Benton County voters will decide two locally contested races in this year’s May 21st primary, one for Benton County’s Board of Commissioners and the other, which this debate style discussion examines, for State Representative, District 16.
Our current representative in the state legislature is Democrat Dan Rayfield, who is moving on to seek election as Oregon’s next attorney general. No Republicans have filed for the primary to vie for Rayfield seat in November, according to Oregon’s Secretary of State.
There are, however, two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, Sami Al-Abdrabbuh and Sarah Finger McDonald. Both are currently members of the Corvallis School Board.
We conducted an hour and quarter long debate style roundtable with the two candidates on April 17 as part of our Editorial Board’s endorsement process. Advocate publisher, Steven J. Schultz, moderated the discussion.
Questions for the candidates came from a mix of participants at the Corvallis Advocate, City Club of Corvallis, and the public, as they have responded to our invitation on the Corvallis Advocate website to submit questions.
For this race, the largest number of questions fell into five broad categories: Legislative priorities for our area, mental and physical health care, climate change, homelessness and housing, and leadership ability.
By a toss of the coin, we started with Sarah Finger McDonald.
Advocate: Sarah. Corvallis and Benton County may have some of the same needs, but they also have different needs from one another. What do you see as the most pressing needs for each, and what specific legislation would you propose that would help? Also, we had a few questioners point out that Dan Rayfield has been particularly effective bringing state dollars into the district. What will you do to similarly assure the flow of state funds that help with these projects? Sarah, two minutes.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you. So yes, I’m Sarah McDonald and I’m running to be your next state representative in the Oregon House. Um, our district has some really unique characteristics, being a university town, um, and one of the the needs that’s come up in this community over and over again that affects both our district and Benton County as a whole is access to housing. And so I, as your next state representative, will be advocating for investments in, um, infrastructure to support the increased housing needs. We need the our increased housing needs, um, and working to make sure that we have public funding available to convert housing to affordable housing so that families can come and live in our community. Um, I talked to a woman knocking on doors just the other day who’s lived in her house for 30 years as a renter, and that house is now being sold, and she can’t afford to live here. So that access for the working families to live in our community is really key to supporting our community and allowing our county to grow. I also want to make, um, it easier to form partnerships between your private developers and public entities so that we can afford the housing that we need and make sure that the housing that’s built is accessible to working families. Um, I guess the other part of your question was advocating for our community as Representative Rayfield has. He’s been an amazing representative for our area. I will work to build relationships with legislators across the state. Um, I have connections in the House through the advocacy that I’ve done, and I will build on those to advocate for the interests of our really unique community that we have here as a college town with a major, um, research university and with sort of the demographics that we have are, that are unique to our state. So take that that real, deep understanding of our community, to the legislature to work to make sure that the projects we need are brought to our community.
Advocate: Sami, I move over to you. Um, the priorities as you see them for Benton County and Corvallis – and what you’ll do to help legislatively with those priorities, and also bringing in dollars for those projects. Two minutes.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thank you. Steve. Uh, really grateful for you having us here to have this discussion. It’s really important for us to elect a state representative who can advocate for our community priorities. And, uh, it’s absolutely important to highlight housing crisis is an issue that’s unique to Corvallis. It is unique to Oregon in the nation, and it is unique to Corvallis. We are exacerbated by the inequities in affording housing. Uh, now the list goes on. Whether it’s homelessness, drug addiction, mental health, combating the existential crisis of climate change, um, protecting and ensuring our commitments, uh, as Oregon, uh, a beacon of state that commits to reproductive rights and access to abortion, defending our civil rights and liberties and ensuring that students succeed no matter what their zip code is, no matter what their background, uh, where they are in life, uh, they always have an opportunity better than better than the opportunity that we had. Uh, the list goes on and on. But really, if we want to focus on solving the root cause of many issues that we have, it is housing. And it’s not about just talking about it. It’s about really someone who has delivered on these things. Uh, I am someone who have those relationships already going on in the building and the house side. That’s why I’m the only one with, uh, Democrats supporting me with 11 legislators and also, uh, from across the state. And also, I do have endorsements from folks who are in the business developments and the housing developments and every single building trade union that has endorsed, uh, this is really important. You want to go to the legislature having those working relationships and to continue on the good work of, uh, Representative Dan Rayfield, former Speaker Rayfield, who have really built those relationships and leveraged those opportunities to bring resources for our state, but also build the bridges between our communities. So let me conclude with this. We need someone who have done this work before, and I am grateful that I can continue it.
Advocate: Thank you Sami. We’re going to move over to a specific question that we received from a number of the folks that submitted forms to us. Staying on the subject of funding, Benton County voters are not alone in saying in saying no to bond dollars for jails and for other law enforcement facilities. This has been going on statewide for some time. Some municipalities have said yes, but also historically have often said no. Would you support legislation that would create matching funding for these facilities so that municipalities, uh, maybe can help motivate voters in that way – or other legislation that may help municipalities as they try to get these facilities built out in a way that responds to the growth in population. Uh, we’ll start with Sami for this one. One minute, please.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Well, the answer is yes. I will support it. Uh, after the failure, actually, on the same evening where the failure of the bond, uh, to pass the jail has was was apparent, I reached out to community members to share why they voted the way that we voted. And the answer was clear. There are many reasons, but something that is clear. Uh, until today, every day I knock on doors, I hear it. Our community is taxed out. They don’t want more taxes. Uh, especially as we’re going through really hardships, uh, that we’re experiencing. So the answer is, if Multnomah County is telling the state of Oregon, you know, what state of Oregon you need to bring resources so we can, uh, increase capacity or even maintain capacity in Multnomah County Jail. Uh, I believe we need an advocate who’s ready to fight on and say we need those resources and investments and, uh, really safe, humane jail that has the capacity to provide resources for people who need it, uh, when they’re, uh, while they’re incarcerated. So you can count on me on that. And I have spoken to stakeholders, uh, who will advocate alongside with me on this specific issue.
Advocate: Sarah, we’re going to move over to you. Um, staying on the way that Benton County defeated the bond measure – and his has gone on in other jurisdictions. Uh, would you be willing to respond with legislation for matching funds or some another legislative framework that will help municipalities? One minute, please.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yes. I would be willing to legislate for, um, matching funds or other legislation to to help support the building of facilities that community’s needs need, from talking to community members after the bond for the the last, um, the last jail bond failed. What I heard over and over again was that what our community really values and wants to see is. Investments in mental health and addiction treatment that a lot of the. Community members really understand that we can’t incarcerate our way out of a lot of the problems that we see in our community right now. And so I think, along with investments from the state to help relieve some of the tax burden that our our community members definitely are feeling, we need to make sure that as we develop those projects, they really reflect the values of our community and the needs that they are seeing in our community. And we’re not asking them to pay for something that they don’t feel fits their values.
Advocate: Did you, Sarah, support the bond measure when it was before voters here in Corvallis? Just a quick yes or no?
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yes.
Advocate: And, Sami al Abdrabbuh, did you support the bond measure, yes or no?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Yes, I did support it. And I do have some explanation to share about this. Maybe later on we.
Advocate: Will get to it in rebuttal if you’d like. Okay. Let’s move over to a discussion of the landfill. Um, one, has anybody in elected office, or anybody that is county staff reached out to you about landfill legislation? Yes or no? Uh, Sarah Finger McDonald.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yes.
Advocate: And could you characterize that discussion and who you had that discussion with?
Sarah Finger McDonald: So, yes, I had discussions with the community around the landfill about their really. Right.
Advocate: But who at the county did you discuss it with? Was it a staff member or an elected?
Sarah Finger McDonald: Oh. It was with a staff member. I’m sorry I misunderstood the the question. I had more discussions with the community than with this. The. Yeah.
Advocate: So we’re really wondering if you’ve had a conversation with anybody at the county, elected or staff, and which staff member.
Sarah Finger McDonald: You know, I’ve had email exchanges, but not deep conversations.
Advocate: And who with?
Sarah Finger McDonald: You know, I can’t remember the name, but it was about concerns about the testing and where the, the, um, information was coming that the county was using to make decisions about expanding the, um, landfill and health concerns in the community around the landfill.
Advocate: Right. And what were the nature of the concerns?
Sarah Finger McDonald: They’re really deep concerns about methane emissions from that landfill and around leachates and materials that are being taken to the water treatment plant around Adair Village.
Advocate: Um, I think we’ve got the idea there. Sami. Uh, same question to you. Has anybody from the county reached out to you, either staff or elected, in terms of legislation having to do with the landfill?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Uh, no elected officials from the county have reached out to me about the issue. Uh, what I can say is, in terms of, uh, staff, not to my knowledge. Just to clarify, I’ve had, uh, community members reach out. Right.
Advocate: Okay, and then in terms of the landfill, um, if there were to be legislation that you would think about, just in around 30 seconds, what would be the direction of that, uh, legislation? Sami?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: You know, uh, the role of the legislature is really crucially important to balance between the local control and supporting the county, uh, autonomy and making decisions that are within their perspective and capacity and at the same time, hold every single governmental entity and every company, uh, accountable on oversight, on environmental standards, on inspection, and where.
Advocate: What the questioner really wants to know is, yeah, would you support legislation that really takes the decision in any way outside of the hands of the county?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Uh, I will definitely advocate. Here’s where I’m going to answer the question. I will definitely advocate for the legislature to make sure the agency, the DEQ and the agencies have inspectors who are fully funded, who are able to implement penalties and make sure there’s a clear communication.
Advocate: Okay. So now you fund, and make sure that we have state inspectors. And then with that, would you then support legislation that took the decision about the landfill out of county hands in one way or another?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Let’s see the the issue. I want to I want to make sure we see the forest for the trees. Uh, here uh, the problem that we have right now is Benton County is taking some other communities trash, and also Benton County is getting revenue out of it and the community and Silk Creek, uh, who I spoke to many community leaders there and community members and neighbors are, uh, deeply concerned and are sharing anecdotal data and data, uh, on resources for me, that I’m still in evaluating in terms of what can we do. And the legislature needs to support every local community to make the best decisions for themselves. At the same time, make sure we have environmental standards that are upheld, and we have resources to enforce those, and making sure that we have the ability to, uh, have the states look at an overall overarching objective, how we treat our solid waste while we protect our neighborhoods, our forests, and our waterways. Now, that’s the responsibility of the state here.
Advocate: However, I’m going to go back to what this questioner is really asking. Yeah. Would you support Benton County commissioners and Benton County staff if their choice was no landfill?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Uh uh, you know, as a state legislator or as a citizen because it’s a.
Advocate: As a state legislator, would you support, or would you stand in the way of them saying yes or no in any way legislatively?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: As a state legislator, I will hold our values, uh, very clear in how I communicate with elected officials, as I always have done. And I want to make it a home rule charter is I’m going to go ahead.
Advocate: We’ll move to Sarah Finger McDonald. Sami, you can catch this on, uh, closing if you want. Sure. Or during rebuttal for the section. But Sarah, the questioner wants to know, would you in any way, shape or form support legislation that in any way, shape or form takes decision making authority away from the county about the landfill? Yes or no?
Sarah Finger McDonald: What I would support is a moratorium on expansions of landfills until we have full knowledge of the emissions that are coming from that landfill and information that comes from trusted sources, not the polluters, so that when the county is in a position to make a decision, we as a state are assured that the county’s decisions are made based on good, solid data and understanding of really the full picture of the decision they’re making.
Advocate: Okay. And then in in doing that, you’ve said that the state should be in a position to, um, make sure there’s compliance. Would you, however, support any legislation that would create a circumstance where the county can’t say no.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Can’t say no to the expansion.
Advocate: Yes.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Prohibit the county from saying, we don’t want to expand the landfill in our community.
Advocate: Yes, would you not support that?
Sarah Finger McDonald: I would not support that.
Advocate: Thank you. Um, okay. I’m going to go ahead and move to the next question. And it’s a simple one. What committees would you be hoping to serve on and why? Uh, Sami.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Uh, you know, the question is going to be really clear for me. I’ve been a leader in education statewide, nationwide and local. So my, uh, hope and my aim is to aim for education sub ways and means and education policy committees and, uh, for real. As someone who have balanced budgets, uh, open a business, close a business, managed, uh, navigating, uh, state budgets with different agencies, uh, I believe I can be ambitious and say, I’m going to ask for the Ways and Means full committee. Uh, if I get into the freshman year, I’ll be lucky. If not, uh, definitely. I think it’s very important for us to advocate to go there. And I think I have a really good chance to advocate Ways and.
Advocate: Ways and Means and education. Anything. Anything else?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Ways and means education sub on the ways means education, labor. Uh, and also uh health services will be uh, some uh, some of the focuses that I will be focusing on. That’s a really important for our.
Advocate: Sarah Finger McDonald.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So, you know, like Sami, I’ve been an advocate for education. Serving on the school board for the last seven years. I would love to serve on the Education committee. I would love to serve on the Higher Education Committee. I work with students who are non-traditional students who’ve taken the crooked path to education, and I see the profound effect that funding for higher education has on their ability to continue their their education and reach their goals. I also would have a PhD in horticulture. I work with students who want to farm sustainably and protect natural resources in our changing climate. And so I would be very interested in serving on the Land Use, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee to help build bridges, um, in a kind of unusual position of being a Democrat with some understanding of agriculture in our legislature, to work across the aisle on our shared values of agriculture and natural resources in this state.
Advocate: Okay. And then, uh, we’ve concluded this section. So I’m going to give each of you a 45, 60 seconds, somewhere in there, know that we’re running a little behind, um, to either rebut one another or, um, or maybe complete one of your answers from prior. Uh, I’ll start with you, uh, Mr. Al Abdrabbuh.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thank you, Steve. So, you know, I want to reveal a few issues there. There was a mention from my colleague about, uh, uh, when the voters voted, they wanted mental health, uh, programs and resources there. Uh, the intent of the county was very clear that those resources are going to be incorporated. Those programs are underway. The crisis center is going on. So I agree, uh, that, uh, this is important for our community and we need to invest in it. Uh, I disagree that that was not, uh, the spirit of what the community wanted and what the county wanted. Uh, other thing I want to say, uh, there was some inconsistency in the answer. I heard from my colleague. Moratorium on landfills, but also not taking away their authority. Uh, the commissioner’s authority, uh, from, uh, expanding. So maybe it says, okay, partial authority until we hear out. I want to be very clear. I’m not running for county commissioner. Neither my colleague and our community expects a state representative that really respect the authority of county commissioners as representatives of our local community. So we need to make sure the state legislators don’t overstep. I’ve seen it happen in other places where legislators wanted to overstep, and we should resist that.
Advocate: We’re over one minute. I’m going to go ahead and move over to Sarah Finger McDonald.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So, you know, on the issue with the the jail bond, we have seen investments in mental health and community supports since that bond failed the community when I was speaking to them after that failure, really felt like the piece of that bond that was focused on mental health and addiction was a Band-Aid put on a larger project that was really the jail. And so they saw that, and now they see investments in mental health. And they may have a different answer. If we can come up with a bond project that really addresses the concerns of the community. You I am a parent and have raised kids in this community. I know the concerns of parents who face, you know, parks where they used to be able to take their kids to play and they don’t feel safe going there. Now we need to make sure that every member of our community, whether it’s a member of our unhoused population, a business owner or a family, feel safe and supported in our community. And we need to be responsive, you know, in whatever elected position we have to those concerns.
Advocate: Thank you. We’re going to move over to the next section. It’s mental and physical health care. Recently lawmakers backtracked on some of Measure 110. What do you believe they got right in doing that? And where do you think they could have made other improvemenst or maybe where they were wrong? What specific proposals might you have? Um, in terms of, uh, drug use and addiction in Oregon? One minute each and I will start with Mr. Al Abdrabbuh.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thanks, Steve. Look, I’ve done my doctorate in industrial engineering. When you have a crisis, an emergency, what you need to look for and how you go about your decisions. And it was around, uh, really, uh, making sure we ask. We ask the right questions. As policy makers, it was very informative as I worked on, uh, wildfires. It’s been informative as I’ve been engaged with legislators who, uh, really grappled with the decision that they just made. You asked a really important question that cannot be answered in one minute, but I’m going to give you the umbrella. Drug addiction. Is a disease. It’s not choice. We need to treat it that way. We need to treat the criminal activity as such through the criminal justice system, and provide opportunities for expungement for those in small possession. We need to maintain those investments. And the legislator made that decision right. In terms of seeing the writing on the wall, if we repeal in November and there was a possibility of a ballot repeal in November, that the right wing will will advocate for, that will take away all the money. So what they did is they made the really the difficult decision to recognize small amounts of possession with an opportunity for expungement with delay until we have the systems in place, but at the same time maintain those resources that we need. So really look forward to use my expertise in continuing those conversations.
Advocate: I’ll move over to you, Sarah Finger McDonald. I’m going to give you an additional 20 seconds as well.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So, you know, as I just mentioned, every member of our community needs to feel safe and supported. And that includes every piece of our community business owners, families, people dealing with addiction disorders. And you, along with the passage of measure 110 came a pandemic and a flood of fentanyl and other drugs into our system, really overwhelming our system. And we know from the war on drugs that using the criminal system to address drug addiction does not work. And we saw with our experience with measure 110 that the rollout did not go well, and the promises of that bill were not met. I’m hopeful that 4002 is really a third way, a solution that will allow our state to do a much better job of delivering research resources to people addicted to drugs, to allowing them to have pathways to avoid the criminal justice system. And as your next state representative, I will be watching like a Hawk to make sure that those investments that we’re making into our addiction services and mental health programs are promises meet the promises that we expect them to meet. This is a health a public health problem, and it needs to be met with public health responses.
Advocate: Thank you. We’ll move over to the next question. Mental Health America consistently ranks Oregon as having some of the highest incidence of mental health illness in the country, and also according to Mental Health America, the state consistently lags behind others in terms of availability of care services. If elected, what solutions will you pursue? Ms. Finger McDonald. Two minutes.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Staffing is a major issue that we face with access to mental health care. We you know, I hear from families and community members all the time that it’s a six month or a year long wait to get access to a mental health provider when they need it. And if you’re somebody in crisis needing help, right then that wait can be a death sentence. And so I, as a state legislator, would like to help build pathways into the mental health careers and support people you know from a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds into entering that career, so that we have people who are able to serve our community in culturally competent ways. We also need to support those workers once they’re in the field. It is a really difficult and emotional field to be part of, and we need to make sure that workers receive the compensation that reflects the value of their work, and that they have working conditions where they feel safe and where they can continue their work and aren’t burnt out so that we can build access rather than see it. You leave our communities as people can’t stay in their jobs.
Advocate: Thank you. And, um, I’m going to move over to you, Sami.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Yeah. You know, my colleague is a spot on on it. Uh, the workforce is the root cause of the challenges we see right now. We need to develop a pipeline of workforce, culturally diverse workforce who’s culturally responsive. Uh, I’m really excited about the Palmer Institute, uh, and other initiatives across the states that will bring that workforce. What is the Palmer Institute? Uh, they are providing, uh, basically educational opportunities for folks who can help with, uh, psychiatric and mental health. Uh, and I see lots of good potential for them to. Where are.
Advocate: They’re located at?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: I believe in if not, I’m not mistaken, the primary location for them is going to be in Concordia. The former Concordia University campus in Portland. Uh, but they belong to our sister university, U of O. Uh, so what I would say is, uh, these initiatives are important. But here’s the important part. You want someone who already have done this work, who are already navigated expanding access to mental health, uh, as a champion of making sure we have those resources. Uh, I championed alongside, uh, Senator Wyden in, uh, and Oregon School Board Association advocating for accessing Medicaid funds. Uh, Sarah and I were witnessing the development of a phenomenal program, the Mental Health Multi-tiered Program in Corvallis that’s fully funded, uh, by, uh, our, uh, Medicaid reimbursement, direct and indirect. I don’t give myself that credit. I don’t give Sarah the credit. I give all of us the credit. But most importantly, that, uh, phenomenal staff, our leadership and the staff who actually knows how to navigate it. So when Senator Wyden and asked, how come we’re not utilizing Medicaid funds to do this good work and really help you focus your education funds in education, I tell him, well, Senator, we use some of that Esser money and some of the federal money to start up this program, and now it’s fully funded and then he looks at everybody else. How come the rest of Oregon is not doing that? And the answer is right now we have about 34 school districts a little bit more. And, uh, we have advocated with Senator Wyden to make sure that reimbursements of those funds are easy so school districts can accomplish exactly what my colleague and I agree on, uh, health providers in our school system who are compensated.
Advocate: Well, Sami, one specific thing, and you get only 15 seconds, one specific thing you would do to increase the number of mental health care workers available, therefore leveraging more access for Oregonians. One thing 15 seconds.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Easy pathways to education for folks who want to seek that education from every single background, from every single zip code, and making sure that they can live in the communities that they want to serve, willing.
Advocate: To subsidize that education. I’m sorry, would you be willing to financially subsidize that education as a legislator?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Absolutely. And I would call those subsidies an investment.
Advocate: Sarah Finger McDonald. Same question.
Sarah Finger McDonald: I actually agree with my colleague on this. Pathways to education and subsidies. Maybe your ability to work to earn credits towards your funding, um, by committing to work in, in our state, in, in public facilities. I would love to see us expand the mental health program that Corvallis has in our schools to other districts in the state.
Advocate: So I’m going to move to the next question. State regulators have stood aside and will allow Optum Health to take over the Corvallis Clinic. Despite Optum’s troubling record in Eugene and their parent company’s troubling record nationally. This question comes in two parts. What legislation will you get behind to protect our local patients now? And aside from that legislation, how would you have advocated for a more creative solution than what indeed finally happened? Maybe that would have been legislation, or maybe, it would have been finding other partners to act from the private sector. I want you to be able to think outside the box on this. At The Advocate, we believe we saw a real lack of moral imagination about this. I’m going to give each of you two minutes, and I’m going to go ahead and start with Sarah Finger McDonald.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yeah. We saw a bill in the last legislative session that, um, was building a model to counter large companies and private equity firms investing in medical practices. I have spent more than my fair share dealing with our medical community. It is clearly broken, but putting profits over care is a large concern for our community. Um, so we need the legislation there to protect our health care systems. One of the things we need to do to make sure we’re ensuring access to health care is making sure that we are reimbursing health care providers at a rate that meets the needs. And that’s especially true for our rural and smaller hospitals and providers, where their reimbursements from, from Medicare and other programs don’t reflect the high cost of providing care, but they’re providing essential access to people who would otherwise have to travel long distances to get care. So that’s one of the things I would like to work on. Um, I, you know, in the long run would like to work on single care, single payer health care. Um, when I was first diagnosed with cancer, my 15 year old’s first question to me was, can we afford your care? And when 15 year olds have that concern, when their mother has cancer, we have a broken system and the administrative costs and the amount of paperwork that’s generated that’s not expensive. You know, expenses that are not going into the care of patients is really out of control. And we need to find a new system where money in the system takes care of people.
Advocate: Is there anything specific that you would have suggested, Sarah, or that you might have done if you were a legislator at the time all this was going on with Optum taking over Corvallis Clinic. Is there something you would have done to intervene and try to get a different outcome there? Could you give us 30 seconds on that?
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yeah, I mean it’s not really a state legislator’s position to make decisions about who buys and sells your businesses in our state, whether they’re non-profit businesses or corporate businesses. What I would like to have done is slowed the process down so that the community would have the time to have full input and full understanding, and could have their voice heard through the process.
Advocate: I’ve gotta run for time and move over to Sami. Same questions.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Steve, uh, we’re in health care crisis, and my heart goes to all of us going through a challenging times, especially those who are enduring the, uh, expensive costs of health care, life saving health care. And there is no answer that will bring us solace into where we are right now with Optum acquiring Corvallis Clinic. I, uh, I understand that the we can create standards and regulations, we can create enforcement. Uh, but right now, for Corvallis to be a health care desert is just going to be a crisis. Uh, it’s not going to only impact us here in Corvallis. It’s going to impact the whole Mid Valley area all the way to the coast. So what I would do is really ensure that those opportunities for our local community to be able to access providers are available, uh, whether it is available, availability for incentives to make sure that our local providers continue to own, uh, their practices and co-own their practices, these opportunities are things, I think, as a legislator, you can advocate for now. Can you control it? Absolutely not. Can you advocate for the future to prevent those large companies with lots of greed and less compassion to take over? Absolutely, yes. That’s why I’m the only, uh, representative candidate from Corvallis, uh, uh, and endorsed by the coalition for a Healthy Oregon and many physicians and nurses and legislators who are really ready to work with me on this matter. Uh, so I hope that answers the question to the best of the ability. But if I want to answer it in very simple word, no one should declare a bankruptcy because of an illness, and we’re nowhere close to there.
Advocate: Okay, so thinking outside the box, um, this thing comes along. Optum Health wants to buy Corvallis Clinic. Uh, would you have been on the phone or emailing? Who would you be talking to? Is there anything you would specifically have done outside the box? Just like. Yes, Sarah, what would you done?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Yes, that’s what I do on daily basis. When I have a conflict, when I have a challenge across Oregon, what would you do?
Advocate: Would you call who do you email? What do you what would you do to advocate?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Yeah. Uh, coalition of healthy Oregon hospitals, uh, Samaritan, the physicians themselves and really understand the severity and the urgency. I know some physicians that have shared confident confidently with community leaders and members that, uh, if this sale sale does not go, go in, they’re going to go out of business. Okay. Uh, so, so definitely, definitely outreach, as long as it is within the parameters of the law, I want to be very careful that if there’s any parameters outside the law.
Advocate: I’m going to go ahead and move to the next question, and I’m going to make this brief because I think your positions are probably fairly similar. What is your position on women’s health care, and specifically, will you protect a woman’s autonomy over her own body? And what will you do to improve access to reproductive health care? I’m going to start with, uh, Sami Al-Abdrabbuh.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: I will be committed to increase access to abortion, reproductive health, uh, sex appropriate education that we pride ourselves, uh, on in Corvallis. Uh, I will strengthen that. I will strengthen measures of safety and security for people who are wanting to access abortion services from out of state, and they want to be, uh, protected from any surveillance from other states. Uh, so you have my full commitment. Um, I don’t know what’s the full story. My grandmother always shares that she had, uh, six children, nine with, uh, total with, uh, the grandkids that, uh, she calls her kids as well, but 14 pregnancies. Um, I know it is so important for us to protect the human rights, which is access to reproductive health. And I’m going to be a fierce advocate, as I am, and I continue to be, uh, Planned Parenthood, to access every community across the state and the nation.
Advocate: Sarah.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yeah. So I am a woman with a daughter in this country who has fewer rights than I did when I was her age. I’m also someone who faced a reproductive health crisis at 27 and was ignored by the doctor who I brought my concerns to and almost lost my ability to have children as a result. I am a fierce advocate for access to all forms of reproductive health care, and that definitely includes abortion. Abortion is health care. We need to make sure that the crisis of access to maternal health care services in this state is addressed, and that is by doing what I said before, making sure that we put resources in place to make to have our smaller, um, health care facilities and rural health care facilities stay open. So any female biologically female person who needs reproductive health care can get it when they need it, close to where they need it, and that the people who come from out of our state to take advantage of the rights we have here can do so.
Advocate: Thank you. We’re concluding this section on mental and physical health care. I’m going to give each of you about 45 seconds to go ahead with final thoughts on this section or any rebuttal that you might have. I’ll start with Sami Al-Abdrabbuh.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Yeah. Thank you. Steve. Uh, I want to just acknowledge just a story I heard from a friend, uh, early on in my public service, uh, whose life was saved by Planned Parenthood. Uh, and for reproductive planning. They save lives. And I heard of stories of hospitals that, uh, lean on, uh, religious rights to to deny people reproductive health. I’m going to be a strong advocate to make sure that, uh, no matter, uh, what the hospital, what the clinic, if they discriminate it against people’s right to choose or access reproductive health, uh, they will be held accountable. The states will now be investing in, uh, institutions that discriminate. So with health outcomes, the social determinants of health include making sure everybody access health no matter their race, their religion or their gender. And that’s my commitment.
Advocate: Thank you Sami. I’m going to move over to Sarah Finger McDonald. Sami took an extra 10 seconds, you get an extra 10 seconds as well.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yeah, I mean, the candidate in this race who’s been endorsed by the Oregon Nurses Association, I have worked with them and talked with them about the challenges of access and staffing to health care, and we need to make sure that our health care workers are supported, that we have clear pathways to advancement in those careers. And, um, we do all we can to make sure we maintain staffing and access to care. You know, as a parent in this community, I have experienced the difficulties of getting access to mental health care, and I’m grateful for our school district. And I thank my colleague for calling out the wonderful work of our school district and providing mental health care services in our schools. But it’s not enough. And, you know, I understand the challenges that families have with access to health care and mental health care and how critical that is to supporting a healthy family. And I will work to to call attention to the issues that affect our community and families in our district.
Advocate: Thank you Sarah Finger McDonald. And we’ll be starting with you for this for this next section, climate change. Uh, there’s been a ton of questions about climate change – asking what you will do in general. But there’s also been a couple of specific questions too, concerning both forest fire mitigation and diminishing fresh water supplies in the state, and what you would do about these specific issues as well. Also, what is your stand on nuclear power?
Sarah Finger McDonald: Sure. Thanks. So, you know, I sit at a dinner table with teenagers who are not at all shy about telling me how frustrated they are with the adults who’ve been putting Band-Aids on our climate crisis, which really demands long term solutions. I have a PhD in horticulture with a focus on sustainable farming practices. I work with students who want to farm and landscape sustainably and are changing climate. Um, and we have an amazing university in our district that has a large focus on sustainability and addressing environmental concerns. We have research that’s being done on responsible forest management and wildfire mitigation. I will lean on and support the research, research, and resources we have here to build programs in our state to make sure that we have, you know, really strong management practices that will reduce the wildfire risk in our state and I’ll make sure that our fire service is supported. The amazing people who do the work of protecting our communities from forest fires are desperately underfunded and underpaid and are leaving their jobs and putting us all at risk because we don’t pay them enough money. Um, as someone with a background in horticulture, I want to work across the aisle to build the sustainability of our agricultural system, and that will help us address the water issues, you know, understanding how water systems work and how we can farm and meet the needs of our agricultural system, um, responsibly and make water available for both for agriculture, for communities and for for wildlife. Um, is really going to be key to, um, supporting our community and Oregon going forward.
Advocate: Thank you. And Sami Al-Abdrabbuh.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thanks, Steve. The question is so important that you need to have someone with a track record of delivering results, whether advocating for the right to repair and making sure that we work with legislators who are, uh, leading the way on this work, such as representative Mark Gamba to me, to name one out of many who are endorsing me and supporting me. I’m the only member in this uh, uh, race, uh, who will be supporting, who is supported by the state firefighters. And for the first time in very long time, if ever, if not ever, by the Corvallis firefighters. I really appreciate their, uh, work, as, uh, Sarah mentioned and, uh, really want to fight alongside with them. The Sierra Club, uh, members have endorsed me as well, because I’m not only an engineer who can talk with the nuances about this work. I’m not only someone who has done his research around wildfires, decision making, how we protect people and prevent them from happening. I have done this work. I have trained, uh, hundreds of engineers to analyze, uh, long term problems, and they choose, uh, climate change time and time again, more than 50% of them in every classroom. And they’re ready with solutions for policies that they want to advocate for. The next generation is ready, is asking us to do better. And you can count on me, not only someone who believes in these issues, who have learned about these issues, but actually have done this work with policymakers, with educators, with engineers. And I will conclude water is going to be the most important thing we need to work on and, uh, to make sure we can thrive in Oregon. And the scarcity and the drought in Oregon will mandate, uh, many solutions that I’ll be happy to talk more about.
Advocate: just answering the specific question as to nuclear power – support or don’t support. Yes or no.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Safe nuclear power, I support it. I look forward to working with McDonald.
Advocate: Thanks for the answer. Sarah Finger McDonald. You’re welcome.
Sarah Finger McDonald: I don’t support it. The waste that’s created creates conditions we can’t address.
Advocate: So I’m going to allow each of you 30 seconds to rebut on this section.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: What we just said. Sorry. Go ahead.
Advocate: I will start with you, Sarah.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So, you know, I have also been endorsed by the Sierra Club. And, you know, I work every day with students who are trying to build the sustainability and use the tools that, you know, I understand as a horticulturalist and that I’m helping them to use and understand in their chosen fields to protect our natural resources. And I feel like that is a place where I can really bring knowledge to the Oregon Legislature and to the Democratic caucus, where we can build on two really strong values in our state our agricultural system and our natural resources.
Advocate: Sami.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Steve. Uh, there is a good. Thank you. There’s a good reason why, uh, Senator Lou. Frederick have given me an exclusive, enthusiastic support while I was clear. Um, okay. With nuclear, uh, energy. But he wants to work with me on, uh, nuclear wastes. Uh, because, uh, just if you do the numbers, if you want, uh, to save us from, uh, the greenhouse gases, we need to make a decision, and we need to make it quick. But we need to make it methodologically and safely. Nuclear energy has a risk that we need to mitigate. We need to address. We need to, uh, work on, uh, so thank you.
Advocate: Um, so I think we’ve exceeded time on that. And let’s go to what is next, which is housing and homelessness. Sami, we begin with you. With all the programmatic and spending bills lawmakers have aimed at housing and homelessness over the last two legislative sessions, what do you think they’ve gotten right? And where do you think that there could be some improvement? And we do have a few questioners who would like to know what you’ll do to get some of the dollars that have been in those bills into this area locally for local projects, and importantly, what proposals you would have of your own. I’m going to give you each 1 and a half minutes on this. And Sami, we begin with you.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Steve. Love your question. They’re multifaceted. And 1.5 minutes I’m gonna start where you ended, uh, ideas of my own. I believe the ideas that our community is advocating for is workforce housing. Uh, workforce housing that’s provided by, uh, whether the public sector, private sector or collaboration. We do have pilot studies here. I’m working with some partners here locally, uh, who want to change legislation to make it more flexible, efficient, to ensure that, uh, those opportunities are there. Uh, I’ll be succinct in this answer so I don’t take more time, but there’s way more follow up we can do.
Advocate: Okay. And I’ll move over to you. Sarah Finger McDonald.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So a few of the things that I think we got right in that bill were investments in housing and historically underserved black communities in Portland. Um, and investments in programs to keep people housed, because we know that it’s much harder to serve communities, to serve people when they are unhoused. And we can meet their needs and address their their the problems that might lead them into homelessness much more efficiently if they stay housed. Um, I. Agree with with Sami that workforce housing is a key. We’re seeing, you know, decreasing enrollment numbers, you know, since 2017 and our school district because families cannot move to this community. Um, I talked to someone the other day who is losing her rental house and can’t afford any other properties within the community that she’s lived in for 30 years. We need to have public funding to help convert housing projects into affordable housing so that it’s accessible to families as it’s being built. We need to make sure that we have, um. Investments in place to help navigate the regulations, to make it easier to build housing. And we need to develop partnerships between public entities and private entities so that we can fund and build the housing that we need, not necessarily the housing that developers have their eyes on.
Advocate: Okay. And then I’m going to go ahead and allow each of you 30 seconds each to wrap up your thoughts on housing and homelessness. Uh, I’ll start with you, uh, Sarah Finger McDonald.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Addressed housing and homelessness is a really complex issue that’s impacting all parts of our community. Whether you are a member of our unhoused population, a business owner or a family member, I know there are parks in our community that I used to play in with my older child, that even by the time my younger child was born, did not feel safe. And we want to make sure that every member of our community is safe and supported. The programs we know that work to address housing are rent assistance and supportive housing, but we have to have the housing available to put people into.
Advocate: I want to make a correction. I should have started with Sami and then allowed you to rebut. What I’m going to do is I’m going to grant Sami a full minute, and then I’m going to, uh, allow Sarah to rebut. Sami. One minute.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thank you. Uh, you know, in terms of housing, one thing I want to make sure that it’s clear in this race is you have someone with working relationship already, a strong working relationship with the education with the Democratic caucus. And they know I’m going to push back. They know that’s when there’s a housing package. Uh, I’ll be very clear. What works for the Metro does not necessarily work for the Valley, does not work for the east of the Cascades or the coast. We need to empower local communities to develop capacity and solutions. Number two, uh, the housing opportunities for us here needs to make sure that our providing a portfolio of housing opportunities for, um, the whole spectrum of, uh, the workforce and community members, uh, see, if I’m a renter and, uh, even if you have six, uh, digits income, you might have a really hard time affording a, uh, a mortgage. And if you have children in childcare, that’s another cost of another mortgage, uh, equivalent of a mortgage. Um, so, uh, homelessness is another issue. I would like us to, uh, have more time and more questions if you have to tackle the nuances of it.
Advocate: And then Sarah Finger McDonald. Uh, in the second part of correcting myself, uh, an additional 30 seconds to you.
Sarah Finger McDonald: As the candidate in this race who has strong endorsements from our local Democrats and our or local members of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party has not endorsed their candidate in a democratic, Democratic primary, just to be clear, um, but our local leaders, our local elected officials, I have the relationships in this community to understand and advocate for the issues that are really of concern for our working families in this community. I am not shy about standing up for my values and advocating. I work with a population of students that is remote and unseen, and I spend my career calling attention to policies and issues that will affect them. And I will take that same drive and tenacity to advocating for the needs of our community and our families in the state legislature.
Advocate: Okay, we move to our last section. How you’ll lead and leadership in general. These will be more compound questions, so you may want to even take notes as I’m getting them asked. We’ll be starting with Sarah on this one. Dan Rayfield has not just been our District 16 State Rep., he’s also been serving as Oregon’s speaker of the House. And he’s earned bipartisan respect and is trusted on a bipartisan basis. What will you do to work with House Republicans? Do you know the governor? Have you had contact with the governor? What has Dan done that you would build on, and what would you do differently than what Dan has done? One and half minutes each for this one.
Sarah Finger McDonald: Representative Rayfield has been a phenomenal servant of our district and our state. I will go to Salem with my background and understanding of agriculture and natural resources, and use that background to help build relationships across the aisle so that I can work then in a bipartisan way, to solve problems for our district and for Oregon. I have been endorsed by governor, former Governor Kate Brown, and former Governor Barbara Roberts. And yes, I have met and talked to our current governor, Tina Kotek. Specifically. I’ve had long conversations with her about the importance of summer programming in schools. Um, I will I as I said, I’m tenacious. I’m not shy about standing up for our unique community. That’s that’s district 16. We are a small city with a large research university and lots of private or, um, nonprofit organizations. And so we have characteristics that are different from other communities in the state. And I will take that deep knowledge and experience that I’ve gained. You advocating for this community, advocating for education, raising a family and experiencing the issues that come along with, you know, navigating education and paying for college and finding, you know, how to figure out retirement and find childcare and those just, you know, common experiences that Oregonians share and take those to Salem to to be a strong advocate and to build relationships with the lawmakers who share my values and share that understanding.
Advocate: Sami, working with Republicans, and do you know the governor, and what would what would you build on that Dan has done? And what would you do differently than he has? Minute and 30 seconds.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: All right. Um, yes, I know the governor. We know each other. We have each other’s cell phone. I have her on hot dial. Um, I look forward to support her agenda. Uh, and also at the same time, I push back. So, for example, the summer program, uh, just today, our executive director of Osba is attending the signing of, uh, uh, the summer programs funding. At the same time, we push back when we were short, uh, funding, uh, millions of dollars that will short, uh, 14,000 kids across Oregon. We said it’s not enough. So definitely weather within the caucus or across the state. Uh, you can count on me, uh, working with the Republicans. I already do that. I am the president of Oregon School Board Association. That represents 197 school districts. Most of them are rural. While we don’t have our affiliation when we serve on the school boards, most of them are conservative. But they trusted Sami, not the liberal or progressive guy from Corvallis. They trusted Sami, who brings leadership, who actually lives and breathes diversity in ideas. I have. It’s part of my job description in Oregon. I, uh, meet with people where they are. I work with people who look and think differently than me every day, and that’s how I’m effective locally, statewide and nationally. I’m proud to have the support of, uh, Congressman Peter DeFazio. And as, uh, just a quick rebuttal of a point that was mentioned about local endorsements.
Advocate: We’ll have rebuttal. Um, I’m going to move to you, Sarah Finger McDonald. Uh, anything else that you want to add on this question? 30 seconds.
Sarah Finger McDonald: As your representative, I will share my experience as someone who’s worked on legislation and advocated for legislation on hard issues. I am not shy about taking on hard issues like gun violence prevention in our state. I am not shy about going to legislators and asking for the support and funding we need for our education system. I also serve on a committee with Osba and work with school board members from across the state. This is work that I have been doing and will continue to do as I advocate for our district.
Advocate: Mr. Al-Abdrabbuh. 30 seconds.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thank you. Uh, you know, uh, no matter the issue, I have the strongest coalition of supports and, uh, local support sometimes is used as an innuendo. Uh, you don’t represent our community. Uh, in 2021, I said I’m the equity candidate, and I stand by the diversity of my community. I still continue to do that. And I’m proud by the support of local Democrats. Um, and of course, as my colleague mentioned, not the party, but I’m also endorsed by leadership across the community here in Corvallis, diverse leadership across the state and the nation. And that’s what you need as a legislator who’s effective in this work. Ceasefire Oregon is one of the strongest allies in the fight for gun violence. And they said some gun violence protection. They said, Sami is the person we trust to actually tackle the important issues on the aisle.
Advocate: And then, this is a yes or no question. I’ll start with Sarah. Will you commit to never delay legislative business with a walkout or boycott?
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yes
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Yes.
Advocate: Thank you. There’s been criticism of the governor that, um, she is very centered on the Portland metro area and in general metro areas. That, on some level, um, she doesn’t really see the rest of the state. Uh, what would you do to help her refocus – in terms of the rest of the state, Sami? One minute.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: You know, that was actually one of the things that I mentioned and brought up during the campaign trail when she was running, and I’m grateful for her. Uh, one Oregon tour. I share the same sentiments. We gotta travel across Oregon. I’ve done that 4700 miles in about, uh, 40 days meeting with education leaders, and she’s doing the same thing. I will ensure just I mentioned, I will ensure that I bring up those common themes between the valley and the east of the cascade. So legislation is always prioritizing every local community, including ours. Uh, that’s something that I look forward to continue with, uh, the governor and the legislature to prioritize that. That’s why I have the strongest, uh, support from, uh, Portland Democrats. Uh, who who say, Sam, you’re going to push back on us. But you we know that you know how to build those bridges. So whether it is with the governor or the majority of Democrats from Portland, I have those working relationships with them where I actually deliver the middle ground, where we deliver on what the needs of our community.
Advocate: Thank you, Sami. And then moving to you, uh, Sarah Finger McDonald, the criticism that the governor seems to be quite focused in the Portland metro, not as much as the rest of the state. What as a legislator would you do to help her see the rest of the state?
Sarah Finger McDonald: Yeah. Look, I am not a candidate who’s been driven by political ambition running for lots of seats. I am by nature an advocate who sees a problem, and I want to roll up my sleeves and fix it. And I’ve done that as an advocate for the invisible students who attend OSU remotely. I’ve done it as an advocate for gun violence prevention for the last 11 years. As a founder of the Oregon chapter of Moms Demand Action, as a member of the board of the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, my first experience testifying for a bill in Salem, the opposition to that bill was all sitting in the hearing room, armed. I am used to tough conversations. I’ve been an advocate for myself, navigating a very complicated health care system. I will not hesitate to speak up and make calls when our interests and needs need to be addressed and are being overlooked, and that’s why you should elect me. I am not quiet about things that affect me in my community. Yes, Portland sucks energy and attention away from the state, and policies and budgets are often made that meet Portland’s needs and don’t meet the needs of the rest of the state. As your state representative, I will stand up for our unique community.
Advocate: Thank you. Sarah Finger McDonald. Um, then the next question and then we’ll be concluding this section. What experience have you had working with voters from both the urban and rural parts of the state? What have you learned from each? One minute each?
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Steve. I’m the only person who I believe, uh. I’m sorry. I’m going to say this. Yeah, I am ambitious. When? When an assistant principal said, Sami, we’re going to hit you because of your belief system with a corporal punishment. Uh, yeah. I was ambitious to say. You know what? That’s not policy in the books that I’m going to, uh. I’m going to protest it. Um, yeah, I am ambitious when, uh, I see our states as divided. I go out of the way and meet with people who never seen a person of color, probably in some communities, and lean in and listen. Um. I’m ambitious. I want to make sure Oregon have a better chance. I want I want to have kids in this community. Uh, and I want them to be able to thrive in this community. I want them to be able to hike the trails that we do hike. And. And that’s why whether it’s as picayune who’s advocating for undocumented immigrants and farm workers, uh, or SEIU or every trade union, uh, Oregon Working Families Party, uh, and the, uh, food worker, commercial workers, they support me because I have shown that track record. I have worked with rural communities across Oregon. Thank you.
Advocate: Sarah Finger McDonald, one minute to you – what have you learned from folks in the urban parts of the state? And what have you done with urban folks in urban parts of the state? Same with rural.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So, one of the places that this has really been part of my experience is with my work on gun violence prevention. You know, in addition to being, um, endorsed by the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, I’m also endorsed by the gun owners for responsible Ownership. I, you know, talk to people from lots of sides of an issue. I want to intentionally invite the people who my decisions impact to the table to make decisions. I have been endorsed by a piano and by the Oregon Nurses and Teachers and SEIU, because I am willing to listen and reach out and understand the experiences of the people who my decisions will impact. And I’ve done that with gun violence prevention, working with responsible gun owners to make sure policies you meet the needs of our whole community. I’ve done that. Serving on the Legislative Policy Committee of the Osba, working with school board members from across the state to make sure that the legislation that we are bringing forward as an organization meet the needs of our entire state.
Advocate: Okay. And then we’re going to move to, uh conclusory comment. This is your closing – it’s going to be 60 seconds each and, uh, we began with Sarah Finger McDonald. So we conclude with Sami Al-Abdrabbuh. 60 second closing comment.
Sami Al-Abdrabbuh: Thank you. Steve. Uh, I appreciate that. We’re having a primary where we’re, uh, putting our best selves, uh, into this process. Um, I started about ten years ago or a decade, uh, with public service in one form or another. And I’m not stopping. Uh, I know our kids are hurting. I know the legislature is the place for me to continue this fight. Uh, and I’m gonna do that work. Uh, the community is, uh, increasingly, increasingly supportive of me continuing this work. And I ask you to really support me, not because of the depth of ideas and perspectives that I bring, uh, but because of the diversity of representation I bring from all, uh, facets of life. People are supporting me in this community, and I’m hoping I can uplift their voice as much as they have uplifted me. Um, this is the work that’s, uh, is the bread and butter of what I really enjoy or what for me at Sami Oregon.com chip in, invest in my vision for a better community. A place where all of us belong.
Advocate: Thank you. Sami Al-Abdrabbuh Sarah Finger McDonald. A minute to you.
Sarah Finger McDonald: So yesterday I was stopped on the street corner in Corvallis by someone who said she’s voting for me because I live her life. It’s not the first time I’ve heard this. You knocking on doors. People want someone who understands the challenges and issues that they face. Like putting their kids through college, like planning for retirement, like facing a health crisis and I share those experiences with working families across our community and across Oregon. Because I’m a working mom, I’m Sarah Finger McDonald, and as your state representative, I will advocate for education and gun violence prevention and health care access and housing. I will be focused on supporting the needs of our district and the families who live and work here. Vote for me by May 21st for more information and to make a donation you can go to Sarah Finger mcdonald.com. Thank you so much to The advocate for the opportunity to to talk with you today.
Advocate: Thank you Sarah Finger McDonald and Sami Al-Abdrabbuh for the hour. And to our viewers, thank you for your interest. Ballots will be arriving soon, and they need to be dropped or postmarked by May 21st.
The Advocate used a third-party service to transcribe the video, and we’ve made minimal edits to the transcript for clarity and accuracy.
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