In a race to potentially replace embattled Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull, Tina Irvine is currently the only other Republican among four candidates.
Irvine’s campaign for the nonpartisan position has attracted support from several county leaders, such as the district attorney, a former top county administrator and the executive director of a nonprofit organization that works with children. Her campaign manager says that she’s running as a moderate to attract support from middle-of-the-road citizens, non-affiliated voters and members of both major political parties.
“I am running to help our county live up to its full potential,” Irvine said. “I’m running to keep the failures, decay and intrusiveness we see occurring in Portland from spreading into our communities.”
A resident of the county for 19 years, the Oregon City resident vowed to do all she can to prevent tolling, improve public safety, reinvigorate the economy and build stronger communities.
When she was a college student in Seattle, Irvine heard politicians promising how tolls would reduce congestion, improve travel time and improve travel safety.
“These promises were everything but improvements,” Irvine said. “Tolling is a regressive tax that merely takes peoples’ hard-earned money and directly increases the cost of living. Tolling diverts traffic to side streets causing accidents, fatalities, and making it harder for pedestrians to walk around neighborhoods safely.”
Irvine said that her father, a former police officer, helped her learn that well-funded law enforcement is key to ensuring public safety. A supporter of “prosecuting criminals and supporting victims,” she said that decriminalizing lethal drugs is a public safety threat that causes immense suffering to addicts and their families. Having lost a brother to addiction this year, she sees decriminalizing hard drugs as not compassionate but deadly.
Having worked as an executive assistant before owning a staffing franchise, Irvine said her work experience helps her know what it takes to build prosperity. If elected as a commissioner, she plans to stand against all unnecessary taxes and regulations while making Clackamas County a great place to work, thrive and invest in.
Irvine said she wants Clackamas County to be a more livable place now and for generations to come.
“With one eye on the present and another on the future, Clackamas County can remain a great place to work, live, and serve as a model for the entire state by putting its residents first,” she said.
