Jill Gibson Odell: Fronting for Right to Work

The fix is in.  Governor Kitzhaber cut a deal and Right to Work is absolutely, totally off the table.  The working people of Oregon and their unions have nothing to worry about … until 2016.  Then the whole cluster of Right to Work initiatives will come roaring back like a tsunami.  That means Jill Gibson Odell will be back, too.

Jill Gibson Odell was and is the poster presence of Right to Work initiatives during this 2013-2014 election cycle here in Oregon.  Her name is prominently tied to the now-withdrawn Right to Work ballot initiative known as IP-9 or the Public Employee Choice Act.  Jill has a tidy, but not expansive, footprint on the internet.  Braeda Libby is also listed as a petitioner for IP-9 but there is virtually nothing on her.

Jill is a good choice.  If I were trying to sell something as unsavory as IP-9, I would pick her for the face on the bus poster.  I would expect riders to gaze and bask in her radiant credibility until their stop came up.

Ostensibly, Jill wrote IP-9 and she probably did.  The content and the evidence of craft certainly match her credentials.  Jill is striking, stylish, impressive actually (PHOTO).  She is an articulate, intelligent and effective professional.  Details of her biography are either sketchy or can only be inferred from the record.  For example, she has three beautiful children. Her home address is in Beaverton.  There does not appear to be a husband currently in the picture.  She’s, maybe, in her late forties or early fifties.  It seems reasonable to surmise that she honed her political philosophy and made some important business contacts for the future when she was legislative director for the Oregon House Republican Caucus.  Apparently, after a successful stretch as an attorney with Odonnell Clark and Crew, she started her own firm about two years ago.

Jill said that the thrust of her initiative is about individual freedom and the right to choose.  If she believes that, then I am my Aunt Matilda. (Full disclosure: I don’t have an Aunt Matilda.)  I am more inclined to believe her when she said, “There’s national money to be had, and there are large donors in the state that definitely want to move forward.”  That has more the ring of truth and seems to sum up her participation if you read anything about IP-9 outside the Oregonian.

Pick from your favorite mix of metaphors - Jill is a tool, a handmaiden, a hired gun.  On the Oregon Secretary of State website, transactions for the Public Employees Choice Act Committee can be tracked.  The first transaction is to Jill Odell, Attorney at law.  

Much has been made of a $6000 contribution to the Committee by Loren Parks.  But $8000 was contributed to PECA Committee by Stimson Lumber timber baron, Andrew Miller ...  which contribution pales in comparison to the $53000 donated by fellow timber barons, the Freres brothers of Freres Lumber.  A total of $12000 was paid to the Signature Gathering Company of Oregon by PECA Committee.  But the majority of large, regular payments - a total of $49740 - was made to Jill or her firm from February of 2013 to March of 2014.  

When Jill made her impassioned manifesto for worker civil rights in the Oregonian on September 9, 2013, she was performing with turbo-charged competence for her client, PECA Committee, and its major contributors, Andrew Miller, The Freres brothers and Loren Parks.

On unions and individual worker freedom, Rob Freres said, ““I believe that if Oregon is going to be a place where our children and grandchildren can get a good education, it’s important that the public employees’ unions do not dominate the politics in this state.”  This sentiment was substantially echoed by Arthur Miller when he said, “The Democratic Party has been a monolithic front for public-employee unions.”  Loren Parks, although difficult to quote directly, is well-known for bankrolling many anti-union initiatives.

Of course Jill can not be faulted for doing a good job in her professional capacity.  Indeed Jill has many admirable qualities and I would like to like her.  But I can’t get past the cynicism she shares with her clients.  I can’t get past the manipulation when the truth gets in the way.  I can’t get by the lies.

Who's Who - ALEC in Oregon

It is encouraging that ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is being forced out of the closet.  Much of their power has been from their ability to operate anonymously.  Another hopeful sign is that a number of well-known corporations are withdrawing their membership and support from ALEC:  they do not like the negative publicity.

Alecexposed.org is a helpful website to appreciate the full width and depth of ALEC’s activities and effects.  Like Wikipedia, it has limitations and you have to use it with discretion.  ALEC is a moving target.  What’s reported on Alecexposed is subject to change - perhaps even to manipulation - and is only as good as its sources and the integrity of its editors.  That’s the usual caveat for any reference.

ALEC has by no means run out of steam.  It remains an extraordinary threat to civil society and to a strong middle class.  ALEC needs to remain under the microscope.

 

Alecexposed has lists, kind of a Who’s Who.  This post is about ALEC’s connections in the Oregon legislature.  The Alecexposed  site also lists legislators who have cut ties with ALEC.  Regrettably, no Oregon legislators who are tied to ALEC have made that decision yet.  

Representative Gene Whisnant of Sun River is currently listed on the ALEC website as State Chair for Oregon.  He was ALEC State Legislator of the year in 2011.  Here is what ouroregon.org reports about Gene Whisnant:

Rep. Gene Whisnant is not just any ALEC member, but the ALEC Oregon State Chairman. This isn’t an arbitrary honorific; along with the title comes great responsibility. The ALEC charter mandates that state chairmen must “work to ensure introduction of model legislation” (ALEC bylaws, Article X). A chairman must introduce ALEC bills into his state capitol, providing a direct conduit for big corporate interests into Oregon state policy.

Leading up to the 2011 session, Rep. Whisnant wrote in one of his constituent newsletters:

“As a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), we vote on model legislation in the committees. I have started to draft two of ALEC’s model legislation and plan on introducing them next session. One is a Privatization Initiative panel that would create a panel to consider Oregon government’s priorities and determine which activities are best provided by the government and what services could be provided by the private sector. The other ALEC model is to create a council on efficient government.”

Rep. Whisnant’s eagerness to introduce ALEC-sponsored bills that promote privatization of government not only fulfilled his duties as Chairman (see those bylaws) but may have even been encouraged by the notion that such corporate favoritism might please some those generous corporate ALEC funders. Common Cause Oregon examined ALEC corporate members and their contributions to Oregon campaigns and discovered that, between 2001 - 2010, ALEC sponsors have dumped more than $16 million into the state, most of which went to conservative ballot measure campaigns and Republican candidates, Leadership, and Party PACS.

And mid-way through the session, in April 2011, Rep. Whisnant penned an article for Inside ALEC magazine, in which he noted that “The Oregon 76th Legislative Session is… the first session with the House equally divided 30-30. As a result, this may be the session to pass model legislation from ALEC’s State Budget Reform Toolkit.”

With such bold moves, it is unsurprising that Rep. Whisnant earned ALEC’s high honor of 2011 ALEC State Legislator of the Year. But Whisnant did not stop after his award. In the February 2012 session, Whisnant attempted to block consumer protection efforts to push big bank-friendly amendments onto foreclosure protection bills.

The same OurOregon report provides some biographical information on other Oregon legislators.  It also provides the following disclaimer:

There are many more Oregon politicians whom the award-winning website, ALEC Exposed, has listed as  members based on ALEC’s own documentation. There’s only one problem: ever since ALEC has been in the news, information about the legislators’ connections to ALEC has begun to disappear from ALEC’s archives.

Whisnant’s association with ALEC is clearly old news by now.  A February 2012 article in The Oregonian highlights the criticism he attracted when he was named ALEC State Legislator of the Year.  Additional biographical information includes that he is a member of the Homeless Leadership Council, an officer of the PTA, and a youth sports coach. He has been a member of the NRA, the VFW and the La Pine Grange.  He has military and diplomatic experience including Air Attache for the US Embassy in Belgrade.  He was Vice President of the Sunriver Homeowners Association.  He is a member of the Sunriver Christian Fellowship Church.

Here is the list of Oregon Legislators with ALEC Ties from the ALECexposed  website:

House of Representatives

• Rep. Kevin Cameron (R-Salem)[1]
• Rep. Jason Conger (R-54),[1] ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member[2]
• Rep. Sal Esquivel (R-6),[3][1] Co-chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee of ALEC's Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force along with CropLife America's Jeff Case[4]
• 
  Rep. Tim Freeman (R-2),[1] ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member[5]
• Rep. Bruce Hanna (R-7)[3][1]
• Rep. Wally Hicks (R-3),[1] ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member[2]
• Rep. John Huffman (R-59)[6][1]
• Rep. Mark Johnson (R-Hood River)[1]
• Rep. Bill Kennemer (R-39)[3][1]
• Rep. Michael R. McLane (R-55),[1] ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member[7]
• Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point)[1]
• Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R-Scio)[1]
• Rep. Kim Thatcher (R-25)[8][9][1]
• Rep. Jim Thompson (R-Dallas)[1]
• Rep. C. Gene Whisnant (R-53)[3][6][1], State Chairman,[10] International Relations Task Force member[11] and 2011 ALEC State Legislator of the Year[12]

Senate

• Sen. Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day)[1]
• Sen. Larry George (R-Sherwood)[1]
• Sen. Fred Girod (R-Stayton)[1]

Former Representatives

• Rep. Katerina Brewer (R-29),[1] ALEC International Relations Task Force Member[13]
• Rep. Shawn Lindsay (R-30),[1] ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member[14]
• Rep. Matthew Wand (R-49),[1] ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member[2]
• Rep. Matt Wingard (R-26)[6][1] (replaced by John Davis)

Here is a partial list of their legislative email addresses:

• Sen.TedFerrioli@state.or.us,

• Sen.LarryGeorge@state.or.us,
• Sen.FredGirod@state.or.us,
• Rep.JasonConger@state.or.us,
• Rep.SalEsquivel@state.or.us,
• Rep.TimFreeman@state.or.us,
• Rep.BruceHanna@state.or.us,
• Rep.WallyHicks@state.or.us,
• Rep.JohnHuffman@state.or.us,
• Rep.MarkJohnson@state.or.us,
• Rep.BillKennemer@state.or.us,
• Rep.MikeMcLane@state.or.us,
• Rep.DennisRichardson@state.or.us,
• Rep.SherrieSprenger@state.or.us,
• Rep.KimThatcher@state.or.us,
• Rep.JimThompson@state.or.us,
• Rep.GeneWhisnant@state.or.us,