Quick Hits: Bradbury, Kitzhaber, Dudley, oh my!
Kari Chisholm
There's been a bunch of news this week in the gubernatorial race. Here's a rundown...
Politico takes note of Kitzhaber's latest pitch for supporters - a limited-edition reprint of his iconic 1994 big blue bumper sticker:
In his bid to reclaim the governor's mansion, former Gov. John Kitzhaber aims to play off nostalgia for 1994 — among Democrats.
"In 1994, Forrest Gump won the Oscar for best picture. The Top 40 charts were dominated by the Swedish pop stars known as Ace of Base," campaign manager Derek Humphrey wrote in an e-mail to supporters Wednesday. "And in the face of Newt Gingrich's 'Republican Revolution,'John Kitzhaber was one of only four new Democratic governors elected that year."
Kitzhaber's team is selling reprinted copies of a '94 campaign bumper sticker with the sales pitch: "In 1994, Oregonians bucked the national trend. And in 2010, we're poised to do it again."
(Incidentally, you can get the sticker here.)
- Yesterday was the much-anticipated Willamette Women Democrats forum featuring Bill Bradbury and John Kitzhaber. The biggest question: What pants would Kitzhaber wear? Would he cause a scene and break the country club's no-jeans rule? Cue Mapes:
The joint appearance was held at the Oswego Lake Country Club, which had announced it would not relax its no-denim policy for Kitzhaber. He typically sticks to blue jeans.
Kitzhaber showed up in a pair of light brown slacks. He told the crowd that he "navigated the curious cultural mores of this institution and emerged unscathed."
- On the substance, Kitzhaber argued that we need to redesign the educational system. Bradbury argued that we need to boost funding for schools. (I'm not sure why those two points are described as being in disagreement by media reports.) Here's KATU on Kitzhaber:
“Stable funding has to fund the right model,” he said. “The model we have now (for K-12) … it’s really an outdated model. Kids go through blocks of instruction time and when that time’s up they move to the next block whether they’ve mastered the content of the first block.”
He said that model worked in the late 1970s when children could drop out of high school and find a good job at a mill. But, he said, all that’s in the past.
“I believe that we have reached a point in Oregon where we cannot bear the weight with our current system,” Kitzhaber said. “The central question, it seems to me in this campaign, is whether Oregon is content to survive for a few more years by patching together the status quo or whether we have the courage to chart a new course … by redesigning the way we provide public services.”
And KATU on Bradbury:
“What causes that problem is that they (teachers) don’t have teacher aides; they don’t have adequate resources in the schools to do what they know should be done,” he said.
He said while innovations can help “the fact is when you’re $2 billion under the level that we set in 1999 (and said) was the right level for schools to be at, when you’re $2 billion under that, I’m sorry, but it really is a funding problem.”
He said groups in the state who are working on education reforms need to first be adequately funded to get their reforms accomplished.
“You can’t pull off the reforms unless you are adequately supporting the educational system,” he said.
Bradbury said schools aren’t funded at the level they need to be because of voter-approved measures.
“Schools aren’t funded today because of us (the electorate) and how we vote,” he said. “I swear it was the voters in Oregon that made us not fund schools adequately.”
- At the O, Jeff Mapes also takes note of yesterday's appearance by Howard Dean for Bill Bradbury:
“There is only one progressive candidate running for governor of Oregon who has an opportunity to win, and that is Bill Bradbury,” Dean told about 80 Bradbury supporters gathered at the Gerding Theater in the Pearl District.
- Chris Dudley has picked up the endorsement of the Oregon Restaurant Association. ORA, of course, is a nice name to have on the literature - after all, who doesn't like restaurants? - but let's also remember that they're a major player in the campaigns against the minimum wage and against shifting lottery payments from taverns to schools.
- Meanwhile, over at Sports Illustrated, Dudley takes a shot at drawing a connection between his NBA experience and running an enterprise with a $13.8 billion biennial budget.
"In the NBA you're working with 12 or 15 players of completely different backgrounds usually," Dudley said. "They're from all over the country working toward a common goal and that's winning a championship. That element of teamwork and working with others is something that translates well into politics."
In the same story, Jeff Mapes is quoted:
I've heard several people talk about how personable he is, but some have also said he doesn't seem to have a solid understanding of the issues.
Discuss!
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Feb 11, '10
Blue before blue was cool, eh? I think Kitz took the first round on education.
Dudley said. "They're from all over the country working toward a common goal and that's winning a championship.
Yeah, that's a pretty good description of the out of state interests that got the measures on the ballot. That would probably be his style. Pander to those out of state interests at the expense of what Oregonians want. Picking up on a point that was made before, his relevant NBA experience is never having the professional discipline to put in the practice to master free throws, imho.
2:45 p.m.
Feb 11, '10
Honestly, I'm hoping desperately that 2010 is not a repeat of 1994. Bringing back memories of a lone win amidst a reactionary tsunami isn't in my mind a very good way to project your campaign.
Feb 11, '10
Kitzhaber's campaign seems plagued by inconsistency. When he first hammered home the idea that he is "focused on the future rather than on the past," I thought that perhaps he had forgotten that HE is, in fact, the past.
But it appears he has not forgotten this fact; on the contrary, he expects supporters to pay for the nostalgic privilege of a "classic" Kitzhaber bumper sticker!
I think the reason there was a substance "disagreement" between Bradbury and Kitz is that Bradbury has a detailed analysis and plan with regards to public education on his website... While on Kitzhaber's website, clicking for more information about his policy stances merely brings you back to his biography. Apparently, Kitzhaber's plan for everything is simply that he's awesome.
He's going to have to show me some accomplishments besides still being able to fit into jeans if he wants to earn my vote. Problem is, he doesn't appear to want to EARN anything. We should all just be hypnotized by the jaunty way he makes fun of his forum hosts and leave it at that, I suppose.
Go Bill!
3:26 p.m.
Feb 11, '10
Forgot to post this...
Full disclosure: My firm built John Kitzhaber's campaign website. I speak only for myself.
Feb 11, '10
Chuck, that's sort of a classic campaign situation.
Candidates want to expose themselves to as little opposition as possible, so they generally don't give a lot of details or bring up a lot of issues unnecessarily.
Since Kitzhaber is the frontrunner, and Bradbury is not as well known, he needs to get people's attention, so he's taking more stands and giving more specifics. Kitzhaber has the luxury of not making himself unnecessarily vulnerable, and Bradbury does not. He needs to take the risks.
Feb 11, '10
"Chuck, that's sort of a classic campaign situation."
Granted, but this is not a classic campaign - Kitzhaber has already been governor and already has a record on education issues.
So far, his standing record on the issue is that he eliminated teacher tenure.
I would think that in a Democratic primary, you'd want to be known for something other than that... especially with the OEA endorsement yet to drop.
Feb 11, '10
I will be voting for whichever Progressive Socialist raises taxes the highest/fastest. We need to spend our way out of this recession and increase tax revenues. Eliminating the kicker is a good start, but I'd like to see a regional version of cap-and-trade that will force families at all levels to pay higher taxes. This extra money needs to go to climate change and to help make gender reassignment surgery affordable. Right now, Bradbury is looking good.
Feb 11, '10
And why didn't Kitzhaber's tired old pursuit of a sales tax not get into the quick hits ("Afterward, he [Kitzhaber] said he would again try to look at some kind of consumption tax even though Oregonians repeatedly have rejected a sales tax.")?
And why didn't Kitzhaber sounding rather Republican with his dismissal of going after tax loopholes and subsidies ("Bradbury said he already knows a ready source of funding: cutting the tax breaks in current state law by 5 percent. That would generate $1 billion a year, "and we can do all that with no new taxes," he said. Kitzhaber countered that doing so "is a tax increase for those who lose the tax expenditures," as these breaks are known. Bradbury insisted, "We're not proposing a new tax, like a [Kitzhaber] sales tax is a new tax. Tax expenditures are money we don't collect in our existing tax structure.")?
Kitzhaber is offering no specifics, just lofty rhetoric.
5:52 p.m.
Feb 11, '10
Go away, Karl. Enough with the trolling.
6:50 p.m.
Feb 11, '10
First, the "big question" of Kitz's dress is only a big question if you are part of the chattering classes. Nobody who cares about which candidate is better for Oregon gives the first shit about it.
Secondly, the disagreement between them on education is that Kitz believes the whole structure is broken (and by way of implication that funding is not necessarily the problem), while Bradbury believes that adequate and proper funding should at least be attempted before declaring the system broken. I have to agree with both, really--the education system in OR is indeed underfunded...but it's not clear that funding it fully is the panacea to success.
I think it's not a smart move on Kitz's part to continue referencing 1994, unless it's to discuss his accomplishments/vision then and how to build on them. Too many voters were neither of age or not in OR in 1998, the last time you could vote for him. And even for those who were, how many really remember what he did?
I really like John, but his responses on 66/67 and the kicker are almost Obama-esque in their flabby centrism. I have a strong preference for the candidate who stands proudly behind his principles and doesn't apologize for the acrimony caused by detractors. And saying "it's too soon" for kicker reform is purely politics, not policy. Haven't we all had enough of that perspective, at the very least when it's expressed as a major influence on what a candidate proposes? We vote for politicians to OVERCOME politics, otherwise every choice is easy and nothing of substance really ever gets done. I'm not naive; I know the politics exist...but on the stump it sounds far more like cowardice rather than pragmatism.
Feb 11, '10
Bradbury argued that we need to boost funding for schools.
To what level? A specific $$$ amount would be nice. In the meantime, if you have 25 students per class and 18 classes, the funding is roughly $4,500,000. Where does that money go? Does anyone know? It's sure not going to the teachers, or so I hear daily. Where?
Feb 11, '10
Sorry, but outside of the Bank of Oregon, I haven't seen a lot of Bradbury specifics. "We should fund education" without saying how, with what oversight (should any district, for instance, give any top administrator a car allowance--esp. if their salary is over $100,000 ) and if any reforms should be talked about before adequate funding is achieved would be nice specifics to hear about.
Feb 11, '10
hoc est enim corpus meam!
Feb 11, '10
"What causes that problem is that they (teachers) don’t have teacher aides; they don’t have adequate resources in the schools to do what they know should be done,” he said. "
It is true that class size (self contained classrooms or secondary teachers who might see 150 or more students in the course of the day) is a major issue, and most people who talk about overpaid lazy teachers probably couldn't last a day working alongside a busy teacher.
However..............
Many teachers have part time instructional assistants or other helpers. Some (esp. with special ed students or other students needing extra help (incl. those with sight, hearing, mobility problems) have full time assistants.
BTW, way back when Liz Van Leuwen (sp.?) was in the legislature, she carried the bill to change the name from teacher aides to instructional assistants. I believe it was a name change about the time AIDS became a famous disease.
12:20 a.m.
Feb 12, '10
In the meantime, if you have 25 students per class and 18 classes, the funding is roughly $4,500,000. Where does that money go? Does anyone know? It's sure not going to the teachers, or so I hear daily. Where?
Actually, that doesn't sound that insane. If you had 18 elementary classes, you'd have 18 teachers, probably 9 FTE instructional assistants, a principal, a custodian or two, a secretary or two, a PE teacher, probably .5 music, .5 arts. If you're lucky, a full-time librarian. Probably 2-3 food service staff to get lunch to 450 kids over 90 minutes. And in some districts, a half dozen bus drivers.
Not counting the bus drivers, you're already looking at 34-48 staff. If you assume that staff is 50% of the cost - and I'm just making up that number - and the other 50% is building maintenance, supplies, books, insurance, power, water, food (for low-income kids), and other expenses... you'd be looking at roughly $45,000 to $65,000 total cost per FTE (salary, health care, time off, pension, and employer taxes) which probably translates to $30,000 to $45,000 in base salary. Kinda low for a job that requires a graduate degree (for teachers and administrators).
I should mention here that my comments are pure back-of-the-envelope exercise. I'm sure I've forgotten something important, and I have no idea what % is staff vs. other costs.
Just making the point that 4.5 million for 450 kids in 18 classrooms isn't craaaaaaazy money, as MP seems to suggest.
Feb 12, '10
As far as Chris Dudley using his NBA experiences getting a group of people to work together toward a common goal, that is all well and good and may be an asset, but as an economic model of the free enterprise system the NBA has allot in common with the State of Oregon; both have serious money problems both short and long term. Many franchises are seriously underwater money wise.
It will take more than 'just cut taxes' to solve our problems.
11:23 a.m.
Feb 12, '10
Good rundown, Kari. But is it really OK to continue referring to Oregon's biennial budget as $13.8 billion, even though there are billions more outside the General Fund?
Feb 12, '10
One of the ironies in the education debate between Bradbury and Kitzhaber is that Bill Bradbury is calling for funding education at the level called for by Oregon's Quality Education Model, and proposing a means to do so (cutting 5% of current breaks in Oregon's tax law). But John Kitzhaber is calling for another redesign of the system, saying per KATU that “The model we have now (for K-12) … it’s really an outdated model."
Wait...didn't John Kitzhaber (along with Stan Bunn, who was State School Superintendent back in 1999) appoint the Quality Education Commission? And didn't that Commission develop QEM under Kitzhaber's watch to create an educational model to meet the goals of Oregon's Education Act for the 21st Century?
Didn't Kitzhaber speak of the QEM when he addressed Oregon's legislature at the beginning of the 2001 session:
"This session we will begin to implement the quality Education Model, and for the first time, the Oregon Legislature will debate a K-12 budget that is directly built around the outcomes expected in the classroom and what it costs to achieve those outcomes."
The news here is that Kitzhaber has apparently abandoned the educational model developed while he himself was governor, which he never adequately funded to begin with. While his opponent makes a realistic proposal to trim some tax breaks to fund the QEM, Kitzhaber is floating a sales tax idea again (which will go nowhere).
And proposing we study the whole thing again, talk about process and systemic change, blah blah, while schools cut educational assistants and more kids fall through the cracks.
Bradbury is seriously running circles around Kitzhaber on education, using the QEM model produced by the Commission Kitzhaber appointed himself to outflank him.
Coupled with Bradbury's support for Ballot Measures 66 and 67 -- and Kitzhaber's standing on the sidelines on measures that, had they failed, would lead to steep cuts in education funding -- I'd say Bradbury has won the first debate.
Feb 12, '10
I use the same standard for evaluating candidates regardless of their party, ideology, label, etc.
I'd rather see someone talk about a goal AND steps to achieve it.
I'd rather hear why we should vote FOR a candidate---not just that the candidate is not the opponent.
I'd like to hear debate on issues, not just "if you like this issue, vote for me.
Therefore, Bradbury describing how he would like to see the state is only half the criteria a friend used in a previous gov. race, "vision for the future and a plan to carry it out".
"Vote for Bradbury because he is not Kitzhaber" doesn't get my vote (nor would the reverse).
Regarding the Bank of Oregon, a friend and I were talking about that today---shouldn't there be a debate about why N. Dakota's state bank is better than New Mexico putting their money into local community banks and credit unions?
Also, who supports this idea and how would it be implemented? Are there legislators behind the idea? Who would run the bank (CEO, board, etc.) and how would they be chosen?
What are the mechanics of setting up a bank---getting the FDIC approval, etc?
Kitzhaber is not a perfect candidate, but so far I see more to like from his campaign than Bradbury's.
Hopefully there will not be a repeat of something that happened in the primary 2 years ago. If anyone calls me a "Kitzhaberite", they are saying I should support him and quit looking at the various candidates.
I am looking to more primary debates. I happen to like some of the things Bradbury has said recently. He just doesn't seem like the type of person who has a goal AND lays out steps to that goal.
I know it is popular in some circles to use Reagan's approach and only describe things in broad brush strokes. I want more specifics.
Feb 12, '10
"even though there are billions more outside the General Fund?"
In other words all good people subscribe to the "all funds budget" theory?
Co-mingling of funds is what got Willamette ESD into so much trouble recently with multiple audits and management shakeup.
In the 1980s, the state of Oregon borrowed money from SAIF, much to the anger of business people who thought they had sent money to buy insurance, not to balance the state general fund budget. They sued. They won.
When most people talk about balancing the state budget, they mean the general funds budget.
Even someone I know who supported the Back to Basics budget admitted that there might have been a co-mingling of funds aspect to it.
If you believe in the all funds budget, that is your right.
As it is the right of everyone from ordinary citizens to my state senator to distinguish general funds from all other funds (incl. federal funds).
Feb 13, '10
Curious, but why the need for teacher aids? That has got to be a major funding drain. And don't tell me a teacher can't handle 25 students either b/c in my grade school, my average class size was 24 and we never had any helpers in the classsroom.
Feb 16, '10