House District 21: Brian Clem Candidate Questionnaire
Content
Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for Nov. 2, 2010, General Election Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for use by Statesman Journal Editorial Board members in evaluating candidates for potential endorsements. Your answers also will be shared with reporters, may be published in the print newspaper and will be posted on StatesmanJournal.com.
Name: Brian Clem House/Senate District Number: 21 Party affiliation: Democrat Age: 38 City/town of residence: Salem
Number of years you have lived in the district: 14 Years Are you a full-time resident of the district? Yes Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children): Carol Suzuki – Wife, Kohana Clem – 2 yrs 8 months old Daughter Current employer/job: Owner – Onsite PC Help, LLC Employment, military and volunteer history: Prior to starting my IT Help Desk/Consulting business, I worked with my father in law on the family fruit Orchard for a year and spent the 5 years prior to that in the employ of Congressman and later Senator Ron Wyden. Civic/religious/other local involvement: I served on the board of the Salem City Club for 4 or 5 years and was elected President twice. Served 1.25 terms. I was a volunteer instructor at the Salem Senior Center and later was the first Chair of its now-annual giving campaign. I have been a member of the Salem Chamber of Commerce for just about 10 years now. Please list all public offices to which you’ve been elected, and when: State Representative elected in 2006 and 2008 Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: None Other political and government experience: Former Chair of the Oregon Student Assistant Commission. Former aide to State Senator Cliff Trow and to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information will be public): Mail address: Oregonians for Clem, PO Box 987 Salem, OR 97308 E-mail address: [email protected] Web site URL: www.brianclem.com Phone: 503.999.1212
How much will your general election campaign cost? (Please be specific about your campaign budget, not “as much as we can raise.”) A) Somewhere between $20,000-$35,000 for staff, mail pieces, consulting, etc.
Who are your top campaign contributors/lenders? (Please list at least the current top five and their total dollar amounts.) A) For this general election: 1) Azusa Suzuki (Loan) 500,000 – since repaid with interest. 2) Doctors For Healthy Communities - $6,000 3) PGE and Pacificorp – Around $4,500 in-kind donation for one mailer 4) Oregon Nurseries - $2,500 5) Pacific Seafood - $2,500
6) Scott Campbell - $2,500 Who are your key political advisers? (Please identify at least your top three.) Jon Isaacs, Jack Quigley at Compass Media, My wife and Dan Balm my Campaign Manager, George Bell, several Neighborhood association leaders, a couple local business owners (who happen to be Republicans) Key endorsements you’ve received: SEIU, OLCV, Stand for Children, Marion County Farm Bureau, Oregon Farm Bureau, Working Families Party, Oregon Nurses Association, Oregon Nurseries Association, Oregon Education Association, Stand for Children, Common Sense Oregon. For each of the following questions, please limit your answer to about 75 words. 1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details. A) No 2. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details. A) No 3. Describe this legislative district: South Central, Central and East Salem. 4. What specific steps will you take to make government more open and accessible to the public? A) First, here’s what we’ve done: We created a website that would allow Oregonians to access information about state government online, because a more transparent, more accountable state government will lead to a better state government; we passed legislation that required most state agencies to perform at least one performance audit each year; we voted to adopt stronger accountability measures in public contracting, which will result in increased quality and efficiency in state funded projects. Next session, we are working hard to reduce red tape and make it easier for small businesses to start up in Oregon. I’m committed to a one-stop-shop where new businesses can get permits and find information on programs like BOOST and tax incentives to help small business in Oregon. 5. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? A) People should vote for me because I have a demonstrated commitment to the future of Oregon. I consistently work with members across the isle to build consensus and make it a priority to listen to everyone regardless of their political ideals. A good idea should never go to waste because of politics. I am very proud that in the committee I chair we have never had a party line vote. 6. What specific steps would you advocate to improve Oregon’s economy and create jobs? A) As you may recall, I am a leader in the movement to procure more of our government purchased goods and services locally. Whether it be food as in the Farm to School law I wrote or the local preference law I authored last session (HB 2761. I will continue to try and expand this approach to all products for more local sourcing, helping shore up Oregon companies bottom line. At the same time I am working hard on international trade promotion, particularly in Asia. We invested in Oregon by providing every uninsured Oregon child with health care, creating new jobs and reducing health care costs for all of us. We established a new fund to give loans and grants to help small businesses that create new jobs and hire Oregonians. We made it easier for businesses to access funds from the Oregon Business Development Fund. We need to continue these strategies and invest in Economic Gardening, which helps ease, the financial obstacles of investing in a new business and will encourage the development of new small businesses throughout our state.
B)
7. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the tax provisions created by Measures 66/67? A) “Measures 66 & 67 worked. If the measures hadn’t passed the budget shortfall would be much worse. Oregon has a great business climate and Measures 66 & 67 do not diminish that fact. I am open to instituting some slight changes to the formula for gross-receipts such as adding in an employee size factor to help high volume, low margin businesses.
8. What specific revenue changes, if any, would you advocate to balance the 2011-13 budget? A) First things first we must get Oregonians back on the job. I am focused on helping Oregon's businesses; especially small businesses get back on their feet. Until we get people back to work we will always have a revenue issue. I am supportive of reinstating the cigarette tax that sunset a couple years ago or even increasing it further. This is really more about public health and cost recovery than balancing the budget however. 9. What specific spending reductions, if any, would you advocate to balance the 2011-13 budget?
A) What we must do in balancing the budget is first protect our children's education, keep seniors in their homes and protect our communities. I believe there are significant reductions in the DAS and also a better way to make “cuts” within the management service ranks. I look forward to discussing those in person. 10. Which of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s “resetting government” proposals do you support? A) I will however be working to implement some of their recommendations around the front door entry process into admitting the forensic patients into the State Hospital. B) I think it is hard to look many of the proposals in isolation, or just looking at the Governor’s package proposals alone without considering John Kitzhaber’s budget plan – which I think is a good approach. We need to invest in our people, not deal with budget challenges from crisis to crisis, and I think that is at the heart of Kitzhaber’s approach. Invest in schools, invest in healthy lifestyle choices, and invest in community building and crime prevention. This is really a way to rethink government, and both Kulongoski and Kitzhaber have joined the conversation. It is a conversation I am looking forward to being a part of as well.
11. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the structure, scope or role of state government? A) We need to take a hard look at how we forecast our revenue and what to do about those forecasts when they are wrong. Recent studies have shown that total public employee compensation is on par with similar workers in the private sector. Take home pay is a little bit less, while benefits are a little more generous. Total compensation should be in line with the private sector, so this is a positive place to be at as we start the hard work of balancing the budget. I have some specific savings in the State Hospital I would like to discuss further in person. 12. What changes, if any, do you favor making in state employee compensation? Why? A) We can't hold it against hard working firefighters, police officers and teachers for doing their job. We have asked them to work for free and have forced them into unpaid leave while also laying off thousands of employees. This is not the best way to balance the budget. In fact it goes completely against common sense. We need to honor and respect the hardworking teachers, firefighters and public safety officers who are on the front lines working for us. I do however have specific proposal around management service which during tough budget times should allow for more targeted layoffs. I look forward to discussing in person. 13. Do you support the education-reform proposals of the Chalkboard Project? A) Thus far I have with little exception. I also work closely with them in advising and helping structure their work during the interim. PASS particularly has been a great success and I was thrilled to see Salem-Keizer adopt the pilot effort.
14. What “social issues,” if any, should the 2011 Legislature address? I can’t think of a burning “social issue” that needs to be addressed. We’ve made great gains in recent years in anti-discrimination efforts. 15. How should the Legislature and state government respond to illegal immigration? A) It is clear that we need a Federal solution to illegal immigration. A patchwork of laws differing from state to state will only lead to confusion. I think that we need to send a message to Congress to act and act now for comprehensive immigration reform. I have a couple specific proposals I have offered around penalties for trafficking and also going after the underground economy. 16. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (Up to 75 words for each issue.) A. Job creation – Efforts such as the preferential purchasing bill I sponsored and passed for agricultural goods, I have another bill that requires consideration to be given to local companies before sending our tax dollars out of state when contracting to purchase goods. We send millions of dollars out of state each year that could be used to help our own businesses right here in Oregon be stronger and more able to expand and hire workers. B. Protecting our land and landowners rights – Since before I ran for office in 200, I have been a proponent of smart and fair land use. I worked hard to fix and find compromises in reforming Measure 37, I led the charge in protecting the Metolius Basin from being irreparably harmed by developers, and every session I sponsor legislation aimed at making annexations fairer and less costly to those facing annexation. C. Getting government working better – We see Congress stalled in a bitter political war where the point is not to get things done but to make the other side look bad. I will continue to make Oregon stronger and better by working with anyone and everyone to make good public policy. 17. What do you see as other important issues?
A)
I think we still have work to do to make our schools more robust. We owe it to our students to fully invest in the best education we can and make sure they are getting the most out of the dollars spent. I also think long term we need to resolve water conflicts before it becomes a holy war and also continue building relationships with China, which is now the #2 economy in the world.
18. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? A) No As a legislative candidate, your positions on statewide ballot measures on relevant to voters. Please indicate whether you support or oppose each of the measures. Measure 70: Veterans’ loans Measure 71: Annual legislative sessions Measure 72: State bonding authority Measure 73: Sentencing Measure 74: Medical marijuana for now Measure 75: Multnomah County casino Measure 76: Lottery funding for parks, habitat xYes xYes xYes No No No
Yes No – I could support the DUII portion but as there is no funding mechanism I would prefer to address it through a bill. Yes No – I really need to study it closer but I would lean no
Yes xYes
xNo No
Name: Brian Clem House/Senate District Number: 21 Party affiliation: Democrat Age: 38 City/town of residence: Salem
Number of years you have lived in the district: 14 Years Are you a full-time resident of the district? Yes Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children): Carol Suzuki – Wife, Kohana Clem – 2 yrs 8 months old Daughter Current employer/job: Owner – Onsite PC Help, LLC Employment, military and volunteer history: Prior to starting my IT Help Desk/Consulting business, I worked with my father in law on the family fruit Orchard for a year and spent the 5 years prior to that in the employ of Congressman and later Senator Ron Wyden. Civic/religious/other local involvement: I served on the board of the Salem City Club for 4 or 5 years and was elected President twice. Served 1.25 terms. I was a volunteer instructor at the Salem Senior Center and later was the first Chair of its now-annual giving campaign. I have been a member of the Salem Chamber of Commerce for just about 10 years now. Please list all public offices to which you’ve been elected, and when: State Representative elected in 2006 and 2008 Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: None Other political and government experience: Former Chair of the Oregon Student Assistant Commission. Former aide to State Senator Cliff Trow and to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information will be public): Mail address: Oregonians for Clem, PO Box 987 Salem, OR 97308 E-mail address: [email protected] Web site URL: www.brianclem.com Phone: 503.999.1212
How much will your general election campaign cost? (Please be specific about your campaign budget, not “as much as we can raise.”) A) Somewhere between $20,000-$35,000 for staff, mail pieces, consulting, etc.
Who are your top campaign contributors/lenders? (Please list at least the current top five and their total dollar amounts.) A) For this general election: 1) Azusa Suzuki (Loan) 500,000 – since repaid with interest. 2) Doctors For Healthy Communities - $6,000 3) PGE and Pacificorp – Around $4,500 in-kind donation for one mailer 4) Oregon Nurseries - $2,500 5) Pacific Seafood - $2,500
6) Scott Campbell - $2,500 Who are your key political advisers? (Please identify at least your top three.) Jon Isaacs, Jack Quigley at Compass Media, My wife and Dan Balm my Campaign Manager, George Bell, several Neighborhood association leaders, a couple local business owners (who happen to be Republicans) Key endorsements you’ve received: SEIU, OLCV, Stand for Children, Marion County Farm Bureau, Oregon Farm Bureau, Working Families Party, Oregon Nurses Association, Oregon Nurseries Association, Oregon Education Association, Stand for Children, Common Sense Oregon. For each of the following questions, please limit your answer to about 75 words. 1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details. A) No 2. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details. A) No 3. Describe this legislative district: South Central, Central and East Salem. 4. What specific steps will you take to make government more open and accessible to the public? A) First, here’s what we’ve done: We created a website that would allow Oregonians to access information about state government online, because a more transparent, more accountable state government will lead to a better state government; we passed legislation that required most state agencies to perform at least one performance audit each year; we voted to adopt stronger accountability measures in public contracting, which will result in increased quality and efficiency in state funded projects. Next session, we are working hard to reduce red tape and make it easier for small businesses to start up in Oregon. I’m committed to a one-stop-shop where new businesses can get permits and find information on programs like BOOST and tax incentives to help small business in Oregon. 5. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? A) People should vote for me because I have a demonstrated commitment to the future of Oregon. I consistently work with members across the isle to build consensus and make it a priority to listen to everyone regardless of their political ideals. A good idea should never go to waste because of politics. I am very proud that in the committee I chair we have never had a party line vote. 6. What specific steps would you advocate to improve Oregon’s economy and create jobs? A) As you may recall, I am a leader in the movement to procure more of our government purchased goods and services locally. Whether it be food as in the Farm to School law I wrote or the local preference law I authored last session (HB 2761. I will continue to try and expand this approach to all products for more local sourcing, helping shore up Oregon companies bottom line. At the same time I am working hard on international trade promotion, particularly in Asia. We invested in Oregon by providing every uninsured Oregon child with health care, creating new jobs and reducing health care costs for all of us. We established a new fund to give loans and grants to help small businesses that create new jobs and hire Oregonians. We made it easier for businesses to access funds from the Oregon Business Development Fund. We need to continue these strategies and invest in Economic Gardening, which helps ease, the financial obstacles of investing in a new business and will encourage the development of new small businesses throughout our state.
B)
7. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the tax provisions created by Measures 66/67? A) “Measures 66 & 67 worked. If the measures hadn’t passed the budget shortfall would be much worse. Oregon has a great business climate and Measures 66 & 67 do not diminish that fact. I am open to instituting some slight changes to the formula for gross-receipts such as adding in an employee size factor to help high volume, low margin businesses.
8. What specific revenue changes, if any, would you advocate to balance the 2011-13 budget? A) First things first we must get Oregonians back on the job. I am focused on helping Oregon's businesses; especially small businesses get back on their feet. Until we get people back to work we will always have a revenue issue. I am supportive of reinstating the cigarette tax that sunset a couple years ago or even increasing it further. This is really more about public health and cost recovery than balancing the budget however. 9. What specific spending reductions, if any, would you advocate to balance the 2011-13 budget?
A) What we must do in balancing the budget is first protect our children's education, keep seniors in their homes and protect our communities. I believe there are significant reductions in the DAS and also a better way to make “cuts” within the management service ranks. I look forward to discussing those in person. 10. Which of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s “resetting government” proposals do you support? A) I will however be working to implement some of their recommendations around the front door entry process into admitting the forensic patients into the State Hospital. B) I think it is hard to look many of the proposals in isolation, or just looking at the Governor’s package proposals alone without considering John Kitzhaber’s budget plan – which I think is a good approach. We need to invest in our people, not deal with budget challenges from crisis to crisis, and I think that is at the heart of Kitzhaber’s approach. Invest in schools, invest in healthy lifestyle choices, and invest in community building and crime prevention. This is really a way to rethink government, and both Kulongoski and Kitzhaber have joined the conversation. It is a conversation I am looking forward to being a part of as well.
11. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the structure, scope or role of state government? A) We need to take a hard look at how we forecast our revenue and what to do about those forecasts when they are wrong. Recent studies have shown that total public employee compensation is on par with similar workers in the private sector. Take home pay is a little bit less, while benefits are a little more generous. Total compensation should be in line with the private sector, so this is a positive place to be at as we start the hard work of balancing the budget. I have some specific savings in the State Hospital I would like to discuss further in person. 12. What changes, if any, do you favor making in state employee compensation? Why? A) We can't hold it against hard working firefighters, police officers and teachers for doing their job. We have asked them to work for free and have forced them into unpaid leave while also laying off thousands of employees. This is not the best way to balance the budget. In fact it goes completely against common sense. We need to honor and respect the hardworking teachers, firefighters and public safety officers who are on the front lines working for us. I do however have specific proposal around management service which during tough budget times should allow for more targeted layoffs. I look forward to discussing in person. 13. Do you support the education-reform proposals of the Chalkboard Project? A) Thus far I have with little exception. I also work closely with them in advising and helping structure their work during the interim. PASS particularly has been a great success and I was thrilled to see Salem-Keizer adopt the pilot effort.
14. What “social issues,” if any, should the 2011 Legislature address? I can’t think of a burning “social issue” that needs to be addressed. We’ve made great gains in recent years in anti-discrimination efforts. 15. How should the Legislature and state government respond to illegal immigration? A) It is clear that we need a Federal solution to illegal immigration. A patchwork of laws differing from state to state will only lead to confusion. I think that we need to send a message to Congress to act and act now for comprehensive immigration reform. I have a couple specific proposals I have offered around penalties for trafficking and also going after the underground economy. 16. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (Up to 75 words for each issue.) A. Job creation – Efforts such as the preferential purchasing bill I sponsored and passed for agricultural goods, I have another bill that requires consideration to be given to local companies before sending our tax dollars out of state when contracting to purchase goods. We send millions of dollars out of state each year that could be used to help our own businesses right here in Oregon be stronger and more able to expand and hire workers. B. Protecting our land and landowners rights – Since before I ran for office in 200, I have been a proponent of smart and fair land use. I worked hard to fix and find compromises in reforming Measure 37, I led the charge in protecting the Metolius Basin from being irreparably harmed by developers, and every session I sponsor legislation aimed at making annexations fairer and less costly to those facing annexation. C. Getting government working better – We see Congress stalled in a bitter political war where the point is not to get things done but to make the other side look bad. I will continue to make Oregon stronger and better by working with anyone and everyone to make good public policy. 17. What do you see as other important issues?
A)
I think we still have work to do to make our schools more robust. We owe it to our students to fully invest in the best education we can and make sure they are getting the most out of the dollars spent. I also think long term we need to resolve water conflicts before it becomes a holy war and also continue building relationships with China, which is now the #2 economy in the world.
18. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? A) No As a legislative candidate, your positions on statewide ballot measures on relevant to voters. Please indicate whether you support or oppose each of the measures. Measure 70: Veterans’ loans Measure 71: Annual legislative sessions Measure 72: State bonding authority Measure 73: Sentencing Measure 74: Medical marijuana for now Measure 75: Multnomah County casino Measure 76: Lottery funding for parks, habitat xYes xYes xYes No No No
Yes No – I could support the DUII portion but as there is no funding mechanism I would prefer to address it through a bill. Yes No – I really need to study it closer but I would lean no
Yes xYes
xNo No
