Tribute to Bill Davis, for the August 13 minutes of the Board of County Commissioners

Commissioner Kramer, Camas County Clerk Blodgett and Commissioner Ralph acknowledged the sudden loss of their beloved friend and colleague Commissioner Bill Davis due to complications following heart surgery. The survivor of four past terms as Commissioner, Bill was serving a fifth term in an interim appointment and was cruising toward a sixth engagement, with his name uncontested on the ballot for the District 1 in the 2018 general election. After nearly a generation of service as a Camas County Commissioner, Bill understood the economic and social life of his home county clearly, candidly and affectionately. His current and previous colleagues on the Board counted on Bill for his ebullient wit, his encyclopedic understanding of our shared history and tangled genealogies, and his reliable ability to float up above the bureaucratic weeds to see the broader view and call it out to those of us still stuck thrashing around down below. Bill knew a tremendous amount about how to do things right. Absolutely unstained by envy, he was kind, decent, generous and unfailing fun to work with. Everybody at the County feels the loss of our friend Bill Davis.