Executive Dysfunction
Those with resources outsource executive function.
Those without are told to “manage better.”
Executive Dysfunction
Why DOGE Missed the Most Obvious Opportunity in Government
With genuine expertise in database management and UX design, DOGE could have approached tax filing the way a serious product team approaches a broken user experience: map the pain points, reduce unnecessary steps, build in real-time guidance, and design for the people who struggle most with the current system — not the ones with accountants and lawyers.
Oz Sighting #3: The Caucus That Wasn’t There
Social Depreciation and the Financialization of Housing
Sure, Build a Data Center in Oregon, But Pay the Cost.
An Oz Sighting: Senator Reynolds and the Bill That Got the Wrong Villain
"Marijuana" is not a neutral term. It was introduced deliberately in the 1930s by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, specifically to create a racial association — to link cannabis to Mexican immigrants and Black jazz musicians and manufacture public fear. Young Oregonians know this. Anyone who has spent real time in the regulated cannabis industry knows this. When an elected official uses that word in 2026 to frame a policy intervention, it tells you something about which conversation they think they're having.
It's not the conversation Oregon's cannabis industry needs to be having right now.
What Redesign Looks Like; Without Utopian Hand-Waving
The question isn’t whether redesign is possible.
It’s whether we are willing to stop protecting systems that benefit a few at the expense of everyone else — including the future.
We don’t need perfect answers.
We need leaders willing to redesign instead of retreat.
Attention Is Not a Personal Failure: ADHD and the Pathologizing of a Broken System
When attention failure is treated as a personal flaw, two things are quietly stolen; time, and dignity.
Book Fairs, Broken Pens, and What We’re Teaching Our Kids
What if instead of another week of shopping tables, we hosted a week-long makers fair?
High school students could come over and help repair broken lamps, torn backpacks, squeaky bikes, cracked toys.
Families could bring in items destined for the landfill.
Kids could learn:
How zippers work
How wiring connects
How fabric mends
How things come apart — and go back together
Candidate Statement
I’m running for Governor of Oregon because something is deeply broken in how we do politics — and most people can feel it, even if they don’t have words for it.
Why I’m Running Against Tina Kotek
The Yellow Brick Bureaucrat: When Government Loses Its Way
Good governance requires a brain, a heart, and courage.
This Is a Series. You Are Part of It.
I'm going to be writing about Oz Sightings regularly — moments where Scarecrow, Tin Man, or Cowardly Lion politics shows up in real systems, real decisions, real lives.
But I don't want to be the only one naming them.
Running Anyway
You don’t need to be fearless to reach your goals, you just need to be willing. Willing to try, willing to learn, and willing to believe that you’re capable of more than you know.
Regenerating Oregon’s Economy
Oregon has never won by copying other states.
We didn’t become known for our forests by clear-cutting them. We didn’t become known for innovation by racing to the bottom on taxes. We built a reputation for stewardship, creativity, and independence. It’s time to build again.
How To Talk About Politics Without Burning Relationships
The Founding Tension We Never Resolved
There is a contradiction at the heart of the American project that we have never fully faced.
On the one hand, we claim that all people possess inherent dignity—that worth is not something you earn, but something you are born with. On the other hand, we built our economic system around a very different assumption: that dignity must be proven through productivity, discipline, and success in the market.
Balancing Capitalism and Democracy has created benefits for us as a Nation, but the tension between the two can only stand so much inequality before something breaks.
Productivity Is a Story We Tell to Keep the Pyramid Standing
If we measured productivity from a human baseline starting with:
bodily limits
caregiving requirements
time to recover
the need for meaning and safety,
many of our “efficient” systems would look wildly irrational.
I Would Still Work Full-Time
I love my kids deeply. I enjoy being with them. I care about their emotional lives, their safety, their development, and their sense of being wanted in the world. None of that is in question.
And also: if I were paid a wage that could reliably cover childcare, and if I could spend my working hours doing work that used the skills I’ve spent decades developing, I would not hesitate to put them in after-school care, classes, camps, or with trusted help.
Cannabis as a Case Study: How Political Inertia Destroys Functional Markets
Cannabis was a chance to build something durable, humane, and locally rooted.
Instead, it became a case study in how slow politics quietly destroys functional systems — and then acts surprised when people stop believing.