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Reader Beware: What follows is largely gossip and opinion.
It's also probably the most honest appraisal you're going
to read anywhere about the people we sent to Salem.
Continuing a 24-year tradition, Willamette Week
circulated blank report cards around the Capitol, asking
lobbyists, staffers, reporters and a few downstate legislators
to grade the 12 senators and 24 representatives from the
Portland area. We granted them anonymity to encourage candor.
The session has been dominated by school issues--charter
schools, phonics and, of course, the schools budget. Watching
the debate, it's been hard not to think that the building
is full of bozos. Stubbornness and egos have ruled the negotiations;
outside facilitators were brought in and then sent scurrying;
and as of this writing, the issue has not been resolved.
The session may even end without an education budget, meaning
legislators would have to be called back later this summer,
when passions have cooled.
Underneath the budget arrow-slinging, there are other stories.
This has been the session where gunshots in Littleton,
Colo., rang through the halls of Salem. Thanks to the sheer
willpower of Sen. Ginny Burdick and the consensus building
skills of Rep. Kevin Mannix, Oregon may become the only
state in the country to pass gun-control legislation this
year.
Despite Speaker Lynn Snodgrass' promise to avoid the social
issues that have divided the chambers in years past, both
gay marriage and partial-birth abortions have grabbed lawmakers'
attention--and the headlines. The Wilsonville prison siting--something
that should have been handled long before the first gavel
dropped in January--put a new twist on Oregon's urban-vs.-rural
conflict, with urban Republican lawmakers trying unsuccessfully
to undermine Gov. Kitzhaber and send the facility to an
eager Umatilla.
The effects of term limits were also omnipresent. Both
the Senate president and Speaker of the House have served
all the terms they're allowed. There have been larger freshman
classes--this session saw 26 newbies--but turnover is so
rapid that there are few veterans to lead the way. These
days, two terms is considered experienced. Lobbyists and
staffers were both frustrated and empowered as they were
forced to train a new crew. To help set the stage for next
session, we've indicated who's being booted after this year
because of term limits.
Of those freshmen, though, there were some superstars.
Max (Williams), Minnis and Merkley, three freshmen with
radically different views, approaches and philosophies,
beat out more experienced lawmakers. Rep. Max Williams,
a moderate Republican from Tigard, won first place in the
House, the first time in recent memory a rookie has taken
home the gold. Rep. Karen Minnis, a Wood Village Republican,
benefited from her years working as an legislative aide.
Rep. Jeff Merkley won high marks for his brainpower and
compassion. Also scoring very high was Sen. Rick Metsger,
another moderate--and this time a Democrat.
For our survey, we asked Capitol insiders of all stripes
to grade legislators on a scale of 1 to 10--10 being the
highest--in four categories: brains (intelligence
and savvy), integrity (philosophical consistency
and refusal to compromise principles under pressure from
special interests or peers), diligence (a propensity
to work hard) and clout (the ability to get things
done).
We don't claim that this survey is scientific or objective.
It is also very important to note that a high score doesn't
mean Willamette Week agrees with a legislator's politics,
nor does a low score suggest the opposite. Rather, the ratings
provide a measure of ability as judged by the people who
watch the Legislature every day.
Read the Ratings
for the Senate and the House.
Outstanding
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Kate
Brown
D-SOUTHEAST PORTLAND
FIFTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 8.40, BRAINS: 8.96, INTEGRITY: 8.93, DILIGENCE
8.82
CLOUT: 6.89
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"A joy to work with. Has the qualities of a statesman.
Let's clone her," says one survey taker.
Alas, there is only one Kate Brown. But it's sure better
than none.
Brown is the minority leader in the Senate and has to do
daily battle with her GOP counterpart, Majority Leader Sen.
Gene Derfler. A lesser lawmaker would have cowered in the
face of Derfler's snarls or resorted to partisan sniping,
à la former Minority Leader Dick Springer.
Instead, Brown has played the role of conciliator while
managing to get more done than most Republicans.
"Smart, savvy, saucy and spicy," says one politico. "A
complete package of power."
Brown is a gifted consensus builder. Watching her bounce
around the Senate floor is an education in outreach. While
other senators make floor speeches or read their mail, she
prowls, checking in with other members, Republicans and
Democrats alike--smiling, laughing, touching them on the
shoulders. It's unusual for a minority leader to rate so
high in clout, but Brown is regarded by members on both
sides of the aisle as a rational, tough-but-warm thinker.
People listen to her, charmed by her skill of making all,
from the lowliest staffer to the most powerful lawmaker,
feel as if she likes and respects them.
Brown worked with Sen. Neil Bryant, chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, to deflect the emotional extremism
of Sen. Eileen Qutub, using points of law rather than insults
to make her case.
In spite of her skills, Brown had to work hard to push
through even seemingly innocuous bills this session. After
months of wrangling, she finally got action on Senate Bill
588, which keeps in place a requirement that insurance companies
cover gynecological exams. She also championed a bill that
makes it legal to breast-feed in public. This is not ground-breaking
stuff, but it was a tough sell in a Republican Legislature
with an agenda that's heavy on morality and light on progressiveness.
If the Democrats take control of the Senate in 2000, observers
say, the now 39-year-old Brown will be an excellent Senate
president in 2001.
Excellent
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Ginny
Burdick
D-SOUTHWEST PORTLAND
SECOND SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 7.29, BRAINS: 7.54, INTEGRITY: 7.42
DILIGENCE: 8.54, CLOUT: 5.65
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Ginny Burdick gets high votes for her passionate floor
speeches on everything from land-use laws to gay rights.
But guns are creating this senator's legacy.
Last session, Burdick received a "Good" rating. Her promotion
to "Excellent" is largely due to her single-minded passion
for a bill that would require dealers at gun shows to perform
background checks on buyers. This pit bull with a pageboy
promised she wouldn't leave the building without passing
something. As of this writing, the Senate has not yet voted
on the gun bill. If it passes, Oregon will be the only state
with any meaningful gun legislation in the country--thanks
in large part to Burdick.
"Ginny has shown amazing tenacity and wiliness in bringing
the gun issue to the fore," says one respondent.
Burdick, previously a reporter and press aide to former
Gov. Neil Goldschmidt, understood how to use the media and
the intricacies of legislative procedures to push the gun
issue, though she was clearly helped by post-Columbine outrage.
By wielding the threat of a ballot initiative, she was able
to force the National Rifle Association into neutral and got
the grudging support of the more moderate Oregon Gun Owners.
Burdick's gun-show bill was folded into Rep. Kevin Mannix's
omnibus gun-control package, and he gets credit for moving
it through the House. But it is Burdick who has been the heart
behind the issue, and her high score reflects the respect
she has earned.
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Rick
Metsger
D-WELCHES
FIRST SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 6.72, BRAINS: 7.36, INTEGRITY: 7.36
DILIGENCE: 7, CLOUT: 5.18
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Rick Metsger, a former sportscaster, is the Senate's Rookie
of the Year--not a difficult title to earn, since he is
the only newbie in the Senate. Lobbyists and staffers who
have been dealing with mindless partisanship this session
are thrilled to find a moderate freshman who listens carefully
and thinks through an issue independently.
"If there were someone who could squeeze into both parties,
it'd be him... which is a good thing," one fan says.
Metsger is the first Democrat to be elected in his rural
Clackamas County district in decades. With an eye on the
telecommunications infrastructure promised in the controversial
U.S. West bill, he worked to eliminate the provision that
would have freed the phone company from having to pay the
hundreds of millions of dollars it owes to a consumer group
in a lawsuit settlement. Then he was one of the few Democrats
to vote for it. Metsger's biggest success, though, was the
passage of a consumer-friendly bill that makes it easier
to join credit unions. After leaving KOIN-TV in 1992, Metsger,
a former teacher, joined the Portland Teachers Credit Union
board of directors. Last session, he ran for office, spurred
by outrage that similar legislation wasn't passed in 1997.
Not everyone is enamored of Metsger. A few respondents
say they expected more from him.
But the general sentiment is similar to this observer's: "A
pleasant surprise. More than just a big voice."
Good
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Avel
Louise Gordly
D-NORTH PORTLAND
FIFTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 6.60 BRAINS: 6.67, INTEGRITY: 8.19
DILIGENCE: 7.07, CLOUT: 4.48
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Avel Gordly spent a good deal of this session teaming up
with Eastern Oregon Senator Ted Ferrioli to change the focus
of the Economic Development Department from the courting
of big business to paying attention to the neighborhoods
and towns left behind by the economic boom. A former probation
officer, she is well-versed in the problems the disenfranchised
face, and she has argued against minimum-wage rollbacks
and for farmworker rights. She is widely admired as a great
person and legislator and is able to quietly advance her
causes.
"Too bad there isn't a category for 'heart,'" says one
commentator. "She'd take first place. If not for Avel, there
would be less knowledge of and effort for minorities."
At the same time, some wonder if Gordly is burning out.
In her first sessions, she was known as a fireball who thrived
on the details of government. Now, one observer says, "Her
get-up-and-go in the House has got up and went."
Others wonder whether she's limiting herself. "Though she's
articulate and thoughtful," says one lobbyist, "she focuses
so narrowly on race and all the ways it manifests itself,
and people think, 'Oh, here comes the race angle from Avel
again.'"
Average
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Frank
Shields
D-PORTLAND
FOURTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 6.45, BRAINS: 6.68, INTEGRITY: 8.18
DILIGENCE: 6.59, CLOUT: 4.36
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This Methodist pastor-turned-lawmaker is one of the most
respected men in the building. People admire his integrity
and his commitment to the poor and underserved. "A good
man who works hard to represent the underepresented," says
one respondent.
Shields wears his faith on his sleeve. He's a touchy-feely
guy with the intensity of a man who just spent the weekend
with Robert Bly.
Nevertheless, many feel he's an ineffective saint. He is
baffled when he can't make the system work for those he
strives to serve. As of this writing, he has been unable
to push through a bill that would regulate car-title lenders
who prey on the poor and financially desperate. To him,
it's a clear case of good vs. evil. But in Salem, nothing
is ever so clear.
As one lobbyist says, Shields "needs to understand there
are two sides to every issue."
He did manage to pass a bill that would open the door for
faith-based organizations to get state funding for certain
programs. This is part of a national movement to step gingerly
over the walls separating church and state and recognize
that churches do good work. It was a small victory for Shields,
but an important one.
"The homeless, the less fortunate, the environment--all
find a friend in Shields. His heart is in the right place,"
says one respondent. "The system kills his issues...but
he can still smile."
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Verne
Duncan
R-MILWAUKIE
SECOND SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 6.12, BRAINS: 6.89, INTEGRITY: 7.22
DILIGENCE: 5.93, CLOUT: 4.44
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With his shock of white hair, dignified-yet-approachable
demeanor and conservative suits, 65-year-old Verne Duncan
is a politician straight out of central casting. Still,
while it's clear Duncan cares deeply about Oregon, he has
never had much of a role in shaping its politics.
For 14 years, Duncan served as Oregon's superintendent
of public instruction--arguably the highest authority in
the state over K-12 education. Yet when it comes to the
debate over school funding, Duncan hasn't been a leader.
For someone in the majority who's been around as long as
he has to score so low on clout suggests that he's just
keeping the seat warm.
Duncan is extremely well liked as a person but not respected
as a lawmaker. "Verne is as nice as he is powerless," says
one respondent. "He will stand up for his moderate views
more this session than last but is not willing to work his
colleagues to kill the worst from the right wingers."
He has also been dubbed the "King of the Courtesy Votes"
for his habit of satisfying leadership by voting out of
committee the bills he doesn't support. On the floor, however,
he usually votes with his moderate heart.
Moderate Republican Duncan did make Senate Minority Leader
Kate Brown's job easier this session by providing a balance
to Democratic Sens. Mae Yih and Thomas Wilde, who often vote
against their party.
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John
Lim
R-GRESHAM
FOURTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? YES
OVERALL: 5.93, BRAINS: 5.54, INTEGRITY: 7.46
DILIGENCE: 6.63, CLOUT: 4.11
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John Lim is an enigma. His low ratings in the brains department
stem from some bizarre moves he made this session, but the
moderate Republican obviously isn't stupid.
For starters, there is Lim's bill that would create a lieutenant
governor position--a job he has said he wants. Then there
was his attempt to post signs on the state border with Tom
McCall's oft-cited "Visit but Don't Stay" misquote. His
bill that would have disbanded Metro died quickly and early.
Last session, Lim, who owns a company that sells nutritional
supplements and beauty products, earned high marks for listening
to both sides of an issue before he made up his mind.
This session people are saying things like, "Irrationally
stubborn. Once he fixes on an idea, it's impossible to change
his mind, even when you can prove he's wrong."
Last week, Lim outraged gun-control advocates by withholding
his vote for their bill. He made it clear that his support
was dependent on the House approving some of his bills.
Such tactics are not unusual, but given the high profile
of the gun bill, Lim earned no respect with such horse-trading.
His most serious work was going after the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission, but he didn't have the clout to keep
the teeth in the bill, which ended up being a fairly harmless
swipe at the agency.
Some think that the 63-year-old Lim is lost. He ran unsuccessfully
against U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and this is his last term in
office. He thinks he is destined for greater things, but few
others do.
Bad
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Eileen
Qutub
R-BEAVERTON
THIRD SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 5.79, BRAINS: 4.57, INTEGRITY: 4.35
DILIGENCE: 7.22, CLOUT: 7
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Eileen Qutub provokes strong responses.
"Venom is the morning vitamin of choice for this woman,"
says one critic.
"She's like a dog with a bone in her attacks on poor people
and women's issues," says another.
When Portland liberals speak of how the Christian Right
has taken over Salem, they point to Qutub. This session,
she has gone after family-planning clinics that perform
abortions, has been an outspoken force for a partial-birth
abortion ban and has fought to define marriage in the constitution
as a heterosexual union.
As chairwoman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human
Resources, Qutub has the perfect seat to go after the state
Health Division, the Commission on Children and Families
and the Oregon Disabilities Commission--and all the other
agencies that make up the state's social safety net. Her
favorite target has been the Oregon Health Plan. She has
led the fight to cut abortion and physician-assisted suicide
benefits from the plan.
It could be that Qutub just has it in for the governor.
She has continually slammed him for his insistence on siting
the new women's prison facility in Wilsonville. Most recently
she recommended gutting one of the most effective teen-abstinence
programs in the country because, she says, she didn't feel
it was sufficiently aligned with her belief that there should
be no sex outside of marriage. It's worth noting that the
program's most visible supporter is Sharon Kitzhaber, the
governor's wife.
To her credit, Qutub does keep up with the complex issues
on her committees, and she has mellowed out some in her
third session. She still votes to gut programs, but, respondents
say, she doesn't harangue the witnesses at committee hearings
as much as she did in her first two terms.
Since Qutub, an improbably blond real-estate appraiser, first
hit the Legislature as a representative in 1995, people have
been wondering how this ultraconservative has managed to get
re-elected to her Beaverton-area district. Now the buzz is
that the 51-year-old is thinking of running for secretary
of state.
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Randy
Miller
R-WEST LINN
NINTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 5.78, BRAINS: 7.36, INTEGRITY: 4.23
DILIGENCE: 5.12, CLOUT: 6.4
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After nine sessions in the Legislature, the thin-lipped
Randy Miller isn't going to change. He's mean.
"Anyone who has been around this building is never surprised
at the depths to which Randy can sink," says one former
lawmaker.
People think Miller is smart, but they don't trust him.
The former Republican Party chairman seems to take a sadistic
delight in playing party politics. For example, the Senate
has to approve Gov. Kitzhaber's executive appointments and
Miller, more than any other senator, uses these appointments
as pawns to get at the governor--most notoriously in the
case of Port of Portland Commissioner Michael Powell. Last
session, he and Eileen Qutub tried to block Powell's reaffirmation
and the case ended up going to court.
This session, even though he no longer chairs the Rules
Committee, where the appointments are heard, he still sits
on the committee and has the power to muck things up. He
reportedly berated Port Commissioner Cheryl Perrin--an
outspoken Democrat--during her reaffirmation hearing, then
walked out on the vote.
People have no explanation for Miller's moves. "Crafty,
miserable SOB to deal with--prone to fucking with you just
because he can," says one respondent.
Still, Miller isn't hated by everyone. Says one Republican,
"I like Randy. He's totally his own man."
One other person sees a kinder Miller, who "has let his hair
down this session and lets others be the bastards. He's smiling
more and seems to be taking everything in stride."
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Tom
Hartung
D-NORTHWEST PORTLAND
SEVENTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 5.63, BRAINS: 5.46, INTEGRITY: 5.58
DILIGENCE: 5.85, CLOUT: 5.62
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This is Tom Hartung's seventh--yes, seventh--session. Thanks
to taking a long break from 1979 to 1995, term limits won't
catch up with this 72-year-old senator until the 2001 session.
That's too long, according to one respondent, who deems
him "simply over the hill. He should have retired long ago."
To make their point, several people commented on his mysterious
move to make Jefferson High School, his alma mater, a charter
school. He did this without checking with Portland Superintendent
of Schools Ben Canada or the Jefferson High administration.
Few but him thought it was a good idea, and he retreated
back into a cloud of confusion after he was rebuffed.
Besides that failed effort, Hartung wasn't noted for doing
much.
Charles
Starr
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Charles
Starr
R-HILLSBORO
FOURTH SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 5.22, BRAINS: 3.54, INTEGRITY: 6.26
DILIGENCE: 5.83, CLOUT: 5.25
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Washington County, home of the region's technological brain
trust, is represented in the state Senate by the man rated
at the bottom of the brains barrel.
"Dumb as a post" is the way one critic bluntly describes
Charles Starr.
In committee, this lanky, bald-headed bumbler is often
addled and confused and has to ask others for direction.
In one observer's opinion, "Starr has been clinically dead
for two or three sessions now."
Starr hasn't brought much of an agenda to the building other
than a hard-line Christian and NRA-supporting philosophy.
He passed out videos on the life of Christ to other lawmakers
at the beginning of the session, and at a teen-violence forum
at Lake Oswego High School last February, he read to the students
out of the pro-gun book More Guns Less Crime. But the
66-year-old doesn't take the lead on anything. He lets Sens.
Qutub and Shannon do the heavy lifting. While people think
he's simple, many do give him credit for not pretending to
be anything other than a Christian soldier, which is why his
integrity rating is fairly high. "Say what you will about
Charles' politics," writes one respondent, "he is as honest
a man as you'll find."
Beyond
Hope
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Thomas
Wilde
D-NORTH PORTLAND
FIRST SESSION
BOOTED AFTER THIS SESSION? NO
OVERALL: 3.32, BRAINS: 4.59, INTEGRITY: 1.92
DILIGENCE: 2.71, CLOUT: 4.07
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Last session, Thomas Wilde earned the lowest "Good, Bad
and Awful" rating of all time, with a 3.37. This year, he's
done even worse.
While some lawmakers are rated stupid and others dishonest,
some lazy and others weak, rarely are they accused of being
all four.
But then, Wilde is a rare bird. One observer says she has
seen him pacing the halls and muttering to himself. "He
is so unstable, he is a candidate for other state institutions
in Salem besides the Legislature," says another respondent.
Wilde has a penchant for voting Republican in spite of
representing the most solid Democratic district in the state.
He has attacked the environment, land-use planning and social
services with an irrationality that befuddles even those
who vote with him.
Wilde has said he's leaving the Legislature after this
session. But he uses even that as a threat: He's been known
to say he will run again if he doesn't get his way on bills.
He's also warned the Republicans he'll start voting with
the Democrats if they don't support him.
"The man is a crazy, angry, small-minded punk," says one
observer.
Wilde's stay in the Legislature seems to be a big lark--all
for for his private amusement. Senate Democrats are not
amused. Their lack of power as the minority was exacerbated
by both Wilde and the Democratic conservative from Albany,
Mae Yih.
Former state Rep. Margaret Carter has pledged to run for
the seat next year, and several North Portlanders who have
never considered a life in politics have said, "If she doesn't,
I will."
Read the ratings
for the House.
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Willamette Week | originally
published July 14, 1999
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