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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2008)
NWLP Nov. 21, 2008:NWLP 11/18/08 9:43 AM Page 3 ...Election night victory parties everywhere in Oregon (From Page 1) Kopel-Bailey Dist. 42, Portland; Michael Dembrow, Dist. 45, Portland; Jefferson Smith, Dist. 47, Portland; Nick Kahl Dist. 49, Troutdale; Brent Barton, Dist. 51, Clackamas; and Suzanne VanOrman Dist. 52, Hood River. Dembrow is a union activist and president of the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon Local 2277 at Portland Community College. Dembrow and the others will join a bevy of incumbent state reps who were re-elected with labor’s support. They are: Rep. Peter Buckley, Dist. 5, Ashland; Rep. Paul Holvey, Dist. 8, Eugene; Rep. Arnie Roblan, Dist. 9, Coos Bay; Rep. Jean Cowan Dist. 10, Newport; Rep. Phil Barnhart, Dist. 11, Eugene; Rep. E. Terry Beyer, Dist. 12, Springfield; Rep. Nancy Nathanson, Dist. 13, N. Eugene; Rep. Chris Ed- wards, Dist. 14, Eugene; Rep, Sara Gelser, Dist. 16, Corvallis; Rep. Brian Clem; Dist. 21, Salem; Rep. Betty Komp, Dist. 22, Woodburn; Rep. To- bias Read, Dist. 27, Washington County; Rep. Jeff Barker, Dist. 28, Aloha; Rep. Chuck Riley, Dist. 29, Hillsboro; Rep. David Edwards, Dist. 30, Hillsboro; Rep. Brad Witt, Dist. 31, Clatskanie; Rep. Mitch Greenlick, Dist. 33, Portland; Rep. Larry Galizio, Dist. 35, Tigard; Rep. Mary Nolan, Dist. 36, Portland; Rep. Dave Hunt, Dist. 40, Clackamas Co.; Rep. Car- olyn Tomei, Dist. 41, Milwaukie; Rep. Chip Shields, Dist. 43, Portland; Rep. Tina Kotek, Dist. 44, Portland; Rep. Ben Cannon, Dist. 46, Portland; and Rep. Michael Schaufler, Dist. 48, Happy Valley. Only three endorsed House candi- dates lost their races. They were Richard Riggs in District 20, Salem; Jessica Adamson in District 26, Sher- wood; and Toby Forsberg in District 39, Oregon City. Forsberg lost by just 439 votes to former Clackamas County Commissioner Bill Kennemer. Six of seven AFL-CIO-endorsed candidates for the Oregon Senate were successful, including incumbents Joanne Verger, District 5, Coos Bay; Mark Hass, District 14, Washington County/SW Portland; and Laurie Monnes Anderson, Senate District 25, Gresham. Newcomers elected to the Senate, but no strangers to labor, are Suzanne Bonamici, District 17, Beaverton; Di- ane Rosenbaum, District 21, Portland; and Jackie Dingfelder, District 23, Portland. Each served in the House and each had strong labor voting records in that chamber. Rosenbaum is a member of Communications Workers of America Local 7901 and is a past Executive Board member of the Oregon AFL-CIO. Eldon Rollins was the only casu- alty, in Senate District 1, Coquille. The Oregon AFL-CIO took posi- tions on 12 statewide ballot measures — and was successful on all of them. Labor endorsed Measures 54, 55, 56, and 57 and opposed Measures 58 through 65. Five of the opposition measures were sponsored by union foe Bill Sizemore. One — Measure 64 — was Sizemore’s fourth attempt at trying to ban employer collection of union dues if any money is spent on politics. “These victories, combined with Oregon’s outright rejection once again of the anti-worker agenda espoused by Bill Sizemore and his buddies, pave the way for a brighter future for work- ing families,” Chamberlain said. Approximately 83 percent of regis- tered voters cast a ballot in Oregon. In local races, labor also did well. The Northwest Oregon Labor Council was victorious in 46 of the 49 races it participated in. NOLC helped elect Judy Shiprack to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. She is the wife of Bob Shiprack, executive director of the Oregon State Building and Con- struction Trades Council. NOLC’s other endorsed candidate for the com- mission, Carla Piluso, was defeated by Diane McKeel in a very close race (926 votes) out of nearly 55,000 bal- lots cast. In the contest for Portland City Council, NOLC’s endorsed candidate, Charles Lewis, lost to Amanda Fritz by a wide margin. Fritz, however, was endorsed by several union locals, in- cluding Portland AFSCME Local 189 and Laborers Municipal Employees Local 483. Both of those unions have members who work for the city. In Clackamas County, Charlotte Lehan was elected to the County Commission and Craig Roberts was re-elected sheriff. In Gresham, Shirley Craddick and Paul Warr-King were re-elected to the City Council, while in Columbia County Earl Fisher and Tony Hyde outpolled their opponents for seats on that county’s Board of Commission- ers. Additionally, Columbia County Circuit Court Judge Jenefer Grant held on to her position, defeating chal- lenger David Herr. A school children’s investment measure (Measure 26-94) in Portland passed, while a police funding levy in Gresham failed. NOLC had endorsed both measures. The Marion-Polk-Yamhill Coun- ties Labor Council helped re-elect Bill Burgess as Marion County clerk. He was in a race targeted by Republicans for the non-partisan post. In Yamhill County, labor-backed Rebekah Stern Doll was elected county clerk, while Kris Bledsoe lost her bid for county commissioner. Backed by Linn-Benton-Lincoln Counties Labor Council, Sharon Konopa was elected mayor of Albany and is the first woman to hold that post in the history of the city. Sharon, who served three terms on the Albany City Council, is married to Steve Konopa, a union representative of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. Three endorsed candidates for Al- bany City Council — Bill Root, Mike Styler and Frank Frentzel — were de- feated. Frentzel is president of AF- SCME Local 2043 at the City of Lebanon. Jim Gorley, financial secretary of Steelworkers Local 1189, was elected to the Sweet Home City Council, and in Benton County, labor-endorsed Annabelle Jaramillo and Jay Dixon were elected to the Board of Commis- sioners. The Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council probably made the difference for Pa- tricia Roberts in her race for Clatsop County Commissioner. Roberts de- feated Jim Scheller by just 15 votes. CPBCTC-endorsed candidates in Fairview and Wood Village didn’t fare quite as well. Theresa Davis, wife of IBEW Local 48 Business Manager Clif Davis, lost her bid for Fairview City Council, as did Laborers Local 296 Business Representative Gary Moore in Wood Village. A union-supported construction bond measure in Centennial School district also was defeated. In Washington State, two CP- BCTC-endorsed candidates for the Clark County Board of Commission- ers were defeated. Jeanne Harris was outpolled by Mark Boldt, and Pam Brokaw lost a nail-biter to Tom Mielke by just 190 votes out of 168,000 ballots cast. In Skamania County, Bruce Scher- ling lost his bid for county commis- sioner. Broadway Floral for the BEST flowers call 503-288-5537 1638 NE Broadway, Portland NOVEMBER 21, 2008 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
