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 have 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: Tom Rohlfing Age: 45 (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): Nonpartisan office. Position you are seeking (name of position, district number): Assessor, Marion County I plan to attend the editorial board meeting scheduled for: 10:00am October 8, 2012 Number of years living in the area you seek to represent:

I have had 1.5 years continuous residency in Marion County, and 18 I have worked at the Marion County Assessors Office for over 18 years. Do you affirm that you are a full-time resident of that area? Yes City/town of residence: Salem Oregon Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children): My fiance is Jennifer Johnson. I have two over achieving boys, the oldest just started medical school at OHSU and the youngest is nine years old. Education: I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Portland State University. After college I became interested in appraisal and took the three basic classes: residential appraisal which covers the cost and sales approaches to value, commercial appraisal which includes the income approach to value, and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice known as USPAP. I have had over 300 hours of credited appraisal classes and seminars since in my 18 years at Marion County from the Appraisal Institute, the International Association of Assessing Officers, and the Oregon Department of Revenue among others. In regard to training, I have also designed and implemented training programs for incoming Assessor personnel and Oregon Department of Revenue staff. Current occupation and employer: Senior Commercial Appraiser, Marion County Assessors Office. Military service: None Employment history: Over 18 years as an appraiser with the Marion County Assessors Office including: Approximately 4 years appraising residential and farm properties. Approximately 8 years doing appraiser analyst work converting data for a new computer system, establishing mass appraisal models, statistical and ratio analysis, processing work orders and roll corrections, training staff on property tax and assessment laws. For the past six plus years I have been the senior commercial appraiser responsible for leading

and training our team of commercial appraisers in appraising and when necessary defending our value estimates for all of the commercial properties in Marion County. Community involvement/volunteer history: I am a believer in volunteerism and participation. I have participated in many large scale food drives for the Marion Polk Food Share. We used to hold fund raisers and deliver food by the pallet in our food drives. I have been a coach and assistant coach for soccer and football teams with the City of Salem. My son and I built soccer goals for his Keizer Soccer team. I have hosted Cub Scout events doing things like building bird houses for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife and building parade floats for the Salem/Keizer Holiday Parade. I have taken part in many wetland restoration projects around the state. Please list all public offices to which youve been elected, and when: None.

Please list any unsuccessful candidacies for public office, and when: None. I realize Marion County Assessor is a political position. My philosophy toward this position is that an Assessor part of a team which is Marion County and its residents. I am an appraiser. This is what I do. I have not had any other political aspirations. I am running for Assessor because I am passionate about my job, the people I work with, and the people we serve. I will make this the best Assessors Office it can be. Other prior political and government experience: None. How much your general election campaign will cost: I estimate spending about $6,000 on this election. Key endorsements you have received: Salem Association of Realtors Darr L. Goss, MAI, owner, Capital Valuation Group, Ltd C. Spencer Powell, MAI, owner Powell Valuation Inc John P. Totten, MAI, owner, Totten & Company, Appraisers James D. Green, Mission Properties LLC Terry Hancock, broker, Hancock Real Estate Nathan Levin, broker, Nathan Levin Co Terry Silbernagel, broker Agri-Business Real Estate Services Matt Brown Tom Dalke Susan Thompson, former Marion County Assessor (interim), says: Tom Rohlfing is the best choice for Assessor. Dennis Ragain, former Marion County Deputy Assessor Paul Allen Bruce Cuff Bonaventure Senior Living Steven V. Johnson, president, VIPs Industries Inc. Brian Beebe, Hood River County Assessor How the public can reach your campaign (remember that this information may be published): Mail address:

Tom Rohlfing For Assessor PO Box 3674 Salem, OR 97302 E-mail address: TomRohlfingForAssessor@gmail.com Web site URL: www.TomRohlfing.com Phone: 503-551-5920 Fax: None.

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. I had a business when the economy turned and I was going through some family difficulty with one son in private college and another son with daycare expenses. My main customers went out of business and times were tough. I have never been sued and I have never filed for bankruptcy. That has given me perspective and compassion for the customers I work with that may be close or may have similar difficulties. I am proud of how well I handled the adversity. 3. Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? I am most qualified for this position. I have significant experience in all areas of the Assessors Office. I have the most experience leading, training and working with people. I have been the representative face for the Marion County Assessors Office for many years when our highest profile properties are involved. I am Marion Countys primary expert witness and narrative report writer. I feel like I have done much of the Assessors job for years. Look at who is supporting me. 4. What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How? (75 words for each issue)

A. Accountability: The Marion County Assessors Office has signed a contract to purchase a new computer system. It is not developing well. It needs to be considered. A large expense like this should never be approved without significant identified gains in efficiencies. B. Training: Very little training or cross training has occurred in the Assessors Office outside of the Commercial section for many years. I would immediately implement training programs to make all staff the best they can be and allow potential mobility within the office. C. Stability: I would achieve greater stability and fair assessments by improving the job that each employee does. With fewer mistakes we would have fewer tax roll corrections meaning it would be less common for taxpayers to receive an additional bill they didnt expect or potentially a refund that the taxing districts didnt anticipate.

5. What do you see as other important issues? It comes down to experience. I am the only candidate with real appraisal experience. I have valued all classifications of property including residential, farm, retail, office, multi-family, warehouse, condominiums, and commercial development land. I also have the experience to train others to do the same. 6. How would you describe your political style or for judicial candidates, your judicial temperament? I lead others as a team, encourage participation and dialog. I would take responsibility for my decisions. I am not afraid to change my decision when if a better solution or perspective becomes known. I am used to being the person that the rest of the staff brings into a situation that they are not comfortable with because I can reach good conclusions and communicate our perspective to a client as well as understand their perspective. I guess Im a problem solver. 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? Like I have tried to convey, I have the experience and I feel like I have been doing much of the job representing the Assessors Office for many years. 8. What is the largest budget you have handled, and in what capacity? Home finances and small business as owner for approximately four years. 9. What is the largest number of employees youve supervised, and in what capacity? I am currently the senior commercial appraiser in the Marion County Assessors Office. I lead a team consisting of five appraisers, an assessment clerk, and a data collector. I am also the lead to some degree for our exemptions which are processed mainly by a few others in our group. 10. Who is your role model for this office the person/people you would most like to emulate? Archie Rice, co-founder of CH2MHill engineering. Everyone knows something I dont. The example he used included my dog. This is so true. Archie taught me humility and to really respect others perspectives. He also received the credit for growing his company into one of the largest engineering firms in the world. 11. Any skeletons in your closet or other potentially embarrassing information that you want to disclose before it comes up in the campaign? None.

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.) A county assessor interprets and implements legislation. We follow rules. An assessor does not make policy because we have such defined statutes, administrative rules, and when those dont fit we have case law. An assessor should always strive to be fair and accurate. Fair because it is the right thing to do. Accurate because it is required by statute. I would be happy to answer any or all of these if the editorial board feels they are relevant. 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.