Kotek picks ex-Sen. Knopp for Chief Prosperity Officer

Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The fact that Oregon Governor Tina Kotek chose former Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp to serve as her Chief Prosperity Officer says many things.  In a way, many people will see this as a joke since the same Kotek who declared this Prosperity Officer position also declared her fourth homeless state of emergency this week.  These titles and declarations do not matter.

But if you are going to pursue prosperity, then why not pick a free enterprise veteran like the Honorable Tim Knopp?  Kotek’s other picks, like her transportation picks suffered three resignations last year — so Kotek has nowhere to go but up.

On a more serious note, the State of Oregon is showing serious signs of economic breakdown, and everyone is admitting it and everyone is feeling it.  I hope Knopp jumps in and does as much as humanly possible in this year to stem the bleeding.  This may be the only fully functioning and only successful agency in State government by the end of 2026.    What we do not need is window dressing or political showboating.   We need actual results.   Both former Governor John Kitzhaber and Ted Kulongoski tapped into former pro-business lawmakers, and some of these lawmakers made full use of the opportunity and produced progress during their term.  We wish that progress here, yet, we also are a bit skeptical.

This also may be the direct result of the wildly successful referendum drive, which turned in a quarter million signatures a few weeks ago to stop Kotek’s $4.3 billion gas tax.  Suddenly Kotek is suffering many failures all at once from her poor decisions, and now she is trying to quickly change direction and fix it.