Race for Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District board seat grows ...

Debt, a flood of dollars, an unexpected endorsement and a Facebook fumble have all factored into a race for a seat on the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District board.

Greg Cody and Jerry Jones Jr. are facing off in the May 21 special election.

Cody, 59, is on the district's budget, parks and sports advisory committees and ran unsuccessfully for the board in 2007. He is a credit manager for The Commercial Agency.

Jones, 36, is on the park district's sports advisory committee. He is vice president of Lanphere Construction and Development and chair of the Beaverton Urban Redevelopment Agency Board.

Fundraising vs. Debt

As of May 10, Jones had raised $13,680 in cash contributions, according to his campaign finance report. Jones' largest contributor is Precision Holdings LP, affiliated with Precision Body & Paint of Beaverton, which donated $2,500. Jones also received $750 from Friends to Re-elect Mayor Denny Doyle.

Cody told The Oregonian in March he didn't plan to raise $750, the state minimum for reporting campaign finance transactions. But he had raised $975 in cash contributions as of May 10 and registered his campaign with the state in late March.

May 21 election

More on the May 21, 2013, election:

Cody's largest contributor was himself: He put $1,384 toward his campaign. His son, Aaron Cody, has contributed $1,048.13. The campaign is driving Cody and his son into debt, he said.

Cody reported his first several campaign transactions after the state's due date, but he said this was a misunderstanding. Other transactions were reported on time.

"We're not politically savvy," he said.

Jones said of the mistakes: "I think it's imperative that the chairman of our budget committee can get the campaign finances correctly."

Cody said he's angered by the amount of money spent by Jones' campaign.

"This is crazy, what's happening," he said. "I cannot match a political machine."

Cody also said his opponent views the seat on the board as a r?sum?-builder.

"I will never use this election as a springboard," Cody said. "I hate politics."

Jones said he was surprised by the amount supporters contributed to his campaign.

"I'm not a political machine," he said. "I care so much about our community. I've lived here, grown up here, and this is the only service that I want to do.

"This is no launching pad to anything future; I don't care about anything like that."

Surprise Endorsement

At the park district's May 6 board meeting, board member Bill Kanable, between apologies to fellow members, said, "I've been trying to stay out of the race, but I want you all to know that I'm giving my endorsement to Greg Cody for my seat."

"I don't want to see our races become politicized, and I think it sends a bad message that we have certain expenses that are taking place now that make our races almost political," he said.

Kanable was referring to the amount of money raised in the campaign, he said.

Jones said while he was surprised that Kanable publicly endorsed Cody, he knew Kanable supported Cody.

"I think it's more of a friendship thing," he said.

Kanable said Cody isn't a friend; he simply thinks Cody has spent more time and effort to understand the park district.

"He's shown more grit," Kanable said.

Cody said he didn't know Kanable was planning on endorsing him but appreciates the help.

Jones said the development doesn't hurt his chances for winning. According to his website, Jones has more than 70 endorsements from local organizations and leaders, including the mayors of Beaverton, Hillsboro and Tigard, two state representatives and two county commissioners. Four of Jones' supporters have ties to the park district.

Cody has endorsements from park district board member Larry Pelatt and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, according to his campaign website. It also lists 12 other endorsements from people involved with the park district, including former General Manager Howard Terpenning.

Though Kanable said he endorsed Cody because he didn't want the race to become politicized, Jones said the result was the opposite.

Jones said a politicized race raises awareness of the park district. "What's wrong with that?" he asked.

Kanable said spending thousands of dollars campaigning sends the wrong message to park patrons. Kanable said he would rather people donate to the park foundation than campaigns.

Parks shouldn't be political, Kanable said. He fears the race has devolved to a name-recognition contest and that this race will set new standards for future park district races. It also changes how and why people run for the seat, he said.

Facebook Fumble

On May 5, the Oregon secretary of state's office and members of the media received an anonymous email contending that Jones violated Oregon election law by posting a photo of himself with his ballot on his campaign's Facebook page.

The photo showed Jones holding his ballot with the bubble next to his name filled in. A separate post called for supporters to share pictures of themselves with their ballots marked for Jones.

ORS 260.695(7) states that "a person may not show the person's own marked ballot to another person to reveal how it was marked."

Alana Cox, a compliance specialist for the secretary of state's elections office, called Jones on May 6. By that time, Jones had removed the posts.

Jones said he had no idea the post showing him with his ballot was against the law.

The secretary of state's office could issue a fine for the violation, but Cox said the office prefers to educate candidates on election law.

-- Anna Marum

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2013/05/race_for_tualatin_hills_park_r.html

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