Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for 2012 General Election Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for

use by Statesman Journal Editorial Board members in evaluating candidates for potential endorsements in the Nov. 6 General Election. Your answers also will be shared with reporters and may be published in the print newspaper and on StatesmanJournal.com. If you completed our questionnaire for the primary season, youll notice that some requested information is similar. We ask you to provide it again in case any of your previous data or answers have changed. (If you cant find a copy of your previous answers, let us know and well gladly send one.) Please answer each question and return this questionnaire to the Editorial Board via email as an attached Word document. The boards email address: Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com Deadline for submitting your questionnaire: 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, or earlier.
Questions? Contact Editorial Page Editor Dick Hughes, 503-399-6727,

dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com
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Your name:

Thomas B. Cox

Age: 47 (I turn 48 in early October)

(If your age will change before the Nov. 6 election, please indicate your birthday. We want to make sure we use accurate ages in editorials and news coverage. )

Political party (if this is a partisan office): Republican Position you are seeking (name of position, district number): State Treasurer I plan to attend the editorial board meeting scheduled for: 04-Oct-2012 Number of years living in the area you seek to represent: about 20 years in Oregon Do you affirm that you are a full-time resident of that area? Yes City/town of residence: NE Portland, OR Kerns neighborhood

Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children): I Live with Susan H Johnson MD, my life partner. I have two daughters, Zoe, 18, and Sophia,17. Education: Public school in Louisville KY and West Hartford, CT; then BA-Behavioral Science 86 at College of the U of Chicago. (I idiotically dropped out of the Sociology Masters program 2 credits short.) Current occupation and employer: Self employed Cox Business Consulting, Inc. since 2003. Military service: None. Employment history: Oracle Corp. 1989-1992, then again 1995-1998 TrueNorth Consulting 1993-1995, then 1998-2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers 2000, bought by IBM in 2001 IBM 2001-2003 Cox Business Consulting since 2003 (including many small projects on either 1099 or w2) Community involvement/volunteer history: Tigard Tree Committee Citizens Police Academy Hillsboro and Beaverton City Club of Portland member, Program Committee, and Board of Governors Please list all public offices to which youve been elected, and when: None Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: 2000 Attorney General (Libertarian) 2002 Governor (Libertarian)

2004 State Rep/Hillsboro (Libertarian) [in 2005 I changed parties to Republican] 2006 Metro Council (nonpartisan) Other prior political and government experience: Tigard Tree Committee How much your general election campaign will cost: We will spend as much as we can raise and are still raising money. Key endorsements you have received: I have not sought personal endorsement. I am seeking media endorsements and the collective "endorsement" of Oregon's voters. How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information may be published): Mail address: 7100 SW Hampton, Suite 201, Tigard, Oregon 97223 E-mail address: tom.cox.for.treasurer@gmail.com Web site URL: www.thomasbcox.com Phone: (503) 970-1876 Fax: (503) 268-1305

Please limit your response to each of the following questions to about 75 words but be specific. 1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details. No 2. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details. I was once sued by FDSI of Seattle regarding a consulting project, and was dropped from the suit after being deposed and then asking to be removed. 3. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? I have a detailed and realistic plan for permanently fixing PERS in a way that protects taxpayers, public employees, and government employers. I would like to support a more aggressive approach to developing state lands for the purpose of creating jobs. Where my opponent seems to favor government stimulus programs to deal with Oregon's problems and opportunities, my approach is based on encouraging wealth creation in the private sector by unleashing Oregon's public resources and taking real action to ensure financial stability. 4. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (75 words for each
issue)

A. PERS four points for reform: a. Defined Contribution plans for new employees entering PERS b. Freeze pension accruals and transfer existing employees to Defined Contribution plans (limits size of problem) c. Bond 2/3 of the unfunded liability protecting government employers from futher escalation d. Pay down bonds by growing efficiencies 50% of savings to current workers Defined Contribution plans, 50% to debt reduction

B. State Lands we are not managing state owned assets effectively. For example, European forests are managed both more sustainably and more profitably than Oregons forests. a. Examine world class harvesting and regulatory regimes b. Adopt best practices for state lands c. Encourage legislation to allow best practices in private sector C. Government Efficiencies a. Government services typically improve productivity slower than the private sector

b. Even modest efficiencies could pay for reduced PERS liabilities, increased salaries and benefits, and eventually lower taxes, while increasing service delivery c. We have dozens of examples from Oregon, the US and worldwide on how to improve productivity of government workers 5. What do you see as other important issues? Bonding and Debt the state has a lot to offer the counties, cities, and other bond-issuing entities of the state, particularly regarding the significant risk of inflation in the next 10 years. The recent flap over Clackamas County bonding for Light Rail would have benefited from input from the Debt Division and public comment from the State Treasurer. 6. How would you describe your political style or for judicial candidates, your judicial temperament? Im bold regarding vision, generating out-of-the-box options, and at the same time highly collaborative in crafting deals. Vision and principle are vital starting points, yet they only have meaning when turned into specific programs, policies, laws and actions. I regard no one in politics as an enemy, and nobody is evil. Everyone has interests, and we make progress politically when we advance the publics interest while taking reasonable account of the particular interests of stakeholders. 7. If you are an incumbent, what have you achieved during your current term? If you are not an incumbent, how have you prepared yourself for this position? Ive been studying PERS reform and methods for increasing government agency efficiency for over a decade. Ive also been practicing the neglected art of working across lines of disagreement to create workable solutions. For the past three years Ive focused specifically on thoroughly understanding how trust is created and how conflict can be either destructive or constructive and how to transform destructive conflict into its opposite. 8. What is the largest budget you have handled, and in what capacity? Just under $1 million a year as an interim executive for an internet retailer. 9. What is the largest number of employees youve supervised, and in what capacity? Over 75 people for 9 months, when I managed 24 simultaneous projects at IBM Global Services. 10. Who is your role model for this office the person/people you would most like to emulate? Abraham Lincoln his call to work with malice toward none, with charity for all speaks to the best of the American character. We can only reform PERS if we resist the temptation to demonize our opponents.

11. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? I suppose that over the arc of one's life there are things that one might do differently, but I am confident that there is no information out there which could potentially compromise my apparent suitability to serve as Oregon's State Treasurer. 12. As a public official, your views on public issues are relevant to voters and potential constituents. Please indicate whether you support or oppose each of these statewide measures on the Nov. 6 ballot. (This question does not apply to judicial candidates.) Measure 77, catastrophic disaster Measure 78, separation of powers Measure 79, real estate transfer taxes Measure 80, marijuana legalization Measure 81, gillnetting ban Measure 82, allows private casinos Measure 83, authorizes Wood Village casino Measure 84, eliminates inheritance tax Measure 85 shifts corporate kicker to K-12 schools Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No

Thank you. Again, please submit your questionnaire as an attached Word document to Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com no later than 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012.