Treasurer
Democrats: Jeff Gudman
The state treasurer’s office doesn’t get much media attention which is, on balance, a good thing. You don’t want big headlines and drama coming from the state’s chief financial officer who oversees $100 billion-plus in investments, including most notably Oregon’s pension fund. But you do want someone who can capably recognize and plan for the risks and high-stakes implications of investment decisions. Democrats’ strongest candidate for this position is financial analyst and former Lake Oswego City Councilor Jeff Gudman.
Gudman, 69, brings decades of experience, not only in investing and as a treasurer for foundations and nonprofits, but also as someone who has for several years attended Oregon Investment Council and Public Employees Retirement System board meetings. He is well steeped in the longstanding problems that face the PERS Fund and has pushed for dedicated allocations to lower the unfunded liability, which now sits at a whopping $28 billion. Such payments can help ease the amount schools, local government and other public employers have to pay.
Gudman’s experience comes through in discussing the numerous questions that should help guide Oregon’s investing strategy, particularly in how to incorporate climate change as a factor in such decisions. He recognizes the reality of needing to invest for strong returns while noting that Oregon can band together with other institutional investors to pressure companies to change. And his platform shows other levers he would pull to achieve a broad range of objectives, from convening an advisory group to identify infrastructure projects that should get priority for Oregon’s bonding capacity to exploring the sales of carbon credits for state forests.
Gudman has twice run for this position before as a Republican, but changed his registration last year as the Republican party has continued to shift to more extreme positions and away from its traditional turf. Regardless of his party affiliation, Gudman has consistently been focused on fiscal responsibility and ensuring that Oregon can meet its pension obligations while limiting the impact on public agencies’ budgets. There is no more vital priority for Oregon’s treasurer.
His opponent is longtime state senator and physician Elizabeth Steiner, 60, who serves as one of the Legislature’s chief budget writers. She said she did not plan to run until she was recruited by outgoing Treasurer Tobias Read. But as treasurer, she said, she can still advance her long held goal of making Oregon the healthiest state in the nation, by focusing on improving Oregonians’ financial stability by making savings easier and ensuring that agencies are adequately informing Oregonians of savings plans.
That, however, reflects a legislator’s focus on consumer-friendly programs, not that of an executive in charge of overseeing $100-plus billion in investments. Her campaign website provides few specifics of what she would do as treasurer.
Steiner contends that the treasurer position is not a role for someone without deep political experience. Setting aside the fact that Gudman spent eight years on the Lake Oswego City Council, we disagree on the importance of political experience for this position. In fact, deep political alliances can be problematic for a treasurer who has a legally binding responsibility to make decisions in the best financial interest of the beneficiaries whose funds are under management. And we have previously questioned Steiner’s independence. During last year’s teachers strike against Portland Public Schools, she sided with her teachers union-donors and slammed the district for not funding the union’s priorities – even though the budget she helped write did not include nearly enough money to do so without forcing cuts. Those cuts are now underway.
Oregon may soon be facing bad news as a result of the poor performance of investments over the past two years. Starting in 2025, public employers may have to make even higher contributions to the PERS Fund to make up for poor returns, depriving Oregonians of the public services such dollars should pay for. The need for a treasurer with the experience to navigate these uncertainties could not be clearer. Democrats should vote for Gudman as their pick to face Republican Sen. Brian Boquist in the November election.
- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
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