Editor Note: McHaddad’s opinion on Oregon politics was first run on Right Now Oregon on April 18, 2024

I recently ended my tenure as the City Administrator/Recorder of Sodaville, Oregon, a position that saw frequent interactions with political leaders. Governor Tina Kotek, obviously, steered clear of our community during her “One Oregon Tour” (which I called the “Some Oregon” Tour) in which certain communities were visited or at least contacted by the Governor’s office to learn about local issues and others were not.

One of the more annoying types of communication streams from politicians was the unsolicited inclusion of the City’s official email in campaign mailing list. Representative Janelle Bynum and State Treasurer Tobias Read, both seeking higher office, added the City’s email and proceeded with a discourteous barrage of fundraising solicitations.

This lovely donation request to the City arrived in the inbox March 12:

Hi team – It’s Governor Tina Kotek here.

This November, Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District’s voters will have the opportunity to choose a new, brighter future for their community. That’s why I’m reaching out on behalf of my good friend, Janelle Bynum, who is running for Congress to give OR-05 a true champion in Congress. I’ll explain more in a minute, but can I count on you to join me in supporting her campaign by making a contribution today?

Governor Tina Kotek

Coincidentally, Treasurer Read’s campaign manager sent a solicitation email to the City that same day.

Tobias is one of the smartest and hardest working people I know, and he has what it takes to restore trust and accountability in state government.

The strategy of adding municipal government emails to donation solicitation emails may have made sense to whichever out of state consultants who devised it. At worst, all these campaigns are doing is clogging up the City’s email inbox. What dismays me is how carelessly they cast aside community concerns in favor of seeking campaign donations.

Governor Kotek did not connect with Sodaville during the “One Oregon” Tour, continuing the pattern of choosing winners and losers among rural communities honed during her ghastly tenure as Speaker. Treasurer Read is running a tight ship at the Treasury that maintains excellent services for local governments, but never reached out to discuss what he could offer the community by holding Oregon’s second highest office.

Representative Bynum incurred the brunt of my acrimony, frequently railing about a fictitious version of Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s abortion stance while never once reaching out to Sodaville to uncover the brutal extent of Santiam River dam drawdowns on the community. Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer, on the other hand, put her staff on the case during a crisis and maintained excellent communications. But please, Rep. Bynum, tell me more about how I should give money to someone who does not care about the true issues her community faces.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Focusing on fundraising instead of problem-solving in a community ravaged by a federally-instigated ecological catastrophe gives exactly nobody in the 5th Congressional District confidence that Rep. Bynum will arrive in Washington prepared to help. Former Santa Clara, CA City Councilor Jamie McLeod-Skinner, the other Democratic CD5 candidate, never reached out about the dam drawdown issue but neither did she take the bizarre step of soliciting funds from a city that spent an unbudgeted $100k on dealing with the 2023 Santiam River dam drawdowns.

I fully expect mainline Oregon Democratic candidates to treat rural communities as punching bags until they are no longer in power. Whoever assembled the mailing lists for Treasurer Read and Rep. Bynum apparently operated under the errant notion that rural municipalities are piggy banks for Democratic political campaigns rather than valued constituencies who can help elected officials make smart policy benefiting all of Oregon. This intentionally callous pattern of indifference outside of begging is what keeps me from taking the leadership of the Democratic Party of Oregon seriously.


--Alex McHaddad

Post Date: 2024-04-22 18:40:06

Last Update: 2024-04-22 19:22:03