October 30, 2002
The Clackamas Print
INTERNET PHOTO
Democratic candidate Ted Kulongowski has
served In all facets of state government.
INTERNET PHOTO
Republican candidate Kevin Man nix has been
a state representative and senator.
INTERNET PHOTO
Libertarian candidate Tom Cox currently
works as a management consultant.
Race for governor tightens
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With Oregon’s General Election
less than a week away, many tough
decisions are facing voters as they
decide who will lead them in local
and state governments, and who will
represent them in the United States
Senate
and the
House of
Representatives.
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber
must give up his seat as the state’s
top man due to term limits- and the
race between Democrat Ted
Kulongoski, Republican Kevin
Mannix and Libertarian Tom Cox is
heating up in the final weeks.
Kulongoski has served in all
facets of state government, including
stints as a state legislator, state insur
ance commissioner, attorney general
and a seat on the Oregon Supreme
Court.
Mannix has been a state repre
sentative and a state senator, as
well as the assistant U.S. Attorneys
General for Oregon and the territo
ry of Guam.
Cox has no state governmental
experience, but has been active in the
Oregon Libertarian Party and works
as a management consultant.
Kulongoski has a slim lead in the
latest polls, but upwards of ten per
cent of Oregonians are still undecid
ed about their choice with a little
over a week left in the race.
In the U.S. Senate race,
Republican incumbent Gordon Smith
of Pendleton is taking on Democrat
Bill Bradbury, Oregon’s current
Secretary of State, Libertarian candi
date Dan Fitzgerald and Constitution
Party Candidate Lon Mabon.
Smith has served in the U.S.
Senate since 1996 and has previous
experience as a state senator in
Oregon.
Bradbury was elected Secretary
of State in 2000 and has served as a
state senator and state representative
in the past.
Fitzgerald has no prior govern
mental experience and works as an
independent consultant in database
management.
Mabon, well known to Oregon
voters as the chairman of the Oregon
Citizens Alliance, has served on sev
eral statewide committees in the
Republican and Constitution parties.
All five of Oregon’s House of
Representative seats are up for grabs..
Locally, Democratic Representative
Earl Blumenauer hopes to hang onto
his seat in Oregon’s Third District,
while Democrat Darlene Hooley is
running against Republican Brian
Boquist
in
Oregon’s
Fifth
Congressional District.
Fifteen state senate seats and all
60 state representative seats are
being contested in the Oregon
Legislature, and these people will
be the ones at the forefront when
the Legislature convenes in
January to tackle the state’s ever-
growing budget problems.
Many local races are being
contested as well, with Democrat
Larry Sowa attempting to hang
on to his seat as Clackamas
County Commissioner against
Republican Paul Kraxberger and
Constitution Party candidate Dale
Winegarden.
The cities of Canby, Estacada,
Happy Valley, Lake Oswego,
Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sandy,
Tualatin and West Linn have
races for various city council and
mayoral positions, as well as tax
measures on the ballot in Canby,
Estacada, Gladstone, Happy
Valley, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie,
Oregon City and Wilsonville.
Voters face twelve new ballot measures
Measures may change minimum legislature age, create new state-wide health plan, include
'none of the above' on judicial ballots, label genetically-altered food, raise minimum wage
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ing. The legislature would have to
repay the bonds using only lottery
proceeds, tobacco settlement monies
or other sources, but not through
property tax collections.
Ballot Measure 14
Ballot Measure 17
This measure would remove
racial references in the wording of
the state’s constitution. These ref
erences no longer affect state law,
but they remain in the constitution.
References such as the state’s
“white" inhabitants, “white popula
tion,” “free Negroes" and “mulat-
toes.” If the measure passes, histor
ical wording in the constitution,
except those with racial overtones,
would not change.
This measure would lower the
minimum-age requirement for serv
ing in the Oregon Legislature from
the current 21 years of age to 18. In
Oregon, 18-year-olds can run for
attorney general, secretary of state
and a variety of local offices, but not
for the state legislature.
z
Ballot Measures 15 & 16
Passage of these measures
would allow the state to issife gen
eral-obligation bonds to cover retro
fitting or reinforcing of the state’s
public buildings.
Measure 15
applies to the state’s universities,
community colleges and public
schools. Measure 16 applies to fire
and police stations, hospitals, sher
iff’s offices or similar buildings.
These amendments are required
because the state is limited to
$50,000 in general-obligation bond
Ballot Measure 18
This measure would allow newly
formed taxing districts to create new
tax zones and set rates for that partic
ular zone. Currently, new districts
are allowed tq set one tax rate for an
entire district. The measure would
allow taxing districts that have never
levied a property tax the authority to
do so.
Ballot Measure 21
This measure would allow the use
of “None of the Above” on all ballots
in judicial elections. If “None of the
Above” wins an election, a new elec
tion would be required. Candidates
who lose to “None of the
Above”could run for the same office
again in a new election. Currently,
judicial candidates run in a primary
election in May of an even-num
bered year. If no candidate receives
50 percent of the vote, then the top
two candidates in the vote face off
during the general election in
November. If Measure 21 passes,
the candidate with the most votes in
the primary would win, even if less
than 50 percent of the total vote, as
long as that candidate received more
votes than "None of the Above."
The financial impact would be
the cost of staging a special election
if “none of the above” wins.
Oregon residents. It would replace
almost entirely the many public and
private programs that currently fund
health care, including individual
health insurance, most employer-
sponsored health plans, claims from
worker's compensation plans and the
federal Medicare program for
retirees. Financing would come from
individual income taxes, an employ
er payroll tax and from the budgets of
existing governmental health plans.
The state estimates that the plan
would cost individuals and employ
ers at least $1.7 billion in the first
year.
Ballot Measure 22
This measure would change
Oregon statutes to allow denture
technicians with a state license to
make, fit and fix dentures and to fit
partial dentures for missing teeth.
This measure would require can
didates for the Oregon Supreme
Court and the Oregon Court of
Appeals to run from geographic dis
tricts instead of statewide. Each of
the seven judges on the Supreme
Court would run from a separate
district. The Court of Appeals
would have five districts, with two
judicial positions open from each
district.
Ballot Measure 23
This measure would create a sin
gle, statewidfe health plan for all
lion in 2004 and $1.26 million in
2005. Thereafter, expenditures will
increase with inflation.
Ballot Measure 26
This measure would make it ille
gal to make payment to people who
are employed as signature gatherers
for initiative or referendum petitions
to be paid per signature. The ban
would cover payment of money or
anything of value and would apply to
statewide and local petitions.
The measure would not affect
those gathering signatures being paid
an hourly wage or a salary, or those
doing so on a volunteer basis.
Ballot Measure 24
Ballot Measure 25
This measure would raise the
state’s minimum wage from the
current $6.50 per hour to $6.90 per
hour, with future increases in the
minimum wage tied to annual
inflation adjustments.
The state estimates the increase
would require state expenditures of
$1.19 million in 2003, $1.22 mil
Ballot Measure 27
This measure would require all
food and beverages for human and
animal consumption to have label
ing to identify foods that have as
little as one-tenth of one percent
genetically-modified ingredients.
It would apply to all food and bev
erage grown, sold or distributed in
Oregon.
The Oregon Department of
Agriculture estimates that it would
cost $11.2 million annually, mostly
for regulation and enforcement,
and an additional $6.3 million the
first year for startup costs.