Casey Kulla

Casey Kulla was born in Lincoln City, Oregon. Kulla's professional experience includes working as a farmer and a Yamhill County commissioner. He earned a bachelor's degree from Western Washington University in 2003 and a graduate degree from Western Washington University in 2006.[1][2]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I currently serve as Yamhill County Commissioner, having challenged an incumbent in 2018 (county commissioners serve as the non-partisan elected executive for a county, responsible for staff, contracts, land use decisions, public works, public health, public safety, and more). I was born and raised in Lincoln City and attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, where I met my wife of 22 years and where I paid our way through college by working as a plumber's assistant. With a degree in Biochemistry, I served as plumber to a remote community in the North Cascades, where I did my field research on drinking water and glaciers for a Masters Degree in Forest Ecology. We returned to Oregon in 2006 to start a vegetable farm, which we've operated since on a river island in the Willamette. After successfully organizing our island community to stop a gravel quarry, I ran for County Commissioner in 2018 on a platform of "farmer, scientist, and rural resident who will address climate change, support trans youth, and fix the bridges." And I have. We have two children, who are 9 and 12.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Civil rights are for everyone: the Bureau of Labor and Industries protects your civil rights, but if you don't know your rights or where to turn for help, what good are they? Knowing your rights is a top priority for me.The Bureau struggles to investigate and enforce our civil and worker rights laws. My priority is to support a responsive, fully-staffed agency where staff have the time to do excellent work, and where Oregonians get a just and fair outcome.High-skill, high-wage work is essential in our state, and the Bureau is responsible for training and registering apprenticeships. The Legislature dedicated an unprecedented amount of money to training, and I commit to using the money coming to support apprentices with things like childcare and transportation, while expanding the types of apprenticeships, so that Oregonians can cover the costs of life while learning a lifelong skill.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Civil rights, water systems and regulation, grassroots democracy, the need for communication in policy, climate change, transportation, and so much more.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The Bureau is the first-stop civil rights agency in Oregon, and yet is almost unknown to the general public. Its effectiveness is directly related to the knowledge of its existence. The Commissioner, as the elected head, has the responsibility to raise the profile of the Bureau, shield it from outside influence, and support staff as they do good work.

What responsibilities of this office do you personally consider the most important?

The Commissioner is responsible for each and every civil and worker rights investigation; supporting staff, shielding them from influence, and taking responsibility for every decision are the most important things the Commissioner should be doing.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The office is little-known beyond the people who work with the Bureau every day, and the Bureau has been tasked with enforcing an array of civil and worker rights while also registering and regulating apprenticeships.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

The Commissioner should have experience with non-partisan and executive elected leadership experience, which is why as Yamhill County Commissioner I feel uniquely suited to this office.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Being an independent and skilled executive will be necessary to rebuild BOLI, which struggles to enforce our laws and hold employers/businesses accountable with the staffing levels currently at BOLI. Experience with supporting staff is essential.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a fifth-generation Oregonian. I've been serving as a commissioner in Yamhill County. As a commissioner, I build relationships, take risks, make hard decisions, and lead with courage and kindness — all to grow a community where everyone is safe and where the land is treated well. I'm also a farmer and small business owner, and a trained scientist and forest ecologist. All of these experiences have taught me that: (1) having more information is better, and you can only do that by asking questions; (2) it's important to never make assumptions and always learn from your mistakes; (3) the world is way more complicated than we ever imagine; and (4) scientific knowledge, together with our shared values, makes for the best decisions. Lastly (but not least), I'm also a husband to Katie, and father of two.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

COVID: We have lost so many friends and family since March of 2020, and many COVID survivors suffer from chronic symptoms. We must reckon with and mourn these losses and use them to motivate us to find new ways to provide better healthcare to all Oregonians, including culturally-competent mental health and addiction treatment and community harm reduction and prevention. As Governor, I will also address how COVID has disproportionately impacted women and children. Assembling a comprehensive childcare response will put more women back to work, while improving the lives and education of Oregon kids. Lastly, addressing our state's broadband needs will allow more Oregonians to continue to work from home and remain competitive in the economy.Housing, Childcare, and Families: underlying so many of our challenges is disparity and inequity, where some people have opportunity and enough, some are barely scraping by, and some are left behind either by historic, systemic decisions or because of a lack of investment. Providing access to quality and affordable childcare, education, and homes is absolutely necessary to insuring that Oregon families have opportunities and are not left behind, all across Oregon. This is an urban issue, a rural issue, an East side issue, and a West side issue.Climate change and political division: In Oregon, like much of the US, we must address both climate change and political division/intimidation with urgency and in culturally-appropriate ways. We absolutely must find a way to work together, to include everyone, and to leave no one behind. We are amidst overlapping crises, and effective and lasting change will only come from: together. Listening, learning, working, together.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Growing up as a surfer and mountain biker, educated as an ecologist, and living and farming on a river island in the Willamette River, my life has been defined by the amazing beauty and bounty of our shared landscape. From the beach bill to the bike bill, we have an inheritance of deliberated decisions that shape our life now, that make our lives better.

As a farmer, you never specialize: you are the plumber and the baker and the candlestick maker. So, I am passionate about everything, but I come to most issues with questions about the health of the landscape, from clean water and air to access to outdoors and recreation.

And in a time of intense division, I believe that our food, our water, our outdoors are things that can bring us together: we can find agreement and work together once we are rooted in these shared loves.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

As a person on the line between Gen X'ers and Millenials, I often joke that I look up to everyone and no one, because I've seen the most admired figures laid low by their own hubris, racism, greed, or homophobia. The truth is that I see the amazing in every single person, while I also recognize the fallible nature of every single person. I LOVE PEOPLE.

But, even knowing that everyone is fallible, I do have both personal heroes and political heroes. My 98 year old grandmother, Tootie, is an incredible person, raised during the Depression, childhood friends with Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps, penniless but built a homebuilding business from scratch with my grandfather. She is strong, energetic, opinionated, courageous, and loving.

And, I have political heroes, as well. From Governor Tom McCall and Senator Lew Frederick to Metro Council President Lynn Peterson and Erik Ward of Western States Center, there are leaders who are kind and courageous, who see the big picture in every specific story and who take the long view of every decision, balancing their own values against the will of people.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

May 18th, 1980: "Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it, " range across the radio of the voice of David Johnston, geologist observing Mount St. Helens as it erupted. Seconds later, he was engulfed by the ash and died. My earliest memory was of after-eruptions dropping ash on the Oregon Coast, and I still cry when I hear his voice calling across the radio.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a lifeguard, plumber's assistant, cook, and bike-builder from ages 14-19. On the Oregon Coast, you never have one job at a time, and everyone catches the work that is available. From the earliest age, I wanted to do physical work that required my mind, too. I leveraged that work experience into a job for the union plumbing shop at the University that I attended, where I worked alongside journeymen installing and maintaining the vast infrastructure of a small city.

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