Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for 2012 Primary Election Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for

use by Statesman Journal Editorial Board members in evaluating candidates for potential endorsements. Your answers also will be shared with reporters and may be published in the newspaper and/or on our website, StatesmanJournal.com. Remember: Any information you provide may be made public. Please fill in your answer to each question and return this questionnaire to the Editorial Board as an attached Word document. The editorial board e-mail: Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com Deadline for submitting your questionnaire: 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 3
Questions? Contact Editorial Page Editor Dick Hughes, 503-399-6727, dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your name: Kathy LeCompte Age: 57 (4/27/55)

(If your age will change before the May 15 primary, please indicate your birthday. We want to make sure we use accurate ages in editorials and news coverage. )

Political party (if this is a partisan office): Republican Position you are seeking (name of position, district number): HD 22 I plan to attend the editorial board meeting scheduled for: 4.13.12 11:00 AM Number of years living in the area you seek to represent: 57 ( Silverton 25, Brooks 32) Are you a full-time resident of that area? Yes City/town of residence: Brooks Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children): Husband Dave LeCompte Two adult Children Education: Graduated Silverton HS, attended OSU Current occupation/employer: Owner, Brooks Tree Farm, a wholesale nursery Employment, military and volunteer history: Please list all public offices to which youve been elected, and when: None

Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: HD 22, 2010 Other prior political and government experience: *Brooks Tree Farm, Established 1980 *President, Oregon Association of Nurseries 2001 *Served on various industry committees, work groups and elected positions. *Young Nursery Person of the Year 1984 *Presidents Five Star Award for Special Service to the industry twice *Volunteer teacher, English as a second language *Five years Hopewell Community Church & Labish Center Evang. Church *Volunteer mentor, Ribbons and Reins 4-H Club for annual community service project teaching young members how to make Christmas wreaths and centerpieces that are both donated to nursing homes and sold as a fundraiser. How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information may be published): Mail address: PO Box 21174 Keizer, OR 97307 E-mail address: Kathy@Friendsofkathy.net Web site URL: www.FriendsofKathy.net Phone: 503.931.6335 Fax: None Please limit your response to each of the following questions to about 75 words. 1. Why did you decide to run for this office? Oregon citizens continue to struggle with above average unemployment and recovery from the Great Recession in our area at a slower pace than it should. With all of the resources and opportunities, we should be doing better and yet there is a pervasive attitude of refusing to look honestly at problems or provide functional solutions. That has to change. We need leaders who want to get something done to improve the lives of local families and help get our economy moving again. 2. How much will your primary campaign cost? $4000 -$6000 3. Key endorsements you have received: 4. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details. No

5. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details. Lawsuit: We tried to evict a woman who was renting 18 acres of farmland and not maintaining the water rights, as required by the lease. We lost the case because the arbitrators ruled we hadnt yet lost anything. In fact, the Dept of Water Resources can come backward in time for 15 years and cancel unused water rights. She later sued us to try to force us to sell back another piece of land containing our farm well. We felt we had been treated unfairly the first time and were afraid of a second bad decision. We settled by offering her the 18 acre piece for free if she would drop the lawsuit, so that we would not risk our well. 6. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? Be specific. I have experience working with a wide range of interests in developing public policy. As someone who has been very active in issues that affect Oregon growers, Ive often worked with people who fall on both sides of an issue. I study potential policy with those interests in mind to develop positions that are most reasoned and fair. I also have a great deal of experience in running a business and creating local jobs. Doing so has required an ability to carefully analyze spending and production options in order to achieve an end goal for our customers and employees. 7. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (75 words
for each issue)

A. Jobs. Oregon has a notoriously challenging business climate and it shows in our unemployment rates. Dave and I taught our kids that stupid costs extra. We all make mistakes. No one escapes that simple fact. But, if you choose to go down a bad path, the price is higher. Staying on it is even more expensive. The legislature is treating businesses as the enemy and wonders why were doing so badly. We have to start treating employers, employees and regulatory agencies as important and mutually successful partners and not adversaries. B. Conrol spending. In business (and in families for that matter) we regularly have to determine priorities. We may have to set aside a project, not buy something we really wanted or to sell something we have to raise funds. The day after his election, Gov Kulongoski said Oregon is in a future budget crisis, nearing cliff. He said government pending needs to be reset. I agree. C. Education First /Classroom Spending First Citizens routinely prioritize education into first position and the legislature has for years funded it last. (2011 being the exception.)We need the courage to provide a functional budget early. PERS costs are impacting the states ability to provide classrooms with needed funds. Its important to honor our contractual commitments to employees while funding the actual schools. We cant let our kids education be caught in the crossfire of spending debates by allowing them to be put last.

8. What do you see as other important issues? We need to be realistic about our natural resources and manage them in a way that generates jobs and productivity for the current citizens in a way that also allows for future generations too. Our hands off, litigate first approach doesnt reduce our need for resources, it just shifts the jobs and opportunity somewhere else. I believe we need to find a balance and allow jobs to be kept here, for local workers. 9. What magazines, newspapers and Web publications do you regularly read to keep up on the news and developments in your areas of interest? I use a variety of news sources: CNN, NBC and FOX. I read specific articles online from a variety of resources including BBC and The Jerusalem Post. Professional publications often include financial information. For instance: North West Farm Credit provides a wide base of information online and by print. 10. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? Nope.