A 51-year-old felon who hasn\u2019t voted in Oregon since 2008 wants to be the next mayor of Medford because he thinks the city is a \u201cmess.\u201d<\/p>\n
James \u201cJim\u201d Allen Huddleston \u2014 who has a 2011 driving-under-the-influence felony after two previous driving under-the-influence offenses in 2010 \u2014 is running for mayor in the Nov. 3 election against former\u00a0police Chief\u00a0Randy Sparacino, and city councilors Kevin Stine and Clay Bearnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was convicted of that and I did do it,\u201d said Huddleston, who spent five and one-half months in\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Jail for his offense. \u201cI shouldered it. I could have gone one or two ways. I could have blamed the police. I could have blamed the judge. I could have blamed the jail and the guards, and I could have done all these things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could have gone in that direction, but the truth is, the arrest and incarceration probably changed my life because I was in the middle of a divorce.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he refused a breathalyzer test on the advice of his attorney when he was pulled over by police. As a condition of his felony conviction, Huddleston is required to submit to a breathalyzer test if necessary.<\/p>\n
Huddleston, who doesn\u2019t have a driver\u2019s license and uses the bus or gets a ride from his significant other, said he won\u2019t be eligible to get a license until next year because of his felony.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, you\u2019re talking a decade ago and people can change,\u201d he said, explaining why Medford residents should cast their ballot for a felon. \u201cIf I were this person now talking to that person then I would educate him on the dangers of doing so. I thank God every day that I didn\u2019t hurt anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
A former car salesman, Huddleston, who is originally from Irving, Texas, and moved here in 1995, said he\u2019s unemployed now because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Medford is not for sale, Huddleston said, and local voters need to hold the\u00a0City Council\u00a0accountable for its actions. He said the next mayor will have to deal with the many problems created by the current council.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever inherits this position inherits a sewer,\u201d Huddleston said.<\/p>\n
He said the 2011 conviction hit him hard. \u201cI wasn\u2019t necessarily feeling like sticking around,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt my life was over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huddleston was later arrested in 2015 after allegedly beating his third wife and threatening to kill her in a dispute over an Oregon Trail card, according to an affidavit filed by Medford police Officer Paul Mellgren with\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Circuit Court\u00a0on Feb. 9, 2015.<\/p>\n
The case was later dropped after Huddleston\u2019s former wife left the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am saying that didn\u2019t happen,\u201d said Huddleston. \u201cI wasn\u2019t even at the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he didn\u2019t have an Oregon Trail card but his ex-wife did.<\/p>\n
While he initially said he wasn\u2019t at the house on the date in question, Huddleston at a later point in the interview said he was asleep when his wife attempted to take his wallet.<\/p>\n
Huddleston, who said he\u2019s a \u201cBack the Blue\u201d candidate, initially faced allegations of\u00a0misdemeanor assault, interfering with a police officer, harassment and menacing.<\/p>\n
He said the dispute actually was over a truck leased from his previous employer that his ex-wife drove to Virginia. His ex-wife asked the court at the time to compel Huddleston to pay the $500-a-month lease payments.<\/p>\n
Huddleston said his ex-wife emptied his bank account.<\/p>\n
According to the police affidavit, Huddleston\u2019s ex-wife said his mental state was deteriorating because he was an alcoholic.<\/p>\n
In a previous violent encounter, his ex-wife said he tried to strangle her in her sleep, the affidavit alleges.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 5, 2015, the couple got into an argument, and Huddleston allegedly tackled his ex-wife in the\u00a0laundry room, the affidavit states \u2014 forcing her to curl up as she tried to protect her face while he struck her in the stomach several times, saying, \u201cF— you, b—-. I hate you and I\u2019m going to f—— kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually she broke free from Huddleston and called the police, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n
His wife at the time told the\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Circuit Court\u00a0on April 6, 2015, that \u201cI am a victim of\u00a0domestic violence\u00a0and need a restraining order.\u201d<\/p>\n
During an entirely separate contempt-of-court proceeding in\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Circuit Court\u00a0on Dec. 15, 2010, the record states, \u201cThe information filed by the\u00a0District Attorney\u2019s Office alleged that on Dec. 7, 2010, in\u00a0Jackson County, Oregon, the defendant willfully violated a restraining order issued by the\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Circuit Court. The defendant admitted the violation in\u00a0open court.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Clerk\u2019s Office, the last time Huddleston voted in a presidential election year was 2008. After not voting in the following two presidential election cycles, his\u00a0voter registration, originally filed in 2001, was automatically canceled for lack of activity.<\/p>\n
In order to run for office in Medford, a person needs to live in the city for six months. Because Huddleston hadn\u2019t voted, the city required him to submit an affidavit swearing that he has lived in the city for at least six months. According to the city Recorder\u2019s Office, a candidate hasn\u2019t been required to file an affidavit in recent memory because all the candidates had been\u00a0registered voters, which provides legal proof of an address in Medford.<\/p>\n
According to his affidavit, Huddleston says he has lived at his current address since Sept. 20, 2019. Huddleston signed the affidavit Aug. 8, a week after he registered to vote.<\/p>\n
Huddleston said he hadn\u2019t voted because he was under the impression that a felon can\u2019t vote in the state, something he later found out was incorrect.<\/p>\n
He said he thought about running for mayor prior to discovering that he was eligible to vote.<\/p>\n
Huddleston has referred disparagingly to his opponents, including on Facebook and in the Rogue Valley Messenger newspaper, where he called Stine \u201ca traitor to Medford\u201d and \u201ca traitor to his country\u201d even though Stine served in the military.<\/p>\n
Huddleston singled out Stine specifically because he said the councilor was at a rally where people were demanding the police disband or be defunded.<\/p>\n
Stine, who said the rally was attended by a variety of groups, said he\u2019s voted for every request for police funding while on the council and is a strong supporter of the police.<\/p>\n
Huddleston urged Bearnson in the Rogue Valley Messenger \u201cto step aside and step down. I\u2019m going to run over you. You are a drug dealer.\u201d Huddleston said he won\u2019t allow marijuana sales in the city of Medford, even though Medford voters approved the sale of\u00a0recreational cannabis\u00a0in 2016. Bearnson works at a dispensary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis guy is our Frankenstein,\u201d Bearnson said, responding to Huddleston\u2019s statements. \u201cThis is a product of our two-party system always spreading fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sparacino, the former\u00a0police chief, is, according to an interview with Huddleston in a Rogue Valley Messenger article, \u201ca super nice man with incredible integrity. And although he has great intentions, he has demonstrated the ability to quit when times get tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Huddleston said the city needs to change direction and listen to\u00a0the voice\u00a0of the people to deal with a number of problems, including unemployment, homelessness and the need for a stronger police presence on the streets.<\/p>\n
He said the recently opened homeless camp in Medford was a mistake.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no accountability,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can leave the camp, do drugs, and come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he opposes calls to defund the police, vowing to veto any steps the council may take to limit the police\u2019s budget. Huddleston wants to increase the pay of the police and first responders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A 51-year-old felon who hasn\u2019t voted in Oregon since 2008 wants to be the next mayor of Medford because he thinks the city is a \u201cmess.\u201d James \u201cJim\u201d Allen Huddleston \u2014 who has a 2011 driving-under-the-influence felony after two previous driving under-the-influence offenses in 2010 \u2014 is running for mayor in the Nov. 3 election against former\u00a0police Chief\u00a0Randy Sparacino, and city councilors Kevin Stine and Clay Bearnson. \u201cI was convicted of that and I did do it,\u201d said Huddleston, who spent five and one-half months in\u00a0Jackson County\u00a0Jail for his offense. \u201cI shouldered it. I could have gone one or two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n