Jim Mollerstrom

Jim Mollerstrom was the chief petitioner for Measure 31-89 and organizer for Union County Citizens for Good Government. According to the corpus, UCCGG drove two successive ballot initiatives in the mid-2010s: a predecessor measure around 2014 that made commissioner elections nonpartisan (passed with 63-64% support), and then Measure 31-89, which passed in May 2016 with 68% support (5,578 yes / 2,599 no) and capped commissioners at two terms.

After Judge Powers struck down Ordinance 2017-01 in August 2025, Mollerstrom did not learn of the ruling until a September 2025 phone call from OPB. He described the county's validation process as 'deception' -- affected parties were not directly notified and the statutory notice ran in the back pages of the East Oregonian.

Mollerstrom filed an ethics complaint with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission in November 2025, naming Commissioner Matt Scarfo. The complaint alleged Scarfo used county legal counsel for personal benefit (overturning term limits so he could seek a third term) and voted on the validation petition without declaring a conflict of interest. On February 6, 2026, OGEC voted 7-0 to open Case 25-708ECF -- a rare unanimous vote to authorize a full investigation.

Mollerstrom drove more than 300 miles from Independence, Oregon to La Grande on February 3, 2026 to reactivate Union County Citizens for Good Government. The meeting at Smokehouse Restaurant drew 12 attendees. His stated position: the commissioners 'circumvented the will of the people.'