Oregon daily emerald., May 21, 1976, Section B, Page 9, Image 21

Secretary of State
Wilkins:
Would revise state auditing process,
work for simpler election framework
Paulus:
Three-term state rep
says she’s ‘a real scrapper’
By GREG WASSON
Of the Emerald
Caroline Wilkins' experi
ence with statewide politics as
State Chairer of the Democra
tic Party didn't satisfy her polit
ical appetite; she wants to be
Secretary of State.
“Through my work in the
Democratic Party, I became
aware of the increasing ineffi
ciency in the office of Secret
ary of State as much as four
years ago,” Wilkins says. The
office simply lacks a cohesive
oversight, says Wilkins, "and I
feel I can iron out the prob
lems."
Among the problems Wil
kins sees is auditing process
done now by the Secretary of
State's staff. “Currently, the
audits being done are not use
ful to the Legislature or the Ex
ecutive because of their tim
ing. The audits and the
budgets are completely out of
whack."
Wilkins favors timing the
audits better, to help the Legis
lature and incorporating into
the reports some type of per
formance audit.
"The Legislature itself is cry
ing for this information. During
the budget hearings, legis
lators don't have sufficient in
formation to ask hard-hitting
questions of the state agen
cies they're reviewing.”
In the area of election ad
ministration, a job the constitu
tion requires of the Secretary
of State, Wilkins promises to
work for a simple, understand
able elections framework.
"Quite simply," Wilkins
says, “I will see to it that the
elections division of the
Secretary’s office is an effi
cient servant of the people of
Oregon.’’
Like other Democratic con
tenders for the office, Wilkins
is opposed to the cross-party
primary being supported by
Republicans around the state.
"I think the Secretary of State
should work to bring people
into the existing system,” Wil
kins says.
‘‘Executive Vice Chairer of
the Democratic National
Committee, Wilkins is a Ben
ton County Democrat who, for
a time, taught at Oregon State
University.
Caroline Wilkins
Kelting:
Says he would favor open primary
and multi-lingual voter’s pamphlet
By BRAD LEM LEY
Of the Emerald
John Kelting believes that
one of the most important jobs
of Oregon’s Secretary of State
is serving as the governor s
back-up person.
“The Secretary of State
functions more in the state as a
lieutenant governor than as an
administrator. He answers the
press and the public because
he has more time for that than
the governor."
Kelting sees the policy
making aspect of the job as
insignificant. "I don’t think the
Secretary of State really
makes any policies. Of course,
he sits on the state land board
and the state education board,
but its really more of a case of
having the policy already set."
As the state's chief elections
officer, Kelting says he would
favor an open primary. "It
John Kelting
would give the independents a
right to vote,” he says. “Any
way, I'd get more votes if the
Democrats could vote in the
Republican primary. Friends
of mine have said that I was
the best Democrat the Repub
licans have.”
He would also encourage
publication of a multi-lingual
voter's pamphlet. “I feel it (the
pamphlet) should be printed in
at least three of the major lan
guages of the state,” he says
citing English, Spanish,
Chinese and Japanese as
possibilities. He would place
the burden for coming up with
translations on the non
English speaking people
themselves, and feels that
they would rise to the task,
"simply out of pride.”
Above all, Kelting feels it is
important to get his political
ambitions out in the open be
cause, “everyone who gets in
volved in this lies. Yes, I’m
going to run for governor. I’m
running for Secretary of State
now; I’ll be running for Gover
nor next. And as soon as I turn
35, I’m going to run for Presi
dent.”
By BRAD LEM LEY
Of the Emerald
What this state needs is “a
real scrapper” at the post of
Secretary of State, says
Norma Paulus, and she feels
she fits the description.
A three-term state represen
tative from Salem, Paulus
feels she is qualified for the job
because she has “developed
a reputation for fighting for
conservation of our natural re
sources” and, as Secretary of
State, she would be a member
of the State Land Board. She
says her experience as a draft
er of the Forest Practices Act
and her general “legislative
expertise” in this area would
make her an effective member
of the board. She adds that her
legal background (she has
practiced law in Salem since
1962) is also invaluable be
cause “much of the land
board’s work in based on own
ership and title disputes.”
The Secretary of State is
also the chief elections officer,
having jurisdiction over all pub
lications relating to elections,
including the voters’ guide.
Paulus asserts that because
she has served on two commit
tees which draft election laws
she is qualified in this area as
w&l!
A third duty of the office is
auditing all public accounts.
“An independent task force
determined that there are sev
eral deficiencies in the sytem
of auditing as it exists today,”
she says. “Every candidate is
going to be talking about
Nonna Paulus
changes that should be made,
but I feel that the biggest
change should be made in the
area of regulating sensitive’
public accounts, like the
Children’s Services Division,
with greater regularity.”
In general, Paulus believes
that her “very thorough know
ledge of the state sytem of
agencies,” and the fact that
she is “recognized as one of
the foremost people in the
state who understands the
bonding system” make her a
logical choice for the job.
John
Charles
Because:
t was asked by law enforcement and
police officers throughout Lane County to be the next
District Attorney and ro remove Horton tram the
office, because of what he has done and what he has
not done for them.
JMi AW Ft is the hit-time attorney for the City
of Springfield and the City Prosecutor
JMi CWMI Ft is against the legalization of mari
juana
JIM CMMUit is against the legalization of pros
titution.
i is against gun control
I requires that criminals reimburse
the victims of crime.
JMi CMMIH is a Christian who lives Christian
principles
JMi emmet is a tough, professional prosecutor
who will ethically and impartially represent you.
JIM emmit wrote and encouraged passage ol
the only law in the state of Oregon requiring a
mandatory jail sentence for those persons who as
sault and batter police officers
JMi emmet represented the Oregon League of
Cities before the legislature on the new motor vehicle
code
JMi emmet has not lost a jury trial in 1 % years.
In his lifetime, he has convicted over 90% of jury
trials
“W« mmI ta raise the standard if
District nttorncq the District Attirmy's Office.
Comnvlee to Jed Jotm Claries. Del Any
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Page 9 Section B