Election News
Three join race for governor
The relative unknowns
are challenging anti-tax
crusader Bill Sizemore
for the GOP nomination
By Jesse Sowa
Community Reporter
Jeffrey Brady, Walter Huss and
Bill Spidal, all relative unknowns
in the Oregon political scene, are
attempting to challenge Bill Size
more in the Republican primary
for Oregon governor on May 19.
Sizemore, the executive direc
tor of Oregon Taxpayers United, is
widely viewed as the most likely
Republican candidate in the No
vember election.
“I am a Republican because I be
lieve in free enterprise, limited
government and individual re
sponsibility,” Sizemore said in a
recent letter. "I am not a Democrat
because I do not believe in strict
government regulation or control
of the economy.”
Sizemore also said flooding
Oregon schools with money is not
the only solution to the education
problem.
“Throwing money at our public
school system will not provide our
kids with a better education,” he
said. “We have done that for two
decades and seen little result. ”
Katherine Schiele, communica
tion director for Sizemore’s cam
paign, said the major issues for
Sizemore are efficiency and gov
ernment accountability. Accord
ing to Sizemore, Oregon citizens
are paying more than enough for
the services they deserve, but that
money is being spent in areas not
useful to progress in the state.
Sizemore could not be reached
for further comment.
Bill Spidal, the owner and man
ager of a Portland investment com
pany, said freezing all tax rates
and fees would be an important
step for state officials in gaining
the respect of Oregonians.
And, like Sizemore, Spidal dis
agrees with increased spending
for the public school system. He
said the budget for public schools
has risen in recent years while av
erage attendance has decreased.
Spidal said areas of excess state
spending include unneeded gov
ernment-built buildings, the West
Side light-rail project in Portland
and a $125 million project imple
mented by the state Department of
Motor Vehicles.
“Prevention [of excess spend
ing] is the way to go,” he said. “Un
fortunately, we’re not doing that.”
Spidal said many criminals are
repeat offenders who seem un
fazed by jail time, and he believes
mandatory jail times would cut
the number of repeat offender
crimes in half.
Another area where Spidal sees
a lack of state accountability is the
current status of Oregon’s rivers
and the inability to control
growth.
“The Willamette is turning into
a giant cesspool,” he said. “The
growth is out of control in Ore
gon.”
Walter Huss, director of the Di
rect Legislative League and Ore
gon Tax Reform Coalition, has de
veloped and presented a plan to
state officials that would imple
ment a single gross receipts tax of
2.5 percent and abolish the state’s
income and property taxes.
The plan would also prohibit a
retail sales tax or any other single
tax. The plan would do away with
filing taxes for 1.5 million citizens
and 147,000 state businesses,
Huss said.
“It’s a very workable thing —
fair and honest,” he said.
Huss, a Portland native, added
that the sales tax would allow
more mothers to stay home with
their children, which he believes
would lessen the breakdown of
families in the state.
Huss is in favor of additional
spending for higher education in
Oregon, which ranks poorly
among states. He said businesses
in the state are looking for three
things: a competent and friendly
tax system, leaders who take
charge in the workplace and an
educated work force.
Additional higher-education
funding will help increase those
three things, Huss said.
Jeffrey Brady, a dentist from
Portland, is in favor of additional
government help in saving fish in
local waters, as well as making
dental care affordable to all chil
dren.
“I am running for governor be
cause I do not think enough is be
ing done to save the salmon, the
steelhead and the fish in the
ocean, rivers, streams and lakes in
Oregon,” Brady said in a letter
submitted for the 1998 Oregon
Voters’ Pamphlet.
“The children in the state of
Oregon need to have the best, most
caring and affordable dental care
that the government health plans
and insurance companies can pro
vide.”
Brady has no previous govern
ment experience. He was unavail
able for further comment.
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