Kate Brown kicks off campaign, brings it home in southeast Portland September 30, 2007

Sept. 26 – The Produce Row cafe, nestled in the industrial east bank of the Willamette River in Portland, was filled with lawyers and political types as state Senator Kate Brown finished up her one day campaign kickoff tour of the state. On a normal Thursday evening, the Produce Row spot might have 15 or 20 young patrons, but on this night close to 200 people packed the small bar’s two rooms and outside deck–most of them quite a bit older than the venue’s usual clientele.

The crowd at the kickoff that night, as well as Brown’s success in making four stops across Oregon in one day, reflects Brown’s status as the leading contender for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 Secretary of State race. Her campaign has raised at least $80,000 since the end of the legislative session (and probably much more after the kickoffs)–far more than her two competitors this far, state Senators Vicki Walker of Eugene and Brad Avakian of Beaverton. Each of Brown’s competitors has raised under $10,000, according to the campaign finance records online at the Secretary of State’s website.

While Brown is making clear gains with her campaign, it’s not final that the Democratic field has settled in the Secretary of State primary. State Senator Rick Metsger of Welches, a moderate member of the caucus who is allied with business interests, has indicated that he’ll likely enter the race. At that point four out of the eighteen Democrats of the Senate will be campaigning for the office, with at least one other member campaigning for a statewide executive office as Senator Ben Westlund of Tumalo runs for Treasurer.

But none of that Democratic competition is the most exciting part about the Secretary of State race. The best part about the statewide races of 2008, including Treasurer, Attorney General and Secretary of State, is that no Republican has stepped forward to even indicate a modicum of interest in running for any of these positions. And if that hesitation is based in anything, it’s the fear that they will lose badly to any of the Democrats that are currently running. Eleven of the last twelve statewide elections, including those for U.S. Senate and President (but excluding judicial races), have been won by Democrats, and the last Republican to win a statewide executive post was Jack Roberts in 2002. Roberts subsequently lost a statewide campaign for Supreme Court in 2006.

Democrats are excited about their prospects in 2008, and the result is a crowded house in the Attorney General and Secretary of State primaries. The enthusiasm of the Brown campaign in these early stages does not mean her nomination is inevitable; rather, it is indicative of the surging Democratic agenda here in Oregon after the removal in 2006 of its last remaining barrier, GOP control of the state House. Brown was first elected to the legislature in 1990, the year the House flipped from Democratic control to GOP hands, and while the Senate returned to full Democratic control in 2005 much of the party’s agenda was stalled by the Republican house until this last session.

The current field of Democrats in the Secretary of State primary boasts geographic diversity within the state. Brown comes from southeast Portland, Avakian from urbanized Washington County, Walker from Eugene and Metsger from the Clackamas County/Mt. Hood area.

It remains to be revealed what–if anything–will separate the Democratic candidates on matters of policy. Each of them has asserted the importance of competent stewardship as the Secretary of State to ensure that every vote is counted, that government is running efficiently, and that the state adhere to its progressive land use policies through the Secretary’s role on the State Land Board. Avakian, Metsger and Walker have yet to introduce themselves to the entire state. They would do well to hurry that part along, as there are only 232 days before Oregon Democrats pick their nominee.

Is John Frohnmayer the Immigration Reform Candidate? September 25, 2007

I just noticed this weird cognitive overlap between John Frohnmayer’s logo and the logo for the bigoted, ultra-right wing group Oregonians for Immigration Reform.

Frohnmayer uses it in his last name…

…as well as in his first:

.

Oregonians for Immigration Reform, which among other things, believes that we should hate illegal aliens because “most illegals have higher fertility rates than our native populations”, uses this logo:

So is this a creepy homage that reveals Frohnmayer’s true ideology with regard to ‘Republican values’? Or is the Frohnmayer campaign just plain stealing from a right-wing immigration group?

Neither answer can be that good for the left-wing audience he’s courting.

Alice Dale Considers AG Bid September 25, 2007

The Oregonian’s Politics Blog reported today that SEIU 49 leader Alice Dale, former leader of the Oregon Public Employees Union (OPEU), is considering a run to be Oregon’s next Attorney General:

“I’m actively considering it,” Dale said.

Dale would join state Rep. Greg Macpherson, D-Lake Oswego, and John Kroger, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Lewis & Clark Law School.

Dale is the former head of the Oregon Public Employees Union — the state’s largest. She led the union on a strike in 1995 over a pay raise.

“I think I bring a very deep understanding of issues that resonate with the average Oregonian,” she said.

Dale has a range of experience in Oregon policymaking. She sits on the Oregon Health Policy Commission, which recommends evidence-based policy changes to the Governor’s office. She also lobbied the Legislature this last year for passage of a bill that would have capped hospital profit margins and applied fairer billing rates to uninsured patients.

In addition to these policy-based roles, Dale has also worked to weed out ballot fraud. In 2004, she called out the Nader campaign’s widespread use of forgery in their attempt to gain access to the Oregon ballot.

If she runs, does Dale have a good shot at the nomination? What effect would her campaign have on Greg Macpherson’s campaign? Macpherson was key in the 2003 effort to revise PERS–the state’s public employee retirement system (literally)–by trimming benefits and payouts, a move that angered many public employees. Will Dale’s candidacy give these public employees a voice and presence in the race, or will it siphon votes that might have otherwise gone to John Kroger?

These are the initial questions that come to mind. Primary season is in full swing.

R1W, R1E: The Geographic Grid’s Center September 24, 2007

 The dividing lines of Oregon come in a few different forms:  county boundaries, city boundaries, longitude and latitude, or east or west of the river, and so on.  Baselines and meridians, which are the guiding lines for geographic division in geology, urban planning, and even political districts, are perhaps the most powerful of them all.  West of the Cascades, Oregon and Washington rely on the Willamette Meridian and its perpendicular baseline to help determine county boundaries, street trajectories and even land claims.  The intersection of the two occurs at the Willamette Stone in the West Hills of Portland, nearby the Mount Cavalry Catholic Cemetery.

Naturally, the Boundary had to check it out.  According to Wikipedia, the stone dates back to pioneer times: it was originally an obelisk that served as the central point for a grid system of townships and ranges under the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850.  The replacement stone is quite small–about four or five inches in diameter–and marks the point’s original date:  June 4, 1851.  The first marker was not actually a stone, but a redcedar stake.

The Willamette Meridian overlays NW and SW 65th Avenue in Portland, and Stafford Road in Clackamas County.  It also serves as the easternmost boundary of Washington County, which itself is a political boundary for the First and Fifth Congressional Districts as well as the 27th, 34th, 35th and 36th districts in the State House.  The Meridian is 65 streets west of the Willamette River at Burnside because the original location was to be west of Vancouver Lake.  The Willamette baseline is perhaps better known at some points as Portland’s Stark Street, Hillsboro’s Baseline Road, and the Baseline Road of Hood River, Gilliam and Morrow counties.  Take that, 45th Parallel!

You can find the Willamette Stone Heritage Area on W Skyline Blvd., just west of the intersection with W Burnside Road.   See it before all the state’s sesquicentennial fun starts.

Ashland Daily Tidings: Primary down to one (And it’s not Novick) September 20, 2007

Yesterday Steve Novick, candidate for the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate, attacked sitting Sen. Gordon Smith in the vernacular of pirates. You see, September 19 of each year is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and though this is a little-known observance for the cult-like following pirates have gained since the 1990 Disney movie Shipwrecked! (or maybe not so much…), the Novick campaign thought it was an appropriate register on which to level a tax-based criticism of Smith.

It’s not simile, it’s not metaphor, heck, it’s not even satirical. I’m not even sure to whom it appeals, but the press release does embody the quirky, if somewhat absurd, campaign from the Novick team thus far. Follow the episodic trail with me: “Hard Left Hook” to “College Mascot Logic v.1″ (in response to Governors endorsing Merkley) to “GOP Iraq Talking Points Fete featuring David Reinhard” to “College Mascot Logic v.2″ (the bet), and now, “Talk Like a Pirate Novick”. If Novick’s campaign is supposedly a self-styled insurgent one in the mold of Wellstone and Tester, then why is he talking like Blackbeard and Bob Costas?

The Ashland Daily Tidings has had enough:

Before a vote has been cast, the race for the Democratic primary has been successfully whittled down to an unopposed race. State Rep. Jeff Merkley is the nominee.

True, Portland attorney and activist Steve Novick remains passionately in the race — even earning media attention this week with his call for Congress to push for impeachment of President Bush. But lest anyone actually take Novick seriously, he also issued a series of press releases announcing his new nickname, “Left Hook” Novick, and an attack release on “Gordon Red Ink Smith.” If that’s not enough to eradicate any hope of consideration, Novick’s release is written in honor of International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

To be fair, the editorial dismisses little-known Democratic candidates Candy Neville and Roger Obrist along with Novick, but you get the idea. Gimmicks–even in the early stages of the campaign–can backfire, even if they are composed and executed in a light-hearted manner.

The Tidings definitely exaggerates when it indicates that the Democratic primary is over. But it does merit ink and paper to call out Novick on this trivial press release, as he is campaigning for the honor and responsibility of high elective office.

Could the Novick campaign have actually wanted any media outlets to pick up this press release? If not, why post it?

According to the editorial, it only trivializes his standing the primary race:

The gimmick has drawn attention to Novick’s biggest obstacle, namely the superficial things that voters insist don’t sway them. We may never know if voters could have seen past a diminutive man with physical limitations. Novick’s attempt at humor has likely trivialized his candidacy beyond repair.

Read the rest of the editorial here.

Merkley Officially Launches Senate Bid – Southeast Portland September 17, 2007

Okay, he’s been running for one-and-a-half months now, but Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley officially kicked off his bid to unseat U.S. Senator Gordon Smith today in the heart of Democratic Oregon. Flanked by a number of Oregon’s banner progressives–among them former Gov. Barbara Roberts, Commissioner Sam Adams and Rep. Diane Rosenbaum–Merkley talked eloquently about his background and moved quickly into the many reasons why he should replace Senator Smith in the United States Congress.

The Boundary was lucky enough to snap some pictures at the well-attended event. The signs and banners, with their emphasis on the handsome logo of Oregon, were particularly photogenic.

Commissioner Sam Adams didn’t waste any time making friends in the U.S. Senate race by endorsing Jeff Merkley.

And then Merkley himself arrived on the new flagship RV, which is painted in the campaign’s constellation of blue and green (sorry, didn’t get a picture of that…yet).

The speech by Merkley, presumably one of his first as a Senate candidate, roused the audience to the usual levels of cheering and sign-waving that you’d expect from a candidate in mid-July of the election year. He made it clear that Oregon’s representation in the Senate is essentially nullified–94% of the time Senator Ron Wyden casts a progressive vote, Senator Smith cancels it out by voting the other way. On trade issues, labor issues, environmental issues, protection of civil liberties, fair taxation, universal health care, it’s true that Wyden leads Oregon and the nation forward in the Senate while Smith drags his weight behind in resistance to change. And it’s time to cut the dead weight and move forward.

That’s exactly what Merkley and the House Democrats accomplished in late 2006 and 2007. They beat 4 incumbent Republicans to take the majority, and with Jeff Merkley as Speaker accomplished every single item on the progressive Roadmap for Oregon’s Future. That’s a lengthy laundry list of reforms, including contraceptive equity, adequate funding for schools and universities, health care transparency and a plan for health care reform, freedom to work for unions, creating the rainy day fund, recognizing civil unions and passing anti-discrimination legislation, capping payday loan interest rates, and a package of innovative environmental bills. Standing behind Merkley during his speech were five of his colleagues–Reps. Tobias Read, Diane Rosenbaum, Chip Shields, Larry Galizio and Suzanne Bonamici.

Perhaps his best quote of the night: “You can only mess up so many times before it’s someone else’s turn”.

If you live in Medford, Roseburg, Eugene, or Corvallis, it’s your turn to see the touring Jeff Merkley campaign kickoff tomorrow. And on Wednesday, the campaign RV rolls into Newport, Lincoln City and Salem with the candidate aboard.

But starting in Southeast Portland is certainly a nod to the left wing of the party, and judging from the turnout in front of the Our Oregon headquarters tonight, it’s fair to sat that Merkley’s has a good share of that constituency supporting him. Now on to that bastion of progressivism–Medford!

Willamette Week swings and misses (Again) September 12, 2007

Is the Willamette Week carelessly assailing and impugning the reputation of U.S. Senate candidate and House Speaker Jeff Merkley? Judging from the sloppiness and one-sided nature of today’s article “Merkley’s Rental Health“, one can only assume so.

Just two weeks after accusing Kari Chisholm of roguish behavior through his ‘machine politics’ support of Merkley, the Willamette Week has rounded up a story on some rental properties that Merkley owns. This story seems to be a continuation in the weekly paper’s series of poorly-investigated exposés into the so-called Democratic ‘establishment’, from state Sen. Betsy Johnson, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Chisholm. And like those other forays into investigative journalism, this one comes up short.

The problem? The Willamette Week takes great pains to point out small problems in the various properties, but does little in the way of investigation to determine where those problems arise and where the responsibility for them lies. By just reading the article, you get the sense that WW hunted around for negative details concerning the properties and figured that anything that turned up could be simply attributed to the owner–Jeff Merkley.

If the Willamette Week wanted to take Merkley to task for his stewardship of rental properties, then why wouldn’t the paper assure thorough reporting to ensure accuracy? As it stands, there are some glaring problems with the article.

The first problem is the number of sources (a class of people that apparently does not include Jeff Merkley). WW mentions that Merkley and his wife own as many as 10 rental units, and the paper notes that they talked with six of the renters. However, only three of the renters have quotes in the article, two of whom are cohabitants in one unit. If, as WW writes, “Merkley’s tenants were eager to speak about problems in their units”, then where are the other angry tenants?

Furthermore, the article’s conclusion that Merkley tolerates a good level of ’shabbiness’ for his tenants seems to be based on somewhat speculative reasoning. One of the three quoted tenants, Bryan Marsh, has done some work on his unit, but WW doesn’t tell us why Marsh thought the work was necessary:

Marsh says he’s patched the walls of his unit, installed baseboards and replaced the screen door without getting compensated by Merkley.

The sentence does not show that Marsh requested work to be done by Merkley or that he should be compensated for work performed. It is possible that each of these items could have suffered damage beyond normal wear and tear, in which case Merkley would not bear responsibility for the cost of repair or replacement. Leonard’s sentence does not indicate the nature of the need for repair, but it does provide a convenient citation for the larger argument of the article.

WW also relies upon hearsay to conclude that Merkley withholds the provision of water services to tenants in the following sentence:

Marsh [. . .] says an on-site manager told him Merkley wouldn’t pay for water Marsh wanted to use on the lawn.

Is water included in the rent payment? From the article, the reader cannot tell, though it does stipulate that no ‘violations’ were found.

The article completely lacks any accounts, positive or negative, from the Holy Cross Associates or Lutheran Volunteer Corps tenants that occupy the two houses that Merkley owns and rents out.

Overall, the flaws in reporting and the weight given to negative accounts of Merkley’s property stewardship over any possible positive accounts imply that the author or his editors had a predetermined outcome. In trying to paint Jeff Merkley as careless, however, Willamette Week forgot the basics of reporting and the higher standards of journalism that come with exposé-like investigative journalism. For one, you have to conduct an actual investigation. A reporter cannot simply slink around someone’s house, peer through someone’s windows, and then write up a hatchet piece to justify his time.

Yet, this trend of sloppy sleuthing is entirely, and regrettably, consistent with recent Willamette Week work. The Good, Bad, and Awful survey of state legislators earlier this year based its conclusions on the anonymous submissions of 30 agenda-driven lobbyists, basically providing cover for the lobby to fire back at any lawmaker that had ever crossed them. Just one month ago the weekly newspaper all but impugned the motives of Governor Ted Kulongoski in the state pardoning process. And let’s not forget the month-long collaborative smear of state Sen. Betsy Johnson by Willamette Week and The Oregonian, who were called out by local blog Loaded Orygun for lacking accurate facts.

But then again, the Willamette Week has run out of real enemies. With the Republican villians vanquished by the 2006 Democratic takeover of the Oregon House, the weekly has been starving for policy-based controversy and must find new fodder for its scandal-driven circulation. And so it has begun to cannibalize its former friends, starting with Tina Kotek as Rogue of the Week and continuing with this classless critique of Merkley’s property management portfolio.

Let’s tell them that Portland and Oregon won’t stand for their messy brand of smear journalism. Contact the Willamette Week here.

TV Stations Reject Anti-M50 Ad Due to Misleading Content September 11, 2007

The Eugene Register-Guard has two items on Measure 50 in today’s paper, which is just golden by Boundary standards.

First, the RG reports that four television stations in Oregon refused to air an anti-Measure 50 advertisement from Oregonians Against the Blank Check because of a misleading statement about who paid for the ad (ironically, registration is required):

The TV ad initially identified Oregonians Against the Blank Check and Reynolds American as the ad’s sponsor. Reynolds American is the parent company of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co.

But some Measure 50 supporters and TV viewers contend that Reynolds American should be listed as the sole sponsor since the tobacco company is, to date, the sole contributor to Oregonians Against the Blank Check. Reynolds American has contributed about $1.8 million.

It’s true: the only ‘Oregonians’ against the blank check paying for that ad are Mark Nelson and J.L. Wilson, and with none of their own money. It’s all R.J. Reynolds cash. And wouldn’t you believe it, local Fox affiliates (as well as one CW station) sided with accuracy and fair citation:

Measure opponents said Monday that they plan to flip the tagline so that the ad now declares that it is paid for by Reynolds American and authorized by Oregonians Against the Blank Check.

That apparently suits Mark Metzger, general manager at KLSR-TV, the Fox network affiliate in Eugene. KLSR-TV and its sister station, KEVU-TV, are among the four stations in Oregon that said they would not continue running the ad until the tagline was changed. KRCW, a WB affiliate in Portland, and KMVU, a Fox affiliate in Medford, also pulled the ads.

David Steves of the RG also has a lengthy summary of the Measure 50 campaign thus far, with a fairly good chase on the money on both sides:

[. . . the] campaign to pass Measure 50 has raised $1.1 million. About one-third has come specifically from HMOs, along with businesses closely affiliated with such entities.

In all, three-quarters of the campaign’s money so far has come from donors with ties to the health care field: doctors, nurses, hospitals, HMOs, insurance companies and nonprofit advocacy groups such as the American Heart and American Lung associations.

And the anti-Measure 50 side has just one very reliable, very rich source:

All the money Wilson’s group has collected for the campaign – $1.8 million so far – is from the tobacco giant Reynolds American.

Let’s hope the media keep up the good leg work on letting the voters know the true source of Measure 50 opposition. It shouldn’t be too hard, as it’s only coming from one place: Big Tobacco pockets.

Tom Potter Won’t Run Again. September 10, 2007

Sure, it’s a city issue and this site usually covers state politics, but it certainly will affect the 2008 election:

Mercury’s Blogtown PDX reports that Portland Mayor Tom Potter will not seek a second term.

More details later from just about every news outlet imaginable.

Measure 50 Opponents: Certainly Smoking Something… September 9, 2007

The Secretary of State has posted the arguments in favor of and in opposition to Ballot Measure 50 (and for that matter, Measure 49) online. They are of the rougher variety, not yet screened and edited for format in the Voter’s Pamphlet, but nonetheless they are there available for the earlier birds of voting.

Lining up in favor, with statements of endorsement, are the following individuals and organizations:

• Oregon Pediatric Society
• Children First for Oregon
• American Cancer Society
• American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
• American Lung Association of Oregon
• Oregon Nurses Association
• Nurse Practitioners of Oregon (a split from ONA?)
• Oregon PTA
• Gray Panthers of Oregon
• Oregon State Council for Retired Citizens
• Save Oregon Seniors
• United Seniors of Oregon
• Oregon Alliance of Retired Americans
• AFSCME
• Governor Ted Kulongoski
• Urban League of Portland
• Stand for Children
• Oregon Psychiatric Association
• Oregon Academy of Family Physicians
• Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon
• Oregon Business Association
• Our Oregon
• Oregon Medical Association
• Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems
• SEIU 503 and SEIU 49
• Oregon Education Association
• Oregon State Fire Fighters Council
• Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
• Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham)
• Senator Bill Morrisette (D-Springfield)
• Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-Washington County
• Representative Ben Cannon (D-Northeast/Southeast Portland)
• Representative Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis and Philomath)
• Representative Mitch Greenlick (D-Northwest Portland and Washington County)
• Representative Tina Kotek (D-North/Northeast Portland)
• Oregon AFL-CIO
• Oregon Dental Association
• National Association of Social Workers – Oregon Chapter
• Human Service Coalition of Oregon
• Oregon Alliance of Children’s Programs
• OSPIRG
• Providence Health Systems
• Community Health Advocates of Oregon
• Oregon primary Care Association
• Community Action Partnership of Oregon
• Oregon Health Action Campaign
• Tuality Healthcare
• Oregon Food Bank
• Oregon Center for Christian Values
• Oregon Working Families Party

And against:

• Oregonians Against the Blank Check (Anti-50 campaign)
• James Huffman, Law Professor at Lewis + Clark College
• Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike
• Diane Fritz, Accountant
• J.L. Wilson (R.J. Reynolds Lobbyist)
• Marilee Teller, former OHP Financing Manager
• Cascade Policy Institute
• Northwest Grocery Association
• Suki Eum, Glisan Market
• Freedomworks
• Tom Larimer
• Andrea Reimer
• Rep. Bill Garrard (R-Klamath Falls)
• Steve Choi, Get and Go Grocery (Oregon City)
• Wayne Brady (Assistant to state Sen. Gary George)
• Richard Burke, Libertarian Party of Oregon
• Lila Leathers, Leathers Enterprises, Inc.
• Taxpayer Association of Oregon
• Korean American Grocers Association
• Former State Rep. Jeff Kropf
• Oregon Small Business Coalition
• Rich’s Cigar Store
• Oregon Neighborhood Store Association
• Dari-Mart Stores

Tobacco Lobbyist J.L Wilson submitted the bulk of the statements under the guise of ‘Oregonians Against the Blank Check’, which tells anyone that Big Tobacco is definitely behind the ‘Reject 50′ campaign. And this despite names like “Neighborhood Store Assoc.” and “Small Business Coalition”.

Check out the SoS website yourself for some deceptive forays into political argumentation–especially when they indicate that it’s the Big Insurance companies that are behind Measure 50.

Of course, the authors of Measure 50 are Governor Ted Kulongoski, Senators Laurie Monnes Anderson, Bill Morrisette, Speaker Jeff Merkley, and Representatives Tina Kotek Mitch Greenlick and Sara Gelser. These esteemed public servants are hardly in the pockets of the Hospital Association and the Insurance companies–quite often the opposite is true.

Fifty-seven days before election day.