MacLeod to challenge Smith for state rep. seat

A political figure with a good deal of local name recognition has decided to challenge Greg Smith for the job of state representative of District 57.

Colleen MacLeod, a Republican who served three terms as a Union County commissioner and has been active in the Association of Oregon Counties and the National Association of Counties, formally announced her decision Monday to take on the long-time incumbent in the May 2010 primary.

A disagreement over taxes is at the heart of her decision, she said. She said she and Smith have been friendly in the past and have discussed her decision to run. She said he asked her not to.

MacLeod, who was raised in Cascade Locks and studied radio broadcasting communications, art and advertising at Mount Hood Community College, worked as a journalist before moving to Union County in the 1970s.

She and her husband, Al MacLeod, have owned several businesses in the county, including a catering company and restaurants. Currently, they run a music instruction school, perform music and run a small batch coffee roasting business.

In 1996, MacLeod ran for and won a seat on the three-member Union County Board of Commissioners. She said she entered politics because she didn’t think people involved in the commissioners race that year were right for Union County.

“It was an open seat. I took a look at who was running and I wasn’t sure I wanted them making decisions that affect me and my family,” she said.

She said she thinks the same way about Smith, who in the last legislative session voted in favor of an increase in personal income tax for people with higher incomes.

“He says he understands business, but there’s double-digit unemployment in all the rural counties and any tax affects everybody,” she said. “How in the world can you vote for something like that in an economy like this?”

Contacted Monday, Smith said MacLeod has always supported him and that he was “shocked” at her decision.

He said he voted for the income tax increase because of projected cuts in funding for Eastern Oregon University, Grande Ronde Hospital, FFA and the OSU Extension Service.

Smith said a proposal to actually close Eastern was on the table at the time. He added that Grande Ronde Hospital faced cuts in reimbursements for Medicaid and Medicare patients.

He said those cuts not only would have had significant impact on the hospital, but also would have resulted in senior citizens paying more for their medical care.

“I would vote the same way again,” he said.

Smith also said his vote figured in the 10-year extension of a tax exemption for companies that own and operate logging equipment.

“We were able to eliminate that tax on logging companies. I put logging companies ahead of rich Oregonians in Salem and Portland,” he said.

Smith, who lives in Heppner, is the head of Eastern Oregon University’s Small Business Center. He has served as state representative since 2000.

MacLeod stepped down as county commissioner in 2008. She recently worked as an aide to U.S. Rep. Greg  Walden, R-Ore. She said that over the years she has developed valuable contacts in state and local government.

As a county commissioner and as a member of AOC and NaCo, she has been active in natural resource politics.

She said she is proud to have helped organize the Oregon Rural Congress. Meetings designed to air concerns of rural counties were held last year at Cascade Locks and Coos Bay.

MacLeod said she wants to  put her experience in the natural resource arena to work in state government.

“Economic development and natural resources go hand-in-hand. They’re very often one and the same thing,” she said. “They’re what I worked on most and I think I got pretty good at it.”