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Public Comments - Speeches

Comments in Favor of HJR 16
Oregon State Capitol, Salem OR
April 4, 2001

Before I begin with my formal comments, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today.

My name is Paul Evans, I reside at 744 E. Main Street, Monmouth, Oregon.

I was asked to speak to you today because I am currently the youngest Mayor in the State of Oregon.

I am here in support of HJR 16: a bill that would allow eighteen year old men and women the opportunity to serve their state in the Oregon Legislative Assembly.

While I recognize that you have many significant bills before you - I earnestly believe that the symbol of this one - stands out.

In simple terms, you have a rare privilege. You have the power to strengthen an intergenerational promise; you have the capacity to rally your peers and make your state stronger in ways beyond the ordinary.

Every legislature passes a budget but few extend the franchise of service to a new category of citizens.

Let me explain.

When I was eighteen years old, I ran for and was elected to the Monmouth City Council.

Three spots were open; six of us ran including three incumbents.

Monmouth has an "at-large" system - I was running against the other five.

I won. In fact, I received the most votes and stunned the other candidates.

I did not do this because of good looks, money, or charm - didn't have them then, or now.

I won because my community believed I was worth an investment.

They allowed me the opportunity to serve because they knew I could perform the basic tasks and that over time I would re-invest my time, talent, and emotional treasure in the community as a whole.

In my years on the council - I learned how government at the local level worked. I also gained a particular kind of maturity that has allowed me to serve my community in other ways.

After college I served in the USAF as a line officer - I was able to use some of the skills developed during my time on the council to help grasp systems theories - how to see the larger picture while attending to the smaller details.

By now, most of you are probably wondering why I am talking about city council - because the bill does not directly address service on local boards.

Here's the deal: service, in any capacity, is an important linkage between the what was, the what is, and the what could be.

Whether your service is packing an M-16, teaching people in far off lands how to irrigate crops, or yes, serving your neighbors as a state legislator - service itself is the means and the end.

People can do interesting, sometimes confounding things - you know it, I know it, and they know it.

However, on the whole, Oregonians make more "right" calls than "wrong."

They are not going to elect a person to office that is not willing to guarantee to them first (before the fact) that they are willing to rise to the occasion and learn, mature, and serve in a serious fashion.

I look back at eighteen and I am amused by how much I did not know - in fact the older I get, the more I know, I don't know.

But I also remember the sense of wonder, the willingness to learn new things, the desire to do the "right" thing, and mostly - the sense of responsibility I felt because my neighbors had given me a special gift.

Former Governor McCall once said, "Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people that say this is my community; it is my responsibility to make things better."

If he was right, and I believe he was - why should we continue an age limit on heroism?

We shouldn't.

We must provide the option for those individuals, judged by their peers as worthy of the trust, to serve in the Oregon Legislature.

You have heard the arguments but repetition shouldn't discount their validity.

Eighteen year olds can fight and die for their country. They can drive cars. They can pay taxes. They can elect a President, a Governor, you and your peers... Shouldn't they be allowed to serve as well?

I want to be clear: this bill will not open the flood gates to a wave of people ill prepared to serve, it will simply allow those few people worthy of service in this building, the opportunity they rightly deserve.

In closing, Albert Einstein once said, "It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in public affairs."

This bill is more than it appears, it will allow citizens an opportunity ensure all citizens have the legal right to run for service.