Labor-endorsed charter change passes in Clark County, Wash.
Otherwise, it was a tough
night for labor unions in
Southwest Washington
VANCOUVER,Wash. — Elec-
tion night was mostly disappointing
for labor unions in Southwest Wash-
ington.
The Southwest Washington Cen-
tral Labor Council scored one big
victory in Clark County, where it
helped pass Proposition 1 to create a
new home rule charter. The measure
passed with 53 percent of the vote.
But voters didn’t feel the same
about labor’s candidate for county
commissioner. In that race, Craig
Pridemore, a former Democratic state
senator, was defeated by right-wing
Republican Jeanne E. Stewart. He
lost by 772 votes on a night when
only 50 percent of county residents
cast ballots.
Stewart will succeed former
IBEW Local 48 business manager
Ed Barnes on the county commis-
sion. Barnes was appointed to the
post earlier this year to fill the unex-
pired term of Steve Stuart.
The new charter will expand the
County Council from three commis-
sioners to five, and it puts the county
under a council-manager form of gov-
ernment. This means commissioners
will hire/fire a professional manager
who has the responsibility and author-
ity to implement policies adopted by
commissioners, and to manage the ad-
ministrative branch. The county coun-
cil will serve as the legislative branch:
setting policy, adopting the budget and
representing the County on various
boards.
Four members of the new five-per-
son council will be elected by district.
The fifth (the chair) will be elected at-
large. Salaries will be reduced from
$102,000 to $53,000 a year. The chair
will make 20 percent more ($63,600).
Future salary adjustments will be
based on percentage changes estab-
lished for state legislators by the Wash-
ington State Salary Commission.
The new charter goes into effect
Jan. 1, 2015. On that day the legisla-
tive and administrative powers will be
separated into two branches. The char-
ter calls for the election of two addi-
tional council members during 2015
who will be seated on Jan. 1, 2016. The
salary decrease will occur over two
years.
Other labor-endorsed winners
were Tony Golik, who was re-elected
prosecuting attorney; and Doug
Lasher, who was re-elected county
treasurer.
The Southwest Washington Central
Labor Council worked with the Wash-
ington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO,
to actively support Democrat Bob
Dingethal for U.S. Congress and Mon-
ica Stonier for re-election to the Wash-
ington House of Representatives in the
17th District. Both lost.
Republican Congresswoman
Jamie Herrera Beutler was re-elected
to District 3, with 59 percent of the
vote. Herrera has a 17 percent voting
record on workplace issues tracked
by the national AFL-CIO.
Stonier, a former public school
teacher who earned an 85 percent pro-
labor voting record in her first term,
lost to Tea Party Republican Lynda
Wilson, 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent.
Labor-endorsed Democrat Mau-
reen Winningham also fell short in
District 18, Position 2, losing to GOP
Liz Pike 59 percent to 41 percent.
On the winning side, Democrats
Sharon Wylie and Jim Moeller were
re-elected by wide margins in the
49th legislative district (Vancouver).
Democrats will retain the House
majority, but its numbers will shrink
from 55 seats last session to 51 in Jan-
uary 2015. The GOP’s ranks grow to
47 — the most seats since the party
had 48 in 2002. Republicans also cap-
tured an outright majority in the Senate
with 25 seats — plus Sen. Tim Shel-
don, the conservative Democrat from
the 35th District northwest of Olympia,
who caucused with the GOP in a coali-
tion majority the past two years.
A statewide ballot measure to re-
duce classroom size to less than 18
...AFL-CIO not far from election sweep
(From Page 1)
was defeated 68 percent to 32 percent.
The Oregon AFL-CIO missed on
Measure 88, the driver card for immi-
grants. It was defeated, 66.4 percent to
33.6 percent.
One of labor’s highest priority races
was in state Senate District 8, where
labor-endorsed Democrat Sara Gelser
of Corvallis unseated Republican in-
cumbent Betsy Close of Albany. Close
was appointed to the Senate seat in
2012 to succeed moderate Republican
Frank Morse, who stepped down mid-
term. Prior to that Close served in the
state House from 1999 to 2005. Gelser,
who has served as a state representative
for District 16 since 2005, won hand-
ily, capturing 56 percent of the vote.
In another priority race in the Sen-
ate, the AFL-CIO helped re-elect Alan
Bates in District 3, Medford. The race
was a re-match from 2010, pitting
Bates, an osteopathic physician who
has represented the Southern Oregon
district since 2004, against Republican
challenger Dave Dotterrer, a retired
Marine Corps colonel. In 2010 Bates
was re-elected by fewer than 300 votes.
On Nov. 4 he won by more than 3,700
votes.
Other labor-backed senators in-
cluded Floyd Prozanski in District 4,
Eugene; Lee Beyer in District 6,
Springfield; Chris Edwards in District
7, Eugene; Peter Courtney in District
11, Salem; Elizabeth Steiner-Hayward
in District 17, Northwest Portland;
Michael Dembrow in District 23, Port-
land; and Rod Monroe in District 24,
Portland.
Two union-endorsed challengers —
Jamie Damon in District 20, Oregon
City, and Robert Bruce in District 26,
Hood River County — fell short in
their Senate races. Damon, a former
Clackamas County commissioner, was
a priority race for labor. But she faced
an uphill battle against first-term Re-
publican Alan Olsen. That’s because re-
districting by the Legislature in 2011
gave Republicans the advantage in Dis-
trict 20 based on voter registration.
The Oregon AFL-CIO backed 32
winners in the Oregon House of Rep-
resentatives. Top priority races were
Democrats Joe Gallegos in District 30,
Hillsboro; Brent Barton in District 40,
When your workers’
compensation benefits
end, it’s time to think
about applying for
Social Security
Disability benefits.
(International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X)
Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon
as a voice of the labor movement.
4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150,
Portland, Ore. 97213
Telephone: (503) 288-3311
Editor: Michael Gutwig
Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice
Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of
each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-
profit corporation owned by 19 unions and councils including the
Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 80 union organizations in Ore-
gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union
members.
Group rates available to trade union organizations.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID
AT PORTLAND, OREGON.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a
change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old
and new addresses and the name and number of your local union.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150,
PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150
NOVEMBER 21, 2014
students per class in kindergarten
through third grade, and less than 26
students in fourth through 12th grade,
was defeated 53 percent to 47 per-
cent. Initiative 1351 was supported
by organized labor.
All of labor’s endorsed candidates
for state Supreme Court were victo-
rious. Mary Yu in Position 1, and Mary
Fairhurst in Position 3 ran unopposed.
And Charles Johnson in Position 4,
and Debra Stephens in Position 7, each
won with more than 70 percent of the
vote.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Oregon City; and Shemia Fagan in Dis-
trict 51, East Portland. All won by com-
fortable margins.
Other labor-endorsed winners were
Democrats Caddy McKeown in Dis-
trict 9, Coos Bay; David Gomberg in
District 10, Lincoln City; Phil Barnhart
in District 11, Eugene; John Lively in
District 12, Springfield; Nancy
Nathanson in District 13, Eugene; Val
Hoyle in District 14, Eugene; Dan Ray-
field in District 16, Corvallis; Paul
Evans in District 20, Monmouth; Betty
Komp in District 22, Woodburn; Tobias
Read in District 27, Beaverton; Jeff
Barker in District 28, Aloha; Susan
McLain in District 29, Hillsboro; Brad
Witt in District 31, Clatskanie; Mitch
Greenlick in District 33, Portland; Ken
Helm in District 34, Beaverton; Mar-
garet Doherty in District 35, Tigard;
Jennifer Williamson in District 36,
Portland; Ann Lininger in District 38,
Lake Oswego; Kathleen Taylor in Dis-
trict 41, Milwaukie; Rob Nosse in Dis-
trict 42, Portland; Lew Frederick in
District 43, Portland; Tina Kotek in
District 44, Portland; Barbara Smith
Warner in District 45, Portland; Jessica
Vega Pederson in District 47, East Port-
land; Jeff Reardon in District 48,
Southeast Portland; Chris Gorsek in
District 49, Troutdale; Carla Piluso in
District 50, Gresham; and Republican
Greg Smith in District 57, Heppner.
Three incumbent legislators who
were re-elected had conditional en-
dorsements from the AFL-CIO. That’s
because none of them completed a pol-
icy questionnaire, which is a required
part of the endorsement process. They
were Democratic Rep. Brian Clem in
District 21, Salem; Republican Rep.
John Huffman in District 59, The
Dalles; and Democratic state Sen.
Betsy Johnson in District 16, Scap-
poose.
Union-endorsed candidates who lost
Nov. 4 included Sign Painters and Paint
Makers Local 1094 member Scott
Mills, running against a Republican in-
cumbent in House District 18, Aurora;
Independent candidate Chuck Lee in
District 25, Keizer; Stephanie Nystrom
in District 52, Hood River; and Craig
Wilhelm in District 54, Bend.
Several union activists were among
the endorsed winners Nov. 4, including
Dembrow, Barker, McLain, Witt,
Nosse and Gorsek.
PAGE 3