There are certain things that current Clackamas County Commissioner Sonya Fischer doesn’t want voters to hear. One of the most important has to do with her stance on law and order. This has become one of the biggest issues in the 2022 election, because law-abiding citizens are becoming increasingly weary of politicians whose policies are causing crime to skyrocket all…
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There are certain signs that a campaign isn’t going well. One of the biggest is when you feel like you have to pay an attorney to contact your opponent and make threats of legal action. While this kind of thing may be more common at the federal level, with the highest public offices in the nation, I never expected to…
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I’ve always thought it’s important for candidates who are running for office to be familiar with whatever that position entails. That way, they have a better sense of what they’re getting into. But more importantly, it means that they’re also aware of the limitations of what they can and cannot do after they’ve been elected. Many people try to get…
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Out of all the basic functions of local government, public safety is easily among the most important. This has been made abundantly clear over the past couple of years. Political activists demanded that law enforcement agencies be stripped of the critical funding they need to get the job done. Candidates have run for district attorney’s offices nationwide under the banner…
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An analogy that comes up quite often in public policy is that of a pendulum. The explanation goes something like this: The same approach is used for a while until it stops being effective and develops its own unique set of consequences. Voters then start to demand that something different be done, and the metaphoric pendulum then swings in the…
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Because the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners is a five-member body, each election can change its overall direction. Recent history has also shown that ours is a swing county, meaning that its voters go back and forth in their preferences every couple of years. With that being the case, I think there are two different ways that this county can…
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As far as I’m concerned, tolling is the single biggest issue in the race for Clackamas County Commissioner, Position 5. The entire race boils down to this simple question: Do you want to pay to drive on I-5 and/or I-205? If the answer is no, then I am asking for your support so I can work to help stop this…
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Perhaps one of the greatest points of contrast between myself and my opponent, Clackamas County Commissioner Sonya Fischer, is our attitudes and approaches when it comes to dealing with Metro. Ever since being appointed to commissioner position 5, Fischer has consistently carried water for Metro and its agenda, at the tremendous expense of Clackamas County residents. By contrast, once I’m…
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The Oregon Legislature made national news a few years back when two consecutive sessions were cut short by walkouts from Republicans over a proposed cap and trade bill. Because they were so far in the minority, the Republican legislators felt the only way they could stop it from passing was to deny the necessary quorum. Prior to then, there were…
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It’s easy to think of every political race in the context of national partisan elections. The same rhetoric used by Republicans and Democrats running for Congress often trickles down to local races, even though the offices being sought are drastically different. So much emphasis gets placed on divisive social issues that have raged in the public consciousness for decades. But…
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