THE MOST BORING THING ON MEDIUM: A BREAKDOWN OF THE RESPONSE TO MY BREAKDOWN OF ALLEN ALLEY’S CAMPAIGN EMAIL ON HIS QUIXOTIC RUN FOR GOVERNOR OF OREGON
Allen Alley was kind enough to respond to my email breakdown. The great thing about Oregon politics is that it’s easy to be directly engaged in the conversation. Thank you Allen for taking the time!
It’s only fair to breakdown his response…
Mike,
Hi Allen! :)
Thanks for taking the time to write this thoughtful response.
You are welcome! It’s fun!
Here is some additional information from an interview that starts to get you some of the things I believe you want. More coming.
I do spend quite a bit of time pointing out areas for improvement because I am advocating for a change.
I’m a firm believer in critique, so I appreciate anyone willing to highlight areas of improvement!
In this case, I think the policies of the last 30 years have failed. Some won’t agree with me, some will.
That’s a bit general, but I assume we’ll get into specifics…
Before we do though, weren’t you appointed to a government position in 2002 by Kitzhaber and then worked as Deputy Chief of Staff for Kulongoski? How much of your work was part of the 30 Years of Failure?
Much of the media now acknowledges the things I point out.
In this case I’d like to invoke the trolls of wikipedia and ask, “Cite your sources.”
I hope you will follow the campaign as we move forward.
Me too!
I would like to earn your vote.
Allen
I would also like you to earn it, but I expect it’s not in your price range. ;)
Q & A with Allen Alley, candidate for Oregon Governor
Are you asking yourself these questions? Why not just make statements?
Why are you choosing to run for Oregon state governor in 2016?
I’m running for governor because I looked at my grandson and his friends at his fourth birthday and realized that, because they are in Oregon, just about every child in America has a better chance of graduating from high school than they do. We have among the shortest school days, shortest school year, largest class sizes, and we annually spend $400,000 per class room. The result? We have among the very worst graduation rates in the country. Educators in poor performing states used to say, “Thank goodness for Mississippi.” Now they say, “Thank goodness for Oregon.”
We also lead the nation in the percent of Oregonians who must rely on food stamps to feed their families. The Oregon we hold in our hearts should be the Oregon reflected in our performance.
Oregon shouldn’t be known for dropouts and food stamps.
Short answer: Schools. And kids.
Okay, it’s bad out there. No one would argue that. But the question isn’t “what are the problems?” but “How will you fix it?”
You ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 2008 and for Governor in 2010. What has changed in Oregon’s political climate since then that will make you successful in 2016?
The political class has failed us, and it is now completely apparent. Oregonians feel it, and the media recognizes it. Kate Brown inherited the office in scandal and thinks she has a mandate.
I’m not sure the terms of how Kate Brown took office is a problem. That’s how the political system works when we lose a Governor. Should we change that system?
They are passing the most highly partisan legislation, using every political trick in the book.
Is “they” the political class or just the Democrats? Cause it seems like if “they” are passing legislation then… well, that would be how government works.
What are these political tricks?
Don’t believe me?
Well, I wasn’t going to say it…
Listen to the Oregonian:
On Kate Brown’s low carbon fuel standard — “The low-carbon fuel standard is a colossal policy stinker.”
On Kate Brown’s 50 percent-plus minimum wage hike — “Brown’s plan should be called the Teen Employment Destruction Act.”
On Kate Brown’s hyper-partisan leadership — “It’s worth remembering that 62 percent of Oregon voters are something other than Democrats.”
I agree the conservative newspaper doesn’t like Kate Brown. Let’s get back to these political tricks you mentioned…
Governor Kate Brown inherited her seat in February 2015 when Governor Kitzhaber resigned just one month into his fourth term. Brown relies heavily on the public employee unions for her support (more than $300,000 for her 2012 secretary of state race).
Wait, you’re moving on? No mention of the tricks? This seems important. You should really explain the political tricks.
Is she capable of acting independently without their approval? Can you think of an example when she stood up to them or stood against them?
Got it. She’s clearly a pro-public employee union politician. (Which makes sense, being that she is a Democrat.)
No. I have a message for Kate Brown and the political class: You have increased spending 63 percent in the last decade, that’s $27 billion, and yet nobody can cite even one thing that is any better. You spent $195 million on a phantom bridge over the Columbia River that was never built. You spent $310 million on a website for Cover Oregon that was never built. That is more than $500 million on a bridge to nowhere and a website for no one.
Hold on… what’s the message? That nothing is better? The combination of Kate Brown and the “political class” is really confusing. Can we break that down? I’m not even sure who we’re talking about…
I mean, if Kate Brown did all that stuff by herself then regardless of if I agree with it I’m pretty impressed with her abilities!
And now, after decades of wasteful spending, they have created a giant fiscal sinkhole that they are going to ask you to fill with the largest tax increase in the history of the state, a new sales tax. Oregonians are not going to fill the sinkhole with a sales tax created by Kate Brown and the political establishment.
Okay, so Kate Brown is not who you mean, right? Cause she just took office recently you said… not decades ago. So we have Kate Brown, and then we have the “political establishment”. Are you part of the political establishment? Cause you were there in 2002 right?
The term “political establishment” is borderline conspiracy theory. You have to name names or you’re just being political.
Last December, GOP House Minority Leader Mike McLane told the Oregon Business Summit that if we recognize rural Oregon is in crisis, we can solve the challenges together.
What kind of crisis are we talking about? Economic I would assume?
What’s going on in rural Oregon?
I don’t know. You should tell me.
Did the recent protestors in the Malheur Refuge have a point?
Who is asking you these questions? NO! They didn’t!
Is urban Oregon too selfish to see the very real needs of rural Oregon today?
Uh, well, if you look at it purely economically (which we Republicans love to do!) urban Oregon pays more in taxes than it receives in services, while rural Oregon receives more value in services than it pays in taxes.
But that’s a pretty awkward thing for us Republicans to talk about because the Democrats control all the urban fun places where people like to live and vote.
As governor, how would you heal these divisions?
We need to unleash economic opportunities in rural Oregon.
I have met many governors, and they are all curious about how a state with all of our assets leads the nation in food stamps and dropouts.
This is kind of like having a girlfriend in Canada. Who are these “Many Governors”?
They say things like, “Allen, Oregon is such a wonderful state. You have all of these assets. You have deep water Pacific Rim ports with access to Asian markets. You have timber, farmland, ranch land. Don’t you have the Columbia River to provide transportation, irrigation and plenty of CO2-free, inexpensive hydropower? Isn’t Intel’s largest facility in Oregon? Allen, with all of those assets, how did they screw it up?” How indeed.
How? I mean, really… how? Tell me. I haven’t lived here my whole life so I don’t know the utopia of former Oregon before all the squalor and political trickery (that you still haven’t explained).
Sometimes it feels like Kate Brown’s economic vision for Oregon is one giant National Park, spotted with coffee houses and connected by light rail.
Does it though? Now you’re just meaning sarcastic and that’s MY job!
We do have an amazing state with stunning assets. Indiana is brown with envy.
I don’t get it.
In recent years, you developed a friendship with former Indiana Governor and Purdue University President Mitch Daniels. What lessons have you learned from Mitch Daniels about politics and governing?
There are so many wonderful insights from Governor Daniels. Here are a couple: By the end of Governor Daniels’ term, Indiana had the fewest state employees per capita in the country and fewer state employees than in 1976. He accomplished this without mass layoffs. He did something very simple; he hired fewer employees than the number that retired. He provided information technology tools (computers and software) to increase productivity. He instituted pay for performance. Now employees receive annual performance evaluations, and pay raises are tied to performance. Employees not meeting expectations are assisted through work improvement plans. He proved you can increase performance, improve customer service, reduce costs, and, at the same time, improve compensation, benefits and morale of state workers.
You better hope he doesn’t move here and run for Governor!
More recently, Governor Daniels has taken over as president of Purdue University, which is the alma mater of my wife Debbie, son AJ, daughter Paige, daughter-in-law Kelly, and myself.
Governor Daniels has continued to provide better service at a lower cost. He took over at Purdue and made a pledge to hold tuition flat. This was a notion that seemed impossible and caused great consternation among the administration. Now, four years later, tuition is still held at the 2012–13 level, room and board costs have gone down, and the 2016 graduates will leave a Purdue that costs less than when they arrived. It will hold true for 2017 as well. I don’t think there is another university that can equal this performance.
This is a LOT of talk about Purdue…
Governor Daniels proved that it can be done at the state level in Indiana and at Purdue, and I know it can be done in Oregon as well.
What about the situation in Indiana is like that of Oregon? Why can what happened there be done here? You “knowing” isn’t really enough.
In 1990, timber was Oregon’s largest industry, providing 12 percent of the state’s GDP, and tech was relatively small. Today, high tech manufacturing accounts for more than 20 percent of the state’s GDP, while timber is now just two percent. Despite the economic power of Oregon’s Silicon Forest, no political leaders have risen to prominence from your industry, the tech industry. Why?
Well, it’s a pretty young industry isn’t it? Give it some time…
There is good news here and bad news. I think the reason there have not been Silicon Forest political leaders is because technology is largely unregulated, so government isn’t very intrusive, and that is the way it should be. It isn’t like the government charges a tax on how much memory is in your computer or a fee on certain types of software you use. The government doesn’t regulate how much power you can use in your server farm. The government doesn’t require a license to be a software developer. Yet, in agriculture or timber, there are restrictions on just about every aspect of production. The government has restrictions on what fertilizers can be used, how they are applied, water usage, what to do with waste, replanting, etc. Just about every aspect of agriculture or timber is intertwined with government regulations. Therefore, there is a direct economic reason for people to get involved with the government.
Huh. Is that the good news or the bad news?
For a technology person to get involved, it is much more altruistic.
That’s a little self-serving, don’t you think?
My industry and my companies will gain little if I am elected. But my global experience of growing and building companies in the most competitive markets will be extremely valuable in the governor’s office.
Why? Isn’t politics pretty different from running a tech or investment company?
I am driven to make Oregon a better state for all Oregonians, not for a narrow business sector or for the political class of insiders and lobbyists.
That’s cool.
What are the three or four top measures you would implement as the state’s chief executive during your first 100 days in office? How would you modernize Oregon’s archaic state government?
YES! GREAT QUESTIONS!!!
We need to completely overhaul how the agencies and departments are managed and how the boards and commissions provide oversight. Current boards are largely “coffee and doughnut” boards. Folks come in, get a coffee and a doughnut, listen for a few hours, pass agenda items that have been prepared by staff and go home. I know. I have sat on these boards, and when someone gives me a maple bar, I can be distracted for hours.
We need to run these boards like true oversight boards with fiduciary responsibility for the agency. Organizational structures drive behaviors. We need to replace the head of every agency and department. We need to replace every member of every board.
Uh… this seems a little extreme doesn’t it?
This will mean getting more than 1,000 new people involved in managing and directing these critical agencies, departments and their services.
Yeah, that’s a LOT of people Mr. Alley…
We then need to put in place operating ground rules that outline how we are going to manage and oversee the agencies and departments. I expect that when an agency head goes to the legislature for budget approval, the chairperson of the oversight board will be with them, and they will go with a board-approved operating budget that rolls up to support an overall governor’s recommended budget. It isn’t rocket science; every major well run organization does exactly the same thing. But it hasn’t been done in Oregon government in the last 30 years.
This seems fine I guess. Maybe a little micro-managey?
We need to use technology and the power of social media and the Internet to help solve complex government budget problems. We will post the entire state budget online with historical trends and all the line item detail.
How much will it cost to do this project? Cause as you know, software ain’t cheap!
This will allow folks to go online and see where their money is spent. People with curiosity, time and expertise can analyze the budget and ask questions.
How many people do you think are in the middle of your venn diagram?
We actually did this in a limited way in 2010 and proved that it can work. We had someone come online and point out that the Oregon Department of Transportation annual budget was about twice the size of Colorado’s.
Was this a member of the “political establishment”?
The next step is to dig in, verify the numbers, and then start analysis to determine why. People want to help; we need to give them the tools and the forum to do it.
I’m not sure you can just outsource all this to the public. This seems like YOUR JOB if you get elected. You dig in, you verify, you figure it out!
Every bill that is passed should have a sunset. Over the last 10 years, our legislature has pass about 5,000 bills. If you had asked Oregonians in 2006, “What do you think we need to make Oregon a better place?” I doubt anyone would have said 5,000 more laws. A simple solution would be to put a sunset on every law passed. I don’t really care how long it is, just as long as there is one. Then good laws would come up for review and they would easily be re-passed, maybe even with an extended sunset. The questionable laws would not be passed or possibly only extended for a short period of time. Again, organizational structures drive the right behaviors.
Where did this idea come from? This seems so wonderfully odd and like it would create such amazing chaos. I’m totally going to steal this idea for a screenplay!
A Republican governor hasn’t been elected in Oregon since 1982 and in Washington State since 1984. Polling routinely shows that the Republican Party label is a negative for statewide candidates? How will you get around this and break the GOP generational losing streak. How much harder will this be during the 2016 presidential election cycle, when Democrat turnout is usually heavier than during midterm elections?
Also, why do people hate us Republicans?
As I talked about before, the political class has failed us, and many people and the media are finally recognizing that failure. We are seeing an energized electorate in 2016.
“Energized” sounds like they are optimistic and excited.
People all over the country and here in Oregon feel the system is rigged for the politically connected and their friends. The only winners are the insiders.
This doesn’t seem energized as much as…
I think this energy and anger make it a perfect time to run as someone who will change the status quo.
You’ll get the “angry” vote!
I believe the people who vote in 2016 are people who want change.
Well, a lot of people always vote, so you mean the new people who vote who didn’t vote before, right?
I don’t really care how people are registered;
This seems like something you should care about.
we need people to come out and vote who are fed up with the insiders spending and their friends winning while the rest of us get stuck with the bill.
Again, I would say that everyone should come out and vote. Right?
I am not doing this because it is the next step of my political career.
But, to be fair, it is the next step in your political career.
I am running for governor because I know someone with my background and experience can make a difference. We need sweeping change and we need it now.
Do we? I mean, “sweeping change” sounds drastic. How bad is it? Sure you mention the stuff about the schools and the kids but I’m not sure that means we should put expiration dates on all the laws. Honestly that is an INSANE idea. It’s actually so crazy I might vote for you just to see how horrible that would turn out.
But I do appreciate you taking the time to respond so I’m going to donate $5 to your doomed campaign.
