Let me say this about that
It’s time to repeal
...Career of Dan Faddis the ‘double majority’
(From Page 2)
members still living.
Fast’s activity beyond the labor movement includes 54 years of membership in
the Masonic Lodge.
BILL AND BEVERLY FAST were married in 1962 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho;
both had been married previously. They have two daughters, two sons, seven grand-
children, eight great-grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren and two adopted
daughters who are granddaughters whose parents were unable to care for them.
ONE SON, William Lloyd Fast, followed his father into the Merchant Marine,
but later worked as a member of the Boilermakers Union and is now retired and liv-
ing in Portland.
Another son, Phil Fast, lives in Arizona. Daughter Margery Ellen Grieve lives in
Portland, and daughter Frances LuAnn Prixley lives in Gresham. The adopted
daughters are LaVonna Fast and Angeliquie Grass, who live in the Portland area.
★★★
DANIEL L. FADDIS of Portland, a longtime member of International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 48, died Nov. 25, 2006 at age 81, and
his obituary was published in the Northwest Labor Press. However, his family re-
cently compiled a detailed account of his career, and information from it follows.
Dan Faddis was the director of training at the Metro Electrical Training Center,
a facility in Portland at one time operated by IBEW Local 48, but under Faddis’s
leadership was brought under the joint sponsorship of the union and the National
Electrical Contractors Association
(NECA). A native Portlander and a
World War II veteran, he spent many
years shaping the Metro Training Center
into the highest-ranked in the nation for
schooling apprentices and for keeping
journeymen and journeywomen edu-
cated about the newest developments in
their trade.
FADDIS GRADUATED in 1954
from the inside wiremen’s electrical ap-
prenticeship program, but he had begun
working as an IBEW member years be-
fore. He had earlier served as treasurer
and recording secretary of Local 48 and
as unit manager for the electricians who
worked on construction of The Dalles
Dam.
DAN FADDIS
He was one of the first to earn an as-
sociate degree in vocational teacher ed-
ucation from Portland Community College and later was involved in the industrial
education program at Oregon State University, where he earned a bachelor’s de-
gree. He worked as an instructor in Local 48’s apprenticeship program for five years
before being appointed director of training in 1964. He held the post for more than
20 years before retiring. He became known throughout the country as the “Dean of
Training Directors.”
FADDIS WAS INVOLVED in a multitude of activities over the years. He was
an officer of the Oregon/SW Washington Apprenticeship Coordinators Group, an
Oregon Building Congress Guildsman of the Year and received three Service to the
IBEW Awards. He also was presented with awards from NECA and from the Fed-
eral Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. He was inducted into the Oregon Ap-
prenticeship Hall of Fame by the Oregon State Department of Education. He was in-
stalled in the National Hall of Fame of the United States Apprenticeship Association.
Faddis also received other accolades for his contributions to apprenticeship training
and to the electrical industry.
★★★
MARY S. DIETZ, of Gladstone, a charter member of Portland-based Office
and Professional Employees Local 11, died Jan. 21 of heart failure at the age of 89.
She had worked as a bookkeeper for Operating Engineers Local 701, Waitresses
Local 305 and Egg & Poultry Workers Local 231. She often worked on the delegate
registration desk at Oregon AFL-CIO conventions.
She was born on Sept. 5, 1917 in North Dakota and moved with her family to
Portland in 1923. They later moved to Canby where she graduated from high school.
In 1940 she married Ralph R. Dietz, a member of Auto Mechanics Local 1005, and
they made their home in Gladstone. He died in 1980.
A FUNERAL MASS was conducted for Mrs. Dietz on Jan. 26 at St. John The
Apostle Catholic Church in Oregon City.
Survivors include her sister, Jean Miller, a niece, Helen Gourde; and a nephew,
Rick Soderberg.
Memorial contributions can be sent to St. Vincent dePaul Society. Funeral
arrangements were by Holman, Hankins, Bowker & Waud.
FEBRUARY 2, 2007
By KEN ALLEN
While the 2007 Oregon Legislature
is just beginning to pick up steam, al-
ready there’s one measure introduced
that I believe deserves support. It’s
Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 10, and
it would eliminate most of the ‘dou-
ble- majority’ requirements that plague
Oregon election law.
Before I speak to the merits of the
measure, let’s make one point clear:
SJR 10 doesn’t itself change the law.
Instead, if passed, SJR 10 would call
on Oregonians to once again consider
the issue at the ballot box. After sev-
eral years of dealing with the conse-
quences of the double majority, we be-
lieve that’s an opportunity most Ore-
gonians would welcome.
Here’s a quick history lesson. The
double majority was the brainchild of
anti-taxes, anti-union, pretty much
anti-everything Bill Sizemore. (This
occurred several years before a jury
found Sizemore liable of election-re-
lated fraud and racketeering in a civil
lawsuit.) The double-majority law says
that any property tax increase must
both be approved by a 50 percent ma-
jority of those voting and that at least
50 percent of those registered to vote
must cast a ballot.
In other words, if there’s only a 49
percent turnout, there’s no need to
even count the ballots. It doesn’t mat-
ter if 99 percent of those who took the
time to vote said “Yes.” In essence,
every single person in the 51 percent
who didn’t vote is counted as a “No,”
and that’s not right.
Sizemore and other proponents
KEN ALLEN
love to compare the double majority to
the concept of a “quorum.” If a quo-
rum of a city council isn’t seated, they
argue, that body can’t conduct busi-
ness. That argument may even sound
OK at first blush, but then you have to
consider where we live.
Because in 2007, if there’s any state
in the country where the “quorum con-
cept” doesn’t hold water, it’s vote-by-
mail Oregon. Here, a full 100 percent
quorum is reached in every election,
because every registered voter receives
a ballot and has over two weeks to re-
turn it. You don’t have to worry about
the difficulty of getting out to a polling
place if you’re handicapped or dis-
abled, you don’t need to worry about
bad weather or having the flu on Elec-
tion Day and so on. Every voter is “in
the room” once he or she receives their
ballot.
Change to Win responds to
Bush’s State of Union speech
(Following is a statement by Change
to Win Chair Anna Burger regarding
President Bush’s State of the Union Ad-
dress on Jan. 23.)
In today’s rapidly changing global
economy, fewer and fewer workers be-
lieve they can achieve the American
Dream, and they worry even more for
their children. But during tonight’s
state of the union, they didn’t hear
President Bush address their state of
concern on issues like stagnant wages
and retirement security.
The president acknowledged sky-
rocketing health care costs, another
reason the Dream is slipping away for
so many working families. But our
health care system is broken. The pres-
ident’s plan to penalize the shrinking
number of Americans fortunate
enough to have insurance won’t con-
tain costs or expand coverage. We
need fundamental reform so every
man, woman and child has access to
the quality, affordable health care they
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
need.
We are encouraged by the presi-
dent’s renewed call for Congress to
pass meaningful immigration reform.
The seven major unions in Change to
Win support a realistic and compre-
hensive solution that provides a path-
way to citizenship for the estimated 11
million hardworking, taxpaying immi-
grants in this country.
However, we see the recent Immi-
gration and Custom Enforcement
(ICE) raids at meatpacking facilities
across the country counter to the presi-
dent’s words. And at a time when
Americans are engaged in a serious di-
alogue about our broken immigration
system, the Bush Administration’s
own trade policies would do nothing
to stem the flow of illegal immigra-
tion.
We urge President Bush and the
new Congress to get serious about
restoring the American Dream. That
means forging real solutions on health
care, immigration, retirement and jobs.
Open
Forum
Once that ballot is in your hand, it’s
your responsibility to participate. In-
deed, as mentioned, the biggest argu-
ment against the double majority is the
fact that people who don’t vote are in
essence counted as “No” votes. That
includes people who have moved, peo-
ple who have died or others who, for
whatever reason, aren’t off each
county’s election rolls.
The double majority has a history
now, and it’s not a good one. We’ve
seen proposed levies for countless fire
districts, libraries, water districts and
others easily pass a majority of those
who voted only to be vetoed by those
who didn’t. The double majority is a
slap in the face at the fundamental
tenets of democracy, and again, Ore-
gon’s unique vote-by-mail system
erases its proponents biggest sound
bite.
Please note SJR 10 doesn’t change
everything. If you’re concerned about
jurisdictions trying to “sneak” levies
and such in off-cycle elections, that
part of the law wouldn’t change. Prop-
erty tax elections would still have to be
held on regular primary and general
election dates.
Nationally, Oregon has always been
seen as a leader, a place where we’re
willing to take chances and try new
ideas. Vote-by-mail was one such idea,
and it’s been a good one — several
states are now in the process of copy-
ing our law.
The double majority has not been a
good idea — and it’s OK for us to col-
lectively admit that. At the very least,
the concept deserves another round of
statewide debate, and that’s what SJR
10 would do.
I encourage you to contact your
state legislators and urge them to make
SJR 10 a priority this session. We need
to open the door for a full examination
of this important topic once again.
(Editor’s Note: Ken Allen is the ex-
ecutive director of Oregon Council 75
of the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees,
which represents over 27,000 workers
in Oregon.)
PAGE 11