BEND, OR -- Former Bend City Councilor and State Senator Chris Telfer announced Thursday, she will seek the Independent Party of Oregon’s nomination for Treasurer in 2016. The local CPA tells KBND she has contemplated the run for several months. "I just got to the point that I was seeing a crisis that was going to hit the state in 2017 in the financial area, and I felt that I am the one who has the skill set as a CPA. I teach government accounting for OSU and I thought, well, this is a way I could help the state out."
She adds, "We’ve got about a $3 billion crisis that we’re going to be facing. I actually developed the “back to basics” budget back in 2010, I guess it was, trying to balance the budget without increasing taxes. I have the skill set, nobody else does that’s running, so I thought well, I’ll throw my hat in the ring." Beaverton Democrat Tobias Read is the only other person to publicly announce a run for Treasurer, although campaigns can’t officially register until September 10.