Sunriver forum’s 8 candidates seek to unseat Walden

A packed, standing-room-only crowd in Sunriver Saturday heard eight candidates — six Democrats, as well as a Libertarian and Independent Party candidates — explain why they should be the next person to represent Oregon’s sprawling Second Congressional District.

It was one of several forums being held before the May 15 Democratic primary that will decide who will seek to unseat long-time Republican lawmaker Greg Walden.

Jim Crary’s top issue is campaign finance reform. He said he wants to change the perception that members of Congress only listen to the people they get campaign donations from.

“Candidates give their ear to people who help them get elected,” Crary said. “When big-dollar donors make big contributions, like corporations and special interests and the ultra-rich, they get the ear of the people that get elected.”

Mark Roberts is running as an Independent Party candidate and wants to address environmental issues, energy and safer nuclear power.

” (We need to) get into safer nuclear plants that don’t endanger people or the public, or aren’t liable to melt down and produce lots of power,” Roberts said.

Parkdale resident Michael Byrne said he’s deeply involved in the Second District community.

“You want to know about District 2? You’ve got to talk to somebody like me,” Byrne said. “I’ve loaded the hay in the barns, I’ve picked the fruit, I’ve driven the trucks, I taught the kids how to ski, I’ve umpired their Little League games. I am District 2.”

Jamie McLeod-Skinner said she believes that public lands should always remain public.

“It becomes what type of public land it is,” McLeod-Skinner said. “If you’ve got protected species, monuments, or habitat, those have a higher level of protection. For a good part of our public lands, where there has been a tradition of use of rangelands and harvesting, it comes down to sustainability.”

Democratic candidate Tim White said he wants to reinvent the district and thinks what Walden is doing is dangerous for the district, such as removing health care from 160,000 people.

“These are things that are going to hurt this district, a district that is already hurting,” White said. “Our per capita net income in this district is $19,000 — that’s $2,500 less than rural America.”

Decker Cleveland is running as a Libertarian and he said the biggest issue is the national debt. He said if the government keeps borrowing money to pay off the minimum interest, the system will come crashing down.

“Looking at our debt and just the government in general from a business perspective, it doesn’t take a banker to realize that it’s unsustainable,” Cleveland said. “Every single year, we just keep adding more and more. So 2018’s budget will add $441 billion more to our debt, and that will push us over the $21 trillion mark.”

Dr. Jenni Neahring said she wants people to understand how important health care is.

“Not just having health care for everyone, but getting rid of the cost of health care,” Neahring said. “We are spending so much money on health care that we don’t have money for the things we really care about and that we need to continue to get not just over our illness, but actually to stay healthy.”

Finally, Eric Burnette said health care is fundamental and universal, and something that everyone should have.

“Does everybody have health care? Not access, not insurance, not coverage, health care,” Burnette said. “The way you measure that is actually fairly simple: Are people getting into doctors offices to deal with problems when they’re small or are they going to emergency rooms? If they’re going to emergency rooms, you’re failng.”

Two other candidates not on hand Saturday also have filed for the race, according to the Oregon secretary of state’s website. They are Democrat Raz Mason and a Republican, Paul Romero Jr., challenging the incumbent fellow party member.

And there could be even more candidates, as the filing deadline for the May 15 primary is still a month away, on March 6.