Leiken lookin’ at 4th District seat
From our weekly issue dated October 28, 2009
Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken
Springfield mayor and presumptive Congressional candidate Sid Leiken addressed a crowd of approximately 10 people at the Josephine County Bldg. in Cave Junction Thursday, Oct. 22.
Earlier that day, Leiken attended a meeting of the Josephine County Republican Women in Grants Pass.
A fourth-generation Oregonian who grew up in Roseburg, Leiken has been recruited by the Republican National Committee to run for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District. The district runs from the California border to Corvallis and includes Lane, Linn, Coos, Curry, Douglas and parts of Benton and Josephine counties. It has been represented by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) since 1987.
Leiken, who is married with two children in high school, touted his nine years of experience as a mayor as proof of his leadership ability.
“It’s a dynamic city today,” he said. “We’ve had a great story.”
Springfield has seen $1.3 billion in private sector investment since Leiken has been mayor, he said. That city, with a population of more than 60,000, also has boosted its number of police officers and firefighters, Leiken added, and recently finished construction of a 100-bed jail.
Leiken attributed Springfield’s success to teamwork and its adaptability. The town was built on the timber industry, but has since had to diversify and now has some 5,000 people employed in the health-care field, he said.
Congress was criticized by Leiken for focusing more on health-care reform than jobs and the economy. He said that he has traveled around the 4th Congressional District throughout the past few months, and that citizens are mostly concerned about their economic well-being.
Health care does need to be reformed, Leiken said, but jobs are more important.
Increased federal spending will not end the current recession, Leiken said, adding that federal stimulus dollars have largely been used to save state government jobs in Oregon.
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Leiken said that small businesses need incentives and opportunities, and stated that such operations are responsible for 70 percent of all job creation.
U.S. policy has served to regulate companies into non-competitiveness, Leiken said. As an example, he cited Golden Temple, a Eugene company that makes organic cereals. Its main manufacturing facility is in Ireland, Leiken said, where the company pays no capital gains tax.
“Something is wrong with that picture,” Leiken opined.
Leiken said he is seeking DeFazio’s seat regardless of whether or not the incumbent decides to run for re-election. DeFazio has been considering a run for governor, but had yet to announce a decision as of Sunday, Oct. 25.
Although DeFazio remains popular throughout his district, Leiken said he has a “very critical plan” for the 2010 campaign.
Springfield, along with north and west Eugene, can carry the 4th Congressional District for a Republican, and Leiken said he has high name recognition in those areas.
“I believe we can win this,” Leiken said.
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