Commissioner James Williams

541-947-6002
jwilliams@co.lake.or.us

Commissioner Williams was born and raised in Summer Lake, Oregon.  James and his wife Linda live on the family farm there where they plan to raise their family.

Williams first ran for office in 2018 while working as a lumber grader at Collins Pine Sawmill, and took office in January of 2019. He hopes to continue to bring a fresh perspective to the table from the community and strengthen ties across the county. Williams has often stated that he feels “good governance is the understanding that we govern only by the consent of the governed”.

As a community and a county, there will always be issues and topics to which we may find disagreement on, and that individually may spark some very heated discussion and strong opinions held with the deepest of personal convictions. Conversations in these situations can be difficult, but they should be had none the less, and we should always be willing to “listen”. We are “one County”. He hopes that we as a people will always be able to discuss and have those important conversations within our communities, among our friends and neighbors, in our homes and at the dinner tables.

Commissioner Williams spends a lot of time working with our Road Superintendent on road concerns and looking for ways to make our roads better. He spends time at the Capitol in Salem working on legislative issues that can affect Lake County. He is Vice-Chair on the Governance & Revenue Committee at AOC (Association of Oregon Counties), as well as on the Legislative Committee.

He stays closely engaged on land use issues, particularly around solar development, natural resources, water, emergency services, public health and social economics. Williams also sits on the EOCCO board (Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization) as the only elected official, which oversees the delivery of healthcare services for OHP (Oregon Health Plan) members for all of eastern Oregon. Williams looks forward to a bright future for Lake County and working to find solutions to the many challenges we face.

Williams likes to take time to do his due diligence before making decisions. He encourages the public to reach out to him at any time, no matter the subject. His door is always open, and that he can be reached on his cell.

 Liaison Responsibilities

Shared Liaison Responsibilities