Mary Nolan: Next House majority leader?

A new poll for corporate (read non-lefty) clients shows a high likelihood of a House Democratic landslide in Oregon this November. The survey shows D’s poised to pick up key House Republican seats in District 49 (East Multnomah County) where Nick Kahl leads Republican John Nelsen 45-26; District 26 (Wilsonville), where Jessica Adamson leads incumbent Republican Matt Wingard 32-27; and District 37 (West Linn), where Michele Eberle leads GOP incumbent Scott Bruun 41-35. Democrats, who currently hold a 31-29 majority, could pick up 37 seats, which would give them enough of a majority to raise taxes if they chose. Meanwhile, talk is already shifting to who will replace Dave Hunt (D-Gladstone) as House majority leader when he moves up to speaker. Contenders include Reps. Mary Nolan (D-SW Portland), Arnie Roblan (D-Coos Bay) and Peter Buckley (D-Ashland).

Among the notables trickling out of The Oregonian newsroom as buyout takers: Michael Arrieta-Walden, one of the paper’s two managing editors; reporters Dave Hogan (politics), Gail Kinsey Hill (energy) and Tony Green (courts). Arrieta-Walden is leaving to pursue a longtime dream of becoming a public schoolteacher. Meanwhile, another taker of the buyout of two years’ pay and benefits, longtime reporter Wade Nkrumah, already has his next job lined up: Starting in January, Nkrumah will be Mayor-elect Sam Adams’ communications director at $80,000 a year. And the update on conservative columnist David Reinhard: He’s sticking with his decision to take the buyout.

More evidence that a sweeping 2007 ethics law is roiling Oregon’s public sector (see EthicsBomb, WW, Dec. 19, 2007). Earlier this year, the new requirement that public officials disclose adult family members’ names led in part to the resignation of many volunteer officials in rural areas. Then, citing an “unreasonable invasion of privacy” and safety concerns, presiding judges in six counties ordered the Ethics Commission not to release such information about judges’ families. But now, state Rep. Brian Boquist (R-The Dalles) is challenging the judges’ ruling. Says former legislative counsel Greg Chaimov, who has sued to overturn other parts of the same law, “I am not aware of another circumstance in which judges have unilaterally decided a law doesn’t apply to them.” Attorney General Hardy Myers is working to resolve the conflict.

One of the Northwest’s largest combined airplane and helicopter operations is under investigation. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Hillsboro Aviation for apparent discrepancies in maintenance records. Company President Max Lyons says he voluntarily grounded his 70-plus aircraft last month and fired four staffers after a random inspection in Texas found faulty maintenance records on one of his choppers. Lyons says a staff inspection turned up no safety problems, and the company returned to a full flight schedule two weeks ago. The FAA declined comment.

Sarah Palin’s name has come up in an Oregon courtroom over Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down, a 2008 biography by Kaylene Johnson. Portland-based Graphic Arts Center Publishing claims an exclusive distribution agreement with the publisher, Epicenter Press Inc. of Kenmore, Wash. But an $850,000 federal lawsuit Graphic Arts filed Oct. 3 claims Epicenter broke that agreement by letting an Illinois company distribute a new print run after Palin got John McCain’s nod for VP. Says Epicenter President Kent Sturgis: “We deny their assertions, and we are going to prove it.” You betcha.

While the rest of us watch the final presidential debate Wednesday night, Oct. 15, one group will be busy organizing to bring that mega-event here in 2012. During a debate-viewing party starting at 5:45 pm at Krakow Koffeehouse (3990 N Interstate Ave), co-owner Mark Kirchmeier and others will start working yet again to put Portland in the spotlight for one of the 2012 debates. Kirchmeier, a former WW reporter, tried unsuccessfully to bring a debate here in 2000 and again this year. His new idea? Recruiting a local to apply for the 10-person Commission on Presidential Debates. Among those the committee would consider, Kirchmeier says, former U.S. Rep. Don Bonker (D-Wash.) or the loser of the race between U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Democrat Jeff Merkley.