Opinion: GOP leader lists challenges he sees for Oregon

Editor’s note: Although we are a nonpartisan newspaper, we think this “open letter,” written by the chair of the Oregon Republican Party, highlights concerns shared by Linn County’s rural residents, so we’re giving it some space.

Dear Gov. Kotek,

Congratulations on becoming Oregon’s 39th governor. Though the majority of Oregonians voted for someone else, all of Oregon is hoping that our state can reach greater heights. 

Unfortunately, too many for too long have felt left out and left behind. Those who feel unrepresented in rural parts of Oregon have so much in common with communities of color in urban settings. We have all seen our state become increasingly unrecognizable and unresponsive.

Oregon’s greatest and proudest natural resource is her people, and that means all of her people. Even the people you spent months calling extreme, dangerous, and a “threat” to democracy. With all due respect, Governor, a difference of opinion is not a justification to debase, devalue, or disregard people.

This is especially so when you promise to be an advocate for all, promoting inclusivity and championing a more tolerant Oregon. A governor can’t be fully tolerant or inclusive while calling half of her constituents dangerous.

As the first Asian-American Republican Party chairman in Oregon, I find it abhorrent. 

We are political opponents, not political enemies. We have big problems in our state due to a lack of leadership, accountability, and transparency. This needs to change. 

Oregon has been suffering for decades under a far-left agenda that cares more about teachers’ unions than it does about the teachers and students themselves. We have a humanitarian crisis with drugs, homelessness, and crime running rampant. 

Our economic policies are only making things worse. You cannot penalize job creators and families while elevating special interest groups and insiders. In a post-Covid world with already thin margins, job creators are being forced to leave this state because of continued mandates and madness.

A wide majority of rural Oregonians now think their only chance at representation is to join Idaho. The kale that your friends pick up at New Seasons and Whole Foods in their Priuses came from outside our state and does not support our farmers. Your policies are crushing them. 

Food producers and family farms are on the brink after the overtime fight. We know that you are no fan of big business, so why push food producers out of work only to sell to the big guys? Run-away food costs and food deserts in urban and rural communities alike will only continue under current policies.

Basic economics suggests that onerous and punitive land use regulations limiting development make everything more expensive. Less supply, more demand. The more demand, the higher the cost.

These policies have made homeownership for many a pipe dream, not the American dream. And while we are talking about housing, please know that the interest deduction isn’t racist, in fact, it’s one of the few deductions people who look like me can use to get a start in the middle class. 

A middle class that would have more opportunities and prospects if we weren’t ranked in the bottom tier for education outcomes, despite almost being in the top tier for spending. 

We have declared academic achievement “racist,” eliminating all math, reading, and writing requirements in the process. But to suggest or assume that communities of color can’t excel academically is in and of itself a racist stance. It is a greater racial indictment on the people who eliminated the standards than the folks the system has failed.

Now, to the environment: As our state begins to eliminate gas vehicles, limit natural gas usage, and God knows what else, I would point out that your party’s systematic failure to properly manage our forests has been more detrimental to our climate than every diesel truck driving through rural Oregon. 

As Oregon finally turns the page on the Brown administration, we’re ready to look to a new future. Undoubtedly there was a direct correlation between Brown’s failures, universal unpopularity, and incompetence. Oregonians want to put that in the past and work towards a better tomorrow.

This is an opportunity to change course, represent all Ore- gonians, advance beyond a super-majority legislature, and, yes, work together with “dangerous Republicans.” 

Success for Oregon means a change in direction.

We wish you all the best, and we’ll see you in 2024.

Sincerely,

Justin Hwang

Chairman

Oregon Republican Party

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