Geez, Oregonians in Action, can't you organize your own pro Measure 37 "Pave over Oregon!" rally?
Not only do you want to trample on the rights of citizens to enjoy a sprawl-free, water-plentiful, farm-friendly state, you also want to disrupt the Rally for Oregon that's been organized by Jim Gilbert and his Fix Measure 37 crew.
It'll be held on the steps of the capitol in Salem next Saturday, April 14, from 10-2. Here's a rally flyer: Download measure_37_rally_poster.pdf
Oregonians in Action, which brought us the disaster of Measure 37, is calling on their supporters to hijack the rally.
We are hoping to surround this rally with pro-measure 37 supporters and hold our own rally! We're asking supporters to bring signs that read 'Hands off my property", "Voters Have Spoken", "Tom McCall stole my Pension"; "I Love Measure 37" along with any others you can think of that will help show these people what you really think.
Trying to take over someone else's rally is tacky. But then, so is the asphalted, concreted, subdivided vision of Oregon that Oregonians in Action dreams about.
Notwithstanding our fervent distaste for Measure 37 and the trashing of our state's pioneering land use policies, we get frequent phone calls from Oregonians in Action volunteers. They have us confused with a Larry Hines.
I usually say "wrong number" and hang up when I hear "I'm calling from Oregonians in Action. Is this Larry Hines?" But Laurel stayed on the phone recently.
She got a pitch to attend the Fix Measure 37 rally and help outnumber those who want much-needed changes made to the law. At the end of the conversation, though, Laurel couldn't resist making her true feelings known. I suspect that will be the last phone call we get from Oregonians in Action.
Come to the rally on Saturday. According to a newspaper report, speakers will include:
--Rep. Greg Macpherson of the joint Land Use Fairness Committee
--Mike Carrier, the governor's natural resource policy director
--Rep. Brian Clem, another member of the joint committee
--Bob Stacey, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Oregon
--several farmers
I'm looking forward to mingling with Measure 37 supporters. Oregonians in Action wants to make this rally a smack down. We progressive Greenies are much more into hugging trees. And our fellow citizens.
Update: Laurel just got back from a Land Use Fairness Committee work session. She's encouraged by what she heard. It sounds like the Measure 37 reform framework is still in play, pretty much as it was revealed several weeks ago.
There's been rumors that the framework was dead, but apparently the Democrats have enough cojones to move ahead with changes that Oregonians in Action won't like. Excellent news, if it comes to pass.
It seems that subdivisions in groundwater limited areas, like the one we and our neighbors have been fighting, would be limited to three homes. More good news. We've been worried both that more homes would be allowed, and that an "opt out of transferability" clause would allow a well-heeled developer to build homes with his own money, then sell them to buyers.
The buyers wouldn't get development rights, but the lots already would have been developed. However, in talking with people at the hearing Laurel learned that a bank wouldn't give a mortgage for a home on a "nonconforming" lot. So the Measure 37 claimant would have to be his own developer, and also his own financier for buyers (offering contracts, for example).
That's an awful lot of risk to take on. So at the moment we're feeling good about Measure 37 reform efforts. There's a long road left ahead, though, so the Fix Measure 37 rally is as important as ever.
Comments