Alley already in the race for governor
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Friday, June 5, 2009 10:18 AM PDT
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| Allen Alley, Republican candidate for governor of Oregon, is animated during his talk at a breakfast meeting Tuesday at the Holiday Inn in Ontario. |
ONTARIO — Oregon Republican Allen Alley is already a step ahead of his political opponents.
Alley is the first major candidate to throw his hat into the ring as a GOP selection for Oregon governor, and he was in town Tuesday to talk about key issues for the state future.
During a breakfast session at the Ontario Holiday Inn, Alley said, as a candidate for governor, he will focus on economic issue, and making government more efficient.
Speaking to a small group, Alley said he has worked inside and outside of government, having started and operated his own businesses and serving in Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s administration as chief of staff.
Alley, who lost the state treasurer’s race in 2008, was traveling through Eastern Oregon this week.
He said one lingering problem in Oregon was obvious.
“Government is massively inefficient,” he said.
The reason for that, he said, is there is no competition. His vision for Oregon for it to be the best-run state in the country.
“I think we can reach that,” he said.
Now, though, taxpayers in Oregon are treated like ATM machines. That needs to stop, he said.
“We need to treat them like a customer,” he said.
The question is whether taxpayers are receiving good value for their money, he said.
Alley said he believes in zero-based budgeting, reviewing each program and each dollar spent or reducing the budgets and requiring employees to petition to spend additional funds.
Commenting on what is happening in the current Legislature, Alley said the Democratic majority has to raise taxes.
“They feel that is their mandate because of the size of their majority . . . the people want them to. They can pass what ever they want,” he said.
Like other Republicans, Alley said the deficit for the new biennium is approximately $600,000 and with $1.9 billion in reserve or stimulus funds, there is enough money to run state government without cuts. The Democrats budget projections of a $4 million deficit is based on, “I wish I had $17 billion,” Alley said.
He said, though, there should be some cuts because some services are more essential than others, and cuts could be made in some programs to support education.
If he were governor, Alley said he would charter each agency to review their budgets and find efficiencies to save money.
“We have to find efficiencies in government,” he said.
While the first to officially announce his candidacy for governor, Alley said he expects plenty of company. On the Democratic side, Alley said there could be a hot race between former Gov. John Kitzhaber and Congressman Peter DeFazio for the nomination.
“I think (former Secretary of State Bill) Bradbury will run regardless of what Kitzhaber or DeFazio do,” Alley said. Another Democrat often mentioned is current Secretary of State Kate Brown. Jason Atkinson, who came in third to Ron Saxton and Kevin Mannix in the 2006 primary, was the only other probable Republican candidate Alley named as possibly running. He had contacted former U.S. Gordon Smith about his plans, and Smith had said no, Alley said. Congressman Greg Walden was a, “I don’t think so,” Alley said.
Alley, who has worked for Ford Motor Company and Boeing, said he has invested in 10 companies, three of which have gone public. He is still chairman of the board of Pixelworks, a company Alley co-founded and served as president and CEO from 1997 to 2006.
