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Candidate Conversations: Secretary of State

AIR DATE: Wednesday, October 22nd 2008

Download the mp3 for this show.

A conversation with the candidates seeking a job many consider the second most important in the state%3A Secretary of State.

Secretary of state candidates Kate Brown and Rick Dancer have difficult jobs before them. They both are trying to convince voters that they are best qualified for what many consider the second most important job in Oregon?s state government.

The secretary of state not only oversees the election and initiative process, he or she also serves with the governor and state treasurer in the State Land Board, in addition to overseeing state audits, corporations and archives.

Democratic candidate Kate Brown, a state senator from Portland, was first voted into office in 1991, and served two terms with the Oregon House of Representatives before being elected to Senate in 1996. In addition to her political work, Brown has taught at Portland State University, and advocated for the LGBTQ community and working families. Her campaign platform includes cracking down on initiative fraud, opening doors to new business, and supporting campaign finance reform.

Republican candidate Rick Dancer is a retired television news anchor from Springfield who takes pride in being new to politics. He often refers to himself as the candidate who is not a professional politician. Dancer?s campaign platform includes making the secretary of state office non-partisan, raising Oregon's voter registration requirements to the federal level, and community led redistricting.

Have you decided whom to vote for as the next secretary of state? Or do you have questions for the candidates that will help you decide? How do you think the election and initiative process should be run?

Guests:

Kate Brown: Oregon State Senator and Democratic candidate for Oregon Secretary of State

Rick Dancer: retired television journalist and Republican candidate for Oregon Secretary of State

Tagged as: 2008 election · initiative

On Mr. Dancer's website he states that he has "traveled to every corner of Oregon and have found that many are concerned that non-citizens are being permitted to register and vote in Oregon. This is illegal, of course, and there is a simple way to stop it."
There is a difference between people being concerned about non-citizens registering and non-citizens actually registering. What facts does he have about non-citizens registering? What changes would he make to the acceptable forms of ID?

Rexanne — Tue Oct. 21st 7:41p.m.

Please explain why Seth Woolley, the other candidate for the secretary of state office, is not included in this conversation.
He is incredibly thoughtful and very well qualified for this position.

josephknight — Wed Oct. 22nd 11:56a.m.

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.

Sarah Jane Rothenfluch — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:21p.m.

RE: Seth Woolley

Dear Sarah,

With all due appreciation of the fine program which did take place, the station makes a statement regarding proposition 65, ?the nomination processes for major minor party, independent candidates for most partisan offices? proposition.

Notice this proposition 65, which is on this year's ballot, states that a YES vote: "[b]CHANGES[/b] general election nomination processes for most partisan offices; all candidates run in single primary; top two primary candidates compete in the general election."

Despite the 'proposed' change, the reponse you make to Joseph Knight suggests the station maintains that proposition should pass, but also that the station behaves apriori as though the proposition already entered law, and good scheduling guidelines.

All kidding aside,I object. A third party candidate in this very important election year, who is on the final ballot, say Seth Woolley, deserves a coffee break?s worth of equal time. I am surprised OPB chose not to provide it to the extent it might fair-mindedly insure, at least until such time as Proposition 65 does pass... or not. What will the station do if 65 does not pass?

Thank you, Sarah.

Yes, i voted against 65, and will never know if i might have supported Seth. I do look forward to another opportunity to take issue with your policy, if only during some future primary.

ps. I end by pointing out this exclusion of Seth Wooly was not singular. In the discussion of[url=http://action.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/posts/list/1/1736209.page#2123615]Candidate Conversation: State Treasurer[/url], several take umbrage with the station policy of 3rd party exclusion from debate.

most sad

Gary Mason — Wed Oct. 29th 5:25p.m.

I agree with what josephknight said. TOL is just reinforcing the so-called "two-"party system by excluding legitimate non-GOP/non-DEM candidates. You fail.

Totalnerd — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:29p.m.

I am a small business owner - having started my private practice in counseling this summer. I have had to sort out funding, regulations etc. It has been incredibly scary for me given the current economic environment. Yet, it seems that when economic times are hard and unemployment rises people often decide to go out on their own. I want to know what the state is doing to help support and encourage someone like me.

Side comment: Thanks Emily for asking what the guest mean when they use political jargon/words. When I don't know what someone is specifically talking about I will silently stare at the radio and ponder - you are reading my mind! Thanks!

Last Side Comment: I am coming in to answer phones for the pledge drive today. If Emily was at all available. I would love to chat with her for a minute about a couple ideas for shows that I posted earlier: miscarriage including grief/loss and/or postpartum concerns including depression/anxiety and the local resources available. I volunteer at a couple of non-profits that offer services e.g. Baby Blue Connection and Brief Encounters. The more people know the more they can get help.

Thanks! Audrianna J. Gurr, MS, NCC

ajoygurr — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:30p.m.

I am always happy to chat about story ideas! And just a reminder to everyone, we do read all the ideas that come in on the blog. Here's a link to the October suggestion box.

Emily Harris — Wed Oct. 22nd 2:39p.m.

I would like to know about each candidate's thoughts on serving on the Land Board. What philosophy will you bring to the Land Board, what have you done for environmental concerns so far (either in termns of policy or civic involvement), and what interests would your opponent say you are beholden to?

EddieHog — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:36p.m.

Would Sen. Brown commit to serving a full term as Sec. of State or would she consider leaving mid-term to run for governor?

GreginPortland — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:39p.m.

Regarding performance audits, this is a SOS for the new SOS.

I think the first priority for the new Secretary of State should be an audit of environmental enforcement agencies. The Oregonian reported on November 15 2005 that a group of college students at Lewis and Clark College were collecting more in environmental penalties than DEQ. See http://www.lclark.edu/org/nedc/objects/Oregonain_new_version.pdf

Oregon Department of Agriculture is charged by SB 1010 with protecting water quality, yet this summer in the Tualatin River we experienced the worst agricultural pollution in decades, resulting in a public health advisory yet no enforcement action. How is ODA doing at protecting water quality.

See: http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=121807219738753300
AND http://news.opb.org/article/2770-waqter-quality-question-along-tualatin-river-summer/.

The Oregonian reported on November 15 2005 that a group of college students at Lewis and Clark College were collecting more in environmental penalties than DEQ. Why are volunteer college students doing more for environmental enforcement than Oregon's chief environmental enforcement agency?
See http://www.lclark.edu/org/nedc/objects/Oregonain_new_version.pdf

bwegener — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:41p.m.

The more I hear of Rick Dancer's comments, the more I lose respect for him. He may be a smart man, but he doesn't seem to understand the difference between asking questions and creating policy. As someone who would like to see more balance in our statewide elected officials, I continue to be disappointed in the choices Republicans make for candidates for statewide elected officials. Do they just not have anyone who is qualified to run?

JuliaMJK — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:41p.m.

I would like to point out to Rick Dancer that not everyone holding a driver's license is a U.S. citizen, so this is not proof of citizenship. Any person who is legally permitted to live in the United States because they have a legal student visa or green card can legally obtain a driver's license. Thus, my cousin's Canadian spouse can get a license and even a Soc Sec card when she works legally in our country.

aaghzl — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:48p.m.

I would like to point out to Rick Dancer that not everyone holding a driver's license is a U.S. citize

Low Glycemic Index Foods

helpgodme — Sun Nov. 7th 7:22p.m.

What did Dancer mean by "comingling of funds"?
Is that language from a Sizemore measure, or does he mean outlawing pass throughs?

old timer — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:48p.m.

anyone that is smart enough to participate politicly knows that only citizens can vote, it is a lie to purport that non citizens can vote, or register to vote, republicans speak of freedom from government by taking away the same freedom that they offer.

the joker — Wed Oct. 22nd 12:55p.m.

Candidate Dancer started to touch on a topic I feel would benefit voters greatly. That was the topic of disclosure. I feel citizens, on both a fedral and state level have very little visibility of how tax money is spent. I believe that disclosure of both state revenue (how much and from what sources) and state spending (how much, what funding source, and towards what) could help people make better decisions when voting. Especially when voting on measure that would require funding, reallocate spending, or change revenue (read increase/decrease taxes). Additionally, with disclosure citizens could start to measure the effectivness of legislation. Did this levy have the intended affect on revenue, etc.

TeeKay421 — Thu Oct. 23rd 9:33p.m.

Comments are now closed.