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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Horror film to start, end Saturday in Talent ... Ticket availability ... Ticket availability ... Horror film to start, end Saturday in Talent ... Ticket availability ... Ticket availability ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: We need commitments, not catch phrases Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 23, 2016 at 3:33 PM Updated Jun 24, 2016 at 11:41 AM Posted Jun. 23, 2016 at 3:33 PM Updated Jun 24, 2016 at 11:41 AM » Social News I recently read a candidate survey on important issues facing our local communities and found it so useful that I thought I should respond to Alan DeBoer’s guest column criticizing such surveys. DeBoer said that as a candidate to replace the retiring Peter Buckley in the state Legislature, he refuses to respond to organizations’ questionnaires about where he stands on the issues. Instead, he wants us to vote for him because he will “roll up my sleeves, dive in the system, and see just how it works” and then “fix it.” That sounds to me a lot like Donald Trump’s message: “Trust me. I come from a very wealthy family. Everything is going to be great!” It certainly is true that corporate special interests use candidate questionnaires to extract loyalty in exchange for campaign contributions. The car dealers association, insurance lobby, fossil fuel industry, Wall Street, drug companies — they all want to know if a candidate supports special tax loopholes and government subsidies before they fork over donations. But that is different than candidate surveys circulated by local community groups as a service to us all. Take, for example, the nonpartisan questionnaire called “Commitment to Our Community” that was sent to candidates for state office by Oregon Action, Rogue Climate, Peace House, SOCAN and Stand Up for Oregon. As you can see on Oregon Action’s website, OregonAction.org , candidates were asked their specific positions on 12 important issues and their responses were made public just as the candidates wrote them. While DeBoer refused to respond, his opponent for the legislature, Pam Marsh, had no such qualms. Not having made up my mind about the race, I read her responses and found them clear and specific. I learned that Marsh supports healthy climate legislation that industry lobbyists blocked in the last session of the Legislature. She opposes efforts to water down minimum wage increases. She wants stronger “inclusionary zoning” policies than what the Legislature passed this year to allow cities to increase the supply of affordable housing. She supports women’s health legislation that the Legislature failed to pass in 2015. She supports the Better Oregon ballot measure to require the largest corporations to pay their fair share toward education funding, health care and services for seniors. She would allow counties to ban GMO crops and seeds. She will vote for funding to improve rural transportation. She supports the Oregon attorney general’s task force that is trying to develop effective measures to prevent racial profiling by police. She supports driver’s licenses for anyone who is qualified, regardless of immigration status. Unfortunately, I also learned that DeBoer does not respect me or other voters enough to answer the questions. If he has different views on these issues, he should have said so, and his answers would have been distributed as he wrote them. We need more commitments that voters can hold candidates accountable to, not just catch phrases that leave candidates free to do the bidding of corporate special interests and the rich. Matt Witt is a writer and photographer in Talent. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jun. 23, 2016 at 3:33 PM Updated Jun 24, 2016 at 11:41 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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