Audio Transcript
Annette Newell 0:12
Welcome to KBOO News in Depth, we're continuing our series about the candidates for Oregon Secretary of State. Today we're talking with Cameron Smith, who is running in the Democratic primary for Secretary of State. He served three tours- tours of duty in Iraq with the US Marine Corps rising to the rank of captain. He also served as senior policy advisor to two Oregon governors, and in 2013, he became the director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs. More recently in 2017, Governor Kate Brown appointed him director of Oregon's Department of Consumer and Business Services. Thanks so much for joining us today.
Cameron Smith 0:45
Thanks for having me.
Annette Newell 0:46
Yeah. Tell us in a nutshell, why are you running for Secretary of State?
Cameron Smith 0:49
So I think most people certainly would question the sanity of anyone that wants to run for office. But I do have a deep belief in representative democracy and want to give Oregon voters a real choice. And ultimately I love Oregon. We are an incredible state. Whether you were born here or chose to make Oregon home is- we can all agree that Oregon is an amazing and special state. But at the same time, I think we need to recognize that we have growing inequality. We have an affordability crisis across everything from childcare, to housing, to health care, to education and retirement, we have a climate crisis that we need to address. And I think we need true leadership. So I am running not as a politician but running as a Marine, a veteran, an advocate and a leader for Oregon.
Melissa Hood 1:35
So what makes the position in Oregon different from other states?
Cameron Smith 1:40
So I think Secretary of State is probably one of the most underappreciated offices in the state. Most folks could say what the treasurer does or what the attorney general or the governor is in charge of, and Secretary of State with their team of almost 200 individuals, everything from oversight of fair and open elections, how do we continue to expand access to the ballot and make sure that we have election integrity and election security and make sure every vote is counted. The audits division is unique in Oregon in terms of not just making sure state agencies are good fiscal stewards of our resources, but also making sure performance audits are done to make sure we're actually delivering on all of the promises that we say. We also have the corporation division of both how do you hold corporations accountable for their actions? But also how do you encourage small businesses to start, grow and thrive across the state?
Annette Newell 2:33
What do you see as the biggest issue you mentioned several issues, but what's the biggest one you think that is facing Oregonians right now?
Cameron Smith 2:40
I think there's a crisis in confidence, whether it's in our- those basic building blocks of democracy that are all within the wheelhouse of the Secretary of State, I think how do we expand and protect Oregon's democracy? We've been great an innovative leader on all things, whether it's vote-by-mail, now having an automatic registration, but what are going to be those next steps of pushing the envelope to make sure that we continue to be a leader on access to the ballot? And I think a number of different concepts from what does it look like to have valid information in minority languages as we get the data out of the Census for a lot of underserved communities that might not have been participating in our elections? How do we drive that participation going forward? Now that we have postage paid for the ballots to be able to use the mailbox as a ballot box with no cost? Can you have that up- the deadline up to the election day to make sure those votes are still counted? And I think an innovative one, given so much misinformation, whether folks are getting their news from social media or different cable channels, to have 17 year olds be able to vote in school board elections, would be a fascinating pilot to begin to see how do you drive that civics education into our K through 12 system to make sure that we have informed voters going forward.
Melissa Hood 3:56
And what would your top priorities be as Secretary of State?
Cameron Smith 4:00
So I think the- beyond that access to the ballot, election security needs to be right there at the forefront. We've been very fortunate given our vote-by-mail system and our paper ballots, Oregonians can rest assured that their ballots are being counted and the 36 county clerks and their tabulators and counting machines are all disconnected from the internet. So we have to secure those 36 sites as they transfer information up to the Secretary of State, but a lot more secure than many other states that have to secure polling stations across the state. We still have risks on our voter registration system, in terms of websites that we want to have access to the customers and all citizens and voters, but to make sure that we continue to secure those against bad actors looking to get in there and hack.
Annette Newell 4:47
You know, living in the Portland area, how do you plan to support and involve more of the non-urban areas of our state?
Cameron Smith 4:55
So it's been helpful being an agency leader, both of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs and at the Department of Consumer Business Services, not just being focused on a legislative district, but how do you truly drive those policy programs and results across the state, and has been hugely empowering both to travel throughout the Tri-County area where a lot of the voters are, or up and down the Willamette Valley, but also to get out to the hinterlands where there are often different perspectives, but often a commonality that I think, too often we see the far left and the far right are the most vocal, but I think there is a sweet spot of that Oregon way where there's a lot more in common than we think. But it takes a lot of relationship building and partnership building, a lot of listening, both for rural communities or underserved communities that have a lot of distrust, and rightly so of government.
Melissa Hood 5:47
How was your experience as the director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs?
Cameron Smith 5:53
So it was one of the best jobs I've ever had and after leaving Marines on three tours in Iraq, to be able to come home and serve four generations of veterans who have served across five major wars from World War II to today. And to be able to serve that diverse population of Oregon veterans. Women veterans are the fastest rising demographic in our military and veterans population. The tribal veterans have served at a higher level per capita than any other ethnicity or group. And while that diversity does not divide us, it strengthens us and unites us. But to have one example of, we were audited by the Secretary of State in my first year at ODVA, for how we were delivering veteran services across the state, and a lot of state agencies try to put the cramp down on those audits and just mitigate the bad headlines. But it's really that opportunity to bring independent eyes in to see where we are hitting the mark and where we can improve. And then we use that independent audit to then go to the voters on a constitutional amendment to use lottery dollars to better serve veterans, and then to drive those resources right into the areas that were highlighted from housing and homelessness, to mental health, to educate- supporting student veterans on campus. That's the power that I think audits can have and was truly transformational in terms of those new resources to better serve veterans.
Annette Newell 7:15
We mentioned earlier, Governor Brown had appointed you to be director of Oregon's Department of Consumer and Business Services more recently, and what are you most proud of of your time there that you accomplished?
Cameron Smith 7:26
So Department of Consumer and Business Services is a large conglomerate umbrella agency really is that consumer protection agency and worker protection and making sure that we have a strong business climate for small businesses across the state, but really being that advocate for consumers in their corner against big banks or insurers, health insurance, and to make sure that we have safe workplaces for workers and workers compensation if they're injured on the job. For accomplishments, I think some of the most important were our transparency on prescription drugs costs and now having a new program that as prescription drug costs rise, that we have that better data for the legislature and the governor and the citizens to see what do we want to take as next steps to make sure we're holding down those high health care costs, specifically on prescription drugs. On the worker protection side, we were very proud to protect agricultural workers with new rules to make sure that they were not getting exposed to pesticide drift, as they were working out in our farms and fields, and also for public safety professionals, whether firefighters or law enforcement to make sure that they were getting resources and support for post traumatic stress.
Melissa Hood 8:37
And going back to- speaking of your military service, how do you think your service in the military has impacted your views?
Cameron Smith 8:46
Very much so. And I think there's always that misconception of the military that it's a top down chain of command and barking orders. But in my experience, the entire culture of the Marines, from the commandant and the generals on down, was how do you support that frontline marine in accomplishing the mission? And too often I think that's missing in our state agencies and really bringing that same culture of how do you support from the top on down from the legislature and the governor? How do you support those frontline teams of dedicated public employees who come- whether they're teachers, firefighters, working in state agencies, they are dedicated to the mission, but often frustrated by different policies and budgets and politics that have been over- laid from yours? And how do you cut through that bureaucracy to make sure that our frontline teams can deliver those public services was a great leadership lesson out of the Marines for me.
Annette Newell 9:40
You know, money in politics, that's a big issue right now. And Oregon has some of the most expensive elections in the entire country. So what's your opinion about this, about Oregon's lack of campaign finance limits?
Cameron Smith 9:52
So I think the transparency is great in that campaign finance, to be able to have the data but it often gets very muddled with large donations going from PAC to PAC and not being able to tell where those dollars are going, or how they're influencing decisions. And we are fortunate that this year for November 2020 will have on the ballot, that constitutional amendment to make sure for the first time that constitutionally, we can limit those big, big donations and campaign contributions, which will then both with the leadership of the next Secretary of State and with the governor and the legislature to set that fair and level playing field. But I think out of that effort, if all we're doing is simply setting limits will have missed the opportunity to really solve campaign finance. We have limits at the federal level, but we're awash in cash and money influences. And I think the 'how do you incentivize smaller dollar contributions,' if you're going to opt into small dollar contributions, how does that get matched at potentially a six to one with public financing would be a game changer in terms of who would decide to run for office and really diversify our leadership in elected offices from local government on up to the state.
Melissa Hood 11:04
You touched on this a bit earlier at the beginning of our talk, but how do you plan on ensuring the security of our voters and election data systems?
Cameron Smith 11:14
So I think I do not consider myself the expert in almost any role that I've ever had, whether it was standing in front of a platoon of Marines, or leading a Veterans Affairs organization across diverse health and welfare issues. And I think you really have to, what I do love doing is building and leading teams. And that is, what I love to do. And what I think we have to do, we've had four Secretaries of State in the last five years. So I think having someone that isn't viewing the Secretary of State as a jumping off point to run for governor or some other higher office is important, to really build that team both across those core programs, but also specifically on the IT side, and to make sure we're not just delivering that access through information technology, but having that expertise on election security and cyber security on that team. And really, not just from state workers, but using the best and brightest from the private sector as well, to inform where we need to go for securing our websites and our systems.
Annette Newell 12:15
How are you going to try to ensure that corporations are following Oregon's laws?
Cameron Smith 12:22
So I think it is not necessarily a lot of teeth that we always have, whether it's on election rules or corporation rules. And I think enforcement doesn't have to be the initial tool that we use. We can do a lot on education and outreach, both of citizens and businesses. We can do a lot in terms of licensing and standards. But then ultimately, you do need to have- anything that you have rules for that are there to protect whether the environment, consumer protection, worker safety, we need to make sure that we have enforcement tools that have some teeth to them. And I think we would need to look broadly at those powers within the Secretary of State's office to make sure that we're holding big corporations accountable and making sure that we are getting not just those services, but the community benefits that we expect.
Melissa Hood 13:08
So what do you think sets you apart from every other Democratic candidate?
Cameron Smith 13:13
So I am not a politician. And I think the moment right now demands true leadership. And that is, I think what sets me apart. The Secretary of State is a big agency with a big team and broad responsibilities. And that's what I've proven out, having built and lead teams, for multiple governors and serving across three governors and leading Marines. It is that leadership that I bring and that executive experience that I bring to, actually be able to deliver on all of the promises that we're going to be making throughout this campaign.
Annette Newell 13:43
You know, a big part of the Secretary of State's job, as you mentioned, was on elections and election security. So what do you think are some of the lessons that we could learn from what happened in the Iowa caucuses?
Cameron Smith 13:54
It was hugely disappointing and even if it wasn't hacked, and even if there weren't bad actors, I think highlights that risk of misinformation. And I think we have to have there are election security tools and election integrity that we can bring to our systems. But I think we also have to have a secretary of state that's going to be that trusted partner and be that communication resources- resource with broad partners to make sure that our websites are the best resource for that information. When citizens are questioning what's happening. When they hear misinformation have you now need two stamps on your ballot to make sure it gets counted. Or if they hear misinformation about campaigns to make sure that the Secretary of State's office is that trusted partner to make sure we are getting the correct information out there to try to counter all of that misinformation.
Annette Newell 14:43
You know, you you mentioned getting along with others in- in being important in your service in the military. And I was wondering, you know, looking at what's going on in the national level, and here and in Oregon, the parties seem like they're really divided. It's more divided- politics is more divisive. Now you say you're not a politician. So how do you think you'll be able to, I guess work with others angry environment.
Cameron Smith 15:10
I think what's fascinating is we have partisan primaries for Secretary of State, but much of the responsibilities are nonpartisan in nature, I think most of us would recoil if our county clerks were partisan at that county elections level. But this is elections and fair and open elections aren't simply for one party or the other as much as making sure that next Secretary of State is calling balls and strikes and being more of a fair referee across the parties. But I think it's also what we saw today in Salem in terms of how do we solve our climate crisis and a lot of debate across urban and rural Oregon, Democrats and Republicans. And I think when we look back to transformational policy in Oregon, whether that was the beach bill, whether it was land use, finding ways to bring together What are often divergent interests, but there is a sweet spot of that Oregon way that I think we discount and as we travel the state, we see that there is more in common than actually that divides us. But it takes a lot of hard work and partnership and listening and building of those relationships to make sure we get to that sweet spot of policy that helps whether it's addressing the climate crisis, but also growing our economic opportunity. And they don't have to be at odds as we solve those challenges.
Annette Newell 16:25
Yeah, with that the cap and trade in particular, that's going to be a divisive thing. I know that there has been some talk about possibly changing the rules so that you can't have another walkout. Again, what do you think about that?
Cameron Smith 16:39
I think we're one of the few states that has such a high quorum for the Senate. And I think we're one of either four or five states that has such a high threshold. I think that can be one fix, but I think we also have to do a hard job of building those relationships, and making sure that these policies work for both urban and rural Oregon. Rural Oregonians are going to be more exposed to many of the same climate risks that they face. And often don't have the resources that we have in the cities to adapt and change our transportation networks and our other energy infrastructure. So it's going to be a combination of both. I think policy changes at that governance level that makes sure our legislative system works and that folks show up and actually represent us. But also making sure that the policy choices we make can work for both urban and rural Oregon.
Annette Newell 17:27
What are some other things you want the voters to know about you and how they can learn more about you and your campaign? So I
Cameron Smith 17:33
think everything starts with family and I've been inspired to serve dedicate my career to service both from my parents and sister and my wife who grew up in or was born in Southeast Asia and was a modern day pioneer to Oregon and modeled both that individual hard work through her family but also went to community rallies and steps up to welcome all so they have helped inspire my career. And if folks want more information on our campaign that can go to SmithforState.com.
Annette Newell 18:02
All right, thank you so very much for joining us here on KBOO News in Depth today. Really appreciate it.
Cameron Smith 18:07
Thanks for having me.
Annette Newell 18:07
Yeah. Cameron Smith is a Democratic candidate for Oregon Secretary of State. Thanks for listening to KBOO News in Depth.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai