I sure can't blame Ron for wanting the best for his kid.

My 5-year-old goes to an out of district school because the in-district school sucks. And I'm certainly not rich.

I don't see why Oregon educators are so against school choice and open enrollment.

Do you HAVE to be a liar to be a Republican in the US?

Is it in their platform? Or, even worse, their DNA?

If you don't like the local schools, Ronnie, call U-Haul. Or better yet, volunteer that big ol' head of yours.

Otherwise, Mr. Saxton, please do not LIE on official PPS school choice forms because that is illegal.

Do you HAVE to be a liar to be a Republican in the US?

Or perhaps a Democrat? "I never had sexual relations with that woman..."?

Daphne,

Did you read the article? It doesn't sound like he lied, it sounds like he moved.

As for the politics of lying, I'd say that both parties have a little problem with forked tongues. It's just that one party gets more of a pass in the media than the other.

The issue isn't his moving to an Apt so his kid can go to Lincoln, a loophole but legal. It was running for School board from the district his house sits in while living in the Apt.

I seem to remmeber a certain Judge who just got dumped from the ballot for not meeting a residency requirement. Do any of the Saxton defenders want to extend the same defense to judge You?

I don't see this as a school choice issue - not technically anyways. (Nor should it be a Republican/Democrat who-is-the-bigger-liar debate.)

What should be in dispute is the definition of residency.

The article asks: "Can a person have two legal addresses of residency at the same time, one for the purpose of school enrollment and one for candidacy?"

If Saxton (or his crew) did indeed get this checked out and it passed, then I don't see what the brouhaha is about. There isn't anything to be done about it now. I would like to hear what the "major newspapers' editorial boards" have to say about it though.

[For the record, I don't believe that just because something is legal that makes it right. That's a whole 'nother debate.]

Telling parents which kids they have to send there kids to is akin to telling you where you have to work or what car you can buy or how many calories you can eat. All things that nobody would put up with... Except in this case, your kids' entire futures are at stake...

End school socialism now! Be Pro Choice! Vote for school choice!

It was running for School board from the district his house sits in while living in the Apt.

That's the highly unethical, if not illegal, aspect of the facts described by the article.

And the having it both ways -- pure gold(schmidt).

Let's start a pool. Who's going to file the complaint with the state bar?

I love the latest: "Phil Keisling and Norma Paulus told me it was o.k." I hope they told you in writing, governer!

What is the illegal part?

Did he not get an approval from Sec of State Phil Keisling and former SoS Paulus on the residency issue?

Is it unethical to have a 2nd home, and to take advantage of different residency requirements, depending upon the law as determined by the Sec of State?

Did he not get an approval from Sec of State Phil Keisling and former SoS Paulus on the residency issue?

I'll believe that when I see it in writing.

Is it unethical to have a 2nd home, and to take advantage of different residency requirements, depending upon the law as determined by the Sec of State?

I doubt that the residency requirements are different.

This is the same cr*p Cheney pulled with his supposed Wyoming residency so that he could be VP.

I hear you on the crap part, but is it illegal crap? Cheney's use of different homes, probably not illegal, yes? Okay, crap maybe, but I doubt illegal. But I am not a lawyer, so I will may be wrong.

At least Cheney was consistent in his falsehood that Wyoming was his principal residence. Saxton wants it both ways.

Lying about your residence in connection with running for office is a crime. Lying about your residence in a school application may or may not be a crime. But when you're running for the school board, any funny business like that is grounds for political execution.

I think Ron's time as a politician will soon be over.

I wonder where he voted from during that year...

"i think rons time as a politician will soon be over"...4 more years of kulongoski sounds good to you? when did lying and being a corrupt politician become a problem for portland residents? the city and the state are run by democrats who make saxon look like a choir boy. i know cause i read all about it here on your blog jack.. its ok to be a corrupt liar as long as your a liberal one?

His son received his IB diploma, went on to complete his college education, and is now working as an engineer. All because his father complied with the rules as he was able to interpret them for the situation. Aren't our laws drafted to be vague enough to allow for interpretation? I don't see a harmful outcome in this instance, either. I'm fo Saxton fan, but if Joe Blow followed the same path would this be such an issue?

Oops. I meant, "I'm no Saxton fan..."

If PPS turned Jefferson into an IB school to address overcrowding, would Saxton have moved into North Portland?

What we'll find is that many more politicians, editors, wanna-be politicians, city council members, city staff, school district employees have used the same methods as Saxton to help achieve a good education for their children. Be careful before you condemn.

Be careful before you condemn.

Hey, I don't doubt that there are others.

If they want to hold public office, however, they should be prepared to have their history scrutinized. It comes with the territory.

I know plenty of people who have used the same kind of tactics to get their kids into a different school. They aren't, however, running for Governor.

If Saxton wants to be the big dog, then he has to be prepared to defend his past actions. It appears that he thinks he is ready. We'll see.

I am interested to see how this will impact his poll numbers. Something tells me they won't change much. His supporters will call him a hero for school choice; his opponents will say he's just another [fill-in-the-blank].

"If Saxton wants to be the big dog, then he has to be prepared to defend his past actions"

Sure but this is nothing needing defending.

This story is ludicrous.

Cheney was cleared, right or wrong, you can look it up on Westlaw.

This sounds more like Portland's whining liberal middle class, where doing what's best for "the children" trumps anything, even when it leads to sociopathic parental behavior.

I thought the telling part of the Cheney saga was that he rarely bothered to vote at either location - a glimpse at how he would view our system later, perhaps? In fact I had a joke on the Tonight Show when Candidate George Bush was a guest, saying, "This election is so close even Dick Cheney's thinking about voting."

"Who wants to file a bar complaint?"

I don't think you really want to start that type of politics. After all its usually lawyers with D's next to there name in Portland who run afoul of items not necessarily legal yet questionable enough for a bar complaint.

You file one against Saxton and you'll see a dozen filed against a host of elected officials starting with Serena Cruz for her skirting of open meeting laws around gay marriage. (Holy crap is Charlie Hales an attorney???)

Lets keep this civil and on the issues.

If you want to make this election about Ron Saxton being a good fit among the Portland Cocktail party so be it. But trying to blow this beyond basic lawyering of rules is going a little far.

Its not Ron Saxton's fault Kulongoski wasn't capable of accomplishing anything beyond taking credit for a few republicans in the legislature passing Jessica's law.

"I know plenty of people who have used the same kind of tactics to get their kids into a different school. They aren't, however, running for Governor."

Maybe it's okay for a normal person to be Governor...

i know cause i read all about it here on your blog jack.. its ok to be a corrupt liar as long as your a liberal one?

You don't read this blog enough, or you'd know I'm not voting for Ted this time, either.

I know plenty of people who have used the same kind of tactics to get their kids into a different school. They aren't, however, running for Governor.

They weren't running for the gosh-darned school board at the time, either. And did your friends maintain multiple houses in town, as Saxton claims to have done? That's Rich Guy Portland only.

You file one against Saxton and you'll see a dozen filed against a host of elected officials starting with Serena Cruz for her skirting of open meeting laws around gay marriage.

And your point is?

The liberal goofballs are having a field day with this, but even an independent like myself finds this despicable. Bye, Ron. Wish you could take Ted with you.

Jack, with your (and others) knowledge of Ted's connections, closet issues with Goldschmidth, your wish to "take Ted with you" might happen.

When I was an overly idealistic and principled young student I would have been mortified if my parents followed through on the idea of relocating to the other side of a loophole on my behalf. Mortified, appalled and embarrassed. I hated getting any special advantage. Perhaps that changes with regards to my own children, but I was then, and remain today, eternally determined to earn everything on my own merits. I wonder if Saxton the Younger stands around at work parties and retells this story with a shrug, a knowing smile, an unapologetic smirk or a wincing cringe. I doubt his parents care, so long as he's at that work party, but I still wonder.

Sure hope this doesn't interfere with his campaign to be "governer."

My point being that to advocate for stunts usually just brings more stunts. It only sours the experience for both parties, dodges the real issues, and in a few years you'd be criticizing both parties for all the Bar complaints. In short; I disagree with the side comment about Bar complaints and someone as well read as you mentioning them might put ideas in the wrong people's heads.

Neither candidate is my cup of tea but I'd tell you if this school district address thing drags on it will only benefit Saxton. Thinking strategically about this I can see the direct mail pieces, lit drop door knockers, and boy the radio will run brilliantly.

Your all missing the real point of what I'm sure will be spun as a "pivotal" time in Ron Saxton's life as he entered public service (thats the way the consultants will spin it - Felix probably leaked this story himself).

Saxton's playing home-address games was necessary for his son to participate in the PPS program of his choice. Think about how this context could be played against 'Sleepy Ted.' You are going to hand Saxton one of his favorite issues on a silver platter - School choice reform. Kulongoski response will be lacklaster, a few SEIU linking attack ads and boom - five more points in the polls.

Think about this. He is well off, but still his son was denied access to the school program of his choice. One preferentially left open for those living in the west hills income bracket as opposed to the inner east side. The bi-line will read "Ron Saxton understands what parents go through in trying to provide a good education for their children."

So his son wanted to choose Lincoln over Grant, Madison, or Marshal HS. The PPS had rules he disagreed with, he ran for office, he won and attempted to change the system. Boy, I can see the TV ads now.

Just so you can keep track, here's a quick headcount of the lawyer/nonlawyer folks mentioned above.

Active members of the Oregon State Bar:
Ron Saxton (active since admission, 1979)

Inactive members of the Oregon State Bar:
Ted Kulongoski (admitted 1970; inactive as of 2003)
Serena Cruz Walsh (admitted 1996; inactive as of 2001)
Norma Paulus (admitted 1962; inactive 1998)

Not lawyers/not members of the Oregon State Bar:
Charlie Hales
Phil Kiesling

Resigned members of the Oregon State Bar:
Neil Goldschmidt (admitted 1967; inactive 1998; resigned "Form B" 2004)

I seem to remmeber a certain Judge who just got dumped from the ballot for not meeting a residency requirement. Do any of the Saxton defenders want to extend the same defense to judge You?

Im not a "Saxton defender", but You being out of state is a bit different than Saxton being across town.

Jon,

No it's not, in the Judge's case she was runnign for state wide office, in Saxton's csse he was runnign for office from a specific district in the city.

we have to be realistic....please!!

if men and women are equal, and black and white (but not asian) are equal, then democrats and republicans are just as corrupted and we have to admit that we all have the selfish gene.

the only difference is that lots of folks in portland are so gunho that they are willing to be suckers to their elected officials.

i guess they ask for it so as to be political corrected.

The school choice issue is bogus. Portland already has all-city school choice and a FAIR system to allocate spaces for out-of-area students in schools that are at capacity. Lincoln was (and is) full. Saxton Jr. did not luck out in the lottery used to FAIRLY assign the Lincoln spaces left after in-area enrollment to out-of-area students, so Saxton Sr. used his money to buy a temporary residence - an option not available to equally concerned but less affluent parents. Legal, yes. But do we really want a governor who takes the "my family's needs trump other families' needs" approach? Shouldn't there be some element of "doing the right thing even at personal cost" in people who are making decisions for our state?

The real issue here isn't that Saxton used legal financial means to play the school choice system. It's whether it was ethical for him to claim residency in another neighborhood to run for School Board at the same time.

You have to face facts, Jack. Republicans in the Senate are getting ready to throw habeas corpus overboard because they are scared of Muslims. You really think that any Republican is going to care that some dude in Oregon lied about his residency to get his kid into one of the better schools? C'mon--they only care about lies when it is something vital to our nation's interest--like whether or not the President hooked it up with his intern.

Incidentally, every time I read one of Amanda Fritz's comments here, I wish she (a) was running local government, and (b) had her own blog.

"The real issue here isn't that Saxton used legal financial means to play the school choice system. It's whether it was ethical for him to claim residency in another neighborhood to run for School Board at the same time."

The real issue here is whether the "ethical" question is just another sanctimonious smokescreen for partisan attacks ("Do you HAVE to be a liar to be a Republican in the US?". The selectivity in the interpretation of the "facts" in the article and the twisting of Saxton's motives ("my family's needs trump other families' needs") demonstrates the dearth of faith among TK's supporters.

This is all you got?

As for all you former Westlund supporters; in the end I'll wager you'll be driven to TK by "scandals" like this. I believe you... honest.

Well put, Amanda.

Amanda said, "Portland already has all-city school choice and a FAIR system to allocate spaces for out-of-area students in schools that are at capacity."

That is partially true because it only applies to the Portland School District; however, a certain sub-set of Portlanders in Multnomah County got around that rule by jerry-mandering their own school district within Portland called Riverdale School District.

What really gets me is that the High School is not even physically located in their own school district. So kids who live, literally, next door to the school cannot attend the school without paying out of district fees of $10,000, but instead attend Wilson High.

Thanks for the correction, I should have said "all district" rather than "all-city" for school choice. Not so much for Riverdale, whose residents aren't Portlanders, but for people who do live in Portland but are in the Parkrose, David Douglas, Centennial, or Reynolds school districts.

Riverdale didn't jerrymander their district, they simply located their high school outside of it to avoid bothering Riverdale residents with all that pesky traffic. Fortunately the Portland kids who live next door to Riverdale's high school do indeed get to go to Wilson instead, for no extra charge. At Wilson they find educational opportunities that compete well with any school in any district.

The sad part of the Saxton school-choice story, I think, is that Saxton Jr would probably have done well at Franklin, Cleveland, or any the other nine high schools in PPS, as well as at Lincoln.

Amanda,
With all due respect, you must not have kids in high school.

Franklin is an absolutely abysmal school. Lincoln sends upwards of 90% of its kids onto college. It is far and away the best school in the district.

Cleveland, perhaps. Wilson and Grant, sure. Jeff, Franklin, Madison? No way.

John, with all due respect, you must not have visited Jeff, Franklin, or Madison recently. I have. I've been in every one of the 10 PPS high schools, and this is my 7th year with at least one child at Wilson. I stand by my previous comments.

Lincoln is a great school, aided in its college acceptance rate by having so many affluent families in its area. The fact that Lincoln is a good school should not detract from the successes of other schools in the district, which face greater challenges with fewer resources. I was invited to speak with two civics classes at Madison during my campaign, and was once again extremely impressed with the students and staff there, dealing with huge socioeconomic and cultural issues. Those classes heard presentations not only from all the city council candidates, but also from statewide elected officials, past mayors, all kinds of insightful and interesting leaders. The students' questions were among the most perceptive and meaningful I experienced during the entire campaign. My sessions with classes at Jefferson and Roosevelt left me thrilled with the level of education and discussion in our high schools, too.

Did you happen to catch the PPS Board meeting where Jefferson High School students spoke about cuts at their school and its reorganization? Those students would match any debate team in the state. And if the district would quit messing around with reoganizing Jeff and giving it a new Principal every couple of years, and instead fund the programs students are asking for such as more than two years of one foreign language, it would stand a chance of competing for the most able students with schools like Lincoln, Grant, and Wilson.

far and away the best school in the district

Some facts that back my assertion that all Portland High Schools are helping students achieve more:

"In 2006, 1,476 Portland Public School students took the SAT, just over half of the senior class. At every Portland high school, students scored higher than they had in 2005 in one or both of the subjects, critical reading and math. Four high schools posted double-digit increases in both critical reading and math: Benson, Cleveland, Jefferson and Wilson."

Success should be measured by how well a school teaches the students it serves, rather than by comparison with another school with different demographics whose students may arrive at high school achieving more/less academically. Each student can be successful in every Portland high school. I attended the PPS valedictorians' celebration this year, and heard representatives of the 4.0 students from all ten high schools talk about their wonderful experiences. The lessons learned at any one may not necessarily be better or worse, rather different and still valuable when the goal is preparation for life.

High school is what the student and their family want it to be. Period.

At Lincoln, it is very common for parents to pay for grades, like a new BMW for straight-A's and a certain SAT score. That is called motivation with a capital M. Same at CCHS. Check out all the gleaming Lexuses lining Stark Street sometime.

At Franklin and Madison, if a student does not get the good grades, not only do they not get the Beemer, they do not get a job.

It's Mom and Dad and the moolah that really take the SAT, they are just not in the room.

I'm not sure what's worst, elitism or defeatism.

I hope you don't pass your "only rich kids win" ethos to your kids.