Our future as a state can be bright, but we are at a decision point. Our fiscal approach has created a financial situation that is both serious and unstable, made more obvious by the most recent national financial crisis. Our financial liabilities for health care and prisons grow while our ability to pay for them shrinks. Our desire to create high-value jobs is inconsistent with our commitment to funding education at all levels. We have a rich natural resource base, but we have limited our imaginations on how to innovatively use it consistent with our shared environmental values.

I submit we are at threshold of a generational rethink of our priorities and approaches as a state. This is a comprehensive rethink; it is not single-issue oriented nor is it incremental. It has its core in a significant reinvestment in education tied to both short-term and long-term economic vitality. It depends on making our tax system work for us during down cycles rather working against us. It fundamentally requires repositioning Oregon to lead rather than react to the opportunities and changes of the 21st century. I believe this is the path Oregon must take. I believe the next governor can make this happen. I believe I have exactly what it takes to be that next governor. In coming posts I’ll talk more about my vision for the future.

At the same time, there is doubt that anything or anyone can make a real difference. This doubt is often unspoken but still apparent. Much of the evidence of the past twenty years supports the doubt. Even so, people listen intently to see if there is something about what I’m saying that makes them believe it might yet be possible.

People want to believe change is possible. And we are realizing a choice point is upon us—that what we do over the next few years will either reverse recent trends or reinforce them. People are looking for someone or some way to organize this shared concern into a positive approach which makes a difference.

Real change does not come easily. Even when we agree it’s required, it remains a significant challenge. It’s true the devil is in the details. But here is something equally true. The power to change is in the shared vision we hold for our collective future.

Common purpose propels and sustains real change. It is the essential ingredient that allows important change the majority favors, not to be derailed by less important details that serve only a narrow minority. This is the secret to making real change possible.

All too frequently, candidates run for office with more focus on themselves than on the solemn responsibilities of their position. Any time it becomes more about the office holder than about serving the office, the public fails to get their fair share of the bargain of democracy.

We each have our human frailties and shortcomings. And no one can predict what trials and tribulations might unfold while in public office. But one can judge the character and motivation of a candidate. There is a something important and fundamental in this assessment, not to be glossed over. You may label me an idealist or believe I am inexperienced—but I assure you, my motivation for exploring a run for governor is not about me, it is about serving Oregon. There are many things I could chose to do at this point in my life other than expend my energies in the political arena. The choice to explore this challenge comes from my deep concern for Oregon’s future and my belief I can make a positive difference. If the people of Oregon ultimately place their trust and faith in me, I will live up to the commitment of always keeping Oregon’s interests ahead of my own.

I cannot stress enough how much the motivation underlying an individual’s run for office matters. Where a candidate lies on the continuation between self serving and selfless service will dictate the depth of commitment to the office and the people an individual brings to bear every day and in every decision while there.

Fortunately, we have many leaders who take their oath of office seriously and are committed to working tirelessly on behalf of the people regardless of their own interests and circumstances. There’s room for one more. I will be one of those leaders.

As a leader who finds it useful to make tradeoffs in difficult situations based first and foremost on where we want to head, I fear the session has left all of us generally where we started – unclear of our future.

What must be on the table at this time is not a debate about a hundred individual policies but a debate about what Oregon is going to look like 25 years from now. A great state is not built upon the details of its policy but upon the nature of its aspirations. If we know in our souls what we want to be, where we want to get to, we cannot be easily dissuaded from achieving it no matter where we find ourselves in the moment. If we do not, we are destined to be victims of our own lack of clarity.

It is time for someone to lead the effort to align Oregonians on what we are trying to achieve, what we are building for our children, how are we helping to lead our nation in solving problems that are not unique to us but that we can uniquely solve because of our independent nature and pioneering spirit. That, my friends, is the first and foremost challenge facing our next governor.

Both challenges require a clear and compelling description of the future sufficient to inspire others to contribute to making it happen. But if you’re changing something that already exists, there is an added difficulty. Some portion of the impacted group will feel more comfortable with the way things are than the way they might be. If that portion is large, it can threaten the ability to make meaningful change.

Change is about how people feel, not only ideas and positions. The same future described by two different people will not be equally likely to come to fruition. Who advocates change matters. What motivates them to champion change matters. The one who seeks change for the greatest common good is seen much differently than the one seeking change to generate advantage. And we can tell. Even in this day of sound-bites and over-simplification, we can tell. The time is ripe for Oregon to be led by someone who is clear in purpose and steady in intent to affect change for the greatest common good.

Blogs can risk being a little like my teenage daughter’s random thoughts – they can lack context and seem more like a person just wanting to talk. I prefer for that not to be the case here, so let me provide some context for why this blog exists.

I intend to blog a couple of times each week. While I would enjoy having a dialogue with people on any topic posted, it’s likely many posts will go unresponded to. The main value of these postings will be the opportunity it affords the reader to see both how I think and what I believe is important – a chance to get to know me better in a public forum. I will use this space primarily to highlight issues and offer insights about the impact or drivers of those issues given my experience and viewpoint. Taken in total, I hope readers will take away a growing sense of who I am and how I will go about working for Oregon’s future.

They put forward several ideas which are particularly important. First, changing tax structures in a crisis is not good governance unless a fully considered and strategic approach for the future is already sitting on the table. This is not the case. Establishing a floor level of funding for the state is valuable. This approach establishes the threshold of pain agencies and public services must deal with but adds stability to the immediate future – a critical element for effective execution in a tough operating environment. Filling the resulting gap with tax increases that are equitably shared, temporary in nature and use the current structure is also sound and reinforces a shared responsibility to respond to an economic situation that threatens our collective future.

Finally, OBP’s first principal states that it is “time to get our fiscal house” in order. I agree. At its very core, Oregon has created a fiscal system that now thwarts the needs of its own citizens. This must be addressed in order for us to move forward as a state. This will not be easy – but it must be accomplished.

We think that signing up 1,000 people on the website is a good start – although not sufficient by itself. If we can achieve this in a reasonable time though, it forms the cornerstone of a credible foundation for a viable campaign. Stay tuned – there is much more to say about this.