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Public Comments - Speeches
Marion County DemoForum
October 18, 2006Do you remember when the sight of a flag fluttering in the breeze took your breath away?
Do you remember when the 4th of July was the best holiday of the year – when the fireworks, parades, and barbecues celebrated our ideals?
Do you remember when Oregon was a leader: when our rivers were clean, our forests were healthy, our schools were community centers, and our neighbors knew – and trusted each other?
I am Paul Evans, and I do.
I remember when America was as respected as it was feared.
I remember when America meant the Peace Corps as well as the Marine Corps; when we were known throughout the world as a beacon of hope for the “better angels of our nature.”
And I remember when Oregon was the New Eden: the place where people wanted to live, the community everyone took pride in serving.
It seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it?
For nearly two decades the forces of greed and short-sightedness have waged total war upon our Oregon.
Our schools have shortened days, increased class sizes, and cut programs just to keep the doors open.
Our environment – our air, lands, and rivers are now on the edge of crisis because powerful corporations have purchased the privilege to pollute.
And our citizens are less healthy than before: you can work hard every day, play by the rules, and still not have access to even the most basic health care services.
Our Legislature has failed us; our leaders have forgotten their charge.
We are here assembled because our Oregon is at risk; we are here because each of us believes in Oregon and is dissatisfied with our circumstance.
We are here because we want something better.
It is time for a new vision – it is time for new leadership – it is time for change.
I have spent the past fifteen years learning how to lead.
As a soldier, mayor, teacher, volunteer firefighter, and citizen – I have worked with people to achieve results – sometimes under harsh conditions.
This campaign is about two ideas: LEADERSHIP and CHANGE.
I believe leadership is earned, not given.
Leadership comes from making tough decisions and then living with them; it comes from learning lessons – often from failure – and applying what you have learned.
Leadership is about duty: it means doing what must be done – fighting for our values even when doing so means challenging the influence of the vested establishment.
Experience is important, and leadership experience is critical.
This election I can offer something the incumbent cannot: a diverse background of leadership experience, inside as well as outside government, a reservoir of leadership at the local and community level that will make it possible for us to transform how we govern ourselves.
2006 is also about change: not for change sake, but responsible, rational change.
Our Legislature has not done what it needed to do.
It has failed us – they have failed us – and we are not here by happenstance.
Our Legislators made decisions and voted for policies that created our current circumstances.
In a democracy we are required to hold our leaders accountable because they hold in their hands not just our present, but our future.
Einstein once said, “true insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.”
Change requires a different approach – different people – different objectives.
We must rethink the basics: we must develop a new covenant between the governed and our government.
This past spring I used this forum to present the “Pioneer Compact.”
The Pioneer Compact is a value-framed reform agenda that will help us reclaim the promise of Oregon.
It is time for us recognize that government has four primary responsibilities.
First, we must guarantee opportunity for all our citizens: education, training, and health care should be understood for what they are – investments in a healthy, flexible workforce.
Second, we must provide a safe environment: safe air, land, and water – safe streets – secure borders.
Third, we must protect our basic rights to think, act, and live without fear: we must learn to trust and respect each other again.
And fourth, we must promote the future, even as we provide in the present: we must steward this special place or we will spoil it for future generations.
We have it within ourselves; a New Oregon is within our grasp, if we are willing to personally commit to making our neighborhoods, our community, our Oregon better.
Some time ago, Governor Tom McCall defined heroism this way: “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 it better.”
Each of us has an obligation to serve where and when we can serve best.
Every one of us that accepts the privileges of freedom and liberty must also accept the obligation of protecting them – the stewardship of sustaining them for future generations.
This is our time, our Oregon.
It is a time for heroic acts; it is time for a new generation of heroes to rise – an opportunity for us all to renew our community – one neighborhood at a time.
We can engender a new cultural expectation of service: imagine the possibilities.
Imagine a community where service and responsibility are understood as benefits of living in a special place.
Imagine a state that leads its neighbors by example: good schools, clean rivers, and safe streets.
Imagine an Oregon that keeps its promise.
Our journey begins here, it begins today.
Originally, I had planned on concluding my prepared remarks with a request.
I had planned on asking for your vote.
However, I find myself needing to ask for more than your vote – I must also ask for your help – your personal involvement for the remainder of this campaign.
Sometime ago I was asked by my Air National Guard unit to support a tasking in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM.
Until recently, that sixty-day mission was scheduled to depart after the election; it was to be a “holiday tour” to provide mission and combat experience for men and women that I care about – during a period of time when the Taliban are expected to be unusually active.
This mission and its unanticipated timing, was not planned, but it is reality.
We are at war. Whatever the impact on this campaign, I could not in good conscience ignore my obligations as an officer – or as a citizen.
Accordingly, I will depart Oregon on the fifth of November and return in early January. It is a rotational assignment so the risk of being extended is virtually nonexistent.
I want to serve this community as your state senator – I will do everything I can to bring to that office the same level of commitment, devotion to duty, and personal investment I have given every other position of responsibility I have held.
But I need your help.
I need you to continue the work: to continue fighting for the values that matter most.
I need you to talk with your neighbors: at the door, on the phone, at work and at play.
I need you to demand leadership: to explain to this community why leadership matters, how leadership is the difference in this campaign.
And I need you to argue for change: the Legislature that got us “here” cannot get us where we need to go: it is a choice between staying the course and changing our course.
Together we can reclaim the promise of Oregon; together we can fight for the future our children and grand children deserve.
Together we can make this place ours again – the Oregon we cherish the community we know possible.
Together we can do better – together we will.
Thank you for your generosity of spirit, for your devotion to duty, for your willingness to step up and make this community better.
Thank you for making this campaign possible.
