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Elections coverage 禄

This election season, the race for governor of Oregon is one of the tightest in the state and the nation. A poll released Wednesday by Davis, Hibbitts and Midghall for several Portland area news outlets had Republican Chris Dudley leading Democrat John Kitzhaber 45 percent to 42 percent. The percentage difference is within a 4.4 percent margin of error.

The candidates come from different backgrounds and have different plans for how to lead Oregon. Reporters for the Daily Journal of Commerce recently spoke with Dudley and Kitzhaber about their thoughts on some issues of interest to our readership.

John Kitzhaber, Democrat

Former Gov. John Kitzhaber is familiar with the duties that come with leading Oregon.Though he was a practicing physician from 1973 to 1986 in Roseburg, Kitzhaber’s political career began in 1979 as a member of the Oregon House of Representatives.

After serving three terms as a state senator from 1981 to 1993, Kitzhaber won the democratic nomination for governor in 1994 and served two terms as Oregon’s governor from 1995 to 2003.

Kitzhaber, known for taking action on health care and education issues, also has focused on job development and protection of Oregon’s environment during this campaign.

91视频: What are you going to do to get construction projects moving again?

John Kitzhaber: The most obvious target is the Columbia River Crossing. That’s the biggest construction project we will have in the region for a long time. The next important step moving forward is to get a project management entity that’s outside the Department of Transportation that is actually a group that has the confidence of the local governments and different jurisdictions that have to be aligned so we can get consensus and move this project forward. I’ve spoken to (Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire) about this a couple months ago. It’s going to require both governors working together to get the project off the ground.

91视频: If there were one project you could see through to completion during your term as governor, what would it be?

Kitzhaber: I’d like to see the Columbia River Crossing way down the road. It’s important from a commerce standpoint. It’s important environmentally that we do it right and it’s going to create significant jobs and be a huge benefit to the state.

91视频: What action would you take to address the recent foreclosure freeze?

Kitzhaber: I fully support the investigation that our attorney general is doing along with other states. I think the banks are operating on the edge here. Foreclosures are huge events for people and if the bank is going to foreclose they need to do due diligence and make sure these people actually need to be foreclosed upon. I am not sure that’s the case right now. We need to push that investigation and take action based on those results.

91视频: At a time when Oregon is struggling to remain afloat financially, is state funding of renewable energy projects a worthy investment?

Kitzhaber: It is, but it has to be put into context. The challenge with (the Business Energy Tax Credit) was it tried to be all things to all people. If you’re trying to incent manufacturing jobs at places like SolarWorld, that’s one kind of incentive. If you’re trying to incent renewable energy production, like wind generation, that’s another set of incentives. We need a 10-year energy plan to show how the state plans to meet our (Renewable Portfolio Standard) and where tax incentives fit into that plan. It’s going to be a smaller set of incentives than we had before. But I still think (the Business Energy Tax Credit) is an important tool.

91视频: Which presented option would you choose for the Columbia River Crossing: a bigger bridge, a similarly sized bridge, or no bridge?

Kitzhaber: We need a bridge. The central span was built in 1917. The real challenge is that the size and price of the bridge is actually something we can pull off. Even Congressman (Peter) DeFazio is a little concerned about a $4 billion project. The important thing is that there are certain outcomes and values that the bridge includes. One is keeping freight movement coming out of the Port of Portland. One is that people going from Portland to Vancouver or from Los Angeles to Seattle have adequate pedestrian, bicycle and mass transit provisions. And we must use whatever pricing options are necessary to make sure the bridge doesn’t fill up with people before it’s even built.

Chris Dudley, Republican

Chris Dudley may not have much political experience, but he has experienced success.

After graduating from high school in 1982, he pursued and earned degrees in political science and economics from Yale University.Dudley then spent 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association, including six with the Portland Trail Blazers, despite having type 1 diabetes.

Dudley later turned his attention to philanthropy and financial services. While serving as senior vice president at M Financial, and then after starting his own company, Chris joined his wife in starting the Chris Dudley Foundation. It focuses on helping kids with diabetes, providing educational programs, advocacy and financial support for research.

91视频: What are you going to do to get construction projects moving again?

Chris Dudley: We鈥檝e got a transportation bill, which is in the works. I鈥檓 going to help push that through, as well as the Connect(Oregon) program. I鈥檓 going to make sure that they are implemented and the other programs that are approved go forward. As well as have new programs come online and make sure the state is investing in its infrastructure.

91视频: If there were one project you could see through to completion during your term as governor, what would it be?

Dudley: Well, I think right now the biggest project out there is the CRC, the Columbia River Crossing. And making sure that is completed. It鈥檚 something that鈥檚 taken a number of years and we鈥檝e spent a number of years. We鈥檝e spent over $100 million in planning and it鈥檚 time to step up and say, 鈥淟et鈥檚 get this thing done.鈥�

91视频: What action would you take to address the recent foreclosure freeze?

Dudley: I think we have to watch as a state that we don鈥檛 get into this situation where we have bad mortgages out there and really make sure people truly understand what鈥檚 going on and they can truly afford it. To me that鈥檚 the fundamental problem that we had that got us into this place is that people were taking on more debt than they could afford and mortgage companies were allowing it to happen because they were passing on that debt. I think it鈥檚 important that we keep that relationship that whoever offers the package actually has to hold it or at least is accountable to see it through so that they are making prudent decisions.

91视频: At a time when Oregon is struggling to remain afloat financially, is state funding of renewable energy projects a worthy investment?

Dudley: Well I think it鈥檚 one 鈥� I鈥檝e been critical at times of the way it鈥檚 been handled. By that I mean when you have companies such as a company in Texas that gets $5 million up front and you find out they鈥檙e doing 1 percent of their business in Oregon, that doesn鈥檛 make sense. We have to realize that we鈥檙e competitive for dollars and if we are going to use incentives it really, truly has to be a win-win for the state 鈥� not just for the company but the state as well. You鈥檙e going to have to see those revenues come in, whether it鈥檚 hired employees or construction or whatever it is. If it鈥檚 truly a win-win and you can lay out something that makes sense for the state then I am open to that. But I think our program got away from us, it had abuses and it was costly for our state.

91视频: Which presented option would you choose for the Columbia River Crossing: a bigger bridge, a similarly sized bridge, or no bridge?

Dudley: Well there are a number of options and I鈥檝e applauded the Independent Review Panel and what they put out in the past. The points being we鈥檝e got to have a by-state authority, we have to have a point person in each state to help push it through, we鈥檝e got to make sure the model that we choose 鈥� The one thing that concerns me is that as they say in the report the model being chosen right now is of a unique design that鈥檚 never been built in that style anywhere in the world before and has certain cost overruns. That scares me. We鈥檝e got to get a model that has some cost certainty that lives within our budget and meets our needs for transportation for years to come.