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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 1978)
Incumbent Kerans blasts campaign info as innuendo, smears By JACK CONDUFFE Of the Emerald State Rep. Grattan Kerans, D-Eugene, blasted opponent Gary Wright for issuing a piece of campaign literature Kerans said is "innuendo, distortion and outright smears.” Kerans and Wright are vying for state representative in District 39. “His campaign literature is a gross example of political charac ter assassination,” said the two term legislator. Kerans discussed the cam paign literature’s charges item by item and said that all but one item was in some way misleading. The only correct statement, said Kerans, was that he voted against phasing out the state inheritance tax. Among the charges made by Wright was that Kerans said “strict State Rep. Grattan Kerans, licensing and registration laws are necessary” for guns. Kerans said he made that statement as an editor of the Emerald in 1969 and it is not representative of his views since election to the Legislature in 1974. Wright also said Kerans broke a campaign promise made in 1976 not to vote for $12 million for new Capitol wings to provide office space for legislators. In 1975, the Legislature approved a bond issue to build the wings. Kerans voted against this. The Oregon Supreme Court ruled the bond issue unconstitu tional and the $12 million had to be paid out of the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) trust fund. The Legislature paid back the $12 million to the PERS. Ke rans voted in favor of this. The literature also says, 'Grat tan Kerans voted for a state gay lib bill, and states that if it comes up again, it will receive his vote.” Wright said the gay rights issue is a choice between tolerance and acceptance adding he does not accept the gay lifestyle as valid, Wright said. Kerans said the gay rights issue is a matter of discrimination. The bill in question, HB 2228, prohi bited discrimination against state employees on the basis of sexual orientation. Sexual misconduct on the job by homosexuals or heterosexuals would not have been protected by the bill, Kerans said. The literature also says, “I want to repair the damage my opponent has done to the Oregon tradition of open, honest government in our election laws. Questioned about the state ment, Wright said he is referring to Kerans’ support of legislation which allows voters to register to Gary Wright vote up to election day rather than thirty days before. Wright said that this opens up the election process to fraud. Wright acknowledged that no cases of fraud have been reported since the law passed in 1975. Wright also cited Kerans’ vote in favor of the dollar tax check-off to political parties. Kerans said the registration day law actually opened up the politi cal system. Kerans also cited his support of establishing the Oregon Ethics Commission, sun set laws and the Oregon Open Meeting Act as evidence of his work towards open government. Kerans said “The action of Gary Wright demeans the political pro cess in Oregon.” Wright responded that Kerans presents one position to his con stituents and votes differently in Salem and that he has an obliga tion to point this out to the voters. Navy misses target, bombs countryside TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (AP) — Attack jets from an aircraft carrier missed their practice targets and dropped 32 live bombs near a rural community, of ficials say. By Wednesday, three days after the 500-pound bombs were dropped and exploded upon im pact, the Navy had not publicly explained how it happened. There were no injuries. “It was like wartime,” said fire chief Jack McConaha. “They were dropping them in pairs. Oregon Daily Emerald That’ll knock you out of bed.” McConaha said the bombs landed on a tract of scrub, cactus and brush owned by the federal government two miles north of homes in Wonder Valley and two to three miles south of the bomb ing range. The target was a practice bomb ing range on the Marine Corps base at Twentynine Palms, a major training area for both the Navy and Marines in the Mojave Desert about 120 miles east of Los Angeles. ' \*V oO9 , e^ %&< "Vvo*0^ » ** v ^ V) 0<*v^ #1 ^//nWxX A**' *»* w^a$ ^ *V .^%v • /-VP 't>>iss* ?°v v^V'JS* 0^, d&4$S$£'$&\+ Page 3 Section A
