Statesman Journal mini-questionnaire for 2012 General Election Thank you for responding to this questionnaire, which is for

use by Statesman Journal Editorial Board members in evaluating candidates for potential endorsements in the Nov. 6 General Election. Your answers also will be shared with reporters and may be published in the print newspaper and on StatesmanJournal.com. If you completed our questionnaire for the primary season, youll notice that some requested information is similar. We ask you to provide it again in case any of your previous data or answers has changed. (If you cant find a copy of your previous answers, let us know and well gladly send one.) Please answer each question and return this questionnaire to the Editorial Board via email as an attached Word document. The boards email address: Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com Deadline for submitting your questionnaire: 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, or earlier.
Questions? Contact Editorial Page Editor Dick Hughes, 503-399-6727, dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your name: Van Khieu

Age:

43 (October 1, 1968)

(If your age will change before the Nov. 6 election, please indicate your birthday. We want to make sure we use accurate ages in editorials and news coverage. )

Political party (if this is a partisan office):

Position you are seeking (name of position, district number): Marion County Assessor

I plan to attend the editorial board meeting scheduled for: October 8, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

Number of years living in the area you seek to represent: 35 years

Do you affirm that you are a full-time resident of that area? Yes

City/town of residence: Silverton

Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children): Lydia Khieu Two children (11 & 8)

Education: Bachelor of Arts Oregon State University; Course work in Accounting and Business Management Chemeketa Community College; Mass Appraisal of Residential Property International Association of Assessing Officers; Exploring Property Tax Concepts Oregon State Association of County Assessors; Principles of Assessment and Taxation Oregon Department of Revenue; State of Oregon Appraisal Certification.

Current occupation and employer: Data Analyst, Marion County Assessors Office

Military service: None

Employment history: Tax Clerk Marion County Tax Collectors Office; Card Services Officer, Accounting Specialist, Financial Services Specialist - MaPS Credit Union

Community involvement/volunteer history: Salem Chamber of Commerce Salem Kiwanis Silverton Chamber of Commerce

Please list all public offices to which youve been elected, and when: N/A

Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: None Other prior political and government experience: Tax Collector Office How much your general election campaign will cost: $10,000

Key endorsements you have received: Shawn Beaton, Interim Marion County Assessor/Tax Collector; Doug Ebner, Retired Marion County Assessor/Tax Collector; Scott Maytubby, Yamhill County Assessor/Tax

Collector; Jeff Cowan, Keizer Fire Chief; William K. Dettwyler of Salem; Josiah Kelley of Silverton; Larry Epping, Real Estate Developer; William Ames Curtright, Founder and CEO of Ames Eagles; Gary Wright, Retired Department of Revenue Senior Appraiser Analyst; Ioka Farms; JB Instant Lawn Inc.; Freres Lumber Co., Inc.; Freres Building Supply Inc.; Ioka Farms; Vic Gilliam, State Representative; Fred Girod, State Senator; Marion County Farm Bureau How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information may be published): Mail address: 955 Chikamin Loop Silverton, OR 97381 E-mail address: Van4Assessor@gmail.com Web site URL: www.Van4MarionCountyAssessor.com Phone: (503) 874-4152 Fax:

Please limit your response to each of the following questions to about 75 words but be specific.

1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, been disciplined by a professional licensing board/organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details. No

2. Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your taxes or other major accounts, or been sued personally or professionally? If so, please give the details. No

3. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? My comprehensive understanding of the office functions enables me to create transparency, efficiency, and accountability throughout our office. I have experience in establishing county real market value to DOR standards, forecasting Marion County property tax revenue, and I am responsible for turning the tax roll each year. I am committed to accountability and integrity and want to make certain the Assessors office is a good steward of taxpayers money. 4. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (75 words for each
issue)

A. My first priority as an elected official is to bring accountability within our office. We need to be accountable to the community we serve. As employees of Marion County, we have the responsibility of providing excellent services to the taxpayers we serve. I will make sure the Assessors office will have a responsible budget. Elected officials need to work and communicate effectively to be able to hold each other accountable with their budgets. B. My second priority is to ensure Marion County Assessors office is efficient in its daily processes. We need to continually find new ways to make things more efficient, while producing a product that best serves our community. The ability to create efficiency allows employees to accurately do more with less. We need to be proactive in determining accurate real market values to provide taxpayers a better assessment and taxation system. C. My third priority is to provide transparency to the public. Our government offices need to be transparent with what we do. In the last five years I have been part of developing the Marion County Assessors website. I will provide better communication to the public and other county departments of changes pertaining to property tax. We need to be able to answer and provide the public with an understanding of our functions and responsibilities.

5. What do you see as other important issues? As the Assessor I will maintain fairness in property assessments. I will ensure the accuracy in property appraisal through training and education as well as provide the resources our staff needs to serve our community equitably.

6. How would you describe your political style or for judicial candidates, your judicial temperament? I am a common sense person. My role is to serve our community. As an elected official I am accountable to the public, and will be a good steward of taxpayers money.

7. If you are an incumbent, what have you achieved during your current term? If you are not an incumbent, how have you prepared yourself for this position? My current responsibilities have allowed me to function in many ways as an Assessor. Before the death of Richard Kreitzer, he provided opportunities for me to gain knowledge about the role of the Assessor. I have seen that Marion County could be served by a working Assessor. I am uniquely qualified to fill this role and have the support of management within the office. I am also a certified appraiser by the Oregon Department of Revenue.

8. What is the largest budget you have handled, and in what capacity? I am currently involved in a 2.1 million dollar budget. I work closely with the current interim Assessor, Shawn Beaton, on purchasing a new Assessment and Taxation software package. Serving as a key person with the data conversion, I have consulted with Shawn on what is needed for the new system and still maintain our budget. 9. What is the largest number of employees youve supervised, and in what capacity? I have supervised three employees as a Card Services Officer in the accounting department at Marion and Polk Schools Credit Union.

10. Who is your role model for this office the person/people you would most like to emulate? The person I look up to and want to emulate is my father-in-law. He possesses many respected character traits. Most importantly he has a strong work ethic that produces a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. He is a man of morals that people look up to and that is well respected in the community.

11. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? No

12. As a public official, your views on public issues are relevant to voters and potential constituents. Please indicate whether you support or oppose each of these statewide measures on the Nov. 6 ballot. (This question does not apply to judicial candidates.) Measure 77, catastrophic disaster Measure 78, separation of powers Measure 79, real estate transfer taxes Measure 80, marijuana legalization Measure 81, gillnetting ban Measure 82, allows private casinos Measure 83, authorizes Wood Village casino Measure 84, eliminates inheritance tax Measure 85 shifts corporate kicker to K-12 schools Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No

Thank you. Again, please submit your questionnaire as an attached Word document to Salemed@StatesmanJournal.com no later than 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012.