Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for 2014 Primary Election

Thank you for responding to this questionnaire.

Why this matters: The Statesman Journal Editorial Board will use this questionnaire in deciding
which candidates to endorse at the May 20 Primary Election. The board is doing fewer in-person
interviews this spring. Your answers also will be shared with reporters and may be published in
the newspaper and/or on our website, StatesmanJournal.com, so the public will see what you
submit.
We also ask that you respond to every question, instead of simply attaching campaign materials,
resumes, etc.
Please return the completed questionnaire to the Editorial Board as an email or an attached Word
document to Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com. (Handwritten or fax responses dont work.)
Deadline for submitting your questionnaire: 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 16.
Questions? Contact Editorial Page Editor Dick Hughes, 503-399-6727, dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com, or
Editorial Assistant Nancy Harrington, 503-589-6944, nharring@StatesmanJournal.com.
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Your name: Terrence Terry Taylor
Age: 63
(If your age will change before the May 20 primary, please indicate your birthday. We want to
make sure we use accurate ages in editorials and news coverage.)
Political party (if this is a partisan office):
Republican
Position you are seeking (name of position, district number, political party if applicable):
State Representative, 20th District
Republican
Number of years living in the area you seek to represent:
2
Are you a full-time resident of that area?
Yes
City/town of residence:
Salem OR West Salem
Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown
children):Wife Haley, Son Travis Dr in Salem, Daughter Heidi college student Salem ,
Tiffany, Brittany
Your education (high school, trade, college, post-baccalaureate; indicate degrees earned):
Business Management / Brigham Young University, Certificate in Computer science / E.C.P.I.
(Whos !ho in "merica#, Bache$or of %cience Communication & Management / Concor'ia
Co$$ege gra'uate' Magna Cum (au'e
If employed, current occupation, employer and job duties:
Simi Retired, consultant
Previous employers and when:
Business )!ner, I* %oft!are Pro+ect Manager, ,egiona$ *echno$ogy Manager, -ationa$
Manager, ..P. Bio Me'ica$
Military service and when:
None
Volunteer/civic/religious service and when:
Coached youth football in Salem last year, 15yrs as scout leader in the Northwest.
Please list all public offices to which youve been elected, and when:
None
Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when:
None
Other prior political and government experience:
%choo$ Boar', %ite committee, *ea Party
How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information may be made public):
Mail address: 1865 Wakefield Ct NW, Salem 97304
E-mail address: terrenceoforegon@yahoo.com
Web site URL: http://www.terrenceoforegon.com/
Phone: 971 208-8856
Please limit your response to each of the following questions to about 75 words.
1. To an outsider, how would you describe the region you wish to represent? What is it like
geographically, economically, politically and socially?
Oregon is heaven on earth, the most beautiful and diverse State I have ever lived in. From the
longest sunny day city of Bend Oregon to the most Mediterranean weather like city of Gold
Beach, we enjoy everything in-between. With two mountain ranges running through the State,
Rookies and the Green mountain ranges, we enjoy forest and high mountain beauty. Our farm
land is some of the richest in the US providing a food basket that should be the core of the State
economy. The coast provides recreation and fishing opportunities second only to Alaska on the
west coast.
Our music and culture is as diverse as the land its self with everything from blue grass to opera
and Shakespeare to community theater.
2. When did you decide to run for this office, and why?
Im tired of watching politicians care more about getting elected, than caring about the people
that voted them into office. Im tired of the lack of leadership and fundamental understanding of
business and economics. Im tired of politicians making laws for special interest groups instead
of simple and fair laws that apply to everyone and are enforced the same for everyone.
3. How much will your primary campaign cost (please be specific)?
$2,000 dollars so far. Im always open to donations if you would like to help out.
4. Who are your key endorsements from within the Mid-Valley?
Too many to list but here are some of the donators to my campaign: Bart Carter, Misty Carter,
Blair Karen Grames, Brian Lathen, Family Focus Eye Care, Jef Morre, Deborah Morre, Jim
Heder, Larry Jenny Gates, Travis & Heather Taylor, William Hyde, Mike Payne.
5. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing
board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details.
No
6. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major accounts, or
been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details.
No
7. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? Be specific.
We can all agree that the economy is the number one issue facing Oregon today. When it comes
to creating jobs we need people with real business experience to make that happen. We have
already seen politicians with educational, government employment and community coordinator
backgrounds utterly fail at understanding the business practices needed to create jobs. President
Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in 2009 and after
spending 830 billion of your dollars, has nothing positive to show for it.
I have worked my entire life creating companies and managing large projects for fortune 500
companies with multimillion dollar roll outs. I started a software development company with a
partner at age 24, owned my first restaurant at age 26, I have small business, regional and
national business experience. I know how to bring people together in a common cause to make
the changes needed to create jobs we so desperately want in Oregon. The definition of insanity
is doing the same thing over and over and then expecting a different result. Lets stop sending
politicians with no practical experience of fundamental business practices and economics to lead
the government.
8. Describe your philosophy of governance: The government has started sending a message of
the importance of being what they call politically correct rather than the message which we
have seen in years past of focusing on being morally correct. Unfortunately many times what
they mean by politically correct is putting the interest of one special interest group over
another to move the politically correct agenda forward. Many of our political problems
stem from the unbridled influence of special interest groups using money to control politicians,
policies and manipulating the priorities of our government. Whenever special interest legislation
is passed, it likely will take away someones freedoms and favors one group over another. Our
laws should be morally correct meaning just for all and we should have as few laws as
possible. Our founding Fathers set a great example of creating laws and made many of the laws
in just a few paragraphs or even in just one sentence. We need to get back to clear and easily
understandable laws.
9. Give an example of a political mistake you made and what you learned from it:
Dont trust politicians with no practical experience of fundamental business practices and
economics to lead the government.
10. What specific steps would you advocate to make government more open and transparent?
We need to bring personal responsibility and accountability into Oregon government. Oregon
has hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on failed state programs without any personal
responsibility and accountability what so ever, this needs to stop now!
11. What specific steps would you advocate to make government more fiscally effective?
Remember cover Oregon is not the first failed software project in the State. The state DMVs
several IT projects In 1996, the bulk of the project was scrapped. In 2005, a new IT project was a
push to centralize the states major data processing centers (disaster). Oregon Health Plan is still
problematic and has been for years. And then there was OWIN, the Oregon Wireless
Interoperability Network. More recently, The Oregonian discovered myriad of problems with
the Oregon Employment Department, including $6.9 million spent on a software project that
failed to work. The list could go on and on. I have interviewed several IT departments in the
State and there are several issues that pop out immediately.
1. There are several Departments working on the same software project and they do not
communicate or function well together.
2. There is no single leadership group in total control.
3. There is not any accountability or personal responsibility for the work being done.
Stop wasteful spending and make better spending decisions with the State budget
12. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected, and how? (75 words
for each issue)
A. Bring common sense and jobs back to Oregon We can all agree that the economy is the
number one issue facing Oregon today. When it comes to creating jobs we need people with real
business experience to make that happen. We have already seen politicians with educational,
government employment and community coordinator backgrounds utterly fail at understanding
the business practices needed to create jobs.
B. Reduce the influence of special interests groups on politicians Unfortunately many
times what they mean by politically correct means putting the interest of one special
interest group over another to move the politically correct agenda forward. Our laws
should be morally correct meaning just for all and we should have as few laws as possible.
C. Stop wasteful spending and make better spending decisions with the State budget We
need to bring personal responsibility and accountability into Oregon government. Oregon has
hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on failed state programs without any personal
responsibility and accountability what so ever, this needs to stop now!
13. What do you see as other important issues?
Every issue that affects our State and District is important. If it is important to the voters it is
important to me. We cannot afford to sit by and watch our community and our State slip further
into economic troubles and not do anything about it; we must all stand up and be willing to make
the changes needed to turn the tide.
Education is at the top of the list of other issues. Many teachers I have talked to feel Common
core is a disaster and under minds the Constitutions view that education should be governed at
the state and community level not the federal level. Teachers that I have talked to say they can
spend 20% of their time doing reports instead of teaching under common core. The government
then plans on creating a new bureaucracy to collect and analyze the data, then they will make
edicts on how teachers must deal with students based on nationwide information that does not
relate to local issues at all.
14. What magazines, newspapers and Web publications do you regularly read to keep up on the
news, especially on issues related to the office you are seeking?
I read everything I can get my hands on. Most of the media I read is electronic. Statesman
journal, Oregonian, Wall Street journal, Glen Beck, Fox News, Bill Post, etc
15. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to
disclose before it comes up in the campaign?
16. If you are running for a governing board in Oregon (such as city council, county board of
commissioners or the Legislature), how many meetings of that board have you attended in
person during 2013 and 2014? How many have you watched online or on TV, if applicable?
I attended most of this years State house sessions.
Thank you. Please return this questionnaire to the Editorial Board as an attached Word document to
Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com by 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 16.