Oregon
Controversy is growing as a special election about a Keizer building-cap initiative draws near. First, Keep Keizer Livable, the group that put the city initiative on the March 8 ballot, filed a complaint with the Oregon secretary of state against the city of Keizer and the city attorney this month. Then, Keizer Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that its board opposes the measure.
The proposed measure implements a graduated tax on all city residents, with the increase ranging from 0.49 percent for individuals making less than $10,000 a year to a maximum of 0.90 percent for individuals earning above $22,000. The new tax would remain in place for four years and is projected to raise $16.8 million annually.
he head of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland, Paul Stanford, is working to put a measure on the 2012 ballot in Oregon to legalize marijuana. Stanford told KATU marijuana should be regulated like cigarettes and liquor. He says taxes would bring a steady flow of revenue to the state.
Clackamas Community College will ask county voters to approve $130 million in general obligation bonds for increasing the safety and educational opportunities of its three campuses by modernizing classrooms, training equipment and buildings.
If Hank Grum’s initiative petition hasn’t yet shown up at your doorstep, it likely will in the coming months. The Newberg man started gathering signatures about a month ago for his petition to put all new or increased taxes, fees and charges to a vote of the people, and while he hasn’t yet “gotten very far” in his efforts, the doors he has knocked on have yielded decent results, he said.
One of the greatest strengths of the initiative process is that it allows citizens to deal with issues or present positions that politician are unlikely to every tackle. Among those issues is drug policy reform, and the legalization/decriminalization of marijuana in particular.
A petition turn-in and barbeque potluck Oct. 17 will be the final push for Keep Keizer Livable’s campaign for a controversial city initiative. The group has until Oct. 19 to gather 2,739 signatures of registered voters living in Keizer to be able to place the initiative on the March 8 ballot. But, the group is turning in the petition at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE. As of last week, the group needed 500 more John Hancocks.
Two people are under indictment on a total of eight charges of petition fraud following action last week by Oregon’s Secretary of State. One individual is accused of forging the signatures of six deceased voters Another person is accused of signing a statement saying he collected signatures that were actually collected by a person who was not authorized to collect signatures.
It will be awhile before anyone knows whether the initiative could come before voters anytime soon. Timeline estimates extend beyond several months, as city officials must determine if the initiative applies to a single subject and then draft a ballot title, which could be subject to appeal. Supporters would also then need approval of petitions to circulate for roughly 3,500 signatures in favor of putting the issue on a ballot.
A new poll by a liberal group says a ballot measure toughening certain crime sentences has strong support, but voters are skeptical of initiatives allowing medical marijuana dispensaries as well as a casino in East Multnomah County. The poll also showed Democrat John Kitzhaber ahead in the governor’s race - which puts it at odds with recent public surveys showing that neither Kitzhaber nor Republican Chris Dudley has a clear lead.
After a week of consideration, a citizens panel of Oregon voters has emerged deeply divided over a medical marijuana ballot initiative. Measure 74 would allow medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon. The 24-member panel of randomly selected voters came out in favor of the measure by a 13-to-11 vote.
The Good For Oregon Committee had gathered signatures for two initiatives, one that amends the Oregon Constitution to allow a single private casino in the state, and a companion measure, Ballot Measure 75. Together, the two measures would have given backers the exclusive right to build a casino on the former dog-racing track.
Opponents of dam removal in the Klamath Basin are taking their fight to the ballot box. The group ‘Voters Opposed to Dam Removal’ filed an initiative Thursday afternoon with the Klamath County Clerk’s Office and the Board of Commissioners to put the issue of dam removal on the ballot. With the deadline to file an initiative for the November ballot already passed, commissioners alone have the power to place it on the ballot.
An effort to impose term limits on the Benton County Commission appears to be dead in the water, at least for this year. The deadline to qualify county measures for the November ballot passed last week, and backers of the proposal have not turned in any signed petitions to election officials. A total of 2,853 valid signatures from Benton County voters are needed to put an initiative on the ballot.
Supporters of a ballot measure to take redistricting responsibilities away from the Legislature have sued the Oregon secretary of state, claiming that rules for checking petition signatures are too restrictive. One of the authors of the measure, Kevin Mannix, claims that signature-checking rules for the petition are far more restrictive than required by state law. The lawsuit alleges the rules adopted by Secretary of State Kate Brown deem signatures invalid if petition sheets aren’t properly filled out.