As chair of the Deschutes County Republican Party, my role is to advocate for conservative values in legislation, recruitment of members and election of candidates. I may not be perfect in my advocacy, but I am sincerely passionate in my beliefs and efforts.

I have heard from conservative and moderate Republicans, Independents and Democrats about my recent guest columns. While I stand by every word, I do want to iterate that my views are not the views of every member of the Deschutes County Republican Party.

In fact, some may feel that my views are further to the “right” than many. My goal in speaking out is to pave the way for folks on the conservative spectrum to hold their beliefs proudly and confidently. Rightly or wrongly, many of us feel we cannot express our views without fear of retribution. I strongly suspect that is why you see so few conservative pieces in The Bulletin and significantly more from liberal writers. While many in this county agree with our core conservative principles, a very small minority feel comfortable doing so publicly. Why is that?

A country that values free speech ought not to condone environments that do not foster free debate, discourse, and expression. I submit the Colorado law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court this past week correctly reinforced the importance of our nation’s bedrock First Amendment. The case involved a web designer’s right not to be compelled to develop a website for a gay couple’s wedding. The high court held that as a creative professional, the designer had a free speech right to refuse to endorse messages she disavowed. To hold otherwise, would be akin to compelled speech/expression. While folks on the left decried the outcome as a setback for LGBTQ rights, I submit this is a win for us all. In the same way we would not want to compel a Jewish baker to bake a cake with a swastika, no one should be compelled to express a view contrary to their beliefs.

The true desire of my columns is to embrace free speech, to open dialogue and to encourage debate about important cultural and political issues.

I do listen to feedback and criticisms about my columns. While I will not back down from my beliefs or bow to ideologies I do not believe in, I will vow to respectfully listen to other viewpoints and not belittle.

I recently was approached by a Redmond City Council member Kathryn Osborne regarding a matter involving pressing issues for our homeless population. She reached out to discuss some recent comments I had made. We spoke and had a productive conversation. I was grateful to be contacted and appreciated the opportunity to talk to someone whose views differ from mine and to listen and find common ground.

The Deschutes County Republican Party does have a big tent, and we do welcome you into it. We believe our tent would be bigger but for the perception it is not OK to be in it. We may not agree with everyone about everything, but we do want to listen, debate, and talk about solutions that foster conservative values in a respectful way.

We want to grow and evolve the party of Lincoln, the party of We The People … the Republican Party. If you share our core principles, you are welcome. Speak up. We are the party of conservative values. So, come to a meeting, reach out to our organization, and reach out to me. Talk to your friends and neighbors about local and national affairs. Listen to some conservative podcasters and independent news sources and see if their viewpoints don’t resonate with you. I bet they will.

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor or a guest column.