The independent., May 16, 2002, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, May 16, 2002
Nonpartisan seats
are important, too
Superintendent of Public Instruction Stan Bunn has
set a dismally bad example for both students and gov­
ernment officials. He is well-educated, with degrees in
economics and law; he has considerable experience in
government, but he has blatantly abused state policy
regarding personal use of phones and vehicles—and
now whines about how unfairly the state ethics com­
mission is treating him. He made no reimbursement for
personal use of state property until his behavior was
made public; he is still trying to blame somebody else,
anybody else, for his actions. Stan Bunn does not un­
derstand personal responsibility and should not be re­
elected.
There are two other candidates for Superintendent
of Public Education - Susan Castillo and Rob Kremer
- both of whom have good credentials and a back­
ground of support for education. So how does the av­
erage person pick one (NOT on the basis of television
and radio commercials!). Endorsements are one im­
portant area, and Susan Castillo has impressive en­
dorsements from people in both major parties, plus en­
dorsements from both labor and administrative organi­
zations. Kremer includes only three endorsements in
the voters pamphlet, two people from the same politi­
cal party and one ESD chairperson, which indicates a
lack of broad-based endorsements.
The Superintendent of Education needs to have ac­
ceptance from all areas of the public. For this reason,
we recommend Susan Castillo.
There has been a lot of noise on the airwaves about
the Judge of the Court of Appeals. The incumbent,
David Schuman, is eminently qualified. He has been
both prosecutor and defender, was associate dean at
the U of O law school, and has endorsements that cut
across political philosophy.
His challenger, David Hunnicutt, has extensive ex­
perience in land use law and, as attorney for Oregoni­
ans In Action, has been working hard to destroy the
practices that have made Oregon so desireable. That
may be great from a “Let us make more money" point
of view, but it sure won’t save farm land.
David Schuman is a good choice for re-election to
thé Court of Appeals.
'
More Opinion
Measure 13
Ever since Measure 5 in the early
1990s, when voters passed control of
school funding over to Salem, it has be­
come more difficult for public schools to
plan for the future. It’s even difficult to
plan for next year.
With subsequent voter-approved re­
ductions in property taxes, school fund­
ing must rely on income taxes— along
with everything else in the general fund.
Now the recession has reduced income
taxes, so the legislature, which is filled
with people who were elected because
they promised to support education,
chose to cut school support rather than
increase taxes on anything else, even
tobacco and alcohol.
Kids can’t vote; smokers can.
Instead, the legislature decided to raid
an education endowment fund for $220
milllion. Is there anything wrong with
that? In this case, yes.
It is bad fiscal policy to deplete a fund
that was just begun. The only way that
fund will ever do what is intended is if it
is allowed to grow large enough to earn
adequate interest.
Measure 13 also requires a super-ma­
jority of the legislature in order to spend
the money for education, which means
that a minority of lawmakers can block
education funding.
Perhaps the worst element of Mea­
sure 13, however, is that its proponents
tout it as support for education without
mentioning that they have not provided
anything at all for the next biennium,
when the financial crunch will hit the
state even harder. This is like blowing
your last $100 on a fancy meal when
you know there is no more meal prioney.
Do the schools need the $220 million?
Yes. Is this good fiscal policy? No. It
would be better for the legislature to deal
honestly with the economy, instead of
pretending that $220 million will solve
the problem. Long term stability is need­
ed, not one last meal.
Measure 13 will harm education in the
long run. It is better to vote NO and force
our reluctant legislature to start doing
the job they promised to do and were
elected to do — support education.
The Independent endorses Republi­
can Ron Saxton and Democrat Beverly
Stein for their party gubernatorial nomi­
nations.
' c , ) I J 1 1 f \