Kate Brown and Patrick Starnes answer Street Roots' questions; no response from Knute Buehler
Street Roots asked the candidates for Oregon governor to respond to five questions in 1,200 words or fewer.
Despite multiple emails and phone messages, we did not receive any reply from Republican Knute Buehler's campaign. This is the first time in Street Roots’ history a major candidate for public office declined to acknowledge our election questionnaire.
All candidates were asked the same questions, with the exception of the final two, which were specific to them.
For Buehler, those questions asked him: 1) how he would balance his support of the Jordan Cove LNG pipeline project against concerns that it would run through tribal lands, burial sites and waterways, and 2) if he thought donations as large as those he's received from Phil Knight should be allowed in Oregon elections, and if
UPDATE Oct. 31: Independent candidate Patrick Starnes has dropped out of the governor's race, urging his supporters to vote for incumbent Gov. Kate Brown.
Kate Brown, Democrat
• Assumed the office in February 2015, completing the term of John Kitzhaber, who resigned
• Won a special election to the office in 2016
• Former Oregon secretary of state, 2009-2015
1. This past year, we’ve been reporting on the housing crisis across the state, with a focus on rural areas. While each community faces unique challenges, we found several reccurring themes. We’d like to know how you would address each of the following issues we found to have a significant impact on housing insecurity in our state:
(a) What would you do to support communities that are finding licensed and unlicensed vacation rentals are contributing to low vacancy rates among rentals and rising housing insecurity in their area?
I know this is an issue in cities across Oregon, including on the coast. I’m watching closely how cities like Portland are regulating this emerging industry and if state law is presenting barriers to their efforts, I look forward to working with communities around Oregon to address them.
(b) The only houses being built in rural areas are luxury homes that most community members cannot afford. How will you spur construction of workforce housing in rural areas to correct shortages?
I have been working for the past three years to improve housing affordability in rural Oregon. I launched five housing pilot projects throughout Oregon in conjunction with Future Ready Oregon. This Workforce Housing Initiative creates partnerships between local communities, the business sector and private developers to tackle the housing shortage for working families and vulnerable communities in Oregon. We must stabilize existing affordable housing so it remains affordable into the future, as well as generate more affordable housing options for communities across our state, and enable local governments to streamline housing development.
(c) From skyrocketing rents and substandard housing to rashes of no-cause evictions, tenants across the state are crying foul. What new tenant protections would you champion as governor?
I want to end unreasonable no-cause evictions, ensure renters have relocation assistance so they stay in housing and provide technical support for renters. By empowering renters, we can ensure they have the ability to save for college, for a down payment or for retirement. I am proud to have received the endorsement of the Community Alliance of Tenants Action Fund.
2. Oregon is already seeing the impacts of climate change. As governor, how will you prepare Oregon’s infrastructure and emergency systems so that we are better prepared for the increasingly disastrous effects of climate change?
Oregon may be a small part of the global problem of climate change, but by working together, we can be a significant part of the national solution. I am fighting to protect our land, water and air, and working to make Oregon a national leader in clean energy, reducing emissions, and conservation. I will continue the great work we’ve accomplished with “coal-to-clean,” mining protections for river habitats, Cleaner Air Oregon and environmental hazard regulations in school facilities. I am also committed to working to pass Clean Energy Jobs in 2019 and locking in protections for clean air and water that the Trump Administration is trying to roll back. I will keep Oregon moving forward as a national leader on climate issues.
3. From foster care and education to housing and PERS – Oregon needs more money. How will you get it?
First, we need to make sure that the dollars we have are being spent where they have the greatest impact. I’ve directed our agencies to scour their budgets and reduce overhead and waste in order to direct their resources to services for vulnerable Oregonians, seniors and our children. Through that process we’ve found nearly a half billion dollars in savings.
When our roads and bridges and public transit services needed new investments, I brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass the most comprehensive transportation package in Oregon history. I did the same thing, bringing urban and rural lawmakers together to fund Oregon’s Medicaid program. Then I did that again to pass Cover All Kids, ensuring that every child in Oregon has access to healthcare.
On PERS, I’ve done the same, working with Republicans and Democrats to create new ways to pay down the debt we owe and help school districts reduce their costs.
I’m committed to continuing this work moving forward to ensure that our schools and critical services have the funding they need so we can build an even stronger future for Oregonians across the state.
4. Oregon has some of the most lax campaign finance laws in the nation. EMILY’s List donated $500,000 to your campaign. Do you think donations that large should be allowed? If not, what reforms would you like to see made to Oregon’s campaign finance laws?
I support meaningful campaign finance reform, and have testified in favor of campaign finance reform in the past and will not hesitate to do so in the future. As Secretary of State, I supported a change in Oregon’s constitution that would allow limits on campaign contributions.
5. You have been neutral on the Jordan Cove LNG terminal project and its related LNG pipeline. What is your argument against the project, given the job benefits it could provide to an economically depressed area? (Editor’s note: This question was corrected to accurately reflect the governor’s position as neutral, rather than against.)
My duty as governor is to ensure that our agencies and regulators are upholding the law and providing a transparent review process for citizens to weigh in on. I expect that DEQ will make a science-based determination on the pipeline and look forward to their findings.
Patrick Starnes, Independent (campaign suspended)
• Cabinetmaker for 30 years
• Elected twice to Douglas Education Service District and once to McKenzie School Board
1. This past year, we’ve been reporting on the housing crisis across the state, with a focus on rural areas. While each community faces unique challenges, we found several reoccurring themes. We’d like to know how you would address each of the following issues we found to have a significant impact on housing insecurity in our state:
(a) What would you do to support communities that are finding licensed and unlicensed vacation rentals are contributing to low vacancy rates among rentals and rising housing insecurity in their area?
See my Oregon Shelter Fund (below).
(b) The only houses being built in rural areas are luxury homes that most community members cannot afford. How will you spur construction of workforce housing in rural areas to correct shortages?
See Oregon Shelter Fund (below).
(c) From skyrocketing rents and substandard housing to rashes of no-cause evictions, tenants across the state are crying foul. What new tenant protections would you champion as governor?
As one who rents a home to a family in Eugene, I do not support no-cause evictions, and support lifting the statewide ban on rent controls. For more details see the Oregon Shelter Fund attachment (below).
2. Oregon is already seeing the impacts of climate change. As governor, how will you prepare Oregon’s infrastructure and emergency systems so that we are better prepared for the increasingly disastrous effects of climate change?
Revenue from fossil fuels can be shunted to a Climate Disaster Fund.
3. From foster care and education to housing and PERS – Oregon needs more money. How will you get it?
See my Grand Bargain. This will free up more money for classrooms, etcetera.
4. You’re running on a platform focused almost entirely on campaign finance reform. Why is this your No. 1 priority when there are so many other issues facing Oregonians?
The reason campaign finance reform must happen first is because other reforms like health care and affordable housing, etcetera, will be prevented by the big money interests who finance politicians. We must get big money out of politics first so state senators and representatives can come out of the shadows of big money and work for the people.
5. The Jordan Cove LNG terminal project and its related LNG pipeline is a contentious, ongoing issue. Do you support this project? Please explain your position.
I am the only governor candidate who has been clearly opposed to the LNG terminal in Coos Bay. I have been against it since the beginning when it was called the Williams Connector. It is bad for our rivers, forests, farms and ranches. The short-term jobs do not make up for the long-term liabilities. The gas is not odorized and leaks are a huge hazard to life and the environment.
The Grand Bargain
As an elected school board member for over 10 years, I watched as PERS and rising health care costs constantly took more money out of our classrooms. In the small school of McKenzie River, we only had 30 employees but it was costing us $24,000 a month. In the bigger Douglas ESD in Roseburg, where we had 100 employees, it was costing us $80,000 a month. In the smaller school district, that money could have provided a half time teaching assistant in all 12 grades. In the bigger district that would have been a highly trained speech therapist or a school mental health specialist.
So while I sat in those meetings and balanced budgets every year, I thought of a solution.
The visual I use to explain the PERS predicament is an upside down pyramid. Many baby-boomers are leaving their jobs in the public sector and going into the public employee retirement system while at the same time cities, counties, schools and the state are not hiring enough new young employees to support the base of the pyramid. Public employees are becoming overworked and over burdened.
My proposal is two solutions which are tied together and hence the term “The Grand Bargain.”
I propose we broaden the PERS pyramid to include private sector workers like Burger King, gas station attendants, etcetera, into a new system we call O.U.R.S. or the Oregon Universal Retirement System. With all the new young workers across Oregon added we can save the PERS pyramid from toppling over.
At the same time we need to expand the Oregon Health Plan to ALL Oregonians. The big difference between me and other single-payer politicians: I have a way of paying for it.
Since obesity, diabetes and heart disease are our number one killers in America we need to have a sin tax on junk food similar to the one we currently have on alcohol and cigarettes.
The details of how much and what will be taxed would have to be worked out in the legislature and that is why campaign finance reform (CFR) must happen first. We cannot have big pharma, insurance companies and soda beverage dealers dominating our campaigns or our agenda. That is why I promise to have CFR be my first priority in the first hundred days. I will not sign any other legislation until we have campaign finance limits and more transparency in dark money.
While it is obvious why the Grand Bargain is good for public employers, the Grand Bargain may at first be opposed by the business sector until they realize the benefits of the single payer healthcare. They no longer have to pay healthcare premiums directly. Freeing up millions of dollars of required health care premiums can provide the 6 percent they need to pay into O.U.R.S.
The final benefit to all Oregonians is the health care benefits and pension benefits are 100 percent transferable no matter where you work in Oregon. Oregon will become the healthiest state in the U.S.
Oregon Shelter Fund
Let me start by saying I am a supporter of the Measure 102 which will give agencies and non-profit groups more flexibility with shelter dollars.
Besides finding specific funding for shelter we also need to explore many of the rules and building codes that keep costs unattainable for many Oregonians. Rules and regulations need to be reviewed. For example, as a wood worker, I know we do not need to build mini-homes with 2 by 6 construction! A 10 foot by 12 foot structure does not need such heavy duty framing whereas a 6,000 square foot home may.
Next let me explain my vision to create a specific Oregon Shelter Fund and my ideas on how to specifically fund this service.
The next governor (no matter who it may be) needs to create a specific Shelter Fund that is separate and safe from the General Fund. It needs to be a “hands off” fund and only used specifically for housing or other shelter services. Therefore it needs to have its own revenue source.
First let me go into how the fund can be used. The Oregon Shelter Fund would be matching grant dollars for counties and cities. Cities or counties could show a property of certain value that could be their match for Oregon Shelter Fund dollars to construct or remodel shelter space or shelter services on said property.
Shelter Example:
Eugene has a large EWEB property that is worth millions and could be used as a match to apply for dollars from the Oregon Shelter Fund. Private dollars could also be raised to match the State and local dollars to complete a village for 300 un-housed residents. Often finding the available land is the first challenge for local governments or NGOs.
Shelter Service Example:
In Eugene there is a commercial building on the corner of Broadway and Charnelton (the old Symantech Building with a value of $10 million) where a private non-profit commercial service could be providing low cost small storage, showers, etc. for the unhoused.
All of these efforts would need to be substantial partnerships between private sector, NGOs, local and state government agencies.
Revenue for the Oregon Shelter Fund
As one who restores old homes across Oregon I follow housing trends and see many vacancies not only in residential neighborhoods but also in commercial and industrial areas. Many of these properties remain vacant or on the market for years if not decades. These kind of long-term vacancies can be the death knell for a neighborhood. Many of these properties are often owned by absentee land owners and most often wealthy banks. We need a new incentive for absentee land owners to either get these properties back in to active use or to donate (as a tax write-off) to public agencies or nonprofit NGOs.
We also have many property owners, like my opponents, who own more than one home while thousands of Oregonians have no home. I am not talking about their rental properties.
My creative revenue idea (after we get big money out of politics) is to create a Vacancy Fee on properties that are either abandoned or extra homes. The Vacancy Fee would be based on square footage and would go directly into (and only into) the Oregon Shelter Fund.
I believe the job of any government official, be it, a city councilor, county commissioner or governor is to connect the dots. There are often many parts to a solution. It takes bold creative leadership and vision to bring the right parties together and connect these dots and provide solutions, rather than getting bogged down with the big money interests which have donated to their campaigns!
Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots
