🚀 go-pugleaf

>From Albany Democrat-Herald ~ July 29, 2006

State Rep. Jeff Kropf thinks it's unfair that federal regulations on
equal time affect candidates who are broadcasters but not candidates
who write for a living or who hold forth on the Internet. But it's not
unfair. The difference, of course, is that the airwaves, still a
limited spectrum, are regulated by the federal government, as they must
be, but that those other media are outside government regulation or
control.

To avoid exposing his employer, under federal law, to equal-time or
cash demands by his opponent, Kropf Wednesday withdrew as a candidate
for re-election in District 17. He had announced ahead of time it would
be his final term. So all this development means is that Kropf will be
leaving the Legislature a couple of years early.

With his performer's voice and flair, he is a natural at what he now
considers his main occupation, that of hosting a radio talk show on KXL
in Portland. He certainly can make a whole lot more money at that job
than he could ever make in politics.

But as for the contribution he or anyone could make to Oregon, serving
in the Legislature is infinitely more significant than filling the
airwaves with talk.

Talk radio — the kind that takes calls and lets people spout off
whether they know anything or not — may be interesting from time to
time. (Most working people wouldn't know because they have jobs to do
and can't listen to the radio at the same time.) And it has a function
in reflecting at least part of the popular mood. But that still doesn't
come close to equalling the responsibility of a legislator, who if he's
any good must deal with facts in addition to emotions and opinions, and
who must weigh competing interests to try to find solutions that work
for the common good.

Kropf has been in the Oregon House since 1999, succeeding Liz
VanLeeuwen in what used to be House District 36. Redistricting in 2001
forced him to move if he wanted to remain in the district, reshaped and
renumbered as 17.

Many of his constituents will miss his presence in 2007. He was easily
accessible and always good for a zesty quote. Others were not pleased
with his showman's approach to some issues, such as immigration
control, and will be glad to see him gone.

No matter what anybody thinks of Kropf and his legislative work, his
decision to bow out in favor of his private career is completely in
keeping with Oregon's tradition. That tradition — a century and a half
of part-time citizen legislators — says we can get people into public
service, but only for a while.