Kitzhaber, Richardson clash in Sunriver debate

Long before they offered kind words about each other (by request) at the close of their hour-long debate in Sunriver on Friday, Gov. John Kitzhaber and Republican challenger Dennis Richardson clashed on some issues and agreed on others, but the testiest point came when the governor stoutly denied paying women less for equal jobs in his office.

That came toward the end of the two men’s first televised debate, hosted by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters and co-produced by NewsChannel 21, whose anchor, Matt McDonald, served as moderator.

It came up when he asked each man the first three things they’d accomplish in their term as governor “to impact voters on a personal level.”

Kitzhaber said he’d work to continue expanding access to affordable health care and “lean into” the early-learning delivery system. His third item: Implementing a low-carbon fuel standard, which he said “will bring thousands of new jobs into the state” and reduce the exporting of millions of dollars for fossil fuels.

Richardson, a long-time state representative who later noted he’d worked well with Kitzhaber, first said he would implement pay equality, and claimed, “The governor’s office pays 79 cents to women for every dollar to men, and that’s wrong. The governor’s office should provide equal pay for equal work.”

Later, given a chance to respond, Kitzhaber said, “If the charge is that my office does not provide equal pay for equal work, that’s categorically untrue.” The governor added that a reporter who “cooked the numbers” Richardson was using has “repudiated the way you have done this.”

“It just seems to me a little cynical that you would ‘discover’ equity for women after an 11-year history in the legislature where very few of your votes actually suggest that you believe that,” Kitzhaber shot back.

“There you go again — talking about the past,” Richardson replied as moderator McDonald moved on.

Richardson listed his other two priorities as a focus on education, repeatedly noting Oregon’s high school graduation rate is next-to-last in the country: “That’s unacceptable. We’re losing a generation of our youth.”

And his third point, also repeated frequently during the forum, is to “restore trust in our state, so the people can trust state government.”

McDonald’s first question of the session was about the latest campaign issues or scandals — Richardson was levied a $365 fine for not reporting on time his stay at a Lake Oswego supporter’s residence this summer, while Willamette Week said Kitzhaber was getting support from a woman who benefited from consulting work on the failed Columbia River Crossing project.

Kitzhaber said he has a record of transparency and acting in an “ethical manner” — but Richardson called it “outrageous” that Patricia McCaig, whose firm was paid $550,000 on the Columbia bridge project, was advising the governor.

“I think that’s criminal — certainly unethical,” Richardson said.

Kitzhaber countered: “I think the reason people attack Patricia McCaig? She’s effective. She shows up, things happen.” He said he valued her asistance on the CRC project, and “we’ll continue to seek her advice.”

Driver cards for illegal immigrants

Probably the sharpest other split of the pair’s first debate came when asked their views on controversial Measure 88, which would grand driving privileges to undocumented immigrants.

Richardson acknowledged it’s a “sensitive issue” that affects many lives but added, “I think it’s a mistake, though, to grant those driving privileges.” He suggested learning from other states’ experience, such as a program repealed in Tennessee, which “had busloads of illegal immigrants coming to get that card.”

“Driving is not a right, it’s a privilege,” the lawmaker said, noting that his experience as a parent of teens underscores that.

But Kitzhaber said he “absolutely” backs the measure.

“First of all, it reduces the number of uninsured, unlicensed” drivers on Oregon roads, he said, quickly moving to his “much larger” points.

“These people are working in Oregon, paying taxes,” he said. “They are the backbone of our nursery industry, our agricultural industry. They are hard workers. They deserve the right to be able to drive legally to and from work, to school, to church.”

“If we believe we all are created equal … surely the ‘pursuit of happiness’ includes the ability to drive to work,” Kitzhaber said. “To me, this is an issue of fundamental equity and equality.”

Richardson said he appreciated “the governor’s passion” on the matter, but said “the Declaration of Independence was not dealing with illegal immigrants here breaking the law. … Either we enforce the law … or we make special exemptions.”

Cover Oregon

There was no way the major mess that Cover Oregon became would not be a key factor in the debate, and neither candidate quibbled with the word “debacle” used in the moderator’s question, about how to make sure similar problems don’t arise in the future.

Richardson went first, noting that most of the people who have joined the ranks of insured in the past year “would have been signed up under Medicaid anyway,” and that 100,000 must be re-enrolled by the federal government.

“The governor was in Bhutan, learning about ‘Gross National Happiness,’ when we were in Salem,” working to solve the problem, Richardson said, adding that “we need a governor who shows up. I will be that governor.”

Kitzhaber began: “I’ll actually try to answer the question,” and laid out some steps that have been taken, such as assigning responsibility on each IT project “on the front end, to avoid pointing fingers after” – a reference to the messy legal dispute with Oracle. And he said they “can’t get the next round of funding” until the last step is done.

He said a functional Website will be delivered next month, and noted that now, “only 5 percent of Oregonians are not insured, because we kept our eye on the ball.”

“It’s great to keep your eye on the ball,” Richardson replied, “but what we really need is to keep our eye on the money.”

He said $300 million was wasted on Cover Oregon., $75 million on a DMV project, $190 million on the failed Columbia River Crossing and $202 million on a failed Department of Human Services modernization project.

Legal marijuana

Kitzhaber and Richardson were not asked if they support Measure 91, to legalize marijuana, but both expressed opposition as they were asked if they believed local governments should have the authority to ban marijuana-related businesses.

Kitzhaber said the state doesn’t have the “education, public safety and law enforcement framework” in place and should instead watch the other two states (he listed Washington and California, meaning Colorado) to see how to proceed. (By the way, a small chuckle emerged later when Richardson referred to Oregon as “the gateway to the universe,” correcting himself to say “gateway to the world.”

The governor said it’s best to address the question of local pre-emption before a bill passes, not after. However, he also added about legal marijuana: “I think it’s coming. I think it’s inevitable.”

Richardson said he saw no overarching reason “the state should decide if a local community should have pot or not.” He too, would have preferred to watch what happens in the other states, but will abide by the voters’ wishes.