsel and Hare last week seeking documentation and answers concerning the $25,000. The newspaper asked whether the county has formally determined that Hare owes money for contractual services that were not completed, whether any portion has been repaid, whether a repayment arrangement has been proposed and whether the county has issued a demand, considered collection or contemplated litigation. The questions have acquired greater consequence now that Hare is seeking election as coun-

ty treasurer, an office built around the custody, administration and accounting of public money. The dispute dates to 2025, when Josephine County hired Hare, a former county commissioner, to serve as budget officer during a period of considerable upheaval inside county government. Hare was selected through a contractual arrangement carrying a $25,000 payment, which county discussions and records previously reviewed by the Tribune indicate was paid upfront. Hare resigned in April 2025 before completing the county budget. His departure came amid an acrimonious confrontation with then commissioners Andreas Blech, Chris Barnett and Ron Smith. Hare accused the

board of failing in its responsibilities and publicly called for the commissioners to resign. The political conflict surrounding his departure, however, left a separate financial matter unresolved: Josephine County had paid $25,000 for an assignment Hare did not finish. County officials subsequently confronted the question of recovering the payment. Public discussions established that the budget work remained incomplete, but the available record has not established that the $25,000 was returned. More than a year later, the county has not publicly produced documentation showing the matter has been financially settled. That unresolved accounting now accompanies Hare into another campaign for county office. Hare has previously addressed the controversy and offered his version of the circumstances surrounding his departure as budget officer. His explanation of the political conflict does not resolve the underlying accounting question. The county either received contractual work sufficient to justify the entire $25,000 payment, or some portion of that money remains subject to recovery. County records should be capable of establishing which is true. The Tribune has requested invoices, payment records, correspondence, contract amendments, legal notices and repayment communications that

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see SIMON, page 3

Oregon Wildfire Bill Surges Toward Record Territory

State Moves to Keep Fire Crews Paid

By Ellen Ward 2026 wildfire season is rapidly becoming one of the most expensive in state history, forcing state fire agencies back to Salem for hundreds of millions of dollars in financial authority as suppression expenses mount and federal reimbursements trail behind the bills already arriving from fire crews, contractors and local departments. For Southern Oregon, where wildfire has become an annual threat to communities, forests, businesses and transportation corridors, the financial decisions unfolding at the Capitol reach directly into the region’s ability to sustain an aggressive response when multiple fires compete for personnel, engines, aircraft and equipment. By Aug. 20, approximately 2.5 million acres had burned across Oregon and statewide wildfire costs had reached an estimated $236.2 million. The financial trajectory has placed 2026 alongside the record-setting 2024 season, when the Oregon Department of Forestry ultimately recorded $317.6 million in gross expenses and $134.4 million in net costs. ODF is now seeking approximately $77.9 million from two state emergency appropriations while requesting an additional $250 million in spending authority to process wildfire payments. The request includes $66.04 million from money reserved for natural disaster prevention, preparedness, response and recovery and another

$11.83 million designated for fire protection expenses. The $250 million request is not an additional appropriation of the same kind. It would increase ODF’s authority to process Other Funds expenditures associated with the 2026 season as invoices and reimbursements move through the state’s wildfire financing system. By Aug. 7, ODF alone had accumulated approximately $160.3 million in gross wildfire expenses. Its net costs had reached $110.5 million, already exceeding the amount immediately available through the state’s designated natural disaster appropriation. The Oregon State Fire Marshal is confronting its own mounting expenses. Agency documents prepared for September budget deliberations show approximately $25.1 million in estimat-

ed mobilization costs through July 27, covering conflagrations, immediate response and pre-positioning. OSFM is seeking $28 million from the September Emergency Board after receiving $7 million for the 2026 fire season earlier this year, bringing its proposed fire-season budget to $35 million. The escalating expense reflects the scale of the response on the ground. At peak activity, Oregon was managing seven active conflagrations with four incident management teams and 37 task forces operating from southwestern Oregon through central and eastern portions of the state, exceeding peak activity recorded during 2024. Low snowpack followed by repeated lightning outbreaks helped accelerate fire activity and suppression expenses during July. State financial

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see WILDFIRE, page 5

25th Anniversary of September 11 Attacks By John Oliver Southern Oregon will mark a quarter-century since the September 11 terrorist attacks Friday, with firefighters and residents gathering in Grants Pass and Ashland for public ceremonies commemorating the victims, first responders and events of September 11, 2001. The anniversary will be especially visible in Grants Pass, where a piece of the World Trade Center will be displayed at Reinhart Volunteer Park during Rural Metro Fire's annual 9/11 Patriot Day Track Walk. The event is scheduled from 9 to 10 a.m. at the park, 1690 SW Webster Road, and is open to the public. Local firefighters and emergency vehicles will assemble near the track as residents participate in the commemorative walk. American flags are encouraged, and attendance is not limited to those who want to walk. The park track is accessible to people with disabilities, allowing residents to participate in the observance from along the route as well. The World Trade Center artifact gives this year's Josephine County ceremony an uncommon connection to the attack site in Lower Manhattan. Twenty-five years after the Twin Towers were destroyed, a surviving piece of the complex will stand in a Grants Pass park surrounded by the firefighters, first responders and community members gathered for the anniversary. The walk follows the approximately 102 minutes between the first aircraft striking the World Trade Center and the collapse of the North Tower. It was during those minutes that four hijacked commercial airliners carried out attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, leaving scenes that would define one of the deadliest mornings in American history. American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center's North Tower at 8:46 a.m. Eastern time. United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower 17 minutes later. American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., while United Airlines Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:03 a.m. after passengers and crew mem-

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see SOUTHERN, page 11