Fed, state candidates pitch their case in TD

Candidates in both the Republican and Democratic parties spoke of the need for better representation of rural issues in Salem.

Dr. Bud Pierce, the GOP contender for governor resides in Salem but vowed to live for three months each year in outlying areas, if elected, so that he could better understand the challenges of rural communities, which often have higher poverty rates.

“I am running to be the governor of all of Oregon,” he said.

Pierce weighed in against Measure 97 for several reasons, including two brought forward by the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office: Passage will bring the loss of more than 38,000 private sector jobs; and, every household in Oregon will pay at least $600 from higher prices passed on by companies.

Kate Brown, the Democratic candidate who currently holds the governor’s office, endorsed the public employee union-backed M97, which imposes a 2.5 percent gross receipts tax on C Corporations with Oregon sales of more than $25 million.

Brown was not at the event.

M97’s new tax is expected to generate about $3 billion per year but Pierce said the loss of jobs will outweigh the monetary benefits. He said by practicing fiscal responsibility, the state government could meet its obligations without harming its business base.

“I don’t want to lose one, I want to build jobs,” he said.

Also present to speak about his candidacy for governor was Aaron Auer, a Constitutionalist who tied religion into every one of his answers to a range of questions.

He said the government overtaxed and overspent and should heed the Biblical standard requiring people to tithe only 10 percent of their earnings.

“We need to simplify, live within our means and seek the Lord’s help,” he said.

Auer is from the Umpqua Valley and said he entered the race to exhort Oregonians to “return to scripture and the Constitution or we will never regain the liberties granted to us.”

On the issue of whether the next governor should lift a moratorium on enactment of the death penalty, Auer referred to the Old Testament admonition that says anyone who committed murder should die.

“These things are serious,” he said. “There was a proper time to put people to death for murder and I think that would be good to uphold.”

Pierce said it was the responsibility of the governor to abide by the wishes of the people, who had made capital punishment part of the state constitution.

“It is imperative for the Oregon governor to live by the law until people change the law,” he said.

Pierce and Auer were asked about their stance on oil trains passing through the gorge. Pierce said the highest standards needed to be imposed on trains to keep communities along the tracks safe, and he felt there needed to be added protections in environmentally sensitive places.

“We need to try to protect it (gorge) at all costs,” he said.

Auer said the Bible instructed that natural resources were to be used; however, exporting coal, oil and other petroleum products that were produced in the U.S. to foreign nations was unconstitutional.

Mark Callahan, the Republican opponent of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and James Crary, the Democrat seeking to oust U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., were also asked their opinion about oil being transported by rail.

Neither Walden nor Wyden were present.

Callahan said it was a complex issue because it reduced the carbon footprint to have oil in container cars instead of being carried by trucks, which had more exhaust and used rubber tires, etc.

“I believe they (oil trains) can be safe and what happened in Mosier (derailment) was just an anomaly,” he said.

Crary said as long as the U.S. was dependent upon fossil fuels, there would be a need for rail traffic.

He wanted to push for a national carbon tax to create more interest in renewable energy solutions for power and transportation.

By amending the U.S. Constitution to make fighting climate change a priority, he felt the eyes of the nation would have to turn toward alternative sources of power.

His first order of business if elected, said Crary, would be to undertake campaign finance reforms that would prevent special interest groups from creating a “rigged game” with elections.

Callahan said his first move as a federal legislator would be to push for a flat tax that would replace the current corrupt system of “cronyism and carve-outs.” He felt that creating a fair tax code would provide more funding for education, healthcare and other needs.

He said it was doubtful there were enough Republicans in the state to vault him to a win on Nov. 8, but he had decided to run anyway to spread the message about the many benefits of “freedom and liberty” that were being eroded by an out-of-control federal government.

Both candidates for the state District 30 senate seat were present. Incumbent Republican Ted Ferrioli and Democrat William Stringer weighed in on the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns a community in Harney County.

“It was really about a longstanding, simmering issue (federal control of grazing lands) that can’t be resolved at the local level,” said Ferrioli, who felt his role during the armed occupation was to support Harney County Sheriff David Ward in keeping the peace.

He said the way the standoff was orchestrated created a “dangerous situation” that led to the death of Lavoy Finicum, a 55-year-old rancher from Arizona, who had travelled to Oregon to join the protest.

Stringer said he was not sure that it was effective to have ranchers from Idaho, Nevada and other states converge on Oregon. However, he said the frustration they all expressed was valid.

The group led by Ammon Bundy of Idaho were opposed to the federal government owning 50 percent or more of the land base in Western states, which created economic hardship for rural communities.

“I understand why they were there,” said Stringer.

Both Ferrioli and Stringer oppose Measure 97.

Ferrioli called it a “sales tax on steroids” that would essentially be a value-added tax applied to every level of the distribution chain. He said consumers could face a 10 or 20 percent increase on many goods. He said higher prices would harm people on fixed incomes or needy families.“It’s a terribly regressive tax,” he said.

Stringer said there was no mechanism in the measure to require that the Legislature spend tax revenue on healthcare, education and other advertised programs.

“That’s a lot of money to make a difference but where are they going to spend it?” he asked.

Stringer said it was time for a change in District 30 leadership and suggested that he, as a member of the majority party, might be able to get more done than Ferrioli, who has held the office since 1996.

Ferrioli said working his way into senior leadership had given him experience to get things accomplished.

On the issue of oil trains, Ferrioli and Stringer agreed that shipping oil via highway could pose more risk than by train. They said it was important for state regulators to make sure Union Pacific was held to the highest safety standards.

Ferrioli said past efforts to curb costs had been overturned by the courts, but there were still a handful of ideas to pursue that could help control costs that were threatening many government budgets.

Sharon Durbin, the libertarian candidate for secretary of state, said she had no vested interest in either the Republican or Democratic party so would be able to perform audits and other tasks without partisan bias.

“I’m not beholden to the ruling parties,” she said.

She felt the state needed to be producing more income from the lands it managed. And there needed to be audits of the health care and foster care budgets, among others, to ensure that money was not being spent on people’s “pet projects.”

Durbin asked the audience to vote for Republican Dennis Richardson if they did not vote for her to bring more accountability to Salem.

Independent Chris Telfer and Republican Jeffrey Gudman, candidates for state treasurer, said addressing the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System’s $22 billion in unfunded liabilities would be a top priority in the 2017 legislative session.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” said Gudman. “Twenty-two billion is something that can’t be ignored.”

“We need to stop kicking the can down the road,” said Telfer. “The idea of borrowing our way out of PERS is a bad idea, we don’t have the debt capacity.”

Both candidates felt their experience in the financial sector would benefit Oregon and Telfer said her time in the state senate was also a plus because she understood the policy-making process.

Gudman said the state needed to “stop doing stupid stuff” and adopt policies with more common sense to get its financial house in order.

Republican Daniel Crowe was the only candidate for attorney general to come to The Dalles. He said the Public Center for Integrity had given Oregon an “F” grade for dealing with corruption in the last eight years.

“That’s just not acceptable,” he said.

Crowe said there needed to be greater openness and transparency about the way business was being done in Salem. He said part of the problem was that Oregon had more than 500 exemptions to public records law as opposed to nine at the federal level, which set the stage for secrecy.

He agreed the death penalty should be enforced until the law changed.

“You can’t refuse to do your duty,” he said.

John Huffman, the Republican who holds the Oregon District 59 seat and lives in The Dalles, was the last to speak during the state and federal portion of the candidate’s forum. He has served for almost nine and one-half years and said his ability to work across party lines had led to his appointment on several key workgroups, including one to balance drone use and privacy rights and another to fight sex trafficking.

He asked the audience to re-elect him so that he could continue in his public service role.