More Oregonian Letters on Wayne Scott

They write more letters to The Oregonian:

Vote Caudle in, Scott out

Your endorsement of Rep. Wayne Scott, R-Canby, over Mike Caudle (Oct. 16) was the sorriest apology I've ever heard. Scott is the prime example of the type of person we do not want in our government. He has shown us his brash, uncompromising side. You dismiss Caudle as inexperienced, but beside Scott, Caudle is a whiz kid. As two-time student body president of Clackamas Community College (where he now teaches), and student body president of Oregon State University, he caps that off with a degree in political science. As you say, he is eager and enthusiastic. Then add intelligent and honest, with the education for a job in government. He is not in the grip of lobbyists. I'd vote for him for that reason alone.

How you can endorse an unethical person over Caudle is beyond me.

JUNE CLAPP Oregon City

200 Donations in 36 Hours

Over the last day and a half, 200 people have decided to open their wallets to help out Mike Caudle in his campaign to send Oregon's Tom DeLay-wannabe, Republican House Majority Leader Wayne Scott, packing for good. Two hundred donations in amounts of $30 or less, 200 donations averaging $4.21 apiece. This is what real grassroots action is all about. With this support -- with your support -- Mike will be able to reach out to countless more voters and spread his message of change.

Do you want to add your name to the ever-growing list of people supporting Mike this fall? Time is fast running out. So click here soon to make your contribution today!

The O Runs Letters on Wayne Scott's Ethics Problems

Last week The Oregonian ran a story on the front page of the Metro section under the headline, "Scott's nonreporting of trip a nonissue in his hometown." Turns out that's not really the case after all.

Over the last two days, The O has run three letters from House District 39 voters who find the ethics problems of Republican House Majority Leader Wayne Scott to be a significant issue. Today's letters even garner a large headline on the opinion section: "Constituents question Scott."

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

I read with much interest the article regarding the "fact" that people who reside in Canby are either not interested or don't care about Rep. Wayne Scott's receiving significant funds from the beer and wine lobby, accepting a free trip to Hawaii from this lobby and not reporting it as required by law ("Scott's nonreporting of trip a nonissue in his hometown," Oct. 13).

Scott is well known and personally liked by many in Canby, but this familiarity should not be confused with acceptance of Scott's disregard of the law and his arrogant disregard of his constituents' expectation of high ethical standards of their elected representatives.

This is Canby, where people work, pay their bills, attend children's athletic events and are involved in civic activities. We play by the rules and expect our elected officials to do the same.

Every day we read in The Oregonian of national political disgraces and influence peddling, but we don't expect to discover such shenanigans going on in our home town. This time, however, it strikes home with Scott betraying the public trust. It's an embarrassment.

NANCY SEBASTIAN, Canby

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Steve Mayes' story, "Scott's nonreporting of trip a nonissue in his hometown" (Oct. 13), fails to accurately communicate the strong concern that many of us have about House Majority Leader Wayne Scott's moral compass. His failure to report his expenses on trips to Hawaii is just one more indicator that he is frequently and blatantly on the edge of ethics in behalf of big money.

He defends predatory lenders and supports the interests of big drug companies. It would be one thing for him to openly oppose reforms in these areas, even though neither would cost the taxpayers anything. But he has gone well beyond that and used his tremendous power as the majority leader of the House to keep bills addressing them from even coming to the floor of the House for a vote, thus effectively killing them, out of public view.

To many of us here in House District 39, a junket at the expense of his big-money friends is small potatoes compared with Scott's ethically questionable use of his power to advance the cause of special interests.

REX HAGANS, Oregon City

Rep. Wayne Scott's illegal nonreporting of favors from lobbyists is an issue to many of his constituents. I don't know how your reporter chose his contacts in Canby to interview, but their opinions are certainly not representative of me and many of my Oregon City neighbors, who probably will never be able to take a luxury trip to Hawaii!

We have been watching Scott's work in the Legislature. He is consistently not concerned with the working people of this district, their children, education and economic well-being. We are glad to have Mike Caudle step up to challenge Scott and bring some fresh air into the Oregon House of Representatives by opening those closed doors that have hidden such corruption for too long.

MARK PRITCHARD, Oregon City

If you want to share your opinion with The Oregonian, perhaps over their lackluster endorsement of Scott in which they write that he "has not consistently put his formidable personal and political skills to constructive use in Salem" but that they hope he will "return to Salem with a new appreciation of legislative ethics and bipartisan leadership" (because we all know you can teach an old dog new tricks...), click here and follow the directions on how to send a letter to the editor.

Ron Saxton on Wayne Scott, Legislative Trips

During last night's gubernatorial debate between Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski and his Republican challenger Ron Saxton, Saxton had this to say about legislators like Wayne Scott who accepted trips to Maui:

What happened in the legislature was shameful. It was wrong.

I couldn't agree more...

Willamette Week Endorsement: Mike Caudle for HD 39

Willamette Week released their endorsements in today's issue and had some glowing things to say about Mike in the course of giving him their support:

Incumbent Republican Wayne Scott's been in Salem for only two terms, but he sure knows how the place works. He's the go-to guy for Philip Morris and the beer distributors, and he has been the recipient of more than $50,000 from payday and title lenders in the past two years.

Scott screamed in outrage during a special legislative session this spring that placed new limits on payday lenders, and his most recent contribution reports show him raking in more than $30,000 from the utilities, who are looking to roll back tax reforms.

Voters are lucky in this district that Scott's opponent would be a solid replacement: Caudle, an academic adviser at Clackamas Community College (he also was two-time student body president there before going on to be student body president at Oregon State). A pugnacious former high-school wrestler who coaches the sport at Gladstone High School, the 30-year-old Caudle also has a lengthy record of community volunteerism and has spent much of the past two years exploring the vagaries of the healthcare system with a daughter who was born prematurely.

There's little doubt he's more in touch with the district than Scott, who acts as if he thinks his real constituency is the business lobby.

If you want to add your name to Mike's growing list of endorsements just click here to fill out an easy form. If you're interested in helping out in other ways, please consider making a financial contribution to help Mike make it through the home stretch of the campaign and sign up to volunteer.

The Oregonian Says Canby Doesn't Care About Scott's Ethics Problems

The headline on the front page of today's Metro section in The Oregonian, courtesy of reporter Steve Mayes:

"Scott's nonreporting of trip a nonissue in his hometown"

Mayes quotes four people as evidence that residents of Canby do not care about the ethical problems facing their representative, House Majority Leader Wayne Scott. One is the mayor of Canby. The other three are Republicans -- one of whom doesn't even live in Canby. Interestingly, one of the three Canby residents interviewed actually says that the ethics issues do matter to her.

So I pose these questions to everyone: Do you care about the fact that one of the most powerful politicians in Salem did not follow state ethics laws after he accepted a free trip to a top Hawaiian luxury resort? Do you care that that politician, Wayne Scott, cavalierly blames his lobbyist supporters for his own improper actions? Do you think we deserve more from our legislators?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, will you follow the directions at this link to send a letter to The Oregonian to let them know that you don't think that Wayne Scott's ethics problems are "a nonissue" and that you do not think they should treat it as such, either. (If you also want to talk about Mike Caudle's strong commitment to upholding high ethical standards, visit the campaign homepage to get information on his pledge to voters.)

([UPDATE]: Edited to make more sense)

A Surprise Appearance on Thom Hartmann

This morning, Don McIntire was on the Thom Hartmann Show on 620 KPOJ offering his usual spin on Measures 41 and 48. Mike got so frustrated with the dissembling that he called up the show to offer his positive vision for Oregon as a rebuttal to McIntire's pessimistic views. Did you get a chance to hear Mike? If so, let us know what you thought down in the comments section.

Join Mike this Saturday Afternoon

Want to make a big difference for our community and state? Have a little spare time on Saturday?

We are looking for volunteers to walk Oregon City this weekend and help get the message out about Mike Caudle. We are only asking for an hour or two of your time to canvass, or knock on doors and pass out information, if you are interested. Your support could help put Mike over the top this year and help bring real change to Oregon come November 7.

If you want to participate, meet at the Mike Caudle campaign headquarters at 718 Main Street in Oregon City at 1:00 PM this Saturday, October 14. Please let us know via email (mike@mikecaudle.com) if you think you can make it out (but you can of course stop by on Saturday even if you don't RSVP).

Interested in volunteering but can't make it out this weekend? No worries. There are plenty of other volunteer opportunities between now and election day, including phonebanking, hosting a house party and, of course, more canvassing. Just sign up at our volunteer page and tell us what you'd be interested in doing. You can also sign up for a lawnsign and find more ways to make a difference at Mike's campaign website.

Want to help out but can't make it out to Oregon City? No problem. You can always show your support for Mike by adding your name to his list of endorsements or making a financial contribution to help pay for campaign expenses like sending information to voters.

Thank you so much for your interest and support. With your help, we can chnge Oregon!