Thoughts on Issues

Timber Payments

Inequity in goverernment is no more obvious than in tax breaks for the rich. In 2003 the Bush administration pushed through a tax break which is heavily weighted toward the wealthiest 1 percent in the nation. The tax break to the wealthiest 1 % of Oregonians is about $350 million dollars. That is $50 million more than the $300 million shortfall that Oregon rural counties face this year as a result of the expiration of federal timber payments. (Oregon Center for Public Policy.) The consolidation of wealth in the hands of the few at the expense of everyone else (read you and me) has produced such homegrown calamities as skeleton crews at the jails, waiting in que for a cop to repsond and an education system that is falling apart.

Education

Education is a cornerstone in the foundation of our future. Common sense tells me that if we want to have a brighter future we must attend to the needs of those individuals who are the future…our children. 

For decades vocational education (now called “career technical”) has been shunned by education budgeters as too expensive. In its place we have focused our money and our children’s attention on computer technologies… an understandable reaction to the looming loss of manufacturing jobs in our country.

But now we find that many trades-based businesses cannot find help to fix what we once manufactured. Welders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the rest of the trades are finding it increasingly difficult to fill positions.

I will strive to make vocational education available once again to engage those students with interest in the trades. We could help refocus our children’s attention from the computer screen to a broader perspective by making student volunteerism in Habitat for Humanity a career path class. That way young people can get credit for learning about the building trades; they can experience the camaraderie of team achievement and the pride in accomplishment that comes from building something. At the same time those who will build our future will experience the wonderful sense of community that comes with helping out some one else.

And at the same time we have to work to find balance between the needs of those who teach and care for our children while they are in school and the fiscal realities of our struggling resource-based economy.

Jobs

In the seafood business we have learned to make more money from less product. I pioneered the live Dungenss crab industry adding value by developing the methods and technology to enable us to ship crab live around the world. We did the same thing with the fillet business. The industry still sells fillets but the highest prices are paid for live fish.

In the tuna fishery we have revolutionized marketing by special treatment of the fish and custom canning under micro-cannery labels similar to the poplular designer wines.

I can imagine similar marketing and technologies applied to the timber industry. Not to replace conventional woodproducts but to enhance their value by diversifying market forms and alternative marketing of those products we already have.

Decentralized vs. Centralized Energy

Decentralized energy is typically produced by small scale, power generation and is used by the communities where the power is generated.

Our Centralized energy grid is inefficient and wearing out.

Decentralized energy makes more sense.

Coastal Communities 

The coastal communities of Oregon face momentous decisions which will affect generations to come. Marine Reserves, renewable energy, water use and allocations, are just a few of the issues that will shape our fishing, farming, logging and recreational economies.

I firmly believe in Oregonians ability to cooperatively face our challenges by putting aside our differences and focusing our energies on our similarities and shared values. Our Rural Oregon lifestyles are dependant on thoughtful and conservative access to natural resources. This is the common dependence that unites us. Protecting and conserving our lifestyles to assure healthy coastal economies and natural resources, and access to those natural resources in perpetuity, is what compels me to represent you in Salem.