Alley emerges as our clear choice for state treasurer
East Oregonian
October 11, 2008
When Allen Alley first showed up at the East Oregonian one Monday morning, we thought he might be a fringe candidate who was simply filling out a ballot devoid of Republican candidates.
After all, he had taken on the monumental task of opposing long-time Tumalo politico Ben Westlund, who seemed like a shoo-in for the position of state treasurer despite some shadows in his personal life that seem to keep emerging in his campaign.
Nonetheless, Alley had driven all the way to Pendleton as part of his then-fledgling campaign and as a matter of courtesy, we agreed to sit down and hear what he had to say.
It quickly became clear Alley was anything but a fringe candidate. Instead he is an individual who, despite not being an insider in Salem, certainly knows his way around the business community. That’s a valuable bit of experience when one is looking at an executive to oversee Oregon’s fiscal resources.
It also became clear Alley is a man of great substance with impeccable personal integrity and convictions.
In an election season which has offered few surprises, Alley has continued to emerge as a strong candidate for public office.
Alley’s resume reminds us “over 30 years he has built an experience base that spans multiple disciplines from engineering to marketing, venture capital, entrepreneurship and most recently, public service. Born into a middle-class family, he has progressed to become an award-winning business leader who has been instrumental in growing two of Oregon’s most successful technology companies – Pixelworks and InFocus. He started his career in business with the Ford Motor Company and Boeing before founding companies worth tens of millions of dollars.”
His leadership in the business community hasn’t gone unnoticed on the other side of the aisle.
Most recently, he left private business to serve as deputy chief of staff for Governor Ted Kulongoski, where he oversaw the policy areas of economic development, technology, transportation, workforce training and energy. The governor, anxious to have a breadth of views articulated in discussions with his advisors, chose Alley to provide the element of diversity.
As a candidate, Alley distinguishes between himself and Westlund by saying he sees the role of the state treasurer as “being the executive of the Bank of Oregon” versus seeing the office as a legislative function.
During his distinguished tenure in office, outgoing Treasurer Randall Edwards has elevated the status and engagement of that function in terms of managing the billions of dollars taxpayers entrust to the State of Oregon.
As the state continues to address escalating needs and the potential of declining revenues, the possibility of having someone with Alley’s experience in charge makes perfect sense.
As the candidates have pointed out, Oregon has the most volatile tax structure in the country. And, although tax revenues have doubled from $5 billion to $10 billion in recent years, initiatives have consumed $4.3 billion of that increase. It’s critical to have someone with business acumen at the helm.
We certainly respect Westlund’s experience and tenure in the Legislature, but we also admire Governor Kulongoski’s wisdom in believing that state leadership should reflect a balance of ideals and philosophies. Alley is the right man to provide that balance.
As noted in a campaign release, “while other politicians have been busy running for office, he has been busy running Oregon corporations.”
Now he is willing to share that knowledge and expertise in the complex world of finance that Oregon’s government resources have become.
We believe Allen Alley should become the next state treasurer.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board, comprised of Editor and Publisher George Murdock, Associate Publisher Kathryn Brown, General Manager Wendy DalPez, Managing Editor Skip Nichols and Deputy Managing Editor Dave Sager. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
