In Conversation; Joe Keating - Pacific Green Party

Hello I'm Jeff Gold and welcome to in conversation. Southern Oregon Public Television has invited all five contenders for governor of Oregon to join us in conversation. Tonight we meet Pacific Green Party candidate Joe Keating. I'm a soldier. You know I'm going to protect this state. I'm going to do everything I can to make every citizen every man woman and child protected. I want to protect our environment. I just want to make it plain that the entire state understand that I will be totally committed to that. Stay with us for in conversation with our guest Joe Keatinge the Pacific Green Party candidate for governor of Oregon in conversation with Jeff Golden is made possible by the actual ending claim of both branches of the American Association of University Women and the patrons and producers society. You're kidding welcome to in conversation. Thank you Jeff. Good to be here. Would you tell us

something about your background and your qualifications to govern Oregon. Sure a little bit of my background I was born on the East Coast raised in New York City I went to Georgetown University graduated with a B.A. and political science which is coming in handy now and then then entered the ROTC I was in ROTC had in university and we joined the Army for a couple of years as a lieutenant. Then went down to Wall Street worked as an investment banker for seven years and when they had the Tet Offensive in Vietnam I was recalled to active duty as a captain. I didn't go to Vietnam but I was recalled active duty and then after that stint I proceeded to do business things other business things at a leasing company in Washington and a company that dealt with historic renovations in Philadelphia. Oh midlife crisis made light of mid-life opportunity comes about

and I decided that it was time to change. Went out to New Zealand and sort of stayed there for six months or so and got it got censored and came back with a new direction for my life as opposed to. Being a taker so to speak I became. I wanted to become a giver give back to the communities and so we came to Dorian and settle in Portland and joined up with Greenpeace and that's the second part of my my career were been a front line soldier. Protecting the state for 19 years doing what I could as an organizer and a campaign manager to help preserve preserve the state. When I asked about transportation here in Southern Oregon congestion is growing rapidly there are projections for very large number of additional people in cars down the line. At the same time that we're cutting back on some of our public transportation as governor

what specific direction or initiatives would you try to tease that problem with. You know the as the Pacific Green candidate I come to the table looking at things through sustainability lenses. And so when it comes to transportation we have to do is unclog that by thinking small and thinking public transportation where it's appropriate to to communities that would be able to be integrated much better and a much better traffic flow. And how would you do about funding. That seems to be the bottleneck for most public transportation in the state. Well you know funding and that that's one of those gateway questions OK because funding is germane to so many of our different gridlocked transportation being one of them. What we have to do is look at a combination of working with federal government in terms of federal dollars but then on a very realistic basis look at

state cooperation on a financial basis. We're looking at generating between seven hundred fifty and seven hundred seventy five million dollars worth of new net revenue for the state through new programs and very exciting for grants which we can talk about but be it be it said that it's a combination of both creativity. OK in terms of. Traffic management bringing the best of our community to bear in terms of the livability and then making sure has had a goodly fund it through a combination of federal and state resources of southern Oregon often tops national lists as one of the least affordable communities in America in terms of the gap between personal income and housing costs. As governor what would you do to try to narrow that up. Well I noticed that today in the I was looking at the Oregonian where the cost of real estate is second. I think Ashleigh is

first and then then. I think what I think you're first. In terms of cost. That disparity is always a problem because you're dealing with people's individual rights in terms of what they what they have and what they can share with their community. What every community does and I think so than Oregon is well on its way is looking at the fact that growth is not only an upside it's also a downside. And you have to manage that in a way that's consistent with the community. You have good leadership here in your municipality structures and that's where it starts. We're These are community questions in terms of how we're going to take care of those who are not in the upper echelon of our community but family wage employment and their jobs are not scarce in southern Oregon.

But family wage jobs are scarcer than we'd like them to be. So a role for the governor in proving that yeah there is you know part of our one of our in issues says and an energy independent organ. And with that comes jobs. It's it's a situation where I like to think of things small and smart where I think the backbone of our community should be OK the smaller corporations and the smaller. Businesses of our communities. And I see a full partnership between small business entrepreneurs and the state government. And I would do everything I could to facilitate that. What is your assessment of the quality of public education in Oregon and assuming there is room for improvement. What would you do to improve it. Well my basic problem is that I think that the folks that are getting hurt really hurt or are the kids. I remember growing up and I had full access to sports and

music and I felt I grew as a holistic person and I had choices and options. What I don't like about the particular directional path we're going is the very strict testing limits. He becomes aggravated because the schools don't have enough funds to provide other services and they have to just stay in the main highway of math and reading. And that's not the way kids flourish. I think we need to be able to fund or schools. I think particularly we have to make sure our teachers are funded and loved. They are the transporters of our civilization to our kids. And they they should be loved. Teachers need to have a much more support how we do that. Is our approach is coming up with financing new

financing. We're looking at the state corporate tax bringing that in line with the individual tax rate nine and a half percent. We're looking at increasing the corporate minimum state tax which is right now $10. We're also looking at solving the real if this is really key to the educational gridlock is the kicker and the reserve fund. Situation there it's it's it's impossible to forecast a realistic basics when you have this essential mistake. And so we're coming up with an approach that I think would work and in fact I know would work in terms of the size of the structure and the ability to sell it to the folks would also work I think and that is we're looking at a three year moratorium

of the kicker. Well let's be clear the kicker is the amount that the excess amount from what state economists projected two years before when that exceeds two percent over their estimate. All of that by current law goes back to either individuals or corporations who paid the tax rate instead of refunding that you would what I would do OK. And the reason would be clear also in terms of the reason why that would be called for is that this state has no reserve fund its call or a contingency fund it's all or nothing. Good Times Bad Times Bad Times or very bad. So there's a need to change that. And our plan says there's a three year moratorium. On the kicker two individuals and then two corporations with a threshold of 10 to $100. This is monies above $100. Their right to be refunded one hundred dollars and anything over the.

Road of folks who are $100 and under would receive their their their kicker. Above $100 what you would receive as opposed to the cash on the table. You would receive a credit three years hence for that so that it's a partnership. It is a bit of a hardship on the individuals but no no more and corporations but no more than a three year moratorium. And folks I think can understand that United sitting down balancing our budget. You have to have a contingency fund in there. And so what happened is the. At the end of the three year period the reserve fund would be able to be incorporated in the basic budget requests so that it evaporates over a period of time minutes and we get right back into if there's an excess over that 2 percent. It goes back to the folks but the 2 percent now also

includes maintaining the funding for the reserve account. Now you're talking about potentially increasing business taxes. There are those who say that's not what you want to do in a competitive economy that you drive businesses to stay with a friendlier business cut climate. Well how do you respond to that. Well you know I've I've I've actually been pretty enthused by talking to business leaders and you know the whole whole thing in terms of a good place for folks to work. The main thing the business folks want is a good education system. They want a health system that that is in place and running. They also of course love the natural resources of this state. Not as significant OK or the credit type for situations that make business says come to a particular place and I mean I fully expect that we would

be able to incorporate the whole concept of being a good citizen in this state for corporations to make make it an honorable thing and give them credit for participating at the same level as you and I participate. What we pay in taxes they should pay in taxes but give them credit for it. You know does not make it go away. Give them give them a slap on the back for joining the community. Sure what would you regard as Oregon's most important or challenging environmental issue. And how would you deal with it as governor. There's. Maybe two issues. One is a much much more difficult one. I'll take the easy one first. OK I think that what we have right now is a an environmental leadership gridlock in it so. The

the leadership of the environmental groups or tied at the hips to the Democratic Party. This creates a problem ok creates a problem in terms of where the environmental community can go it loses its leverage to protect the environment. That's a problem. I won't be able be so in this campaign. OK but it is for long term I think one of the major problems that we have to look at in the environmental community in terms of solving if we don't have her leverage with the Democrats which in off year elections with the support from the Democratic Party disappears for the environment when the Republicans are in of course the Republicans are going to be mad at the environmental community because we're all tied in that locked in they have put the Democrats are OK and that has to change. Precisely in relationship to and I think that's a real organ problem.

The second problem is the really an opportunity we're looking at global warming. Of course we have the whole panoply of protecting all of organs natural resources but the one that's bubbling to the surface is right along in line with what we're talking about in terms of thinking small and thinking smart. We're calling for an energy independent organ which is tied directly into global warming and we can be a leader. For this country. In fact the theme of the campaign is leading the country by taking care of business at home. If we can't and we can create a truly independent and she situation in the state. The ripple effect that that has throughout the country and the world is the most impressive target I think that we can come up with. Can you give us one element of a program like that would be that you think poses a

particular opportunity for Oregon. Well in our case when we're talking about independent energy and being independent we're really looking at a combination of things the stars conservation includes more public ownership of the larger utility assets in the state. It looks at expanded DS It looks at partnerships with the universities Oregon State U of O Portland so you have a coalition of great folks working on technology breakthroughs but where the rubber hits the ground Jav is by not just talking about it but doing it OK and doing it starting first in rural Oregon. And from the coast working to the east setting up small energy cooperatives we're calling them rural community and they're to the centers it's risen to the point of being an acronym

R C C S. These are small communities 45000 folks that working in conjunction with the state can get off the grid with through a combination of solar wind biomass where it's appropriate wave energy where it's appropriate create the proper mix bring in the ability to create bio diesel fuel fuel you know that for a community that size the press for bio diesel would only cost $35000. That's huge that community who forecast for the future having first having bio diesel gas available and then second also getting your cost under control for forming rural operations etc. driving driving your you know have a bus now the bus name cool and it's a bio diesel bus and I can guarantee you put bio diesel in a bus in a corner.

That's that's a diesel engine. It goes perfectly. Would it take state tax dollars to capitalized these RCU seeds. A Yeah I'm looking at not only tax dollars but I'm looking at net revenues coming out of the R C C S word this would be joint frenching with the communities where the state would be getting into the energy business in a cooperative basis with the with the citizens of individual communities. Now that's exciting. Among the programs in state government currently Could you point out any that you would want to either enhanced to reduce and I think the the the the main agency that I would work very closely with would be the DEA. Q Where medical it. That's correct. They're underfunded. They're under a lot a lot of stress. And also I can tell you from my experience I don't think the leadership that it

gets from the incumbent is satisfactory. And I would put a lot of end Aji into revitalizing the D. Q Okay getting their spirits up and then making sure that they're properly funded. It sounds like you have some funding enhanced and in mind some of the large you mentioned some potential increase in corporate income tax increase in minimum tax. Is that going to gain you the magnitude of funds you're going to need for new programs announced programs. And if not where will that money come from. Well as I say we're up to about seven hundred and fifty million dollars worth of new revenue. We we would take a similar approach to the income but in terms of raising taxes on cigarettes we would take a look at the reality of it. As I mentioned before corporate taxation would be looking at creative situations also

Jeff. OK we're talking about and it's quote It appears the initial feasibility studies are coming back the ability to sell Oregon bottled water right where the proceeds of or pristine water is shared with the rest of the folks who are paying whatever they pay these days for water and a grand jury can turn a very grand organ it's a great way of getting our name out getting you know the our message about. And of course the profits would go to protect the very asset that the drinking. Creative out of the box but get effective type of stuff that we're coming up with and where you know where. You take a look at and this is not short term. OK but this is longer term. There are just some things out there that irk me. For example the legalisation and taxation of marijuana if we were able to move the country in a direction that would take that

that approach and really it's a states rights issue. We could generate the estimates are just on that alone. Ok comes in between 400 and 500 million dollars per. And there's actually a somewhat official estimate of what that would generate. Yeah. You know if you've projected out you know and of course the assumption is that marijuana would be on the same held lead the same basis as cigarettes and beer and various other things that that are out there. But you know it just I can just see myself as an activist governor. Talking to some of the other lighting governors and saying hey look you have a big budget problem out there we have a great big budget problem here and in Oregon why don't we get our heads together and demand states right so that we can do the right thing and legalize and normalize and tax and regulate and treat this as a grown up problem as opposed to some type of thing

that's in the closet sweeter heroes. Sure there are any ballot measures on the current ballot that you particularly support. And why would that be. Well I I like the campaign finance measures. You know the more I more I proceed daily I don't pick up the Oregonian today and I find out the big box candidates have millions of dollars to spend. I realize how ridiculous that is you know we're running a campaign on $5000 and it's a big campaign and we're all over this state and with the good graces of the media who I really think understand democracy this time around in a way that's very refreshing. They're allowing us to get out and speak to the folks. Every day our opponents when I say are this would be the other creative candidates and get visa vi the big box candidates that they go out and spend all that money on

attacking each other is just going to enhance and strengthen our position. So I say to them spend away you know spend away all your money on TV ads that are geared to programming people's minds. OK in a way that is not going to work and I suggest the next time around everyone should voluntarily not go into the buying of TV ads and do what is right and go do what I'm doing. Shaking hands and and doing all those go around the state with a bus and telling it as it is. You know any ballot measures you strongly oppose. Well you know the. There are there are a few out there that that rankle rankle me. Another one of those strange ones of the you know the normal ones for me. What what what rankles me a little bit is the is the term

limits situation or is that a better idea in your view. You know I it's just my experience and as many years as I've been going down and Salem and back and forth it's an incredible learning curve necessary for our legislators to be effective before they can hit the road running. And there's good and there are bad and there's in terms of the legislators. But boy I just don't know what you do Wayne. If you really impose term limits and then a bunch of folks come in who don't know the situation and how would drugs and I have a feeling that just from a organizational point of view it's a mistake and we're really looking at trying to make saleable work. And so I it's an unusual one for me to pick out but that's the measure of the day for me that that rankles me. Sure we use our last 90 seconds to tell voters what

you'd like them to think about as they're filling out their ballots. Well you know what I really want people understand this to get to know me. It's fairly straightforward what I stand for. But I think it's important for folks to understand the nature of who I am and what I've done for the last 19 years here. I'm a soldier. You know I'm going to protect this state. I'm going to do everything I can to make every citizen every man woman and child protected. I want to protect our environment. I just want to make the plight of the entire state understand that I will be totally committed to that. You know going around. Folks are really into her hunkering down. They sense and rightfully so that the outside world outside Orian is not all right and things are potentially very serious. And we're one nation one state in the

nation of states but they but the nation itself is going down a very strange and dangerous path which will impact us. And I would like people to understand that I understand that. And as governor I will do everything I can to protect them. Joe Keating thank you for joining us. And thank you for stepping up to public service. Thank you Jeff. Joe Keatinge is the Pacific Green Party candidate for governor of Oregon. Thank you for joining us in conversation I'm Jeff golden. Good night. In conversation with Jeff golden continues on our website. You can watch the full program again online at ASU PTV dot org. In conversation with Jeff Goldman is made possible by the actual in Klamath Falls

branches of the American Association of University Women and the patrons and producers society.