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Candidate Conversation: State Treasurer
Who is best prepared to handle Oregon's money?
Oregon's current treasurer, Randall Edwards, said earlier this month "the huge drops in the markets have reduced the value of the Oregon funds that I manage... We are into a recession, and any lengthening or deepening of it will create significant budget pressures." He said that the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund has experienced a
significant decline in value (in September it was $53.3 billion, down from $63.3 billion last December).
This is the situation that the next treasurer will inherit. Who is best prepared to manage Oregon's money? The two people competing for the job are Democrat Ben Westlund and Republican Allen Alley.
Senator Ben Westlund was elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1997. He is on the board of the Oregon Cultural Trust and sponsored the Healthy Oregon Act. Before entering government Westlund owned and operated "an international animal husbandry business selling bovine genetics" in Central Oregon. (He sold semen from bulls to be used in cattle breeding.) Westlund's success allowed him to retire from business at age 46. According to his Facebook page, Westlund's favorite television shows include Jeopardy, 60 Minutes, and Family Guy.
Allen Alley's Facebook page details his favorite television shows too. They include "any talent show (Mom was an actress, Dad a singer)," and "Extreme Engineering (almost anything on Discovery)." Alley is known for his business experience. In 1997 he co-founded Pixelworks, a semiconductor company, where he still serves as chairman of the board. He served as deputy chief of staff for Governor Ted Kulongoski for a year, and was responsible for overseeing economic development, technology, transportation, workforce training, and energy.
Westlund's critics say he doesn't have enough business experience to be treasurer. Alley's critics say he doesn't have enough legislative experience. What skills are needed to best manage Oregon's money? What are your greatest concerns about Oregon's finances in these turbulent economic times? Do you count on the state for your pension? Who do you support for state treasurer?
GUESTS:
Ben Westlund: Oregon state senator and the Democratic candidate for Treasurer
Allen Alley: founder of Pixelworks and the Republican candidate for Treasurer
Tagged as: 2008 election · treasurer
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We've done this ourselves you know! We can't blaim the republicans for the entire economical crisis. When I heard I can get a credit card. I went and asked for two, one for me and one for my husband. We already have a set of credit cards but what can I say, I didn't had to wait for thisone. Thus, we've made our debt a bit larger, we work harder to pay it off, we buy more stuff we don't need. This type of behavior has brought all these problems!
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Do the candidates feel the kicker should be continued, discontinued, modified? Why?
Business experience seems most important given Oregon's poor business and financial health. Legislative skills can be learned on the job. Oregon needs jobs. PERS needs to be invested most advantageously. Therefore I think the treasurer needs to be more business oriented. I don't rely on Oregon for pension. Leaning toward Alley but I'm not convinced yet. -
I want to know if either of you two are making transportation infrastructure a top priority and if so, what can you do as Treasurer to help our state make wise investments in infrastructure?
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I'm of the opinion that the next treasurer needs to be a person with patience who does not act on impulse. Investments such as the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund are long term investments that a manager should not jump the gun to buy or sell stock from because of short term declines in the market. The current economic slump will correct itself. I want someone in the treasurer's office who isn't afraid to ride the wave. Hmm, perhaps we should elect a surfer.
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Pixelworks created a dynamic product which carved a niche in the marketplace. However, it oculd not maintain that niche, and the stock has plummeted. Why would we believe Mr. Alley could handle our funds better than he could this company?
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I admittedly didn't check his company's stock history until you mentioned it, and you are absolutely correct. It has been on a steady downward cycle other than a small bump in 2004. PXLW went from a high of $143.00 in 2000 to its current value of $0.98 at market open today.
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After looking at both candidates' websites, it seems that Westlund has the endorsements of most -- if not all -- organizations whose membership materially depends on a sound management of Oregon's Public Employees Retirement Fund, while Alley has none. I would like to know why, if Mr. Alley is making this race about PERF management, should we disagree with the actual PERF recipients who seem to overwhelmingly trust Westlund's management skills.
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I'm coming late to this discussion, but it seems to me that this is the single most important comment here. Was there a reply on the air to this?
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No more contributions to OPB for me until OPB and NPR stop their anti-democratic policy of excluding 3rd-party candidates from debates/reporting/discussions etc.
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Are we certain that they did not invite Mr. Marsh? He may have chosen not to appear.
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Sarah Jane Rothenfluch explains the guest selection parameters in "[url=http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/posts/list/1750211.page]Candidate Conversations: Secretary of State[/url]." That 'think out loud' segment posted Mon, Oct 20, 2008.
Sarah Specifically states that in regard to including third party candidate seth wooly, "For these conversations we chose to include the top two candidates -- those who have received significant campaign financing, who have proof of running a state-wide campaign and, where possible, have evidence of a measurable showing in a district-wide poll. While I have no doubt that Mr. Woolley is thoughtful and well qualified, unfortunately for this discussion the top two candidates were Kate Brown and Rick Dancer. I do encourage you to take a look back at our Primary Conversation about the Secretary of State race when we included a number of candidates. Thank you."
One notes that position is taken despite proposition 65, which is on this year's ballot.
Ironic that a YES vote on the proposition: "CHANGES general election nomination processes for most partisan offices; all candidates run in single primary; top two primary candidates compete in the general election."
Seems OPB anticipates election outcome. At best it was an unfortunate position that OPB took. -
Both candidates claim to have led entities through tough times: Senator Westlund, the state budget; and Mr. Alley, Pixelworks. But both candidates left a position shortly after an economic downturn: Westlund relinquished his Ways and Means Chairmanship and Mr. Alley resigned from his position at Pixelworks. I would like to know from both candidates whether they feel their respective entities were better off after their tenure, and how.
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I worked at Pixelworks as a documentation contractor for about a year in 2004. I left when my contract was completed and feel good about the business relationship. No grudge here, but a genuine question.
Pixelworks was in a fast-paced, very competitive arena. When I worked there, Alley was highly respected and spoken of. However, we frequently had shifts in priorities for our work which was at best disconcerting and at worst affected the speed and quality of our work. These shifts of direction came from upper management, many of whom drove sports cars. My question to Mr. Alley is how this type of experience, regardless of the result for Pixelworks, will help him as Treasurer. -
The last industry that was supposed to spin off many venture-funded businesses in OR was biotech. Despite lots of talk, lots of dollars spent with consultants from CA, lots of entrepreneurial ideas being floated, and many many conferences and meetings, biotech growth here has not been impressive. Do the candidates agree? What would they do differently to grow "Green" business more successfully?
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Mr. Alley has been making a lot of hay about his Wall Street experience and business acumen, but of course both candidates have business experience to varying degrees of success.
But among everything I've heard, I have yet to hear Allen Alley cite a single example of a company or organization that was better off after he had been at the helm. Has he yet run a company that HASN'T experienced a precipitous stock freefall like Pixelworks or required a taxpayer bailout like OMSI? -
Allen Alley just talked about Pixelworks' profitability...
Aside from the short-term returns experienced after most of the workforce was moved to China, I'm wondering how many profitable quarters Pixelworks has had? -
i might not have paid nearly as much attention to the treasurer position had the economy not tanked, now it seems to be very important! But why is this a partisan postion? How does that influence their effectiveness in this office?
oh, nevermind, good question Emily, thanks -
When Ben Westlund says he supports renewable energy he means it. I was involved in installing the solar system on the Oregon State capital and during the whole time it was going on there was only one person to come up to the roof to see what was going on, Ben Westlund. He has been a champ in supporting the solar industry in Oregon.
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Thank you, Ben and Allen, for being respectful of each other and not slinging negativity like we've seen and heard so much of in other races this year... I find it really refreshing. When I heard today's program was another political conversation, I was ready to put in a CD, but I didn't and I'm glad. This was a great program today!
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With credit woes, what is the future for the Energy Loan Program and the Business Energy Tax Credit? Is this independent of the problems, what changes might occur with these programs in the unknown, brave-new-lending-world?
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Republicans have given us "the gift that keeps on giving", an outrageous public debt paying interest that the wealthy Conservative Republicans live off of like ticks on the body politic.
Let's try that old saying that "A new broom sweeps clean", let's throw all of the Conservative Republican bums out and give a chance to the people whose record is of paying down the public debt, the Democrats! -
Comments are now closed.
Actually, it has turned out that the worst threat to America and indeed the world was not Osama Bin Laden and others like him, no, it was and still is American Conservative Republicans who De-Regulated the financial sector and therefore caused this current sub-prime crisis that is stopping the US and the World Economy.
Bin Laden caused some three billion US dollars in damage on 9/11 and killed around fifteen hundred people, but American Conservative Republicans have caused over a Trillion US dollars in damage just up to now with untold hundreds of Billions in damage still to come, nearly killed off the entire world economy, and who knows how many people are left homeless and might even commit suicide because their future looks so bleak. American Conservative Republicans have caused the Nation of Iceland to face bankruptcy and driven them to beg Russia for a loan.
American Conservative Republicans have done far more damage in the world than any ?Islamic Extremist? could have dreamed of even in his wildest and most fervent dreams.
It is time to re-prioritize our concerns to the current world reality.
The US and the rest of the world need to work together to get American Conservative Republicans out of power just like the Allies worked to defeat Hitler and his ilk in WW2. This needs a worldwide effort!