Phil Keisling

Infobox_Politician
name =Phil Keisling


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birth_date = 1955
birth_place =Oregon
residence =Portland, Oregon
office =Oregon Secretary of State
term_start =January 14, 1991
term_end =November 8, 1999
predecessor = Barbara Roberts
successor = Bill Bradbury
office2 =State Representative
term_start2 =
term_end2 =
predecessor2 =
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party = Democratic
occupation = Computer Services Executive

Phil Keisling (born 1955) is a politician and business executive in the U.S. state of Oregon. He served as Oregon Secretary of State from 1991 to 1999. He is known for having championed the state's vote-by-mail system. [cite news
title=Mail ballots hit in state, iffy beyond, forum says
first=Jeff
last=Mapes
work=The Oregonian
date=November 9, 2003] Prior to seeking public office, Keisling pursued a career in journalism, including six years as a reporter and correspondent in Portland, Oregon and Washington, and two years as editor of Washington Monthly.cite web|title =Inside: Phil Keisling| publisher =Washington Monthly| url =http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/inside/keisling.html| format =official website| accessdate =2006-11-28] He is a Democrat, and a member of the Democratic Leadership Council.Fact|date=February 2007

Keisling, now a Senior Vice President for Marketing for the Oregon high tech company, CorSource Technology Group, Inc. (formerly Hepieric, Inc.),cite press release
title = News Release| publisher =CorSource Inc.| date =17 June 2005| url =http://www.corsource.net/PressReleases/June17PhilKeislingpressrelease.pdf| accessdate =2008-02-08|format=PDF] has remained deeply involved in politics and civic affairs since leaving office, serving on a variety of local, statewide and national committees, commissions and organizations, both inside and outside of government.

He accepted appointment in 1998 to the Performance Audit Implementation Steering Committee of the Portland Public Schools, which guided the financially troubled district through comprehensive reform in response to an independent performance audit.cite web|title =Performance Audit Implementation Steering Committee| publisher = Portland Public Schools| date = 1999| url =http://www.pps.k12.or.us/projects-c/aisc/| format = official website| accessdate =2006-11-28]

When a proposal came before the Oregon State Legislature in 2003 transfer responsibility for audits of state agencies and programs from the Audit Division of the Secretary of State to the Legislature, Keisling joined with four other former Secretaries of States of both parties, Mark Hatfield, Clay Myers, Norma Paulus, and Barbara Roberts, to publicly denounce the move.cite news | last=Wong| first=Peter| title=Former state secretaries urge audits preservation| publisher=The Statesman Journal| date=July 31, 2003| pages=1A]

Keisling is a chief proponent of open primaries in Oregon, contributing to and later promoting a 2004 white paper sponsored by the non-partisan Oregon Progress Forum.cite news | last=Mapes| first=Richard| title=Primary system getting a 2nd look| publisher=The Oregonian| date=May 10, 2004| pages=A1] The Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature included open primaries among its sweeping proposals for for reforms to the legislature.cite news | last=Wong| first=Peter| title=Panel urges shakeup of legislative elections| publisher=The Statesman Journal| date=May 23, 2006| pages=1A] Keisling and Paulus, a Republican, headed an initiative petition signature drive to place the issue on the 2006 ballot. Of the 91,401 petition signatures submitted, only 67% were determined to be valid, and the measure did not make it to a vote.cite news | last=Walsh| first=Edward| title=Open vote in primary fails to gain ballot spot| publisher=The Oregonian| date=August 3, 2006| pages=B1] They tried again in 2008, successfully placing Measure 65 on the ballot. [ [http://voteyes65.com Measure 65 web site] ] [cite news
title=Reviving Oregon elections: Let's make primaries truly open, inclusive and fair
last=Keisling
first=Phil
coauthors=Norma Paulus
work=The Oregonian
date=April 13, 2008]

A longtime supporter of open government, Keisling serves on the Board of Open Oregon, a statewide advocacy and watchdog organization involved in Oregon Public Meeting Law (Sunshine Law) enforcement, and other government secrecy issues.Cite web|url=http://www.open-oregon.com/New_Pages/boardmemb.shtml|title=Board members|accessdate=2006-11-28|publisher=Open Oregon|year=2006|format=Official website] He is also a co-founder and board member of the Oregon Public Affairs Network (OPAN), roughly based on the C-SPAN model.cite news | title=Oregonians support the network, but many don't have access to it| publisher=The Statesman Journal| date=July 10, 2003| pages=1A]

References

External links

* [http://www.opan.org/ OPAN official website]
* [http://www.open-oregon.com Open Oregon official website]