Randy Lauer

Areas of legislation I am passionate about while heading into my first year with the legislature are centered around homelessness and community safety. It will be my goal to author legislation making it a requirement for non-profits who receive state funding for their homeless and social service work to require measurable items tracked to justify the need for tax dollars. There will be metrics that each non-profit will need to hit in order to continue to receive funding from the state. The social services provided are extremely important to help the individuals who are in need of these services but be allowed to go unchecked, provides a hole around accountability when we try to measure the success or failure of such programs.

Community safety legislation will be another area of immediate focus for me during my first year. Further legislation making it more of a serious crime to steal, sell, scrap, and purchase stolen catalytic converters will be key moving forward. Also, continued focus on supporting our local and county police by offering state of the art training and equipment to better keep our communities as safe as possible. All the while doing what I can to encourage legislation to no longer limit the polices ability to uphold law and order in all corners of Oregon.

If I can do anything to help bring back the safe and secure nature of Oregon, it will be my honor to bring such ideals back to Salem.

I look up to people like my parents, my grandparents, and those who came before me serving their country and community to create a better home for future generations.

My grandparents understood what it meant to be a family and what it meant to provide. My mother and father took what they learned from their parents and instilled in me and my siblings the very same work ethic and value for hard work. This is something I have worked to ingrain in my kids as well.

I believe all elected officials need to lead with honesty, integrity, and honor. Building a foundation while incorporating these 3 tenets will help to create an elected official who we can trust to make decisions based on the collective good for everyone in the community. Someone who leads with these 3 ideals helps to create an environment where no problem can be defined as insurmountable, no obstacle too large to work through, and past.

The product of these tenets, in my opinion, is hope.

My first legal job was back in 1995, when I was 15 years old, working during the Christmas season for Zumiez at Clackamas Town Center. Due to it being a seasonal job, I was only employed for 3 months. But, holy cow was it a good 3 months! I not only received a paycheck that helped pay for ski passes on Mt. Hood, I also received a discount as an employee so I was able to buy all new snowboarding gear that season as well! An all around great experience.

Technically, my first job was when I was 14 helping my dad by working for his construction and excavation company. I learned how to work around heavy equipment, the value of hardworking, and the importance of earning a wage. With the money earned that summer, I purchased my very first snowboard and bindings set.

To be completely honest and vulnerable here, an area of struggle for me is my addiction to alcohol. I have been sober for 10 years this coming November but my addiction is something I work to control everyday. With the love and support from my wife, my kids, my family and friends, and the continued ficus on serving my community, lends me the hope I need to not only beat my alcohol addiction, but to also overcome it and thrive.

My drive for service is what keeps me motivated to be a better man, husband, father, and community leader.

Rising inflation and cost of goods, homelessness, crime, drug deaths, and a ballooning housing market are all key indicators that Oregon is in for a tough road ahead. That is why it is important we work together now, not 10 years from now, to find realistic and creative ways to find an end to these markers of a struggling economy.

With that being said, working together for the good of all of Oregon, I think, will be the difficulty over the next decade. We've done some really damage in the Pacific Northwest over the past few years and building the trust back between neighbors, communities, and elected leaders will be the mountain we will all have to climb to get back on the right track.

I believe compromise is the cornerstone of any good governing body. I do not go into this office thinking that I have all the answers, but what I do know is I will always seek out those who have part of the answer to help me in coming to a well rounded and acceptable decision for the community.

Working across party lines, working together for a desirable outcome while keeping the collective good for everyone in HD-49, will be my guiding light, my driving force behind every vote I cast.