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October 23. 2014 2:00AM Our View: Kitzhaber is still the best choice It's been a rough month for Gov. John Kitzhaber. Questions about a potential conflict of interest between his fiancee's consulting business and her role as an unpaid policy adviser in the governor's office were followed by revelations from her past, including a sham marriage for immigration purposes and her alleged participation in planning an illegal pot-growing operation in Washington state. Kitzhaber's Republican challenger, Central Point Rep. Dennis Richardson, has seized on the ethical questions as evidence of "corruption" in the governor's office, and there are signs the controversy may be starting to sway voters, which could chip away at Kitzhaber's once-comfortable lead in the polls. Nevertheless, we support Kitzhaber's re-election bid — albeit with a bit less enthusiasm — and we recommend voters give him a fourth and final term as Oregon's chief executive. Here's why: First Lady Cylvia Hayes' actions more than a decade ago are relevant only to her personal relationship with the governor. She is not running for office; he is. The questions about her consulting business and its relationship to the work she has done in the governor's office are relevant, but so far there is little evidence that they rise to the level of "corruption." In any case, Kitzhaber has announced she will mothball her consulting business for the duration of his term should he be re-elected. When it comes to policy, Kitzhaber is far closer to the majority of Oregonians than Richardson, and he can point to solid accomplishments during his term, including engineering a major overhaul of the Public Employee Retirement System, a compromise that involved tough concessions from Democrats and Republicans. Oregon's health care reform efforts also are showing results. The failure of the online enrollment system known as Cover Oregon was a major embarrassment, and Kitzhaber deserves some of the blame for that. But Oregon was not the only state to have similar issues, and in the end, thousands of Oregonians were signed up for health insurance, many for the first time. The state's innovative reform of Medicaid, involving coordinated care organizations, is held up as a model, and Richardson says he supports the concept. Richardson brings an energy to the race that seems lacking in Kitzhaber this time around. He vows to address unemployment in Oregon and focus on creating jobs, especially in timber counties such as Curry and Josephine, which face potential insolvency. But there are no easy answers there and his idea of appealing directly to the American people seems like a long shot at best. He built a successful legislative career as a hard-nosed budget specialist, and vows to weed out "fraud, waste and abuse," but sounds as though he wants to micromanage individual agency budgets, which is not the governor's role. Although Richardson is extremely conservative on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, he notes that court rulings have superseded state law, and insists he won't pick fights he can't win. However, activists on those issues who are supporting his candidacy will expect a sympathetic ear if he's elected, and it's hard to imagine they won't get one. Kitzhaber's job performance over the past four years hasn't been all positive, and he needs to step up his level of engagement to counter the perception that he's becoming too detached. But on balance, we think his approach is the better one for Oregon. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141023/OPINION/141029860 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->