Phil Keisling

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Secretary of State of Oregon
Phil Keisling
Philip E. Keisling, 2006 photo courtesy Hepieric, Inc.
In office
January 14, 1991 – November 8, 1999
Preceded by	Barbara Roberts
Succeeded by	Bill Bradbury
Born	1955 Oregon
Residence	Portland, Oregon
Oregon State Representative
Political party	Democrat
Occupation	Computer Services Executive

Phil Keisling (1955 - ) is a Portland, Oregon business executive and political activist who served as Oregon Secretary of State from 1991 to 1999.

Prior to seeking public office, he pursued an earlier career in journalism, including six years as a reporter and correspondent in Portland and Washington, and two years as editor of Washington Monthly.^[1] He is a Democrat, and a member of the Democratic Leadership Council^{[citation needed]}.

Keisling, now a Senior Vice President for Marketing for the Oregon high tech company, Hepieric, Inc.,^[2] 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 that financially troubled through comprehensive reform in response to an independent performance audit.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5] More recently, with Republican Norma Paulus, also a former Oregon Secretary of State, Keating 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. He has pledged to refile a similar initiative for consideration by the voters in 2008.^[6] The Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature has included open primaries among its sweeping proposal for electoral reform, but did not endorse the initiative.^[7]

A longtime supporter of open government, Keiting 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.^[8] He is also a co-founder and board member of the Oregon Public Affairs Network (OPAN), roughly based on the C-SPAN model.^[9]

[edit] References

^ Inside: Phil Keisling (official website). Washington Monthly. Retrieved on 28 November 2006.
^ Hepieric Inc. (17 June 2005). News Release. Press release. Retrieved on 28 November 2006.
^ Performance Audit Implementation Steering Committee (official website). Portland Public Schools (1999). Retrieved on [[November 28, 2006]].
^ Wong, Peter. "Former state secretaries urge audits preservation", The Statesman Journal, July 31, 2003, pp. 1A.
^ Mapes, Richard. "Primary system getting a 2nd look", The Oregonian, May 10, 2004, pp. A1.
^ Walsh, Edward. "Open vote in primary fails to gain ballot spot", The Oregonian, August 3, 2006, pp. B1.
^ Wong, Peter. "Panel urges shakeup of legislative elections", The Statesman Journal, May 23, 2006, pp. 1A.
^ Board members (Official website). Open Oregon (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
^ "Oregonians support the network, but many don't have access to it", The Statesman Journal, July 10, 2003, pp. 1A.