Return Hass, Read, Harker and Greenlick to Salem

The Beaverton Valley Times, Oct 30, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Beaverton area voters should return its incumbent state legislators to Salem in Tuesday’s general election.

Most, in fact, are either running unopposed. A few are facing only token opposition.

Democrat Mark Hass deserves voter support for a full term representing Senate District 14. A former three-term Beaverton area state representative, Hass was named to the Senate seat to fill the unexpired term of Ryan Deckert, who left the Legislature to serve as executive of the Oregon Business Association.

A former journalist and advertising agency executive, Hass understands Salem and through his local involvement connections, he well understands Beaverton. Hass says the state places funding for public schools at risk by not having a stable funding source for schools. He thinks tax reform can change that. He also believes that changes in state policies can also help provide basic health insurance for uninsured Oregon youngsters.

Hass is correct in his assessment that the 2009 legislative session is not going to be able to fund new programs as the state and nation weather the recession. This is all the more reason to return Hass, an experienced legislator, to Salem.

Hass is opposed by Republican Lisa Michaels. Michaels is active in the Republican Party, both nationally and in Washington County. A mother of three children, she has been active in community and in youth sports organizations in the local area. Michaels has a professional and volunteer background in broadcast and community access cable television.

Michaels has strong views on the protection of private property rights and stresses that state agency budgets should be trimmed. Michaels believes that immigration laws should be made tougher and that taxation on business should be reduced to promote more success and employment by Oregon business owners. Michaels favors more spending on roads and highways and less attention on public transit.

In the race for House District 27, voters should re-elect Tobias Read, a Beaverton Democrat. Read is a first-term state representative who engaged in a quiet, but effective first term, including being named an assistant House majority leader.

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