Finally, the last of the conservative measures! Measure 64 shows that Bill Sizemore wants revenge on the unions that successfully identified him as a racketeer. Again using crowd-pleasing language, it purports to prohibit using a “public resource” for a “political purpose” and levies double damages for doing so. Now, who could oppose such a benign statement of government neutrality?
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Measure 62, backed by long-time Republican politician Kevin Mannix, seeks to amend the Oregon Constitution to allocate 15% of lottery funds to public safety funding. Currently, lottery funds go 44% to parks, bond payments and educational reserve funds, while 56% goes to a variety of programs, including K-12 education and economic development. Absent new revenue for these programs, they would receive a reduction in the amount of funds they receive.
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Sizemore-sponsored Measure 60 would eliminate seniority as a consideration for pay raises and retention for teachers. The Measure would not affect current labor agreements, but would apply to all future agreements. Instead, pay raises and retention during layoffs would be based on an undefined criteria called “classroom performance” and by their training in the field they teach.
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Yet another Sizemore attempt to make the world safe for the rich and reduce the size of State government to a point at which it could be drowned in a bathtub, Measure 59 would eliminate the cap on the deduction of federal taxes from state income taxes. Let’s say you’re a single person who is lucky enough to make $100,000 per year. You’d expect to pay in the 28% tax bracket for federal taxes and in the 9% tax bracket for your state taxes. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you have $15,000 in federal tax liabilities. You’re actually then only being taxed on $94,500 for your state taxes, since the first $5,500 of federal taxes is deductible on your state taxes. If Measure 59 passes, you would only pay state taxes on $85,000 of your income.
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Measure 58, another initiative petition from Sizemore et al proposing a statutory change to Oregon law, would prohibit the public schools from teaching non-English-speaking students in a language other than English for more than two years for high school students, a year and half for middle school students, or one year for elementary school students. It provides that English-speaking students may study a foreign language for longer than two years. The explanatory statement concedes that the measure will have to be harmonized with federal law. The State estimates financial costs of $203 million to $253 million annually to local school systems.
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Measures 57 and 61 are competing measures designed to reform sentencing for property crimes. The measure with the most votes will become law. If neither receives more yes votes than no votes, neither will become law. The measures both increase sentences for property crime offenders, but differ in their approaches in that Measure 57 supports increased sentencing primarily for repeat offenders and provides funding for rehabilitation programs, while Measure 61 takes a purely punitive approach.
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At last some controversy! Measure 56, another legislative referral, attempts to repeal the double majority requirement for property tax measures. The “double majority” requires that in elections other than even year general elections, property tax measures that fund government services must be passed by more than 50% of the voters in an election where 50% or more of the qualified voters actually vote. Oregon voters passed the double majority requirement in 1996 as part of the Oregon tax revolt facilitated by racketeer/activist Bill Sizemore and Oregon Taxpayers United.
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Measure 55, another legislative referral, fixes that pesky problem I’m sure all of us have had - when you’re elected to the Oregon Legislature from a district and redistricting causes you to live in the same district as another legislator from the same chamber. The State then reassigns you to another (presumably empty) district somewhere else in the State, where you do not live. You have now gone from representing tweedies and Reedies to cowboys and farmers. Your ACLU membership becomes a political liability and your constituents start asking awkward questions about why you aren’t an NRA member.
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As an observer of local politics for the last 15 years, one question seems to persist over the years - why do conservatives do so well in the initiative process, while progressives do quite poorly? Conservative measures have steadily eroded state funding (Measure 5), increased mandatory prison sentences for violent offenders (Measure 11), and restricted zoning measures (Measure 37). Progressives have had more modest successes - Death with Dignity, crime victim’s rights, and hunting restrictions. Indeed, the biggest progressive successes have come in beating back conservative measures, particularly on land use, repeal of Death with Dignity, parental notification, and by restricting payment by signature on petitions. Why haven’t progressives done more to take the initiative on initiatives?

One good reason for conservative success is quite simple - they cheat, deceive and use financial incentives. Bill Sizemore’s electoral shenanigans have made the news for years, but his measures keep making the ballot. They also use deceptive or incomplete information to mislead voters. For instance, Kevin Mannix has billed his current measure as “tough on property crime”, as will certainly be reflected in the ballot title. An honest title might be “Increases Penalties for Property Crimes, Decreases K-12 Educational Budget”, as that is the practical effect of the measure. Prior to 2002, they used pay per signature collectors to circulate initiatives, a method designed to encourage deception by the signature collectors. Fortunately, the voters rejected this method by a 3-1 margin. However, conservative measures continue to receive heavy funding from private interests.

The relatively low numbers of signatures required to get an initiative on the ballot in Oregon means that it’s even quite cost effective for conservative interests to get their way through the process.

The reasons for the more modest successes of progressives are more obscure. Money is an obvious culprit. Corporate pro-smoking interests so dominated the public debate on Measure 50 so much that even some non-smokers thought they would see a tax increase if it passed. Progressive measures have also tended to focus on substantive measures that would require state expenditures, such as public election financing and universal health insurance for children, while conservative measures have focused on popular, low-cost restrictions, such as the gay marriage ban. Progressives have also wasted energy on obviously unpopular measures - losing a Measure 11 repeal effort by almost 3-1, labeling of GMO foods by 2-1, a signature increase for initiatives by 1.5-1, and a prohibition on livestock in waterways by almost 2-1. We don’t do the cause any favors by picking dumb fights.

None of those seem to matter as much as the simple gap in organization. 9 of the 10 measures on the November 2008 ballot will be from conservative groups. All 9 come from only 3 sources - Kevin Mannix, Bill Sizemore and Russ Walker. This comes despite the widespread consensus that this will be a huge year for progressive causes. We’re winning on a broad front, but only playing defense on initiatives.

If we want to reverse the trend, we’re going to have to pull it together. We need a group that will employ full-time staff to organize petition drives. Ad hoc organizing for every campaign eats up tremendous amounts of time and energy. We should be smarter about picking causes that will garner widespread support. Not too many people cry when murderers go to prison for life, but almost everyone support better child welfare programs. We must start sooner and keep a consistent message going throughout the campaign. People shouldn’t hear about our measures for the first time at the polls. Opposition research should be part of the process - people should know who is looking out for their interests and who is trying to buy their vote with advertising dollars. Where were the ads of cackling Phillip Morris execs blowing smoke into the faces of sick children in 2006? Why did it take 10 years for us to publicize the fact the Loren Parks, the primary financial backer for many conservative initiatives, has such, ahem, unusual beliefs about human sexuality? We should fight when conservative causes spread false information. Too often, false claims go unanswered in the media. In sum, we need to get organized and focus our efforts if we’re to turn the tide.

By Leah Reis-Dennis
Published: June 2, 2008 12:00

Traditionally, the older generation has dominated politics. The 18- to 25-year-old group lags in historic voting records, leaving monumental decisions in the hands of those who may not have our concerns in mind.

Lately, however, this trend has lessened, partly in thanks to nonpartisan “get out the vote” groups such as the national Rock the Vote campaign and the Oregon-focused Bus Project. The appearance of a charismatic politician who is capable of relating to the younger set has also helped get the college crew to put down the Xbox and think about the ballot box.

Yes, I am referring to Barack Obama.

While on the streets, canvassing for Obama, I found a new kind of politics and an unknown Eugene. I discovered that politics consist of more than ballots. True, voting matters and elections eventually come down to numbers, but the process of spreading a message and uniting voters toward common goals is just as important.

I have witnessed and participated in political discussions during the past few months that have surprised me.

As a 16-year-old I cannot vote, but I can encourage my peers and fellow citizens to do so. With this in mind (and a rather empty looking community service log in hand), I set out with a friend (in lovely April hail) for our first, four-hour long canvassing stint.

After instruction from my mom to avoid kidnapping, we arrived at the Obama office, received a briefing on canvassing procedure and got our mission: knock on the doors of potential Obama supporters to get them to register as Democrats, enabling them to vote in the May 20 primary.

Hoping for an area friendly to inexperienced canvassers, we chose to walk the downtown and University of Oregon campus. Wishful thinking. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say we weren’t so successful.

While we did manage to register four people (only three of whom were on our list to begin with), we found ourselves wandering through dorms, knocking on the doors of silent sorority houses, approaching a fraternity house (from which we fled, my mom’s warning in mind), and winning an invitation into an incense-laden apartment filled with psychedelic-mushroom paraphernalia. Not the best neighborhood for two 16-year-old girls.

A month later — feeling a little more politically savvy, more confident in our ability to knock on strangers’ doors without giggling and motivated by urgency of the looming primary — we set out again. The day after Obama’s unannounced visits to Prince Pücklersand other local hot spots, the political energy in Eugene was tangible.

When we hit the streets of southeast Eugene, we received positive reactions. Our Obama shirts and stickers drew horn honks and whoops from down the street, and, in the heat, we welcomed an invitation to cool our feet in a kiddie pool.

We did hit some unusual houses. A Russian woman listened to me speak for about a minute, only to motion for a pamphlet and say, “No English.” And we enjoyed speaking with a friendly but ineligible Canadian.

But the most memorable houses we visited were those where we engaged in substantive conversation. The opportunity to connect with someone face to face, whether discussing the candidates’ health care plans or simply lamenting the sizzling temperatures made up for the unresponsive residents who blared their music in an effort to drown out the doorbell.

As we continued our trek while discussing people, politics and prom, it dawned on me that the campaign had inspired the kind of politics in which everyone, regardless of age, can get involved. We all have something at stake, especially my generation.

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Leah Reis-Dennis is a junior at South Eugene High. Submit a comment for this column, or see her slideshow.