Two young political candidates with community service experience want to represent East Portland and Gresham in the Oregon House

Ricki Ruiz and William Miller

Ricki Ruiz, left, and William Miller, right, are running in the Democratic primary for House District 50 in East Portland and Gresham.

A young Reynolds School Board member and a lobbyist for a nonprofit Native American center are vying to be Democrats’ pick to replace Rep. Carla Piluso representing the district that spans East Portland and Gresham.

Piluso, a former Gresham police chief, is retiring after her third term in the Legislature. Ricki Ruiz, the school board member whose day job is community services coordinator for the city of Gresham, and William Miller, an advocacy manager and lobbyist for the Native American Youth and Family Center, both grew up in the area.

Both candidates are the first members of their families to graduate from college. Ruiz says on his campaign website that he’d push for more government spending on a wide array of services but particularly K-12 education, which is currently budgeted to receive $9 billion from 2019 through 2021, not including money from a new business tax.

Miller promises on his website to protect education funding and would also prioritize spending on addiction and mental health services, the importance of which is personal to him given his father’s 2006 death from an opiate overdose.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary in House District 50 will face Republican candidate Amelia Salvador, a real estate broker who previously managed the Gresham Farmers’ Market, in the November general election. She is the only GOP candidate to file for election in the district where Democratic voters far outnumber registered Republicans.

As of Monday afternoon, Miller reported raising $32,000 with the largest contributions from political consultant Eddie Sherman ($9,800), the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association ($5,000), Piluso’s political action committee ($1,000) and House Democrats’ campaign committee ($1,000). Ruiz reported raising more than $26,000 with top contributions from the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association ($5,000), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75 ($2,500), Oregon Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals ($1,500) and Oregon AFL-CIO ($1,500). Ruiz also received $1,000 from the House Democrats’ committee.

The two candidates have similar takes on major policy issues before the Legislature in recent years. Both stressed the importance of a newly enacted state business tax to fund public education during the economic downturn, although Miller expressed more willingness to at least look at the impacts of temporarily tweaking the tax. Ruiz advocates the Legislature passing dramatic greenhouse gas reduction goals similar to a mandate in the cap-and-trade plan Republicans killed earlier this year, and Miller says generally that he would pursue legislation that “acts strongly on climate change.” He also wants changes to make it more difficult for one political party to shut down the Legislature.

Here are the two candidates’ answers to six key questions posed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Some responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What specifically in your track record would you point to that makes you the best Democratic nominee for Oregon and for your district at this time?

Ruiz: I have been elected twice to … the Reynolds School Board. I have built trust, transparency and strong communication with constituents across East Multnomah County and especially in the City of Gresham. I am a proud lifelong Gresham resident who has lived in House District 50 for over 20 years. I have proven my dedication to my community by being the youngest voice at the school board and bringing much needed resources to underserved communities as an advocate for civil rights, immigration, education, youth recreation and public safety. My life, government, non-profit and community experiences and accomplishments set me apart.

Miller: I was raised and have lived in East Portland/Gresham for most of my life. I’ve been through its public schools, including higher education at Mt. Hood Community College. I grew up in a family that struggled: financially, with family in the criminal justice system and working through addiction. I seek to bring these experiences, my identities as a queer Native American man and my professional background to deliver real change for my community. My professional experiences set me apart: I have deep policy and activism experience with a proven track record of supporting and empowering our most vulnerable communities.

Oregon businesses have called for a suspension or temporary modification of the new gross receipts tax to fund education. Do you support this?

Miller: Like any important policy decision, I think some more information and economic modeling is needed to adequately access this question. It’s important to note that the 2019 Student Success Act, which created this gross receipts tax, is funding schools across Oregon with an additional $1 billion per year and only taxes some of the largest businesses in our state. As our students and educators continue to adapt to distance learning, they need support and tools. Funding to ensure equity in access to technology, training, and new approaches to foster a healthy learning environment are critical now more than ever.

Ruiz: I do not support this. For decades, the public education system has been on the receiving end of budget cuts. Public education funding is crucial, and our students, teachers and families are all depending on it. The primary purpose of the monies is to increase academic achievement for all students to decrease equitable disparities and meet students’ mental and behavioral needs in the classroom. It is necessary to send out the money to help make distance learning more equitable for all students. With COVID-19, it is important that students and families have access to mental health services.

Oregon has hundreds of public records law exemptions on the books, making it one of the less transparent states in the country. Is there any public records exemption you believe should be removed? Or a new public records exemption you believe lawmakers should add?

Ruiz: As elected leaders of our communities, I believe (it’s important) to be as transparent as possible. We should be honest and make sure we address law exemptions that move us forward towards effective communication. I am beginning to learn about the exemptions and hope to learn more about how we can progress in making our state a better place for transparency, especially for our Oregonians.

Miller: I don’t know about this issue in detail, but I know that having transparency and accountability is critical in making sure it functions more effectively and better serves the people that elect them, and that accountability (is) vastly improved by robust public records laws. Documents, meetings, and decisions funded by the public ought to be available to the public unless there is a credible reason to think release could endanger someone, something or in some other way lead to direct harm.

Republicans succeeded in killing cap-and-trade legislation and Gov. Kate Brown’s executive order can only accomplish a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions a new law would have achieved. What should the Legislature do next to reduce climate warming emissions?

Miller: It is incredibly sad that Oregon Legislative Republicans chose to walk out and shut down our democratic processes. The Legislature should target reforms that remove the walk-out as a legislative strategy, enact strong campaign finance reform and continue to work at passing legislation that acts strongly on climate change. The legislation worked on during both legislative sessions reflected a bold and ambitious strategy to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, while deeply investing in rural Oregon and our working lands and forests. Overall though, one party’s opposition to legislation should not determine if that legislation lives or dies.

Ruiz: We have to consider a more comprehensive approach -- one that includes jobs -- to a cleaner environment. We must also appreciate the health implications of continuing to allow water and air pollution, without being compensated for the damage they cause. Sustainability isn’t simply a matter of protecting our communities and our natural areas, but safeguarding the future of the Oregon economy. Supporting the ​passage of state legislation to change our goals for economy-wide reduction of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and at least 50% reduction by 2035 is a way to move towards reducing climate change.

The market downturn has further undermined the funded status of Oregon’s public pension system, which will lead to further cost increases for public employers. Is there anything further you think should be done to address the problem?

Ruiz: This is an issue with the state at a national level and has worsened because of the Great Recession and is being exacerbated now as we stay home to address the COVID-19 outbreak. If you look at the Tax Foundation’s state pension rankings, Oregon is in the top ten so there is clearly a need for national action. Congress should have made this part of their consideration as they address the financial impact this time around.

Miller: It’s important to note that Democratic lawmakers took steps in 2019 to significantly reduce the PERS system liability. The recession currently unfolding will further complicate the long-term health of the system that supports educators, first responders and other critical government workers in retirement. We need to continue to decrease this liability, but due to past Oregon Supreme Court decisions, we cannot decrease benefits that have already been earned, something I morally agree with as well. Finding financial tools to spread out risk while seeking other revenue tools to supplement the fund are both critical.

Before the coronavirus crisis, the Portland metro area was enjoying a long-term economic recovery. But the benefits were not shared by some Oregonians in rural areas and even many in the metro area remained financially unstable as they depended on the gig economy. What’s one thing you could do as a state lawmaker to bring economic stability to more Oregonians?

Miller: I can speak to the fact that East County has not always felt the same economic growth and opportunity Portland’s downtown has felt. In East County, even during an economic boom, these issues were felt by many. One of my biggest focuses if elected state representative is ensuring that our youth and educators have all the tools they need to succeed. Education has so many multiplicative impacts on a student’s life, ensuring that every single student gets a quality education is critical to community and long-term recovery.

Ruiz: To bring economic stability to Oregonians in both rural and urban areas, I would invest in accessible small business loans for all and fund public schools for workers to learn trades. Oregonians are hard-working people with a lot of creative innovation, and I believe tapping into our state’s innovation and business creation is the way to go. Oregon public schools and community colleges also need more funding for trades so that the next generation of the Oregon workforce, housing market and economy can thrive for the better.​

-- Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud

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