Lars Larson: Remote politician 5,500 miles away

By Lars Larson
NW and national radio host,

The Northwest Nonsense

I’ll admit, I thought it was bad enough that Oregon voters tolerate representation from a U.S. Senator who doesn’t even live in the state.

Ron Wyden lives almost 2900 miles away from the Beaver State with his wife and kids in New York City.

But now, one of Wyden’s fellow Democrat party members makes him look like a piker when it comes to “remote representation”.

Mary Nolan has been feeding at the public trough for the better part of 3 decades as a state lawmaker and now a member of the Metro Regional government council.

To run for the office, election laws require you to be a resident of the metro district you claim to represent. Nolan apparently qualified, but now Oregonlive  breaks the story that she’s been attending meetings of the regional government remotely from Spain.

Well, Ole.

The Metro gig pays like a full time job at nearly 70-thousand bucks a year plus benefits…but it doesn’t require full time on the job.

So, Mary Nolan can govern the affairs of people back here in the Northwest and just check in remotely from a foreign country more than 5-thousand miles away.

That’s the Rose City Rap. Join me at noon on KXL for 4 hours of Honestly provocative talk. I’m Lars Larson