We can't wait for Wall Street or Washington DC to fix themselves. Here's what Oregon is doing.

By State Treasurer Ted Wheeler.

Two weeks ago, the around-the-clock occupation of two park blocks in downtown Portland came to a largely peaceful conclusion.

Yet while the daily visual reminder of the Occupy Portland encampment is gone, the daily angst that helped to germinate the movement remains as palpable as ever. We can keep expecting to see marches and hopefully peaceful demonstrations, as that dissatisfaction continues to simmer.

While only a relatively small percentage of people are participating in the protests, a strong majority of Americans share the Occupiers’ anger and concern about the state of our economy. They are struggling to get by on declining real wages, they wonder if they will be able to stay in their homes, and they wonder if they will ever achieve a secure retirement. Against that backdrop, they see that Wall Street and corporations are reaping robust profits and executives are making multimillion-dollar windfalls.

When I visited protesters in Occupy Portland and Occupy Salem, I heard a succession of saddening stories about the struggles faced by real Oregonians, who live in a state where our per capita incomes have fallen significantly below the national average. They come from all walks of life: elderly, veterans, and young people.

They all share something in common: They feel ignored, slighted, and frustrated. It just doesn’t seem right – and they want somebody to do something to address a system that seems too oriented toward Wall Street, and not enough toward their street.

While we’d like somebody else to increase the accountability of corporate America for us, the reality is that we can’t wait for Wall Street to just fix itself, or even for Washington D.C. to come to the rescue.

That means we need to use the tools at Oregon’s disposal, and at the State Treasury, we are doing just that.

• We go after bad actors like Oppenheimer and UBS that jeopardize Oregonians and our investments. In conjunction with the Department of Justice, the State treasury is seeking financial compensation from those whose deceit has hurt our financial health.

• We use the power of proxy votes, as an active shareholder, to exert pressure on corporations to make positive changes. This fall, Oregon opposed the election of two of Rupert Murdoch’s sons to the board of directors for News Corp., a company that pays outlandish salaries to its chief executives and has been implicated in a wiretapping scandal.

• We have asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to shine a light on the now-secret political donations that can be made by corporations, by requiring those corporations to report political giving to their shareholders. We also have asked the government to protect the rights of shareholders to nominate corporate board members.

• We have worked with other states to develop a new database of individuals that will hopefully increase the diversity and geographic representation of corporate boards. Today, too many insiders fill too many board seats.

• We are pushing for common-sense reforms that would have companies better articulate their environmental and safety risks, and their strategies to respond, because disasters like the BP gas platform disaster in the Gulf of Mexico hurt all of us.

• We are carefully scrutinizing the fees that we pay for the management of our investments, and have shaved millions since I entered office.

Oregonians rightly expect their Treasury to be a voice for reason and to protect the public trust in these uncertain times, and to show the right kind of financial leadership. As part of that commitment, we also look for opportunities to work in concert with other state treasuries to advocate for positive change.

I’m proud of the work we’ve done, and it will continue.

I also want you to know that everybody can make a difference, and you don’t need to be a major investor or marching in protest. The recent decision by banks to forego a planned monthly fee for debit cards proves that your opinions matter, and businesses do listen. Get educated about financial issues, read your credit report, and be a smart consumer of financial services.

This is what you should do now: Make yourself heard! We know that one person can’t change the status quo, but many of us can. Send word to our representatives in Congress, asking them to support the efforts we are taking in Oregon. Or, contact my office and we’ll add your name to the list of those who support our steps toward positive financial change. You can reach us at [email protected].

The dialog is evolving, the volume is rising, and you can -- and should -- have a voice in it.