Chris Gorsek: teacher by day, politician by night

Chris Gorsek is a guy who, you could say, wears a lot of different hats.

The 56-year-old geography and criminal justice instructor at Mt. Hood also serves as a state representative in the Oregon Legislature.

And get this: He’s a retired cop who supports marijuana legalization, though he hasn’t dabbled with the flower. “I am supportive of Measure 91,” he said.

While grading papers and teaching full-time, Gorsek also finds time to serve as a politician.

He began teaching at MHCC in 2006 as a part-time instructor and then took a full-time position in 2007.

Gorsek took some time from his busy schedule to answer some questions from the Advocate via email.

 

What can you tell folks about your elected position who might not understand it, since there are lots of first-time voters at MHCC?

Gorsek: I am a representative in the Oregon House. There are 60 of us from around the state. There is also the Oregon Senate (with 30 members). I serve on three committees: education, higher education and transportation/economic development. Any bills that make it from a committee, to the floor of one body (House or Senate) and gets approved, has to also be passed by the other body. If that happens then the governor must sign the bill. However, he or she may also veto it. If he or she kills the bill, the full legislature can overturn the veto but it takes two-thirds of the members to make that happen. Fortunately, vetoes are rare and while we have our differences, both parties (Republican and Democratic) usually agree on many of the bills that come before us on the House and Senate floors.

 

How is it working as a state legislator and an instructor, at the same time? Pretty hectic life for you?

Gorsek: It is, but it is worth it. There are so many important things going on in the state right now and I am honored to be able to participate in those decisions.

 

Do you feel like students at MHCC are involved enough in voting and politics? And what does teaching here bring to your legislative role?

 

Gorsek: I see a lot of political activity here on campus. While I hope more students will get involved in politics in the near future I know that many of them are swamped with school work, families, jobs, and so on, which makes it hard to find that extra time for political activities. I bring a perspective supportive of students and educators, which means I do get a chance to be the voice for many of our students who are unable to participate themselves because of the reasons I described above.

 

How long have you been involved in politics?

Gorsek: I first ran for office back in the 2000 election. I ran for the state Senate out here in East County. I did pretty well but my opponent was a well-known incumbent (John Minnis) and I ended up losing that race. I then successfully ran for a Troutdale city council position and won that race. My term ran from January 2003 to December 2006. I enjoyed my time on the council but in the end I wanted to be involved at a broader policy level, so I chose not to run for re-election. I ran for the Metro councilor position in East County in 2010 but lost that race. In 2012 I ran in one of the most competitive state races against Matt Wand for the House District 49 legislative seat, and won.

 

What are your thoughts on domestic violence and how can we as a community make efforts to get things on a better path?

Gorsek: I was a Portland police officer for a number of years and dealt with this problem on an almost daily basis. It is a very serious issue that needs much more discussion/attention in our society. That is why I do a major campuswide presentation on it every October, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I fully believe that education helps with this problem but I also feel that the state needs to invest a lot more resources in order to address this problem adequately, especially in the area of emergency shelter beds.

 

What are your thoughts on Measure 91? Are you for or against legalizing weed? Have you ever dabbled? It’s a hot topic around the country?

Gorsek: I am supportive of Measure 91. While I have never used it myself, I know lots of people who have. As a police officer, I never felt that marijuana users were a significant contributor to the problems in my patrol district. Nor have I had any violent encounters with such users, so it seems to me if alcohol – where we do see a lot of problems including violent encounters with the police – is legal, marijuana should be, as well.

 

What are your thoughts on Measures 89 and 90? Where do you stand with these two?

Gorsek: I fully support Measure 89. Women should have the exact same rights as men! Measure 90, I do not support. I know that our voting system is flawed but I do not think that this will solve anything and in fact I think it will make things worse. We already have a system where the two major party candidates face off in the general election. Why would we want two people from the same party facing off in the general election? I want to see more parties, beyond just Democrats and Republicans, have an active role in Oregon elections but I think that this approach would make that less likely to happen than it is (now). If the problem is really that nonaffiliated voters want to vote in primary elections, then why not simply allow them do that instead? We could create a system where (voters) would apply before the election to vote in whichever primary they wanted to vote in, through the Secretary of State’s office. This would be better than the changes proposed in Measure 90.

 

What’s the most important thing you would like to tell folks about the re-election campaign? Are you excited this time of year, or is it overwhelming?

Gorsek: This is an exciting time of the year for me as I campaign for re-election. I truly enjoy talking with voters about the issues that are important to them. As for the most important thing for me, I want people to know that I am a hard worker and that I believe in standing up for the poor and the middle class – two groups that don’t seem to have much of a voice in our society.