Lawyer questions Saxton’s ties to Goldschmidt

Disgraced politician becomes issue in the GOP governor’s race

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Nov 29, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A Portland lawyer is trying to make Neil Goldschmidt an issue in the Republican race for Oregon governor.

Mark Foster is forming a political action committee called Worried Oregonians to oppose Ron Saxton’s nomination for governor because of Saxton’s personal, professional and political ties to both Goldschmidt and his wife, Diana. Foster accuses Saxton Ñ another Portland lawyer Ñ of being part of a small circle of local power brokers who lost their leader because of the highly publicized sex scandal that drove Neil Goldschmidt from public life.

“Republicans should not nominate someone who has so many ties to the Goldschmidts,” said Foster, who has been active within the Oregon Republican Party for many years.

Saxton acknowledges knowing the Goldschmidts for years and working with them both professionally and politically. But he denies being part of Neil Goldschmidt’s former network of influence and denounces his personal behavior.

“Neil Goldschmidt betrayed his friends and the state. I have never even voted for him,” said Saxton, noting that he chaired former Republican Secretary of State Norma Paulus’ unsuccessful 1986 campaign against Goldschmidt for governor.

Whatever the case, several prominent Republicans told the Portland Tribune they believe Saxton’s relationship to the Goldschmidts is a legitimate campaign issue.

Rob Kremer, a charter school advocate, said Goldschmidt symbolizes everything that many grass-roots Republicans believe has gone wrong with the state since the 1970s Ñ including land-use planning laws that restrict private development, light-rail projects that take gas-tax dollars away from roads, and urban renewal programs that divert property-tax dollars from police and schools.

“For the Republican rank and file, Neil Goldschmidt symbolizes everything that has gone wrong in Oregon for the past 30 years,” said Kremer, director of the Oregon Education Coalition.

Former Republican Oregon Labor Commissioner Jack Roberts agrees.

“The issue is not Neil Goldschmidt’s personal problems. It is about a culture of decision making in the city of Portland, and Saxton is part of that culture. It is up to voters to decide how they feel about that,” said Roberts, who is supporting Mannix in the Republican primary election.

At the same time, conservative political observer Jim Pasero believes there are more important issues in the race.

“We’ve been in the economic doldrums for years, and people are wondering how we’re going to get out of them. We have a lack of leadership in this state, and that’s what people are looking for,” said Pasero, editor of Brainstorm NW, a monthly conservative magazine that covers Oregon politics.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit