Investing public revenue locally will be one critical element of any economic recovery once the immediate crisis begins to subside. If elected as District 3 Lane County Commissioner I will work with other Commissioners to invest public funds locally. We can leverage County revenue to build assets through direct investment in local businesses, cooperative property acquisition and other innovative investment strategies that include worker ownership. Local investment of public revenue will allow individuals and locally based businesses to build assets while shoring up our local economy.
In Lane County, as in the nation, the economic inequality gap is so wide that it was only a matter of time before our economy tanked. Now the COVID-19 pandemic has ripped back the curtain and revealed how much our local economy hinges on essential workers like grocery store clerks, in-home caregivers, and other health care workers. Many of these workers are at the lowest end of the wage scale. The great disparity between CEO salaries and workers’ wages has grown exponentially since the Depression in the 1930s. The ratio of annual income is now estimated to be more than 300 to 1 (CEO v worker). In 1965 the ratio was 20 to 1. COVID-19 quarantine revealed all.