Morning Press: Grandfather, Big Brother, sheriff hopefuls; work at home and water at schools

Mitch was only 2 years old when his mother died. Now he’s 28 — his mother’s age at the time of her death.

After the murder, Ron and his ex-wife, Sally Onslow, took over for Michele, raising Mitch and his two older sisters, Micaela and Maria. In the face of his loss, Ron has taken solace over the years in watching Mitch rise to become an accomplished adult as the two have developed a strong father-son relationship.

And perhaps what Ron has loved most is seeing Mitch follow in his mother’s footsteps with plans for a career spent helping children. Mitch went to medical school aiming to become a pediatrician, and after getting a chance to deliver a few babies in Cincinnati, he’s changed his focus to obstetrics and gynecology.

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“We’ve talked a lot about that,” said Stratton, and about some of the difficulties David has had in the past, including suspensions from school. David has a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, his mother Rhonda Delagasse said, but the medication he needs hasn’t always been affordable.

David isn’t a big fan of school — “You know how teenagers are,” he said — but he likes his English and math classes at Heritage High School, mostly because those teachers take the time to understand him and are willing to reach out “when I seem like I’m having a bad day.”

“What I want is to see him get to choose his life, not have life choose for him,” Stratton said. “He seems like he’s doing better.”

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The candidates also tackled the topic of how to do more policing with less money. Even though commissioners approved money for the hiring of eight new deputies earlier in the year, the candidates said they worried about the long-term effects tight budgets have on law enforcement.

There was also concern that the sheriff’s office wouldn’t have a sustainable funding stream to pay for the officers in the years to come — that is, without commissioners loosening the purse strings and shelling out more money.

The county is already underserved by on-the-street deputies, when compared to other counties of a comparable size. The county was forced to lay off deputies after the economy tanked in 2008 when the burst housing bubble set the economic downturn in motion.

The candidates agreed that reaching out to minority groups was important to foster community relationships.

“Now, not only do I have a dream job, but a dream location,” said Marshall, a medical coding specialist for PeaceHealth, Clark County’s largest employer. She converted a spare bedroom into an office, where she begins her work day at 6 a.m. with her dog, Jazzy, perched atop her desk.

Marshall doesn’t have much company, both figuratively and literally. Although a growing number of Clark County residents work from home, the telecommuting trend hasn’t taken off as predicted. Twenty years ago, conventional wisdom was that the number of telecommuters would inevitably expand, thus curbing commutes and helping employees accommodate family demands. Yet many employers continue to approach telecommuting with wariness, and some, like Yahoo, have made headlines by revoking the option.

According to Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report, 39 percent of employees surveyed reported spending at least some time working remotely. The number of Clark County residents telecommuting has grown by nearly 38 percent, but remains a mere sliver of the workforce, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. In 2005, 4.9 percent of Clark County workers, or 9,112 people, worked from home, including those who were self-employed. In 2012, that figure grew to 6.6 percent, or 12,551.

“Then you think of all the jobs that can’t telecommute, like your electrician,” said Mark Harrington, a senior planner for the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council. “There’s a whole section of the economy that just can’t do that.”

Studies show that telecommuting boosts productivity, decreases absenteeism and increases worker retention. But, for better or worse, it also blurs the boundary between work and home and increases the number of hours worked. Gallup reported that remote workers log an average of four more hours per week than their office-based counterparts.

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