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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2016)
ENDORSEMENTS 2C | ATTORNEY GENERAL Rosenblum is clear choice for attorney general f all the statewide, placed. He tried to saddle cabinet-level her with mistakes that were positions being con- made by others before she tested in November, voters even took ofice, and when have the easiest decision to made aware of that fact, make in the race for attor- he was unable to muster ney general. Democratic another line of attack. incumbent Ellen Rosenblum While in ofice, is a clear choice and should Rosenblum hasn’t needed be re-elected. any of Crowe’s bluster. Before becoming She has been a quiet hand attorney general in 2012, in a dificult job, doing her Rosenblum’s experience best to avoid the pitfalls included 22 years as a that her predecessor John judge, eight years as a Kroger fell into. Kroger was federal prosecutor unable to inish and ive years in his term, nor get private practice. much meaningful While in ofice, legislation passed. she has been called Rosenblum con- “The People’s siders both the Attorney General” legal and political for her reputation ramiications and, of looking out for while that may those Oregonians make her proposals who are most imperfect, it does vulnerable. She Ellen Rosenblum mean they have a has championed better chance of enforcement of the Internet becoming law. Crimes Against Children If there have been short- Act, which includes prose- falls during her term, it has cuting sexual predators and been in the area of public child pornographers. She records reform. While has also prioritized ighting Rosenblum knows those consumer fraud and scams reforms are much needed, targeting older Oregonians, they have yet to be enacted. and she secured funding for But she has pledged she an elder abuse unit in the will make those reforms, attorney general’s ofice. government transparency Her opponent, and openness a priority. Republican Daniel Crowe, Her experience and per- is not ready for a statewide formance as attorney gen- position, and his bluster eral easily warrants another directed toward Rosenblum term, and voters should during a joint endorsement not hesitate in re-electing interview was clearly mis- Rosenblum. O THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016 | GUBERNATORIAL RACE Reluctant nod goes to incumbent Brown I n the battle to become Oregon’s next governor, color us unsat- isied and disappointed by both candidates. Incumbent Democrat Kate Brown is facing Republican new- comer Bud Pierce, and voters face a conundrum in this special election of having to choose between a sit- ting governor who lacks vision, vis- ibility and leadership, or an inex- perienced newbie whose debate stumbles showed he’s not ready for prime time. The winner will serve the remaining two years of former Gov. John Kitzhaber’s term. Libertarian James Foster, Independent Cliff Thomason and the Constitution Party’s Aaron Donald Auer are also on the ballot, but none of the trio provide voters with a suit- able alternative to Brown or Pierce. Given that, we reluctantly give Brown our nod to retain her seat. Brown is not an elected governor, she was secretary of state and inher- ited the ofice through succession when Kitzhaber resigned amid an inluence peddling scandal in 2015. Pierce is a Salem oncologist who is seeking state ofice for the irst time. On the issues, we agree with Pierce on a number of points. He opposes Measure 97, the tax on gross sales of “C” corporations with more than $25 million in revenue; he favors public employee pension reforms to ix the problematic retire- ment plan; he favors iscal reform and better oversight of state agen- cies; and he is against growing gov- ernment at the expense of the pri- vate sector. On the other side of the ballot, Brown endorsed Measure 97, which would be the largest tax increase in Oregon history, and she initially promised that she would steer the $3 billion a year it would generate to Kate Brown funding education, health care and senior citizens. But the Legislature is already whispering about potential changes it may make to the funding plans even before it passes. Instead of leading and taking a public stance, the governor’s response thus far has been noncommittal, saying, “It’s in the Legislature’s hands.” As governor, Brown also hasn’t been a visible leader push- ing reforms for the ongoing Public Employees Retirement System inancial crisis. She and the Legislature had a chance during the last session to initiate action, but were silent and took none. Additionally, she has been notice- ably absent from campaigning in Clatsop County to answer constitu- ents’ concerns. Unfortunately for Clatsop County residents, both candidates say they favor Kitzhaber’s ill-conceived summary decision to ind alterna- tives to gillnetting on the mainstem of the Columbia River. The action, which called for “adaptive manage- ment” of isheries and ishing meth- ods and was scheduled to be fully implemented by 2017, would make it untenable for most family busi- nesses that depend on the gillnet- ting to survive. It would also deprive many consumers here of a chance to buy the salmon from non-tribal gill- netters. The plan, however, hasn’t worked as state leaders assumed. As a result of the shortcomings, state wildlife commissioners will be meeting next month to discuss options for it going forward. While the differences between Brown and Pierce on other issues would potentially move us to endorse Pierce, we can’t overlook his inexperience or his glaring and unacceptable responses on domes- tic violence that he made during a debate with Brown in which he said, “A woman that has great education and training and a great job is not susceptible to this kind of abuse by men, women or anyone.” Pierce’s comments, which came in the same debate where Brown acknowledged she had once been a victim of domestic violence, were interrupted by loud boos and met with scorching national press. The recent “Count Her In 2016 Status Report of Women” reported that up to 50 percent of all Oregon women have been the victims of domestic violence. Pierce has apologized multi- ple times, and has said it opened his eyes to the problem and he will now join the ight to combat it. We are pleased that Pierce has seen that light, but as Oregon gov- ernor, he would always be in the limelight and any such uninformed and unacceptable statements on any issue relect on us all. As a result, voters — reluctantly — should put Brown back in ofice, and hope for greater leadership going forward. Watch the editorial board endorsement interviews with EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group at http://bit.ly/2dxpGQb | TREASURER Read is best suited for treasurer eople accuse those In addition to PERS, running for treasurer Read believes the biggest of being a boring lot, issues that need to be but perhaps that is what tackled are management of makes a good treasurer. the state’s assets with trans- The four people seeking parency that government the seat do lean toward has lacked and to deliver the soft-spoken and Oregonians the best return programmatic: Democrat for their tax dollars. Tobias Read, Republican As treasurer, Read’s Jeff Gudman, Independent planned improvements are Chris Telfer and Working small but helpful: moderniz- Families/Progressive Chris ing the investment program, Henry. hiring state employees to Only Read, Gudman and manage investments rather Telfer have actively than farming out campaigned, and the job to expen- we support Read. sive consultants, Read has the and slashing Wall more complete Street fees in the resume, being one process. of the longest-serv- He also believes ing state repre- the treasurer’s sentatives, since ofice needs to pro- 2007, who rose to vide the Legislature House speaker pro with better Tobias Read tempore. “straight-ahead” He also has inancial analysis worked for the U.S. that looks at long-term Treasury and has experience impacts of inancial deci- in the private sector at Nike. sions rather than those used Telfer, a current Oregon by the Legislature for short- Lottery commissioner and a term political strategies. certiied public accountant To accomplish those for more than 30 years, goals, it may take an is the most interesting increase in state treasury alternative, who has tossed employees and their com- out ways the state could pensation packages, but his improve the dangerous and ideas make sense. ineficient marijuana bank- If a sizable portion of the ing system. state’s budget is dependent Still, treasurer is not a on returns from our invest- position where you want to ment portfolio, then we take risks. should have more control The growing problem over that investment. that the next oficeholder All in all, Read has the will have to face down right amount of experience is the Public Employees and expertise and we think Retirement System, a rising he would do a serviceable menace to Oregon’s state job in a very important budget and its inancial position. future. Voters should elect him. P | SECRETARY OF STATE Richardson should be secretary of state ennis Richardson’s temperament, ability to work area of smaller miscellaneous contributions which are with legislators from both political parties and his nearly impossible track to their source; provide nonparti- vision for the Secretary of State’s Ofice make him san leadership on other elections issues with innovations the best candidate to serve, and voters should elect him to like creating an independent citizens commission to the position. help develop more clear and accurate ballot titles; would Richardson, a Republican from Central Point in make a priority of examining government spending; and southern Oregon, is facing Portland Democrat Brad would audit the Department of Human Services, which Avakian, who heads the state Bureau of Labor has had repeated failures in its mission to protect and Industries. The two candidates are vying children. To avoid gerrymandering, he advocates for the position that oversees state records, planning for the 2020 census and nonpartisanship business registrations, audits, and voting and when the redrawing of legislative districts is elections. Importantly, the secretary of state has considered. two other critical functions: the secretary of Richardson’s opponent, Avakian, has “Hulk- state redraws legislative district boundaries if sized” ambitions and a record for partisan lawmakers are unable to reach agreement; and activism, even though most of the functions in the secretary of state is irst in succession in the the ofice he seeks depend on the appearance of event of the resignation or death of the governor. impartiality and neutrality, especially in elections. That is how then-Secretary of State Kate Brown Avakian has been labor commissioner since 2008, Dennis Richardson has a background as a civil rights attorney, and became governor after John Kitzhaber resigned. Richardson ran against Kitzhaber and carried his experience includes being both a state senator Clatsop County when Kitzhaber was re-elected in 2014. and representative. He believes the secretary of state’s He would bring a steady personality to the ofice and auditing duties should be expanded, without the need of would provide impartial checks and balances to what he outside approval, to include auditing private corporations calls a “system broken by a lack of integrity.” He would that do business with the state, even though other state provide a strong presence for accountability, ethics and leaders and agencies already have that responsibility. He transparency in state government, and his experience does not believe gerrymandering is a problem in Oregon. includes 12 years as a state legislator, during which time Avakian’s ambitions and agenda simply don’t make he was widely known for his ability to work well with him a good it for secretary of state. Integrity, accountabil- other legislators in both political parties. ity and vision make Dennis Richardson far better suited As secretary of state, Richardson said, he would to occupy the secretary of state’s ofice, and voters should support reforms for campaign inancing, especially in the make Richardson their choice. D | MEASURE 95 Universities need investment options M easure 95 gives Oregon’s universities a better ability to control their own inancial destinies. It deserves voter approval. The measure, if approved, gives universities the ability to invest in stocks and corrects a conlict with a provision in the Oregon Constitution that occurred when the state Legislature created independent governing boards for the universities in 2013. The Legislature’s intent in 2013 was to allow the universities to each manage their money wisely by giving them more investment options, including stock owner- ship, but a provision in the Constitution bans state own- ership of equities. That conlict creates a glitch with the investment options that the Legislature tried to provide. Measure 95 ixes the error by exempting universities from the constitutional prohibition and will allow them to better manage both the inancial risk of leaving money on the table when better investment options are available, and with strategies to improve their inancial returns on their investments. It’s also important to note that Measure 95 has nothing to do with university foundations, which routinely invest in stocks of all kinds and are independent of the universities and the state’s investment oversight. The measure only applies to the state-supported uni- versities themselves and the amounts of money in their accounts from things like student tuition, room and board, and money from state appropriations and other sources. Long term, larger returns for the universities could help keep tuition down and more affordable for students. Voters should give Measure 95 a resounding “Yes.” DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873
