...Past Sizemore business practices raise eyebrows
(From Page 4)
The honor system assumes in-
tegrity.
But well before Bill Sizemore be-
came a well-known political figure, his
conduct raised questions about his in-
tegrity. During Sizemore’s 1998 cam-
paign for governor, an Oregonian in-
vestigation brought to light the messy
details of his failed carpet and toy
companies.
Sizemore walked away from
$358,000 in debts when Sizemore
Carpet Brokers liquidated under bank-
ruptcy protection in 1987. His Illumi-
nated Toy Inc., founded in 1984,
ceased operations in 1994, with unpaid
debts of about $795,000.
Anybody can have a business fail-
ure. It was Sizemore’s business prac-
tices that raised eyebrows. Sizemore
raised funds for his businesses by per-
suading members of his church and his
softball team to loan him money,
promising to double their money in six
months. One fellow member of Port-
land Bible Temple cashed a life insur-
ance policy to lend Sizemore $30,000,
which the entrepreneur promised to re-
turn in one month with $3,000 in inter-
est (That’s 120 percent annual inter-
est). Instead it took years, and a
lawsuit to recover the money. And he
was the only creditor to get repaid. An-
other church member, dying of cancer,
asked Sizemore in 1997 to return the
$98,000 he was owed, and was told it
would be repaid after he became gov-
ernor. Later, Sizemore asked the
widow to recant what she had told the
Oregonian about the incident.
In the end, Sizemore stiffed his
landlord, the factories that made his
products, the IRS, and a printing com-
pany he wrote a bad check to. He used
toy company money to buy land that
he would then build his family’s home
on. Later, he sold the company prop-
erty and used proceeds to pay off per-
sonal income tax liens. The explana-
tions he gave to the Oregonian of the
details were contradicted by most of
the individuals.
That was how he operated his toy
business.
By 1994, Sizemore’s business was
politics. The businessman who hadn’t
paid his taxes now formed Oregon
Taxpayers United, a political action
committee, and devoted himself to
raising money to wage ballot initiative
campaigns. That year his Ballot Mea-
sure 8 won by 1,000 votes, requiring
public employees to contribute 6 per-
cent of their salary to their pensions.
The measure was later overturned by
the Oregon Supreme Court as a viola-
tion of contract rights.
In 1996, Sizemore was back with a
referendum that overturned the Legis-
lature’s plan to build statewide light-
rail system. He also won passage of
Measure 47, a property tax limitation
to cap property taxes, limit increases to
3 percent per year, and establish a dou-
ble-majority requirement for local
temporary future tax increases.
In 1998, he went after public em-
ployees unions again; his Measure 59
would have restricted their ability to
participate in politics. It was narrowly
rejected by voters, but union political
action committees reportedly spent
over $4 million opposing the measure.
Sizemore had a sure thing: Win or
lose, his measures would drain union
treasuries, weakening their ability to
pursue other issues.
It was a cynical purpose, said
judges on the appeals court panel, and
the cynical means by which he con-
ducted the campaigns spurred voters to
approve Measure 46 in 2004, which
banned the “bounty,” by prohibiting
initiative campaigns from paying by
the signature.
But abuses continued. Media ac-
counts about circulators paid in cash
on street corners led the Bureau of La-
bor and Industries to aggressively
prosecute whatever violations of Mea-
sure 46 they could prove.
Now, the Oregon Legislature is
preparing to clean up the initiative
process. The House Committee on
Elections, Ethics and Rules, chaired by
Diane Rosenbaum, began hearings on
initiative abuse in January.
“I am not an opponent of the initia-
tive process,” said Rosenbaum, who
herself was a chief petitioner on a bal-
lot measure that increased the mini-
mum wage. “But we believe it has
been hijacked.”
“A lot of people wonder why can’t
we just ban paid petitioning altogether.
Rosenbaum said. “The problem is the
Oregon constitution doesn’t allow it.”
“By 2002 the ideal of citizen volun-
teers gathering signatures from their
friends, neighbors and colleagues had
long ago disappeared,” Ellen Lowe
told Rosenbaum’s committee Jan. 31.
Lowe was a longtime lobbyist for Ecu-
menical Ministries of Oregon, a social
justice group. “Instead,” Lowe said,
“every initiative season, armies of
mercenary signature gatherers de-
scended on our state looking for a
quick and easy buck …. Too often last
year Oregon’s initiative system looked
more like drug deals than democracy.”
Legislators expect to look at a num-
ber of reform proposals in the coming
months, including:
• Color-coding initiative petition
sheets when campaigns are paying pe-
titioners;
• Requiring paid signature gatherers
to register with the Secretary of State’s
office, and provide a signature sample.
• Prohibiting anyone convicted of
identity theft from gathering signa-
tures;
• Requiring that campaigns gather
10 percent of required signatures be-
fore submitting their measure to the
state for a ballot title, an idea meant to
prevent “ballot title shopping;” and
• Making chief petitioners person-
ally liable for what goes on in their
campaigns.
Sizemore told Rosenbaum’s com-
mittee he didn’t like that last sugges-
tion.
“I don’t believe you get anywhere
by pursuing chief petitioners,” Size-
more testified Jan. 31. “It isn’t possible
to control what everybody circulating
your petition does.”
“I get so sick of being accused of
being involved in forgery,” Sizemore
added. “I have never knowingly bro-
ken the law.”
Michael E. Hardeman, Business Representative
Sign & Display Local 510
The bank of local unions
brings 50 years of on-the-job labor experience
provides complete banking services tailored to the Local leadership
guides investments to ensure your money works as hard as you do
offers online access to keep multiple accounts easily organized
gives each and every local union their due.
Invest in you
®
Labor Management Trust Services
Stephen Heady, Vice President, (503) 450-1270
Louis Nagy, Vice President, (206) 587-3627
Labor Management Deposit Services
Diane Williams, Senior Vice President & Manager, (213) 236-5085
John Mendoza, Vice President & Relationship Manager, (415) 705-7112
Visit us at unionbank.com
FEBRUARY 16, 2007
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
©2007 Union Bank of California, N.A. Member FDIC
PAGE 5