Banker challenges lawyer in District 13.

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Both candidates for House District 13 describe themselves as non-dogmatic party members who value bipartisanship and heed Oregonians' clear message that they don't want new taxes.

Rep. Robert Ackerman, the Democratic incumbent, has held the post for four years and says his background as an attorney - currently one of only four among 60 representatives - gives him "greater currency" on both sides of the legislative aisle as someone who can spot pitfalls and help his colleagues make their bills better.

His challenger, Republican Gary Pierpoint, says he would use his 40-plus years of experience in the banking industry as a model for approaching many issues faced by the Legislature, from interpersonal communication to bureaucratic accountability.

Ackerman names school funding, affordable health care and the economy - jobs and economic development - as his top three issues for the coming legislative session.

Should he win the nod from voters on Nov. 2, Pierpoint said his list would start with jobs and the economy, education and accountability in state finances.

In the last legislative session, Ackerman served as vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee and was a member of the Land Use and Environment Committee.

If the Democrats win majority control of the House, he would become Judiciary chairman and probably also continue on the land use panel.

"Schools will be a big issue in the next session, and the voters in District 13 passed Measure 30 this year 66 percent to 34 percent, so I know they care about education," said Ackerman, referring to a February ballot measure that would have assessed a temporary state income tax increase for education and other programs.

Ackerman said Pierpoint voted against Measure 30 despite claiming to be pro-education. "He's out of sync with the people in this district," said Ackerman.

Pierpoint says not so; he wants stable funding for schools but takes the attitude that "we have enough money, we just need to allocate it differently."

"I think we have to enhance our revenue and get more efficient with our spending," Pierpoint said. "The state should do an efficiency audit of all of its budgets and see where we end up."

Perhaps basic services such as education, public safety and courts should be the first programs to receive funding, with all other state-funded programs sharing the remaining revenue, he said.

"I've heard about unfilled positions in state agencies being maintained in the budget and then having those funds used for other purposes," said Pierpoint, while acknowledging he's never seen any specific data to support those claims. "People have to have faith in the budget and that what money we have is being spent appropriately, and that's not happening now. People lack trust for what's happening at the state level."

Both candidates support the concept of "zero-based budgeting," which means building the budget of every agency and program from scratch during each funding cycle instead of starting with the previous budget amount and adding to it.

Ackerman said he wants to look at closing tax loopholes enjoyed by industry, wealthy private homeowners and others. "We could probably balance the (state) budget by closing those loopholes, depending on how many of them we wanted to repeal," he said.

Although he tends to place more emphasis on K-12 education, Ackerman said he also wants to see more statewide support for higher education, especially community colleges.

The average family in District 13 earns $43,000 a year, "which makes you wonder how they will be able to afford a university education for their children if the costs keep on going up," he said. Ackerman said he wants to pursue the possibility of tuition and fee freezes "to keep our students from being priced out of higher education."

More stable support for community colleges would lead to a better-prepared work force that could help attract and retain businesses and bolster the state's economy, Ackerman said.

Pierpoint said education may require its own funding stream, although he doesn't know what that source might be. "I wouldn't know that until I got to the Legislature," he said. "I'm open to all possibilities."

In terms of job creation, Pierpoint believes the answer lies in recruiting small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies.

"A great example is the recreational vehicle industry, which has fed on itself and generated a bunch of related businesses," he said. "We need to focus on job growth in areas like that."

Both candidates said they believe local governments and the state must take another look at the way land use regulations support or inhibit the economy.

"We have to make reasonable accommodation for population growth," said Ackerman, citing the need to provide enough land for manufacturing and light-industrial.

Attention must also be paid to statewide goals tied to affordable housing, he said. "I worry about the way housing costs are going up so rapidly - we're denying too many people the opportunity to own their own homes."

Pierpoint said he also favors "managed growth, not opening the floodgates."

"You have to balance growth and land use laws," he said. "But I think the (local) urban growth boundary will have to be expanded - the cost of land is just sky high, and that interferes with companies that want to come here or stay here."

In some ways, the greatest differences between Ackerman and Pierpoint may be as much style as substance.

Ackerman talks a lot about the effects of laws on senior citizens and middle-class families. He said he wants to allow small businesses to join together in insurance pools to provide their families and employees with health care coverage, and to guarantee that all children have access to affordable medical care. He also advocates affordable prescription drug coverage.

Pierpoint looks at legislative service from the point of view of how the banking industry addresses problems - from holding "motivational moments to assess what's going right and wrong and where to go from here" to treating state government as a "customer service" function.

"I think we need to change the way we do things, at the state, county and city government levels," Pierpoint said. "I don't think customer service is as high as it could be. I think it's time we change the `culture' of the government worker."

Both candidates have relied on grass-roots campaigning, spending three or four days a week knocking on doors. The most recent campaign contribution reports show donations of around $22,000 for Ackerman and $17,000 for Pierpoint.

HOUSE DISTRICT 13

House District 13 primarily includes Eugene's Whiteaker and Ferry Street Bridge areas and the River Road community in unincorporated Lane County.

Name: Rep. Robert Ackerman

Age: 67

Family: Wife Linda

Education: Bachelor's and law degrees, University of Oregon 

Civic/political experience: Lane Community College Board; Citizens Utility Board; Springfield City Council; River Road/Santa Clara Volunteer Library Board

Work: Current member of Oregon House of Representatives; private law practice

Contact: 242-6486

Name: Gary Pierpoint

Age: 66

Family: Wife Marsha; three grown children, four grandchildren 

Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration, Oregon State University 

Civic/political experience: Lane Workforce Partnership Board; Lane County Child Advocacy Center Board; Lane Community College Foundation; Oregon Private Industry Council; Southern Willamette Private Industry Council

Work: Senior vice president, Umpqua Bank

Contact: 344-0782