Oregon House District 32 Candidates speak:

Deborah Boone Democratic Party of Oregon

Incumbent Oregon House District 32 Deborah Boone is running for reelection for a seat shes held since 2004. Boone, of Cannon Beach, represents the Democratic Party and has been working in the state capital since 1989.

Key quotes:

Ive seen quite a few changes. Ive worked under several governors; Governor Kitzhaber; Governor Goldschmidt; Governor Roberts; Governor Kulongoski; and Governor Kitzhaber again now. Ive seen a lot of changes. Ive seen the house and senate go back under different leadership, etc. My personal philosophy when I moved down there was to always work with everybody across the aisle.

My [committee] focus now is Veterans Services, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Environment and Water If we have it again, Ill probably stick with the line up I have. Every year I try to get a committee on ocean policy, fisheries, etc. because I think we have a lot there.

I give myself a test before each of the major bills. I try to make them either maintain or create jobs in our state and improve our economy. Weve had a rough time since 2008.

My constituency is a little bit different from some of my colleagues in the house and senate. I try very hard to represent them as well as the rest of the citizens of Oregon because we have to make policy that affects everyone in the state.

The ballot measure that I am very sorry to see come forward is number 81, which would basically put the gillnet fishery on the Columbia River out of business. I do understand now that the promoters, after spending $500,000 of mostly out-of-state money, to get it on the ballot, now they have backed off and said theyre not going to promote it I believe the damage has been done. Now it puts the onus on the commercial fishing community mostly in Clatsop and Columbia County, to come up with the money to fight this it basically will cost many jobs. Not just fishing jobs, but the jobs that depend on fishing jobs.

The last six years Ive been working very hard on emergency preparedness Last session I drafted House Resolution 3, which requires the state to come up with a statewide resilience plan, and Id like to see that through [funding for seismic upgrades] is one of my very top priorities. Ive been seen as a lead on it in the state legislature along with Senator Peter Courtney We are working with our [federal legislators] to help FEMA turn around its mindset of waiting around until something bad happens and then they come in and fix it. They pay up front, a little bit less, and prepare for it so that when the event happens its not as big an expense and theres less damage, less lives lost, etc.

 

 

Jim Welsh Constitution Party of Oregon

Jim Welsh, of Manzanita, originally was nominated to run by the Republican Party of Oregon, but declined the nomination to run for the Constitution Party, Welsh owns a grocery store in Manzanita and said hes running as a third party candidate because they have more integrity.

Key Quotes:

Ive been an independent businessman for over 30 years, 15 of it in the Manzanita-Nehalem area. We own Manzanita Fresh Foods Grocery. Two of my sons are partners in the business; mostly they do all the day to day management of the business. Im married, have eight children and 15 grandchildren. Most of them reside in the district here. Thats probably one of my motivating factors in wanting to run for House District 32 Representative.

I was not satisfied with the support the Republican Party was going to offer me. I said, well if theyre not going to support me as they do other candidates in the rest of the state, especially the I-5 corridor, then I would try a different party, with a little more integrity. So I switched my party to the Constitution Party. Im no longer a Republican, and Im not a Democrat, so maybe this will give people an opportunity to send someone with a different name after their name on the ballot.

I think the main parties are locked into supporting certain special interest groups that they are very beholden to, and its very hard for them to move away from certain groups.

The major factor for my running is that we here on the coast, and I know part of the district is in western Washington county, but the majority of the district is here on the coast and we are a natural resource based economy. Traditionally, we have been natural resource based, and I dont think were getting a fair representation on those issues.

The one issue that is very important to this area is the proposed ban on gillnetting. This is going to have a severe impact on especially Clatsop County, although it will have an impact on the district in general. Theres 100 to 200 jobs that are dependent upon that activity in the main river, the Columbia, and 1000 to 1500 jobs that are beneficiaries from that industry. I think in this district it will fail I have big concern about the rest of the state. Whether they are going to understand or care that if it passes the people that make their livings or part of their livings doing this activity are not going to have an income.

Every electoral season incumbents come back and they try to tell us that this time theyre really going to do something down at the state capital or Washington D.C., or the County Commission. My question would be how many chances should an incumbent get before people sit down and ask why we send back the same person and expect anything but the same answers we get every time they are elected?

 

 

Perry Roll – Libertarian Party of Oregon

Perry Roll, of Astoria, is campaigning for Oregon House District 32, which encompasses parts of as a libertarian. Roll has worked as a cab driver and a gas attendant and says hed like to bring a third voice to Oregon politics.

Key Quotes:

As a cab driver and a gas attendant Ive had a chance to talk to an awful lot of people. Over the last decade and a half, Ive heard a lot of grass roots views that arent being expressed in the press. I felt eventually that somebody was going to have to take this message to Salem and let everybody hear it, and it looks like its gonna be me.

Both sides [of environmental conflicts] are right. Were going to starve to death if we dont use our natural resources, and theres a point that if we use our natural resources we wont have them for tomorrow. There has to be a balance. Instead, what we get are divisive opinions between the two parties. You can either go one way or the other, there is no middle of the road. We need a little more balance in order to utilize our resources and keep them

A little deregulation at the cottage industry level would do a lot for the economy. Thats where the jobs are created.

The House of Representatives in Oregon was divided 30 Republicans and 30 Democrats. It seems obvious to me that its no wonder we cant get anything done. They cant agree on anything, theres no movement forward. We need a third voice.

Freedom is one of the things this country was founded on, and its a word we chant a lot. Freedom. Liberty. So much so that the meaning of it has been lost. The definition I believe is freedom for the individual. That requires a lot of tolerance, it requires a lot of acceptance, understanding and patience. Theres a whole bunch of things that go with that. Libertarians believe in that. Its an idealistic idea

There are a lot of nitpicky regulations, what somethingss going to look like, what color you can paint it, how high the fence is going to have to be. We might be able to flex these a little bit to allow someone who is pretty close to get going.

Id say if youre voting on 81 this time vote no. I dont think the science is good or clean, or well enough understood to give a good balance between the economy and what they are talking about.

Since 1824 weve only had two voices in government, and in fact, its really one voice. Their goals and agenda are the same a good reason to vote for a third party candidate this election is to get that third voice in there.