In today's Oregonian, Anna Griffin reports on fiscal irresponsibility and questionable business practices that have plagued businessman and current Portland Mayor candidate Sho Dozono during his otherwise long and distinguished career. Although Dozono has a remarkable story and numerous civic and business accomplishments to his name, I'm extremely concerned about what she reports about Dozono on healthcare. On the issue, his campaign rhetoric and actual practices do not mesh.

About my history: I worked for Commissioner Sam Adams' office in 2005 and am a strong supporter of his, but I feel compelled to write on this topic because of my background in healthcare with SEIU and long-term care locals in California. I take pause when candidates like Dozono make claims about healthcare that don't match their actual businesses practices.

While Dozono's past fiscal irresponsibility is revealing considering his lofty claims, what he has been saying about healthcare strikes me as far worse: namely, he claims to provide all of his workers with healthcare when it isn't true. Griffin puts it well in the Oregonian article:

At campaign events, he boasts that "all of my employees have health insurance." But when pressed, he acknowledges that he's not necessarily talking about the cabdrivers at Broadway Cab or the dishwashers at Bush Garden restaurant. He owns 18 percent of Broadway Cab and what he describes as a "majority stake" in the restaurant.

Healthcare is perhaps our nation's most shameful crisis. One Oregonian without health insurance dies every day and an estimated 600,000 Oregonians go without health insurance. I find it appalling that Dozono would play politics with the truth and misrepresent how he really doesn't give all his employees healthcare.

When I worked with the SEIU in California, we fought tooth-and-nail to secure better wages and real healthcare options for many passionate, dedicated healthcare and long-term care workers. So you can imagine how disheartening is it when a mayoral candidate like Dozono claims to provide healthcare to all of his employees -- and then learn it's just a campaign talking point and not the truth.

On the other hand, City Commissioner Sam Adams has been a strong advocate in the fight for ensuring that all of Portland's employees have healthcare benefits. For example, back in 2006 Adams took on Portland's human resources department in an attempt to ensure that all city employees and seasonal contractors receive healthcare benefits. As the Portland Mercury's Scott Moore wrote at the time, "the city's human resources department refused to offer... benefits to seasonal workers," and when the healthcare question was set aside for later, the vote on a new contract "hit a roadblock named Sam Adams," who fought hard for those benefits.

It is also an irony that Dozono mentions Adams' personal bankruptcy, which occurred 19 years ago and he repaid even though it wasn't required, in light of his own financial woes. Does he realize that Sam Adams went bankrupt because of a health problem and because he didn't have health insurance? Much like Dozono's employees, Sam Adams knows first-hand how important healthcare benefits can be when you need them the most, and that's why he's been fighting for them for all city employees.

In short, Sho Dozono has problems with rhetoric. He's willing to claim anything that sounds good on the campaign trail -- like that he provides healthcare for all of his workers -- even if it isn't true. If he's willing to say anything now, what will he do if he's Mayor?