Who’s Hot and Who’s Not in Oregon Politics: Jeanne Atkins, Tobias Read, Oregon Right to Life
Friday, March 13, 2015
HOT:
Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins
When word first came out that Jeanne Atkins had been appointed Secretary of State, a lot of political insiders first response was “da fuh?” Atkins, a longtime political aide, had recently retired. Though she’d run for office twice, Atkins perfectly fit the role of a staffer. While her political affiliation was no secret, she was (and is) respected by members of both parties. Atkins has no plans to run for a full term as Secretary of State, meaning the race in 2016 will be a free for all.
It is interesting to note that the Governor broke recent protocol in filling the position mid-term. Two of the previous three Secretaries of State had been appointed with the expectation they would seek election, which gave them a perceived upper hand against their opponents, helping ensure Democrats continued to hold the seat. Governor Kate Brown was the first person to win the seat without first being appointed since Barbara Roberts was elected in 1984 (becoming the first Democrat to win the seat in a century)
Nicholas Caleb
Nicholas Caleb announced this week that he is running for City Council for a second time in as many election cycles. Caleb, 31, is a lawyer and professor at Concordia University, seemingly a great combination. In 2014 he launched a last minute campaign against incumbent Dan Saltzman. During the campaign, Caleb did an impressive job driving the conversation in Portland about the need for a higher minimum wage. He managed to get an impressive 20% of the vote against the city council’s longest serving incumbent.
Fast forward to 2015, heading into a 2016 election. Caleb is getting an earlier start – by more than a year. He is taking on Steve Novick, who announced his plans to seek re-election this week. Novick’s first run for City Council was in 2012. Then Commissioner Randy Leonard gave him a heads up to prepare a campaign before publicly announcing his intention to retire. As a result, Novick had an upper hand that scared away competition. Next year’s race could be a real test for Novick, who has taken a pugnacious approach toward anyone that crosses him, even those who helped elect him.
State Representative Tobias Read
State Representative Tobias Read won his first race by a hair in 2006. Still not yet 40, he is a veteran in Salem who has established himself as a leader on issues that matter to the business community in Oregon, especially when it comes to improving higher education. Read was also the Chief Sponsor of the class action lawsuit bill that recently passed, along with Jennifer Williamson, whose role we highlighted last week. Capitol insiders report that Read is eyeing a run at statewide office. While there is a line of folks waiting to run to be Secretary of State, rumors are that Read will seek to replace Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who is term limited.
Beisbol en Portland
A new amateur baseball league has been proposed for Portland. After months of wrangling in 2008 to keep minor league ball out of the Lents neighborhood, there seems to be significant enthusiasm for this proposal. Tax dollars will go to renovate a public stadium where the team will play. The team is soliciting votes for prospective names such as the Portland Pickles. Ick. Really? Perhaps they should be a little more creative and go with something like the Hipsters, Beards, or any of the other alternatives proposed by local residents. You can vote in the unofficial poll here.
NOT:
Oregon Right to Life
Two weeks ago when Oregon Right to Life was included in the hot end of this column, we received feedback that it should have been in the lower half. Their inclusion as hot was sarcastic. Their attempt to continue to fracture the Republican Party is blatant. They are holding a rally tomorrow in an attempt to draw attention away from Dorchester, one of the longest running and most esteemed political conferences in the Nation. If you are a Republican in Oregon your options are simple: spend time hanging out with folks who want to ensure 20 years from now is prosperous or spend time with Ollie North and an Oregon Right to Life crowd that would rather press rewind 30 years.
State Senator Chip Shields
Give him credit for being transparent, I suppose? State Senator Chip Shields play to enrich his family business is the type of move that ensures faith in Oregon's government, rocked since last October by Cylviagate, will not be restored any time soon. While Shields is unable to tackle some of the urgent issues our state is facing, he seems eager to ensure his nest is feathered. In turning to his State Representative, Lew Frederick, Shields was less than forthcoming about his stake in the company. That is surely a breach of trust that will impact their working relationship and negatively impact their ability to represent their constituents. In jockeying to increase sales for a company that already does $90 million annually in business, this makes the former First Lady's play seem microscopic in comparison.
Tom Tuchman
The problems of the Kitzhaber administration will keep bubbling up for many months, if not years. This week, revelations that a top advisor, Tom Tuchman, also operated a private consulting firm. Unlike First Lady Cylvia Hayes, Tuchman was on the state’s payroll, earning more than $400,000 for part time work over the course of three years. The arrangement allegedly left environmentalists and the timber industry very nervous yet nobody said anything so as to not rock the boat. That’s not a good combination of interests to have in alliance against you. I suppose now that the ship has sunk they think the time is right to start rocking?
The Oregon Legislature
You would think the Oregon legislature isn’t capable of accomplishing anything. They don’t have the money to fund schools. They don’t have the money to begin to address the homelessness crisis. So what is the alternative? Tell you that you have to pay more for your lowest wage earner. Make sure to give them paid time off. Instead of working to fund affordable housing, let the homeless sleep anywhere – their rights trump yours under a proposal under consideration. At the very least they should not sneer when they say they cannot afford to fund education but you should be able to afford a 50% increase in wages.
Related Slideshow: The 20 Least Effective Legislators in Salem
GoLocalPDX analyzed the success rate for bills put forth in the 77th Legislative session -- in the 2013 long session, and the 2014 short session. Legislators were ranked by the percentage of bills they introduced that passed into law during the session.
Note: This metric does not reflect the ranging complexity of bills introduced.
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