When you elect a representative, you trust them to put your family, your farm, and your local business first.
Unfortunately, the incumbent in District 57 has repeatedly used his office to serve his own financial interests and multinational corporations.
Josiah Dean is running to restore transparent, accountable leadership that prioritizes Eastern Oregon's community needs.
Josiah Dean, Candidate for Oregon House District 57
The Record on Ethics and Trust
Voters in Eastern Oregon value hard work and honest dealings, but Greg Smith has continually blurred the lines between his public duties and his private consulting firm.
Ethics Fines: In August 2026, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission unanimously finalized a $12,000 penalty against Smith. The commission concluded he used his position as executive director of a local development authority for personal gain, which included securing an unauthorized pay raise and self-approving weeks of paid vacation. This ruling was widely covered by news outlets likeOregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and theEast Oregonian.
Lawsuits and Self-Dealing: The Oregon Attorney General recently filed a $6.9 million civil lawsuit against Smith. The state alleges he completely abandoned his fiduciary duties on a non-profit board, paving the way for insiders to purchase public broadband assets at a massive, multi-million dollar discount.
Josiah’s Solution: Josiah believes in complete financial transparency. He will mandate open public hearings and full economic impact disclosures before any industrial zoning or tax abatements are granted, ensuring community members know exactly how a project impacts them.
“These aren’t just ideas; these are statutory changes I plan to bring to the floor in Salem. Currently, state law only requires tax deals to be posted online for 21 days. Unlike my opponent, I will introduce legislation work to mandate real, open public hearings and full economic impact reports to be published before your tax money is given away to out-of-state corporations.”
Protecting Local Resources vs. Corporate Giveaways
Subsidizing Corporations: Smith has championed legislation that shielded multi-billion-dollar data centers from standard property taxes.
The Environmental Toll: While tech giants saved billions, their facilities consumed massive amounts of water, heavily contributing to the severe nitrate contamination poisoning the region's drinking water aquifers.
Josiah’s Solution: Josiah will safeguard local natural resources by requiring closed-loop, dry-cooling technologies for new data centers to preserve groundwater. Instead of giving tax breaks to out-of-state servers, he will reinvest incentive dollars directly into rural fire districts, county roads, and local emergency services
“I’m not trying to offer talking points here, I’m offering a legislative roadmap. The state legislature writes the rules for the Enterprise Zone and SIP tax breaks that data centers use to avoid paying property taxes. I’m running to go to Salem to rewrite those rules. If tech giants want to build in our backyard, state law will require them to protect our water with modern cooling technology and legally guarantee that their tax incentive dollars are reinvested directly into restoring our services and aquifers. ”
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Supporting Hometown Businesses vs. Chasing Multinational Corporations
Voters want their local economy built around the people who actually live there, not out-of-state tech giants.
The Contrast: While Greg Smith engineered an economic model that favors global corporations, Josiah Dean is focused on cutting red tape for local entrepreneurs and keeping state procurement dollars in Eastern Oregon.
The Record: Smith championed sweeping enterprise zone abatements that allowed companies like Amazon to receive up to a 100 percent exemption on local property taxes. In 2023, Morrow County officials approved tax exemptions for Amazon estimated to be worth roughly $1 billion. Despite this massive subsidy, these heavily automated data centers provide relatively few permanent jobs while placing huge strains on local power grids and water supplies.
Josiah’s Pivot: Josiah’s "Investing in Our Own" strategy prioritizes the independent small businesses, ranches, and trades that form the backbone of the community. He plans to simplify state licensing processes for family-owned ventures and strengthen local career pathways in the trades for rural youth.
Community Infrastructure vs. Insider Profiteering
Dependable infrastructure, like rural broadband, is essential for small businesses and farms to compete, and public assets should never be sold out from under the community.
The Contrast: Josiah wants to expand stable, affordable internet access across rural dead zones, while Smith is facing state litigation for allegedly allowing public broadband assets to be tunneled to insiders.
The Record: According to a $6.9 million civil lawsuit filed by the Oregon Attorney General, Smith abandoned his fiduciary duties while serving on the board of a non-profit meant to expand fiber-optic access to rural schools and hospitals. The lawsuit alleges Smith deliberately ignored legal advice and rubber-stamped a corporate sale that allowed insiders to purchase the non-profit's lucrative broadband subsidiary at a massive, multi-million dollar discount.
Josiah’s Pivot: Josiah will accelerate last-mile broadband expansion across unserved areas and partner with local utility providers to upgrade infrastructure organically and transparently.
Transparent Leadership vs. Unaccountable Administration
Eastern Oregon deserves leaders who respect public funds, not those who treat public agencies as their personal bank accounts.
The Contrast: Josiah guarantees open public hearings for economic agreements, contrasting sharply with Smith's documented history of administrative abuse.
The Record: The Oregon Government Ethics Commission found that Smith operated the publicly funded Columbia Development Authority with virtually zero oversight. Investigators discovered he manipulated a federal defense grant application to falsely claim a "board-approved" salary increase, netting himself an unauthorized $195,000 salary while routinely signing his own timecards and approving his own paid time off.
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Josiah’s Pivot: Josiah will mandate full economic impact disclosures and empower local county commissioners so that no deals are made behind closed doors
Bring honesty, transparency, & accountability back to Salem.
Rural working families expect growth to be fair, balanced, and accountable to the local people who live here.
