Think Out Loud

Washington and Oregon voters have already begun casting their ballots in the November general election. In Washington, the statewide contests include races to elect a new governor and attorney general and four ballot measures, including Initiative 2117. 

If approved, it would repeal Washington’s landmark law targeting greenhouse gas emissions, the Climate Commitment Act. The law establishes a cap-and-invest program which requires refineries and other large polluters to purchase allowances equal to the carbon emissions they generate, while phasing out emissions by 95% by 2050. More than $2 billion has been raised since the CCA took effect last January to fund programs ranging from making transit free for youth to expanding EV charging infrastructure.  

Let’s Go Washington, the group behind I-2117 and the other state measures on the ballot this year, claims the law creates a “hidden gas tax” for consumers and is to blame for the state’s high gas prices. Let’s Go Washington is largely financed by Brian Heywood, a hedge fund manager who has questioned the wisdom of cutting carbon emissions. 

Joining us to debate I-2117 are Washington state Senator Joe Nguyen who represents the 34th District and is chair of the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee, and Todd Myers, Vice president of research at the Washington Policy Center. 

Voters in Malheur County have a measure on their ballots that would get rid of a county ordinance that compels officials to meet and discuss shifting the Idaho border to include rural Oregon. The ordinance, approved by voters in 2021, requires the county judge and commissioners to meet three times a year to discuss how to promote the interests of the county in any negotiations to relocate the Idaho-Oregon border. We talk to David Armstrong, who helped get Measure 23-74 on the ballot. We also hear from Matt McCaw, Executive Director of Move Oregon’s Border/Greater Idaho, which initially pushed for the ordinance. 

The semiconductor company Intel isn’t based in Oregon, but it does have large manufacturing  facilities in Hillsboro and Aloha. Although the company received more than $8 billion in federal subsidies, it says cuts to its labor force are needed worldwide. In Oregon, this means about 1,300 people were laid off. Oregonian/Oregonlive.com business reporter Mike Rogoway has been covering this industry for decades and joins us to share more details about the effect of this global company’s decisions on Oregon.

Nearly 100 non-tenure track faculty at Portland State University got notice of possible layoffs last week. These notices come as the university faces a continued decline in enrollment and a budget deficit of $18 million this fiscal year. PSU President Ann Cudd joins us to explain the big picture of the university’s financial stability.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has served in the position since 2012. She is not running for re-election this year so for the first time since 2008, the race is wide open. 

Republican Will Lathrop is a former prosecutor in Marion and Yamhill counties. Democrat Dan Rayfield is a former House speaker, attorney and state representative.  

We’ll hear from both candidates on why they’re the best pick for the job.  

Coty Raven Morris is an assistant professor of choir, music education and social justice at Portland State. When the fall term began three weeks ago, Morris had exciting news she wanted to share with her students before choir rehearsal began. For a second year in a row, Morris had been nominated as a semifinalist for a GRAMMY Music Educator Award, chosen from a pool of more than 2,400 nominees. The winner will be announced during the GRAMMY Awards ceremony in January. 

Morris is also the founder of Being Human Together which builds connections between youth, educators and people from marginalized communities, including those who are unhoused, through conversations and choir performances. She joins us to talk about the impact the organization is having, and how her experience in a high school choir carved a path of opportunity out of childhood adversity. 

With a chill in the air and Halloween around the corner, Oregon is getting ready for spooky season. But for some, Halloween is more than just a time for costumes and candy, it’s a time to test one’s courage and get scared. Oregon has a number of scare attractions across the state. Robin Downward is the production director of the Nightmare Chamber in Medford. Mike Milburn is the owner of Milburn’s Haunted Manor in Hubbard. They both join us to share more on their haunted houses and their approach to scaring. 

 It used to be that age was one of the biggest predictive factors in whether a person would actually vote in any given U.S. election. However, the participation of younger voters rose in 2020 by more than 10 percent compared with the 2016 election. It’s unclear if that trend will continue. 

We’re joined by two members of Gen Z who say they have been looking forward to voting for years. GiGi Whisler is sophomore at Pacific University in Forest Grove, who describes herself as liberal.  Heidi Taylor is from Phoenix, Oregon and is a sophomore at Brigham Young University-Rexburg, in Idaho. They both join us to discuss how they’re feeling about voting for the first time and what issues are most important to them as they decide on candidates and measures. 

PROMO: With the election just weeks away and many Oregonians now in possession of their ballots, we check in with two college sophomores of different political perspectives. They’ll be voting for president for the first time ever, and we’ll ask how they’re feeling about Democracy, voting integrity and how they’re weighing the issues. 

In 2022, Portland residents voted to drastically change their form of government. This included using ranked choice voting and a 12-person city council. With the change in government, the mayor will work closely with the new city administrator to oversee the everyday functions of the city and help craft the budget, but will no longer have a vote on the city council, unless it’s to break a tie. There are 19 people running to be the city’s new mayor.

“Think Out Loud” invited the four candidates with the largest number of individual donations and funds raised. Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio are current city council commissioners and Keith Wilson is the president and CEO of TITAN Freight Systems. They all join us for a debate.

In 2022, Portland residents voted to drastically change the city’s form of government. That includes using ranked-choice voting to expand the city council from five seats to 12. 

Another change is the creation of four geographic districts, with voters in each district electing three candidates to represent them on the new council.

“Think Out Loud” is hosting a series of events throughout Portland to help voters meet the district candidates. They were invited based on the number of individual donors who contributed to their campaigns.

On Oct. 9, we held a District 3 candidates forum at Gigantic Brewing Hawthorne Pub. We partnered with the Urban League of Portland for the event which they live streamed on Facebook. 

District 3 covers most of Southeast Portland, west of I-205. It includes the neighborhoods of Mt. Tabor, Sunnyside, Montavilla and Woodstock. It also includes some neighborhoods in Northeast which cross Sandy Boulevard such as Rose City Park and Roseway.

The D3 candidates we spoke to include: Rex Burkholder, Jesse Cornett, Daniel DeMelo, Chris Flanary, Theo Hathaway Saner, Harrison Kass, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, Steve Novick, Jon Walker and Luke Zak.