Primary Election Date: 05/15/2012
General Election Date: 11/06/2012

Who Am I?

I am a progressive activist in Eugene, Oregon. Prior to my career in politics, I attended the University of Oregon where I received a B.A. and a law degree. As a student, I helped in successfully protecting the French Pete (no relation) wilderness, which is part of the Three Sister’s wilderness area. I assisted in the formation of Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group as well, and had a fine time doing it. I have been constantly working to protect the natural beauty of Oregon since my years from my years as an undergrad, and I have continued to protect the environment upon becoming a lawyer, and public official.
Since 1989 I have been elected to three different offices. I was elected the Lane Community College school board, served as a state Senator, and now work as South Eugene's Lane County Commissioner. I have been working as a Lane County Commissioner since 1997. I’ve been working at the county level for fifteen years, dealing with matters of land use, criminal justice, education and social justice as they affect Lane County’s 350,000 people, who live in twelve cities, in suburbs and in rural areas from the Cascades to the coast.
I had the fortune to be raised in a loving two-parent family. My dad was a teacher and my mom was a secretary. Raising my own two children in Eugene, my daughter Jennifer and my son Erik, I learned how much love and effort from parents—and from others—it takes for children to grow strong and healthy. I’ve been a Sunday school teacher and a youth soccer coach, and I have seen firsthand how caring adults can transform children’s lives. This sense of family morals, progressive values, insight into our education system, has given me the necessary experience and ability to serve the people of South Eugene.
I have always stood strong for what I believe in, Education, Economy, and the Environment. I have worked on progressive tax measures for local schools, even if it means taking a risky stance. My constituents have rewarded me time and time again for staying true to my values. I have fought to build a sustainable economy, using our natural resources to create jobs without detrimentally damaging our environment. We have seen an increase in small business that is eco-friendly. I have fought to preserve forests, and even won a law suit that initiated national regulations limiting lead in drinking water.

Why Am I Running?

I ran for office originally because my local Democratic party asked me to serve as Senator. I obliged, but for the years in the senate, I was away from my family. Running for Lane County Commissioner allows me to work full time in my district, and to continue to be a family man. Being a Lane County Commissioner since 1997, I have become invested in protecting and fostering the needs, values, and futures of South Eugene. Through grassroots and people-powered politics, I want to take on new challenges that have presented themselves in Lane County. Currently the challenge is building a progressive majority, since the right wing has fostered initiatives that closed the Lane County extension building, ended the Lane County human rights commission, and furthered the mining of our precious Oregon forests.

Hold Me Accountable!

My top two priorities once elected to office are to solve the Lane County budget crisis, and get Lane County back to work. With the expiration of federal forest land payments, I want to ensure that services that effect veterans, children, and minority population are not on the chopping block. My second priority is to get Lane County back to work. I will use my connections at Lane Community College to partner to get long-time unemployed people retrained for family wage jobs. Our downtown and our sustainable economy in our largest city is booming, and with an increased focus on infrastructure, Lane County can create jobs now, and compete in the future.

My DFA values:

Community means being accessible, and taking a leadership role in educating and empowering my constituents. I have hosted dozens of town halls, constituent coffees, and when I served as board chair we held a series of outreach meetings to labor, youth services, Central Latino, and the University of Oregon. I have empowered residents to propose their own agenda items for the county; this resulted in a popular audit that increased government transparency. We have thoroughly walked our district on the campaign, and I believe reaching out to voters on the door step builds a greater sense of community than traditional television advertising. I am also handing out my home phone number to constituents at the door.
Security is not being afraid in one’s community. As the only full time elected official working for my constituents, I take this very seriously. I have fought racial profiling, and to preserve the Lane County human rights commission. I have also strongly supported working people in their disagreements with employers. Security means having a place to hang your hat at the end of the night. Security starts with the right to a living wage, ability to live without discrimination, and not coming home to an eviction or foreclosure notice.
Liberty means religious freedom, the ability to choose to have an abortion, being able to marry the person you love, and to be able to peacefully assemble. I have been strongly supportive of Planned Parenthood expanding their health services to our community. I have supported efforts to legalize gay marriage here in Oregon. I strongly support freedom of speech and expression. As a lawyer, my law firm fought for the right of street vendors to sell street publications in the Oregon Supreme Court.

My Campaign is People-Powered!

Our campaign is a grassroots campaign. My campaign manager is a DFA scholar who learned most of his skills from going to Netroots nation, and later working for DFA on the ground in Wisconsin. We are doing a very strong door-to-door campaign powered by volunteers and the support of the community. We are dedicated to engaging old and young voters, and expanding the electorate through voter registration. We have obtained 150 individual donors within our district, in contrast to individual donors of my opponents. (They have 11 combined as of Feb. 9) We are building a campaign based on the support of the people, and it shows in our community involvement and our people powered campaign.