Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for Nov.

2, 2010, General Election

Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for use by Statesman Journal
Editorial Board members in evaluating candidates for potential endorsements. Your
answers also will be shared with reporters, may be published in the print newspaper and
will be posted on StatesmanJournal.com.

Name: Kevin Cameron

House/Senate District Number: House District 19

Party affiliation: Republican

Age: 54

City/town of residence: Salem, Marion County

Number of years you have lived in the district: 12

Are you a full-time resident of the district? Yes

Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of

grown children): Judy (Wallace) Cameron, wife 28yrs, 2 grown daughters, Amanda and
Brianne

Current employer/job: Cafe Today LLC/CEO/small business consultant and State Rep
HD 19

Employment, military and volunteer history: Some Farm and Agriculture early work
history, have held many positions within the hospitality industry from dishwasher to
various management levels. Alumni Board Member of Oregon State University Alumni
Foundation; Morning Star Community Church, Board Member; Former Chairman of the
Board, Oregon Restaurant Association; Coached Little League Softball; Provide
leadership and financial support for many community organizations over the years,
including Salem Leadership Foundation, Boys and Girls Club, Greater Salem Young
Life, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce; SEDCOR; Reid Saunders and Salem Riverfest
2007, Corban College.

Civic/religious/other local involvement: Morning Star Community Church, Board

Member. See previous question.

Please list all public offices to which you’ve been elected, and when: Oregon House of
Representatives, appointed 2005, elected 2007, 2009
Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: None

Other political and government experience: 2005: House Committee on General

Government; 2005 House Committee on Health and Human Services; 2007 House Ways
and Means Public Safety Subcommittee; 2007-present House Committee on Business and
Labor, Vice chair and House Judiciary Committee; Currently on Attorney General’s
Underage Drinking Task Force and the Governor’s Council on Re-entry.

How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information will be public):
Mail address: Kevin Cameron for Oregon
4742 Liberty Road S #236
Salem, OR 97302

E-mail address: info@kevincameronfororegon.com

Web site URL: www.kevincameronfororegon.com

Phone: 503-269-0915

Fax: 503-362-2542

How much will your general election campaign cost? (Please be specific about your
campaign budget, not “as much as we can raise.”) $35,000

Who are your top campaign contributors/lenders? (Please list at least the current top five
and their total dollar amounts.) OR Lodging and Restaurant PAC - $16,000, Oregon
Health Care Association- $5,000, William Pierce, MD-$5,000, OR Beverage PAC -
$5,000, Nike - $2,500. In addition we have received donations from 209 individuals and
small businesses this cycle.

Who are your key political advisers? (Please identify at least your top three.) I listen to
many people, including constituent’s opinions on issues. Judy Cameron, Denyc Boles,
Raquel Moore-Green, Pastor Scott Nelson, Chuck Adams are all individuals who provide
me counsel. There are groups in our community that I rely on for knowledge and advice
on issues. I have good relations with other community leaders at different levels of
government, and the volunteer leaders who are part of those organization that provide
great resources to help me.

Key endorsements you’ve received: Oregon Farm Bureau, Marion County Farm Bureau,
Taxpayer Association of Oregon; Oregon State Police Officers Association, Oregon
Forest Industries Council, Oregon Association of Nurseries; Oregonians for Food and
Shelter; Oregon Police Chiefs for Safer Communities; Oregon Health Care Association;
Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance; Oregon Cattleman’s Association; Associated Oregon
Loggers; National Federation of Independent Businesses; Ag-PAC; Association of
Oregon Industries; Oregon Sheriff’s Association; District Attorney Walt Beglau; Marion
County Sheriff Jason Myers.

For each of the following questions, please limit your answer to about 75 words.

1. 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. Traffic violations only; no involvement in crimes. My previous opponent filed a
wrongful ethics violation against me. It was proven to be unsubstantiated and amounted
to dirty politics.

2. 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

3. Describe this legislative district: House District is a mixture of urban and rural
communities. I serve people in Aumsville, Turner, and portions of Salem. We educate
from preschool to college. It’s the home of Corban University and members of HD 19
feed 5 high schools in two different school districts. We have farms, orchards, wineries,
and ranches. We have prisons and law enforcement training centers. We have small
business, industries and airports. It is a diverse and interesting community.

4. What specific steps will you take to make government more open and accessible to the
public? I put a lot of effort, time, and resources in reaching out to the community I
represent, whether through a traditional Town Hall, a telephone Town Hall, regular E-
newsletters, surveys, questionnaires, and social media in order to communicate with and
hear from constituents. I attend many community events. My goal is to be easy to talk to
and accessible. I am the face of government to many people, and it is a role I take
seriously.

5. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? I have
proven the ability to work with others at many different levels. I understand business
issues and what it takes to create real jobs. Staying consistent and being honest with
others are personal values that I bring to the position in representing a diversity of
citizens. Practical, real world experience of collaborating and moving common sense
solutions forward is the strength that I will continue to bring to the legislature.

6. What specific steps would you advocate to improve Oregon’s economy and create
jobs? Capping the ‘Gross Receipts Tax’ so that companies such as Agricultural Co-ops
will not be penalized for doing business in Oregon. Improve the opportunity to bring
capital to Oregon by reducing the Capital Gains tax rate. These are two quick things we
could do that would send a strong message to the existing businesses we want them to
invest. We want to send a national message “Oregon is open for business.”

7. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the tax provisions created by Measures
66/67? Capping the gross receipts tax as cited in #6. Oregon has a negative tax for C –
corps such as Wilco Farm Supply, that are set up as CO-Ops to serve other businesses.
This needs to be fixed quickly and the state must publicize the changes to try and help
business start investing and creating private sector jobs.

8. What specific revenue changes, if any, would you advocate to balance the 2011-13
budget? The revenue changes would result from the changes to promote businesses to
invest and hire others. The income taxes produced from those jobs will push revenues
upward. Oregon families receive their revenue (incomes) in many different ways and
cycles. If State government would become disciplined and save money during the times
when revenues are high, then there would be more savings during recessionary periods.

9. What specific spending reductions, if any, would you advocate to balance the 2011-13
budget? There must be a better team approach to coming up with this answer. My
thoughts come from many listening sessions with constituents and state employees who
have their suggestions. Reductions should be done after careful analysis of the core
functions of government. We could reduce the number of agencies, currently at 93!
Upper management and mid management positions should be looked at first and then
finding efficiencies by continuing to listen to front line employees on how we can make
changes.

10. Which of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s “resetting government” proposals do you support?
I think his Cabinet’s hard work deserves applause. It is important that none of their
recommendations are ignored without a good discussion with all the stakeholders.
Labor costs are 75% of our budget, and is projected to grow much quicker than the
revenue. Finding ways to produce and serve more citizens with the same or less dollars
will be a difficult challenge, but with good strategic planning and strong leadership,
many of his recommendations will lead to a longer term health of state government

11. What changes, if any, would you advocate in the structure, scope or role of state
government? We need to re-evaluate all agencies and programs within every agency.
Education, Human Services and Public Safety use up most of the state budget, so the
focus needs to be on these. Creative approaches on achieving focused outcomes, must be
part of every program/department. A culture of service to citizens will only take place if
we have strong leadership who listens, evaluates, makes decisions and then become a
cheerleader, encouraging those who will actually implement the needed changes.

12. What changes, if any, do you favor making in state employee compensation? Why? I
have proposed an HSA medical plan as a PEBB option the last 2 sessions. This is an
example of giving employees more choice to manage their own compensation/benefits.
Many in the private sector have been asking employees to participate more in their
benefit costs. Future employee compensation must be looked at as a total package,
including benefits. There are creative ways to contain future labor costs, improve
employee morale, and outcomes to those the state serves.

13. Do you support the education-reform proposals of the Chalkboard Project? Most of
the proposals are creative and need to be tested. Several are currently in some form of
test in a few districts. Other states have adopted through bi-partisan support key
education policies that are allow teachers to have more say in how their students can
improve their results. Every policy should be looked at with the question, “how will this
help teachers and parents improve the results their students are achieving.”

14. What “social issues,” if any, should the 2011 Legislature address? Unemployment is
our biggest social issue and should be the top priority of the 2011 legislature. Oregon is
near the bottom in unemployment, homelessness and hunger. These all relate to people
not have a job, or being under employed. Not working can lead an individual to have
low self esteem and create many other problems

15. How should the Legislature and state government respond to illegal immigration?
Oregon now requires proof of legal presence to get a drivers license. Marion County
checks legal status of every person who is taken to jail and if they are illegal contacts
ICE. Ice doesn’t always deport. State government needs to continue to ask our federal
government to do their job. Before we pass more laws, we need to enforce the ones on
the books and improve border security.

16. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (Up to
75 words for each issue.)

A. Private sector job creation – implement pro job grow, private sector supported
policies that will help create jobs.

B. Budgeting reform – make every agency budget from the bottom up, with longer
term strategic plans to meet basic service needs into the future.

C. Public Safety – encourage creative approaches and investments to keep our

citizens safe. When times are tough, sometimes we take our eye off this core function of
state government.

17. What do you see as other important issues? There are many other issues that may
rise to high, but if we lose focus on doing what needs to be done to improve job creation
and government efficiency (budget balancing) we will be focusing on something other
than the top priorities for our state.

18. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you
want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? No.

As a legislative candidate, your positions on statewide ballot measures on relevant to

voters. Please indicate whether you support or oppose each of the measures.

Measure 70: Veterans’ loans Yes

Measure 71: Annual legislative sessions No

Measure 72: State bonding authority No

Measure 73: Sentencing Yes

Measure 74: Medical marijuana No

Measure 75: Multnomah County casino No

Measure 76: Lottery funding for parks, habitat No