Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner resigns to take DC job
In a statement released this morning, Dan Gardner announced his resignation as Labor Commissioner:
Dan Gardner, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, today announced that he will be resigning his post, effective April 7, 2008. Gardner was first elected to the statewide office in 2002, and he took office in January 2003. He was reelected in 2006 with no opposition. A third-generation journeyman electrician, Gardner has accepted a legislative policy position with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington, D.C."This was an opportunity I could not pass up," said Gardner. "I'm returning to my roots as an advocate for working people and their families and I truly look forward to the challenge. " Gardner said the decision to resign mid-term was a difficult one and he will miss the Bureau's dedicated staff.
What next? According to Jeff Mapes:
Gardner's decision means that Gov. Ted Kulongoski will be able to appoint his replacement. We'll see if the governor goes into the ranks of the Legislature or other political office to vault a politician into statewide office - or whether he goes more for a professional bureaucrat. The office will be on the November election ballot.
Discuss.
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March 12, 2008
Posted in in the news. |
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Mar 12, '08
Dan's one of the best we've got, and I hope he returns to elective office soon.
John
Mar 12, '08
I agree with John!
11:13 a.m.
Mar 12, '08
Dan's always been a friend to me and to BlueOregon - even announcing his decision not to run for US Senate right here on our little blog.
Mar 12, '08
Before all the rampant speculation about the possible replacement, let's all take a moment to celebrate Dan Gardner's dedication to the working people of this state. He has stood up for the rights of working Oregonians, and he will always be remembered as a class act.
I for one will always remember his fine moustache.
12:08 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
Best wishes and good luck to him. It sounds like a great opportunity.
Mar 12, '08
Funny-
Where are all the "progressives" who were outraged when Mac Sumner held onto his seat long enough to get elected, then resign, in order to keep the seat in GOP control? Remember how a lot of you on blue oregon whined and cried about that (especially Jim Gilbert)?
Funny, when one of your own does the same thing (waits until AFTER filing day to announce his resignation), doesn't seem to bother you "progressives".....
Got Hypocrisy?
12:44 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
PH -- Maybe you could explain what difference it makes? The seat is going to be up in the fall election, after all -- two years before it would normally be up.
12:49 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
While you have a certain point "Hypocrite", there is a significant difference between resigning after filing, and deliberately campaigning for a seat - actively telling people you're going to serve - while all the time planning to do no such thing.
Dan's "sin" was not going out of his way to inform people of his future plans. That's not the same thing as actively lying.
12:50 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
By the way, congratulations to Dan. I wish him all the best in his new opportunity.
1:10 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
Dan Gardner's resignation comes about two years before the March, 2010 deadline for him to file for re-election. I think that's plenty far in advance.
Yes, there is now going to be a special election, but what the hell does that have to do with anything? Is PH under the impression that this office was already going to be on the 2008 ballot before Gardner resigned?
1:24 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
I'm thrilled Dan is going to DC one way or another even if he decided against running for congress....Does this mean he and is family are moving to DC?
Mar 12, '08
Dan will be relocating to DC on his own - with frequent (and long) visits home to visit his family. He is looking forward to an opportunity to get back to advocating for workers, which is really what's at his core - and truly what he does best.
1:29 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
When a candidate seeks office, we expect them to fill out their terms. However, illness, finances, family, and many other legitimate life events can and do intervene. Dan Gardner spent six years in the legislature and six as BOLI commissioner taking a significant financial hit relative to what he made as an electrician. He gets paid tens of thousands of dollars less than his deputy because the Legislature refused to increase the pay for this critical position. Yes, he made those choices, but they still have a personal cost.
Dan was not out there generally job hunting, but when such an opportunity with his own union fell into his lap, he would have been foolish not to take it. He's not exactly cashing out to change sides -- he'll continue to be fighting for exactly the same causes in a different role.
Perhaps we should question the quality of government we get when we pay legislators $18K and statewide officials 72K?
Dan's timing has nothing to do with trying to rig a successor, and he will have no say in that matter (it's the Governor's decision). That person will hopefully be someone similar to Dan and get elected to fill out the partial term. Then, in 2010, the voters will again get a choice. No one is being deprived of a choice they would otherwise have had -- in fact, they're getting an extra one.
Oregon is a better place for Dan having served, and will be a lesser place with him gone. He has given generously and owes us nothing.
1:35 p.m.
Mar 12, '08
PH -- Maybe you could explain what difference it makes? The seat is going to be up in the fall election, after all -- two years before it would normally be up.
It does make a difference, but I'm not sure it's to anyone's advantage one way or another.
If Gardner had announced Tuesday or earlier, candidates wishing to run to fill the vacancy would have had to file Tuesday. If more than two candidates had filed, they would have been on the May ballot, with the top two running off in November if no one got a majority of the vote. If only one or two candidates had filed, that candidate or both candidates would be on the ballot in November only.
By waiting until after Tuesday to resign, now candidates to fill the vacancy have until August 28th to file and all the candidates will be on the November ballot, with a simple plurality all that is needed to win.
Perhaps more significantly, waiting also gives the Governor time to pick Gardner's replacement, who presumably would run for the election this fall as the incumbent. If Gardner had announced, say, on Monday, no one would probably have known who the governor was likely to appoint and hence it would be a more "open" but also a more rushed process.
Since Gardner was considering running for the 5th Congressional District just a few weeks ago, I think its fair to say that this probably wasn't something that has been in the works for a long time and that he has just kept under wraps until the filing deadline passed. Although the timing looks a little contrived on the surface, I think Dan probably did the right thing by not announcing just before the primary filing deadline and thus setting off a hurried rush by prospective candidates to see who would run.
This way, while the Governor gets to set someone up with the advantage of incumbency, it also gives other interested parties an opportunity to check their potential support and deciding whether they really want to make the race (or even want the job) before deciding to file. All things considered, I think this is a better result than if Dan had resigned just before the filing deadline.
Now if it turns out that this was something that had been arranged weeks or months ago and simply kept quiet in order to manipulate the process, that would be a different story. But I am willing to give Dan the benefit of the doubt, and like others wish him the best.
Mar 12, '08
Brad Avakian is taking it!
Mar 12, '08
You know what? Good riddance. Dan Gardner is for Dan Gardner, and maybe for labor unions too - but not the local representing his own staff, and probably not the Carpenters, either. Many of his employees at BOLI will be glad to see him go, after he presided over an agency so dysfunctional it could make a libertarian out of the most socialist-minded bureaucrat. BOLI is everything you (or your Republican uncle) ever feared about government agencies. The big priorities are maintaining funding and saving face with public officials and the private bar - that means transparency, fairness and competence take a back seat. Just for starters, there are the poorly skilled, crony-ish managers; big fees for legal consultations with the DOJ and a private mediator to handle labor/employment conflicts within the agency; alarmingly inconsistent enforcement of the apprenticeship, Prevailing Wage Rate, and civil rights laws (the latter two at times hampered by pretty untenable legal positions); and a seemingly shameless tendency to feed the legislature a lot of phony baloney about the agency's budget needs and general effectiveness (e.g., performance measures that are not only meaningless but actually manipulated to produce misleading results). That, in a nutshell, is the Gardner legacy. He's a consummate politician, I'll give him that. I'm sure he'll be a great lobbyist.
Mar 13, '08
Dan Gardner should make up his mind. US Senate, Congress, now what? Lobbiest?? Remember this quote from a few weeks ago?? DC OUT?? Children FIRST??? What happened?? I agree with Raven. Dan Gardner is for Dan Gardner. It took him less than a month to take his children from "FIRST" and put himself there. Now imagine where he put the Bureau.
Gardner Takes Name Out of Contention By Lauren Lafaro
In the weeks since Congresswoman Hooley’s decision to retire from Congress, conjectures over the slate of new candidates for the seat have been rampant. Today, Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner removed his name from that list. The Labor Commissioner spent several days meeting with advisors and in discussion with his family, ultimately determining that life in DC would prevent him from spending enough time with his children. “As it turned out, in the end, it was an easy choice,” said Gardner. “Time with my children always comes first.”
Mar 13, '08
Please people, stop judging the personal intentions of a man you may not even know on an intimate level. Having lived with Dan for over a year makes me a pretty good judge of his moral fiber. Dan Gardner has committed over 12 years to Oregon and what has Oregon given back to him? Poor funding for his cause and salary decreases. Don't even try to say that his children aren't a priority. Dan would bend over backwards for any of us. Unfortunately, he is left in a situation where he must take this job out of state. Stop bashing one of YOUR advocates. Sincerely, Aaron Johnson
Mar 13, '08
I have no use for the people demeaning Dan Gardner. But then, I have known other, less well known union folk who would understand the appeal of leaving public life to go back to working for their old union.
And this avoids the weekly plane trips across country which so many W. Coast members of Congress tire of.
Mar 14, '08
Aaron, to clarify:
I don't purport to judge, or have any interest in, Dan Gardner's personal intentions. On the other hand, I do have an interest in his conduct and capabilities as Commissioner, so that's what I'm judging - as concerned citizens and progressive activists are wont to do.
I'll take your word on Dan's moral fiber in his intimate dealings, but I wonder, do you understand the workings of BOLI, the appropriate use of its budget, or the laws it purports to enforce? Do you have any concern for the values of honesty, transparency, evenhandedness, or (I'll say it!) efficiency in state government? I'm not saying you don't, but if you do, I just wish you had shared at least some of these concepts with Dan.
"What has Oregon given back to him?" Evidently a great deal of power, a devoted fan following, and a nice career trajectory - but I can see how that might not be enough for someone who thinks it's an insurmountable hardship to eke out a living on $72K per year. The very question gives off a whiff of something I can't quite make out - is it burned out civil servant with contempt for the public, or labor-movement-as-pure-leverage thug? In either case, Dan Gardner may well be YOUR advocate - please don't tell me he's mine.