KOIN 6 News contacted candidates who are planning to run for Oregon governor in 2022, asking them to respond to these three questions:

  • Why are you running for governor? 
  • In your opinion, what are the top three issues Oregon is facing right now? 
  • What is something you believe is going right in Oregon and how would you like to continue to build on it?

Peter Hall is running as a Democrat. Here are his responses:

Why are you running for governor?  

I am running for governor because I want the state to know that there are progressive voices in Eastern and rural Oregon. I have a background that gives me a perspective of the diverse needs of all areas of the state. We face similar problems but may need solutions tailored to the needs of individual communities.  I want to push back against the magic wand thinking of many progressives, where just passing a regulation or putting money somewhere fixes a problem, and instead promote practical solutions that can actually achieve improvements and necessary outcomes. To some extent I am running to counter a fellow resident of Baker County, Kerry McQuisten, who turns off even some conservatives here by her extremist views.  She does not represent us. I am well known as a Democrat here, yet I am respected by most of the conservative community because of my pragmatism  and acceptance of a wide variety of viewpoints if they are based on fact. 

In your opinion, what are the top three issues Oregon is facing right now?  

The first issue I think any governor should deal with is administrative competence.  Everyone was outraged by the long delays in getting unemployment claims and other COVID relief funds processed. This is, again, the problem of magic wand thinking. We need to be able to shift personnel resources from one agency to another when emergencies arise so that red tape doesn’t make it impossible to meet the needs of our citizens. This also means making it easier to file claims and get assistance.  Red tape is designed to keep out bad players, but they are the ones who are better equipped to jump through the hoops. We must have a system that can meet the needs of Oregonians in deed not just promise.

The second issue combines several themes.  Affordable housing is a problem across the state, but it manifests itself in different ways. High housing prices in urban areas is the market saying that there is not enough housing and also too many people. We need to address both by allowing new housing to be built through an easier process and to discourage business development in areas unable to deal with a massive increase in population.  This brings us to the flip of this.  Housing in rural Oregon is also lacking due to low incomes that cannot afford the rents required to encourage new development.  This can be helped by encouraging businesses to locate away from densely populated areas and into more rural areas, but this requires coordination between housing and business developers.

The third issue revolves around climate change.  The idea that we can eliminate carbon fuel use is nonsense, but we can and must reduce it significantly.  The electric grid will need carbon fuel systems as a backup to keep it operating smoothly. We also need to ensure that this grid also is ecologically sound and does not pose a threat to creating wildfires. Part of this is recognizing high hazard areas and mitigating the threat through upgrades in the infrastructure to make it safe. Climate change also creates problems from drought conditions.  We need to update our water availability to farmers and ranchers who hold senior water rights.  These rights mean nothing if there is no water.  We must be able to decide how much we can give sustainably and buy out the rights to some to make that work.  Fire and water issues will continue to be a challenge for years to come and we need to be prepared for the inevitable disruptions that will be caused through administrative preparedness. 

What is something you believe is going right in Oregon and how would you like to continue to build on it?  

The good thing happening in this state is the recognition of real issues that affect our citizens as opposed to the denials in other states.  We have made an effort to fix things but have come up short from intense lobbying by business interests and a failure to understand how to implement policy properly.  I would hope to work to fix these roadblocks to carrying out what we know needs to be done. 

Editor’s Note: KOIN 6 News made minor adjustments to spelling, capitalization and punctuation in the responses the gubernatorial candidates submitted.