Oregon Discussion

Mike McLane is joined by Redmond School Board Vice Chair Michael Summers for a detailed look inside Oregon’s public-school system. They discuss local control, curriculum, budgets, teacher negotiations, classroom discipline, special education, cell phones, parent involvement, and what a school board can realistically change when many education policies are set at the state level.

Mike McLane sits down with longtime ODOT employee Mary Dirksen to discuss what Oregon’s transportation funding fight looked like from inside the agency. They cover layoff notices, workforce uncertainty, turnover, government bureaucracy, Measure 120, and what Oregon still needs to resolve before the next transportation package.

Mike McLane and Shelly Boshart-Davis are joined by Courtney Bangs to discuss Oregon’s new state forest management plan and Habitat Conservation Plan. The episode examines timber revenue, county budgets, endangered species policy, carbon credits, forestry jobs, and whether Oregon taxpayers may be asked to fund a system that used to pay for itself.

Mike McLane and Shelly Boshart-Davis are joined by Dr. Angela Plowhead to discuss Oregon’s mental health crisis, including provider shortages, youth mental health, veteran suicide, parental notification, nonprofit accountability, and the state’s last-place ranking in mental illness and substance use prevalence. The episode asks why Oregon is spending so much while outcomes remain so poor.

In this episode of Oregon Discussion, Mike McLane sits down with his son Ben McLane, a veteran wildland firefighter, to discuss Oregon’s devastating fire season and what it reveals about forest health, firefighting capacity, fuel loads, and community preparedness. The conversation covers incident management, pyrocumulus fire behavior, rural fire response, homeowner mitigation, and why Oregon may need to prepare as if this is the new normal.

Mike McLane and Shelly Boshart-Davis are joined by Jacob Vandever to discuss Oregon’s housing and homelessness crisis. The episode examines housing supply, land use restrictions, Portland’s affordable housing struggles, homelessness spending, HB 3115, and why Oregon’s current approach is not producing the results taxpayers were promised.

02:03 – Welcome to Oregon Discussion
03:16 – Housing Policy Is Making the Crisis Worse
04:31 – Meet Jacob Vandever
07:04 – Watching Housing Policy Fail Over Time
08:46 – Kotek’s Long Record on Housing Policy
10:30 – Kotek’s 36,000 Homes Goal
14:23 – Tenant Screening and Portland City Council Pushback
15:21 – $911 Million in Housing Bonds Nearly Gone
16:48 – High Taxes, Low Results
17:31 – COVID-Era Eviction Policy
23:33 – HB 3115 and Public Camping Rules
25:21 – Why HB 3115 Still Has Not Been Repealed
27:18 – Oregon’s Homelessness Spending Problem
30:21 – Manufactured Homes and Naturally Affordable Housing
31:25 – Nonprofits Following the Money
32:53 – Oregon Homelessness Up While Nation Improves
33:36 – Unsheltered Child Homelessness in Oregon
43:55 – Housing Supply and the Cost of Living
47:00 – Oregon Falling Short of Housing Targets
47:45 – Housing as an Economic Issue
51:57 – How Housing Costs Hurt Young Families
52:48 – What Is the Solution?
54:23 – Oregon’s Land Use System
55:26 – One-Size-Fits-All Land Use Policy
57:39 – EFU Land, Rural Housing, and Common Sense
1:07:08 – Final Thoughts

In this episode of Oregon Discussion, Mike McLane and Shelly Boshart-Davis are joined by Justin Brecht to examine Oregon’s statewide audit and what it reveals about agency accounting, federal compliance, and government accountability. The conversation highlights hundreds of millions of dollars in accounting errors, weaknesses in financial controls, and the need for stronger oversight of taxpayer money.

In this episode of Oregon Discussion, Mike McLane and Shelly Boshart-Davis are joined by Christine Drazan for a detailed conversation on Oregon’s education crisis. They discuss low reading and math scores, chronic absenteeism, weakened graduation standards, classroom disruption, screen time, and why Oregon’s next governor will also play a direct role as superintendent of public instruction.

Guest: Christine Drazan — Oregon State Senator | Candidate for Governor

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Could Oregon’s IP 28 fundamentally change hunting, fishing, ranching, and animal agriculture in the state? 

In this episode of Oregon Discussion, Mike McLane and Shelly Boshart-Davis sit down with Lauren Kuenzi from the Oregon Farm Bureau to break down Initiative Petition 28, also known as the “PEACE Act.”

The conversation covers what the measure would actually do, how it changes Oregon’s animal cruelty laws, and why agriculture groups, hunting organizations, and rural communities are raising alarm.

Topics include:

• What IP 28 actually changes in Oregon law
• How the measure impacts farming and ranching
• Hunting and fishing concerns
• Artificial insemination and livestock practices
• Oregon’s agriculture economy
• Regulatory pressure on family farms
• Measure 110 comparisons and unintended consequences
• Oregon’s urban-rural divide
• Why coalition groups are mobilizing early

Guest: Lauren Kuenzi — Government & Political Affairs Director, Oregon Farm Bureau

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IP 28 Oregon, PEACE Act Oregon, Oregon animal cruelty law, Oregon Farm Bureau, Lauren Kuenzi, Oregon hunting laws, Oregon fishing laws, Oregon agriculture, Oregon ranching, Oregon farming, Oregon politics, Oregon ballot measure, Oregon initiative petition, Mike McLane, Shelly Boshart Davis, Oregon Discussion podcast, Measure 110 comparison, Oregon rural economy, Oregon regulation, Oregon livestock industry

Recorded live at the Dorchester Conference in Welches, Oregon, this special long-form episode of Oregon Discussion features conversations with leaders, candidates, grassroots advocates, staff, authors, business voices, and young conservatives from across the state.

This is not a normal episode. It is a full Dorchester special — a 6+ hour collection of conversations about Oregon’s future, the policy fights ahead, and the people stepping forward in an election year.

Use the chapter markers to jump directly to the guest you want to watch.

Guests featured in this episode:

Amanda Staehely — Candidate for Oregon House District 18 

Mark Fitz — Dorchester Conference Board Director | President, Star Oilco 

Darcey Edwards — Oregon State Representative, House District 31 

Andrew Morrison — Candidate for Oregon House District 48 

Stephanie Carkin — Candidate for Oregon House District 26 

Taren Feist — Oregon State Director, Women for Gun Rights 

Angela Todd — Founder and Host, PDX Real 

Cliff Bentz — U.S. Representative, Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District 

Christine Drazan — Oregon State Senator | Candidate for Governor 

Ben West — Clackamas County Commissioner, Position 5 

Brad Hicks — Candidate for Oregon Senate District 3 

Jack Pitner — TPUSA Oregon 

Olivia Augustus — Intern, Oregon House Republican Caucus 

Ty Vizenor — Oregon House Republican Caucus Staff 

Lucetta Elmer — House Republican Leader | Oregon State Representative, HD 24 

Jacob Vandever — Legislative Director, Oregon House Republicans 

Dennis Kneale — Author, Oregoners 

David Brock Smith — Oregon State Senator | Candidate for U.S. Senate 

Geoff Davis — Vice President, Davis Glass, Inc.

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00:00 – Dorchester Conference Special Intro

02:12 – Mike McLane & Shelly Boshart-Davis Open the Episode

21:44 – Mark Fitz: Dorchester, Fuel, and Oregon Business

37:34 – Darcey Edwards: HD 31, Housing, and Swatting Laws

56:42 – Amanda Staehely: HD 18, Agriculture, and Rural Oregon

1:13:24 – Andrew Morrison: HD 48, Education and Public Safety

1:33:08 – Stephanie Carkin: Construction, Permitting, and Cost of Living

1:45:03 – Taren Feist: Women for Gun Rights and Grassroots Media

2:05:00 – Angela Todd: PDX Real and Independent Civic Media

2:43:06 – Cliff Bentz: Federal Spending and Congressional Leadership

3:06:42 – Christine Drazan: Governor’s Race and Oregon’s Direction

3:27:27 – Ben West: Clackamas County and Homelessness Policy

3:39:32 – Brad Hicks: Southern Oregon Jobs and Business Climate

3:58:50 – Jack Pitner: TPUSA Oregon and Campus Free Speech

4:11:21 – Ty Vizenor & Olivia Augustus: Gen Z Inside the Legislature

4:28:40 – Lucetta Elmer & Jacob Vandever: House Republican Strategy

4:46:48 – Dennis Kneale: Oregoners and Oregon’s Policy Warning Signs

5:30:34 – David Brock Smith: Government Efficiency and U.S. Senate Race

6:18:36 – Geoff Davis: Business, Family, and Life Behind the Scenes

6:26:29 – Final Reflections from Dorchester