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Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday October 21, 2020
HoodRiverNews.com • TheDallesChronicle.com • WhiteSalmonEnterprise.com
US SENATE DISTRICT #30, OREGON
Carina Miller
respond to concerns over the climate
crisis?
Pass policy that creates a more sustainable
Carina Miller lives on
economy using the just transition frame-
Warm Springs Indian
Reservation, where she raises work. In our state we have experts on climate
her son. She graduated from change and we need to be utilizing their
Madras High School in 2005 knowledge to help us solve this crisis. While
also being mindful of those who will be most
and went on to get a B.S.
impacted, we need to hear their perspectives
in Ethnic Studies from the
as well. When we work as one rather than
University of Oregon. Her
against each other, we can make our state
Carina Miller passions include grassroots
more sustainable for generations to come.
organizing, activism, volun-
Please describe a specific piece of legis-
teering and being steward of the land.
How does your previous experience help lation you would sponsor or support in the
next session.
qualify you for this position?
Carina would support taking bold action
Carina serves as a Columbia Gorge
on climate change while also being mindful
Commissioner, Co-Chair of the Energy
of those who are being most impacted by
Committee for the ATNI, Chair of the
these decisions.
Native American caucus for the DPO and as
Please give one specific suggestion you
member of the Board of Directors for ACLU
have for helping Oregon achieve stable
Oregon. Previously, she served on the 27th
Tribal Council for the Confederated Tribes of education funding.
Tax large corporations. Our children, youth
Warm Springs.
Tell us why you are running for this office and aspiring college students deserve to
have the education they need and want. We
and list your top three concerns.
Carina chose to run for office so voices like need to be demanding more funds from large
hers can be heard across the state. In Oregon corporations throughout Oregon to help with
these costs.
there has never been an Oregon Tribal
What is your opinion on the practice of
member elected to the legislature. She served
members of a political party walking out
on Tribal Council for a federally recognized
during a Legislative session?
sovereign nation and worked on local, state,
It is unacceptable for any elected official
and federal levels in multiple areas. Her
lived and professional experiences make her to do this and this is why I am running to be
your next State Senator.
uniquely qualified to represent this district.
There are a lot of things left on the table that
could greatly improve every community in
Oregon Senate district 30. Carina’s top three
concerns include the environment/water,
education and social justice.
How should the Oregon Legislature
Lynn Findley (incumbent)
I’m Lynn Findley, I serve
as our Senator for Senate
District 30 and previously as
State Rep. for House District
60. I have lived in Eastern
Oregon for all of my life. I
worked in land and fire man-
agement and city planning
for 30-plus years prior to join-
Sen. Lynn
ing the Legislature.
Findley
How does your previ-
ous experience help qualify you for this
position?
I have a long track record of fighting issues
in the government on behalf of the commu-
nities and people I represent. My experiences
as a legislator for three years, in city manage-
ment and various commissions, and legis-
lative committees have molded me to be an
excellent listener and advocate.
Tell us why you are running for this office
and list your top three concerns.
I am running for this office to contin-
ue fighting for those in my community.
Often times, Salem is out of touch with our
needs here in rural Oregon. As an Eastern
Oregonian all my life, I have seen first-hand
the unique challenges we face. Continuing
to serve as our state senator would allow
me to be a voice for citizens that trust me to
represent them and their interests. My biggest
priorities are being an advocate for our agri-
cultural community and natural resources,
fighting for lower taxes and smarter spending,
and removing barriers to economic develop-
ment in our communities.
Please describe a specific piece legisla-
tion you would sponsor or support in the
next session.
The two pressing issues I will address in the
2021 legislative session are introducing an
Estate Tax Exemption and Land Use Relief for
development.
Please give one specific suggestion you
have for helping Oregon achieve stable
education funding.
It’s important to understand we can’t treat
education as a one-size-fits all approach. In
order to achieve stable education funding,
we need to reduce the PERS burden, and
balance the budget earlier so our districts can
plan. Money needs to go to classroom, not
exorbitant retirement plans.
What is your opinion on the practice of
members of a political party walking out
during a Legislative session?
If my colleagues will not allow for a fair
process in the building, then I will represent
my constituents from outside the building.
How should the Oregon Legislature re-
spond to concerns over the climate crisis?
The most immediate way to tackle climate
change is to ensure we have a healthy land-
scape and responsible, sustainable practices
when it comes to natural resources. We
need proper forest management, active fuels
mitigation and an aggressive fire suppression
program. In eastern Oregon, we successfully
employ noxious weed management, sustain-
able grazing and aggressive fire suppression.
Carbon sequestration from having a healthy
landscape will reduce our carbon output by
over 50 percent, when coupled with the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard, our total carbon emis-
sion will be nearly imperceptible. We must
support Oregon’s agricultural and natural
resources with smarter, stronger policy.
KLICKITAT COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT #3
Jim Sizemore
Jim Sizemore
I’ve been an active part
of the community since I
moved here 43 years ago. I’ve
been involved in Goldendale
Jaycee’s, Natural Resources
Advisory Board, Board of
Equalization, Fair Board, I’ve
been a volunteer firefighter.
I’m honored to have served
as your commissioner for the
past eight years.
focus on bringing qualified professional help
to those that need it.
What role do you believe the Washington
State Legislature has in responding to con-
cerns over the climate crisis?
I believe government has a role in not only
responding to the climate crisis but also to
be a part of the solution. Klickitat County is
a leader in Washington State for renewable
energy. I have and continue to encourage
and support wind, solar, and pump storage
projects. I have always believed in sci-
ence-based management practices of natural
resources. The management of our public
lands in Klickitat County need rethinking and
I want to be a part of updating public land
management to better reflect a more resilient
landscape to extreme weather conditions
brought about by the change in climate.
How does your previous experience help
qualify you for this Legislative role?
I have a lot of leadership experience in the
county. These experiences have given me
a lot of knowledge about many parts of our
county; what needs to be done and what I can
We need childcare. I would support any
do to help. I work hard to represent everyone
legislation that could help us bring quality
who lives in Klickitat County.
and affordable childcare to our rural county.
Tell us why you are running for this office
Klickitat County is now in Phase 2. The best
and list your top three concerns.
immediate help for small business is for the
The people who live in Klickitat County
county to move to Phase 3. I would suggest
need a Board of Commissioners that have
that business owners make a public ask that
experience in the budgeting process and
everyone wear a mask, social distance, and
the internal working of county government.
respect the number of people that can gather.
My priority is to use my experience as we
work through a pandemic and a recession.
Do you support the Port of Hood River’s
Another pressing priority is to help our
efforts to replace the Hood River-White
county residents and natural areas be more
Salmon Interstate Bridge? Why or why not?
fire resistant as mother nature and weather
I support this 100 percent. The bridge is
changes. Another priority is I’d like to put
vital to our economy. It will be a bi-state effort
more emphasis on mental health, with a
and I want to help get it done.
Also running for the District 3 position is Miland Walling, who did not respond
to the questionnaire. Information on Walling can be found at www.facebook.com/
MilandforCommissioner.
Dan Christopher
Dan
Christopher
My wife and I live in
Centerville. I graduated
from Mt. Hood Community
College. I have been a
successful business owner
for the last 20 years. I also
volunteer with many organi-
zations in our community,
because I want to make a
difference in peoples’ lives.
How does your previous experience help
qualify you for this Commissioner role?
I have been making presentations
before State representatives; State Policy
Commissions and County Commissions for
over 25 years. I have been in our Klickitat
County Commissioner meetings weekly
for years. The voters of District 3 chose me
almost 2-1 over my opponent in the primary
election, because they trust me.
What role do you believe local govern-
ments have in responding to concerns over
the climate crisis?
Growth, or growth management and its
relationship to wildfire, smoke and public
safety. We have already started seeing the
rush of people fleeing the big cities for the
fresh air and clear waters here. While growth
can be good for your economy, I believe we
need a balanced growth policy to make sure
we don’t end up with land development
issues like they did with the Paradise Hills
complex fire in California in 2018. When
you put large developments, in a rural treed
areas like the White Salmon River, with small
volunteer fire departments you are asking for
wildfire problems
Please describe a specific piece of legis-
lation you would sponsor or support in the
next session.
Transparency. Video conferencing all
meetings to the public. You will never have
Tell us why you are running for this office a government that serves it’s people until all
meetings are held in public.
and list your top three concerns.
I as running, because our people need
Give one specific suggestion you have
help now! Our current leadership is turning
for helping small businesses recover from
District 3 into communities of poverty and
the economic effects of the coronavirus
despair, while making their special interest
pandemic.
campaign donors rich.
I believe we need new, younger, fresher
We need Transparency. I am in all the
public meetings. We need to end the behind ideas to increase our county’s tourism. Create
a tourism citizens advisory board to help
closed door meetings and deals that only
increase our county tourism.
benefit the wealthy campaign donors.
Support our at-risk youth. Currently the
Do you support the Port of Hood River’s
Commissioners only allot $24,000 on our
efforts to replace the Hood River-White
at-risk youth.
Salmon Interstate Bridge? Why or why not?
Growth management/development strat-
Yes. But I also think Klickitat county and
egies that protect our critical environmental
especially White Salmon should have an
areas. Right now I believe our current com-
equal voice on that bridge building commis-
mission looks at environmental and habitat
sion where currently it doesn’t.
concerns more like speed bumps.
US SENATE DISTRICT #3, WASHINGTON
Jaime Herrera Beutler
I’m Jaime
Herrera
Beutler and
I grew up in
Southwest
Washington.
Serving our
region’s
families and
Jaime Herrera communi-
Beutler
ties is my
mission. Of
Washington’s 12 members of
Congress, I’ve been ranked
“most effective” for champi-
oning legislation to protect
jobs, make health care afford-
able, and preserve our way
of life.
How does your previous
experience help qualify you
for this U.S. Legislator role?
Since taking office, I’ve
worked with Republicans
and Democrats to get things
done. From securing funding
for the Dallesport Regional
Airport expansion and Hood
River Bridge replacement,
to getting legislation signed
into law to manage sea lions
destroying our salmon, I’ve
worked hard to deliver for
our community.
Tell us why you are run-
ning for this office and list
your top three concerns.
One: We have to protect
jobs and small businesses.
Prior to the pandemic we
had record low unemploy-
ment, and growing wages.
I’ll support lower taxes, small
business relief and other
actions to get us there.
Two: Let’s make health
care more accessible and
affordable. I’m supporting
solutions to lower prescrip-
tion drug costs and protect
coverage for preexisting
conditions.
Three: We need to better
manage our forests. With
thinning, responsible
harvests and maintenance
we can make them more
resilient to the wildfires
that destroyed homes and
threatened our health. And it
will support jobs in our rural
communities, too.
What role do you believe
the federal government has
in responding to concerns
over the climate crisis?
Congress should act to
reduce harmful emissions
and harness innovation for a
cleaner future. I support the
Use It Act to foster carbon
capture technology and
the BEST Act to strengthen
renewable energy storage.
Forest management to
control wildfires will prevent
millions of tons of heat-trap-
ping carbon from being
released. But we should be
leery of public discourse that
shames people about climate
change; I favor offering posi-
tive actions to combat it. And
I vehemently oppose carbon
taxes that big companies
would simply pass on to
families, making it more ex-
pensive to power their homes
emerged from this crisis, we
must do everything possible
Please describe a specific to help our favorite main
street businesses — and the
piece of legislation you
would sponsor or support in jobs they support — from
permanently shuttering.
the next session.
I’ll keep pushing for my
Do you support the Port
Safe and Affordable Drugs
of Hood River’s efforts to re-
from Canada Act, allowing
folks to pay on average one-
place the Hood River-White
third the cost of their current Salmon Interstate Bridge?
prescriptions.
and small businesses.
Give one specific
suggestion you have for
helping small businesses
recover from the econom-
ic effects of the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
We must extend the
Paycheck Protection
Program I helped create
that’s preserved 9,500 small
businesses and 95,000 jobs
in Southwest Washington
alone. Until we have
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Why or why not?
It’s vital, which is why I
fought to secure a $5 million
grant to begin the replace-
ment process. This project
has my full support.
Beutler’s opponent, Carolyn
Long, did not respond to
the Columbia Gorge News
questionnaire. Information is
available on her website.
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