Pat in the News
Part 2: Seven Vie for Springfield Commissioner Seat
KLCC | 04/28/10
By Jes Burns
The race for the District 2 County Commissioner Seat representing Springfield is one of the most hotly contested races in the state. Seven candidates have filed to run.
Yesterday, KLCC's Jes Burns introduced us to the three political newcomers in the race. Today, she looks at four candidates who have all held elected office.
Reporter:
For residents of the Springfield metro area, four of the candidates running for County Commissioner will likely be familiar. Sid Leiken, Pat Riggs-Henson, Dave Ralston and Joe Pishioneri each have more than five years experience as elected officials.
Both Ralston and Pishioneri are current Springfield City Councilors.
Ralston is an Air Force Veteran and a staunch advocate of the public-safety first sentiment that has flared in recent years as the Lane Commissioners have struggled to find a balanced budgetary approach. At a candidates' forum held at Springfield City Hall on April 22nd, Ralston said he wants to ease the county�s economic woes by unlocking the county�s forest resources.
Ralston: "We could start managing our forests and putting our workers back to work. And that is the solution to this state at this point. We just have to convince the legislature and the yuppies all living up in Portland that want to lock them up and keep them out of there that this is what we have to do to survive."
Joe Pishioneri is a Lane County Deputy Sheriff and has one of the catchiest campaign slogans in the race: "Pish for Commish." He aligns himself with Ralston on many budget issues. His theory of how to manage the county's shrinking budget is to prioritize services.
Pishioneri2: "We have to identify what we�re required to by law. So we have to have the 'HAVE TOs.' And then the next category would be what we need to do. And the last category is what we want to do. And fully fund from the top on our way down. Not just partially fund, but we have to our job right. If we can't do it right, then why do it at all."
Both candidates say the public should be consulted to help decide which of the low priority expenditures should be cut. Both city councilors also say they do not support the ballot measure to provide independent community tax funding for Lane County Extension.
The final two candidates seem to be grabbing the most pre-election buzz. Pat Riggs-Henson is the only woman in the field. She severed on the Lane Community College Board for 14 years, and has garnered a long list of endorsements, including Peter DeFazio, State Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo, Springfield Representative Terry Beyer, several unions and environmental groups.
Riggs-Henson agrees with Ralston and Pishioneri that the county has to live within its means. But she differs with them on when the public should be invited to the process.
Riggs-Henson2: "There's no guarantee that we will have the Secure Rural Schools signed off again. That means we start now. We start reaching out to our community, we start reaching out to our internal community, which is the employees."
She believes the way to getting the economy back on track in Springfield is priviate-public partnerships and attracting the right kind of jobs.
Riggs-Henson: "The cornerstone of economic development to me is education - it's being able to fill those family wage jobs."
The final contender declared his candidacy the day before the filing deadline. Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken had long-contemplated a run against Peter Defazio for the US House, but changed his mind.
Being Mayor of Springfield for a decade, Leiken has the widest name recognition of the group. But a previous campaign finance scandal, for which he tearfully apologized for not documenting a pay-out to his mother, could hurt his chances. Still he has highest-profile government experience of the field, and a pro-business philosophy that has served him well as Springfield Mayor.
Leiken: "Certainly there are ways to innovate what we do. But it's time we stop arguing over who gets what size slice of the pie and focus on making the pie bigger. Economic development and increasing the value of local business and local properties is one of the only ways to get our budget in balance and afford what we need. Once again, we have to think long term and quit being reactionary."
With seven people running for the Springfield Commissioner seat, the likelihood of there being a clear winner is slim. If none of the candidates receive 50%, then the top two vote-getters will go to a run-off in November.