FROM SCHOOL TO SALEM AND BACK AGAIN

Much how college students juggle studying, work, and more, Chris Gorsek balances a life of teaching, helping with the annual Salmon Festival, and being an Oregon state representative, photographer, father, and husband.

Gorsek has worked at Mt. Hood for 22 years, and teaches geography and criminal justice. He occasionally teaches geography at Portland State University as well. This means that his schedule often looks like: MHCC in the morning, Salem for government work in the afternoon, and then teaching at PSU in the evening.

Fall is a bit easier to handle because meeting times are more predictable in Salem as opposed to the spring, when extra legislative sessions and hearings are scheduled.

Gorsek has been in office as the District 49 state representative since January 2013. The Democrat is currently up for re-election with goals of improving situations for homeless people and creating more affordable housing. His opponents in the Nov. 6 election are Republican Justin Hwang and Libertarian Heather Ricks.

Shaped by experience

Currently, he also has a small photography exhibit on a bulletin board upstairs in the Social Sciences office area, where he has digitized photos of homelessness in the Portland area. He hopes to share unique perspectives on the issue, and get people thinking about the homeless crisis in new ways.

Usually carrying his camera wherever he goes, Gorsek grabs photos of anything that tends to catch his eye in the moment, he said. A lot of the time that ends up being related to landscape, which helps provide him with visual examples for the classes he teaches.

Gorsek’s past has shaped a lot of what he does today. He’s a former Portland police officer, so he’s gotten a firsthand look at persistent problems in the community, including the criminalization of homelessness.

That experience and his work as a legislator all provide his students with real-life examples of the material they’re learning.

Being a former police officer and a Democrat are often two things that don’t go hand-in-hand. Plenty of stigmas surround the police in political conversations right now, but it isn’t showing to be much of an issue for Gorsek. He said he believes in accountability, and hopes that people realize that most officers are just trying to do their best on the job and follow orders.

Gorsek grew up in Southeast Portland, a working class area at the time, and he grew supportive of unions through his parents’ involvement in them. He attended Catholic school until high school, and feels it gave him a solid learning foundation, but also enjoyed the freedom that came with public school.

Pursued president job

Recently, Gorsek applied to become Mt. Hood president, but didn’t make it past the initial screening. It’s something he was really hoping for because he had a vision for stronger connections with faculty, and using the knowledge and talents of people on campus to make the best decisions, he said.

Lisa Skari was chosen to fill the position after Debbie Derr retired, and so far, Gorsek feels good about her. Still, he’d like to try again for the position if the opportunity presented itself.

MHCC District Board member Diane McKeel, who helped guide the presidential selection process, could not be contacted for comment by the Advocate’s press deadline.

It’s safe to say Gorsek is staying busy, regardless. In conjunction with his photography, he also sells shirts at the Corbett general store with photos of Columbia River Gorge destinations on them. (There currently is no way to purchase them online.)

Gorsek also helps put on the annual Salmon Festival at Multnomah Falls, spawning ground to a select group of salmon. Set for Nov. 4, this autumn, the public educational event is put on by MHCC and the U.S. Forest Service with interactive booths for visitors of all ages to learn more about salmon.

Of all the things Gorsek has taken part in, teaching is where his heart resides. Working with students and sharing real-world connections with them keeps him going, he said. And there’s no sign of him stopping soon.

“Most of my work life has been about public service. I just have a strong drive to do these things,” he said.

“We find in the Legislature that, while it’s very important work, the pay is not very good. And so one thing is I wouldn’t want to stop teaching, but the other thing is that it helps me to keep my family going by doing both.”