Housing is, and has been, one of the top issues for the citizens of Clackamas County for years now. The simple fact of the matter is that the amount of available housing has not kept up with the demand created...
7 September 2022
All About the Economy
This has been a rough year for households all across the United States, Oregon and Clackamas County. Reckless federal spending policies have reduced the value of the dollar and caused the worst inflation in four decades. The results are hitting...
27 July 2022
Managing Tax Dollars the Right Way
I’ve long maintained that government agencies should manage taxpayer dollars the same way individuals and households manage their finances. As chair of the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners, I take this fiduciary duty very seriously. I have to live within...
13 July 2021
What We’re Working Toward
In order to truly thrive, an organization needs to have clearly defined goals and objectives in place. Those goals should be agreed upon by the organization’s leaders and employees and be understood by all involved, for the sake of achieving...
9 June 2021
Promises Made, Promises Kept
This time last year, I was elected chair of the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners outright in the May 2020 primary election. I accomplished this by winning over 50 percent of the vote, meaning that a runoff in the November...
21 May 2020
My Vision for Clackamas County and Its Future
The last few weeks that I’ve spent campaigning in person and online have given me the chance to think about what kind of future I would like to see for Clackamas County and its residents. It’s important for leaders to...
12 May 2020
Public Service Should Be a Sacrifice
I still fondly remember the two terms that I served in the Oregon Legislature. Because I was on the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, each legislative session meant getting to the capitol early each morning and staying well into the...
7 May 2020
The Relationship Between Business and Government
The coronavirus and the resulting shutdown continue to have devastating consequences for businesses and workers alike. An economy that had been growing at a healthy pace has literally come to a halt as storefronts remain shuttered worldwide. Job creators are...
16 April 2020
The Fundamentals of Good Management
There were a lot of things I learned when I served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005. One of them was how to best prioritize and utilize taxpayer resources to fund critical government services. I was...
9 April 2020
Getting Back to Basics
All too often, we see what happens when the government tries to do too much—cost overruns, lax oversight, mission creep between different agencies and core functions not being done well. That is one of the many reasons that I’ve always...
