THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE AWFUL

[July 13th, 2005] As the 2005 Legislature limps through the final stretch of a desultory session, WW continues its 30-year tradition of asking Salem's closest observers to grade your lawmakers' performance.

The drill is simple: We send dozens of surveys to a cross-section of lobbyists, legislative aides from left and right, reporters and other Capitol-watchers. They're asked to grade Portland-area legislators on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) in four categories: Brains, Integrity, Diligence and Clout. (Anonymity is granted to ensure we're not getting mealy-mouthed answers.) We then tote up the returns to generate an overall grade for each lawmaker.

This year, 28 responses came back, gauging the heroes and villains of a legislative session that's often gridlocked because Republicans control the House, Democrats run the Senate and the governor is MIA (see the Nose, page 17).

Some things didn't surprise us: House Speaker Karen Minnis topped the Clout charts with 9.46 out of 10. Democratic Senator Kurt Schrader, widely acknowledged as a budget brainiac, also scored well across the board. "Bright, hard-working, and clearly in the driver's seat on the state budget," wrote one survey-taker of Schrader. "His clout is nearly unsurpassed in the building."

Other things did jump out. Who knew, for example, that Hillsboro would end up with the two worst lawmakers? Derrick Kitts and Charles Starr don't have many fans in the Capitol-though they did generate the most colorful comments.

Regarding Kitts: "Is this guy dumb or just an idiot?"

Regarding Starr: "Nice man.... True to his beliefs, which are quite bizarre."

Hillsboro, what's up?

Before you find your lawmaker, two full disclaimer moments are needed:

(1) This survey does not claim to be anything more than a number-crunch based on unscientific scores given by people who closely follow legislative antics.

(2) Hey, WW didn't assign these scores, and just because someone's near the top or the bottom of this chart doesn't mean we agree or disagree with that legislator's whacked-out politics.