Smoke Signals
September 1990
page 12
Candidates for Governor discuss issues with "Smoke Signalsr
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Barbara Roberts
Dave Frohnmayer
The following is actual taped transcripts of interviews with both the Republican and Democratic
candidates for Governor of Oregon. The interviews were conducted by newsletter editor Brent
Merrill at the office of the Secretary of State Barbara Roberts and the state Attorney General Dave
Frohnmayer. The interviews were concerning three main topics: economic development in smaller
communities, the current timber issues facing those rural communities and how to get Tribal,.
Government more involved in State and local government. Attorney ' General Dave Frohnmayer
was also asked about the Peyote issue since he was the state representative during the recent
SmithBlack vs. the State of Oregon case that went before the United States Supreme Court. ,
Interview with Barbara Roberts
Smoke Signals: "Barbara, the reason I wanted to talk to
you was concerning three main areas. One, economic de
velopment in smaller communities and what you see for
that. I also wanted to talk about the timber issue, we kind
of touched on that at the Oregon Tribes meeting and I was
really pleased with your responses because you seemed
real educated and knew what you were talking about. I
also want to talk about howyou feel about the Tribe getting
more involved in local and state government and what you
see in the future concerning that. So let's start with eco
nomic development in the smaller communities, do you see
any of that happening in the future?"
Roberts: "Well, every indication you have, and any kind of
involvement I've had indicates that the Western States, all
of the Western States, are going to experience some par
ticular growth during the next decade. Growth in terms of
migration from other states and immigration from other
countries that this is the place to come. The opportunities
that growth presents to Oregon if you do it correctly, by
bringing the communities together to really evaluate there
own aspects, to see what it is they have, what they could
build on, is tremendous. Communities have started work
ing on their needs in a new way and that caused each com
munity to identify what it is they have that they could build
on for the future. And lastly, that we've been working on
road aspects from one part of Oregon to the other, one of
the difficulties we've had in Oregon has been that it's been
very easy to get to the State of Washington and the State of
California but it's been difficult to get from Eastern to
(Continued on page 13)
Interview with Dave Frohnmayer
Smoke Signals: "Let's start out with Economic Devel
opment in smaller communities, what is your view on that,
and how do you feel about the current situation in rural
Western Oregon communities?"
Mr. Frohnmayer. "The first thing you do in the commu
nities is start by doing an inventory of where your strengths
are. And that means what are you good at and what are your
strong points? What's your geography like? What basic
kinds pf business enterprises are already there? And what
is your current potential for expansion?
And, there are ways to involve banks and utility compa
nies in doing a scientific assessment of the communities so
you really know where you stand and you start out with your
strengths. That is really important.
The second is to realize that Oregon is still a small
business economy and we ought to keep our business
home. Do a much better inventory of where suppliers are
and identifying which of these suppliers are from Oregon.
Why buy your supplies from San Diego or Atlanta if there
is somebody down the street or the next community who is
making the same kind of profit?"
Smoke Signals: "So your talking about networking?"
Frohnmayer: "Yes, networking. Currently, there is
something called the Oregon Market Place, which is doing
a very fine job. A third thing that communities can do is
remove the access barriers to services and financing that
small businesses need, and by that I mean, sometimes a
(Continued on page 14)