Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Page 19
Measure 30 defeated by Ore. voters
SIDEWALK WRAP UP -
Crews from Riverside
Ready Mix poured the
last sidewalk sections on
Wednesday, Feb. 4. The
root barriers, water pipes
and grates are in place
and awaiting arrival of
the new trees which will
grace
and
beautify
Downtown Cave Junc-
tion. (Photos by Shane
Welsh)
Bylaw changes affect IVCRT board
The Illinois Valley
chapter Community Re-
sponse Team (IVCRT) met
at the Selma Community
Center on Wednesday,
Feb. 4 to discuss and clar-
ify proposed projects and
changes to IVCRT bylaws.
Board members first
discussed proposed
amendments to eliminate
certain wording that could
potentially affect the origi-
nal bylaw purpose.
One concern, voiced
by community member
Frederick Middleman, was
the language of the article
bylaws being rewritten to
include too broad lan-
guage.
He feared the changes
could leave bylaws open
to interpretation, causing a
conflict of interest.
The second issue de-
tailed plans to change the
way board member nomi-
nations are selected.
“We took a good, hard
look at the board to see
what our lacks and blocks
were,” said Jack Dwyer,
IVCRT board director.
Dwyer said the board
would like the following
criteria to be considered
when selecting new board
members:
*Nominee is over 30
years of age.
*More female volun-
teers.
*Ethnic diversity.
*Directors with spe-
cific expertise or training.
*Fundraising abilities.
*Business orientation.
*Legal expertise.
*Real estate experi-
ence.
*Labor relation experi-
ence.
*Technical computer
knowledge.
“The desire of the
board is to nominate mem-
bers who have the exper-
tise to manage future
IVCRT projects,” includ-
ing a recently acquired 10
year concession contract
with Oregon Caves.
IVCRT will have a
meeting on Wednesday,
Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at Lorna
Byrne Middle School in
Cave Junction to discuss
changes with members and
the community in further
detail.
Voters rejected Meas-
ure 30 by a margin of 57 to
43 percent.
The special election,
held on Tuesday, Feb. 3,
was a referral of House
Bill 2152, a $1.1 billion
tax package passed by the
Legislature and signed by
Gov. Kulongoski in De-
cember 2003.
For the second con-
secutive year, Oregonians
have told elected officials
that higher taxes are not
the answer; voting down
proposed tax increases.
“I couldn't be happier
about the results,” said
Russ Walker, director of
Oregon Citizens for a
Sound Economy and chief
petitioner for Measure 30.
“...we knew that Orego-
nians were against these
tax increases,” he said.
Roger King, Medford
resident and active volun-
teer in defeating Measure
30 said, “Raising taxes
during a recession is sim-
ply bad economics. Ore-
gon’s families will now be
able to spend or invest that
money in the best way pos-
sible for their quality of
life.”
State Rep. Linda Flo-
res was also pleased with
the results. “Now I hope
we can truly dive into the
discussion of putting our
most essential services
such as education, health
care, and public safety, to
the forefront of the budget-
ing process instead of
holding them hostage in
debates over tax in-
creases,” she said.
“There is a clear lack
of trust,” she said, “among
the people toward the way
government spends their
money...with the lack of
effort in the part of many
in Salem to find efficien-
cies and make government
more lean, I can’t say that I
blame them.”
Measure 30 qualified
for the special election
through a successful signa-
ture gathering effort last
fall. Opponents to the tax
increase gathered in excess
of 118,000 signatures,
64,000 more than the con-
stitutional requirement of
54,420.
AOI proposes to cre-
ate stronger Oregon
business climate.
The state’s largest
business lobbying group,
Associated Oregon Indus-
tries (AOI), characterized
the defeat of Measure 30
on Tuesday, Feb. 3 as a
wakeup call for the Legis-
lature, and proposed a two-
pronged attack to immedi-
ately create at least 5,000
new jobs.
“It’s going to take a
concentrated effort by
business, the Legislature
and the governor to restore
our economy. The answer
is not in more cuts or more
taxes, it’s in more jobs,”
said Richard Butrick, AOI
president.
Approximately 75 per-
cent of state revenues
come from the income tax.
“For Oregon’s econ-
omy to grow we must do
more to create jobs. And
we can do that through a
two-pronged attack,” said
Butrick.
The first prong of
AOI’s proposal includes
“removing disincentives
that steer business away
from Oregon, such as the
nation’s highest capital
gains tax and automatic
increases in the minimum
wage.”
The second prong is
more immediate. It asks
the Legislature and gover-
nor to increase harvest of
state forests, creating more
than 4,000 jobs in itself,
and a legislative approval
to use lottery bonds for
funding immediate con-
struction at universities for
engineering and technical
programs.
Butrick pointed to an
AOI measure passed last
legislative session that
dedicated about $100 mil-
lion of PERS investment
for in-state small business
creation as an example of
what can be done.
“We’ve made some
progress, but not enough
by a long shot,” said
Butrick. “It’s time to wake
up and deal with the real
issue confronting Oregon’s
budget problem. And the
real issue is jobs.”
Get your tickets from members listed in the
Wednesday, Feb. 4 issue of the ‘I.V. News’ or
watch for table set up at the CJ Post
Office. Phone Dan at 597-2979 or Jerry
at 592-6771 for set-up times & locations, or
catch a member downtown. Tickets $10 each
or 3 for $25. Funds collected help
support Post 70 and other
Illinois Valley organizations.
Dominic Keith Baum-
back was born Jan. 31,
2004 in Eugene, Ore.
The proud parents are
Brian and Nalita Kendall
Baumback, of Eugene.
Maternal Grandparents
are Doug and Alice Kend-
all of Cave Junction. Pater-
nal grandparents are Wal-
ter Baumback and Ron
Hiler of Cave Junction,
and Dee Hiler living in
Missouri.
LOW CARB DIETERS!
‘Steak & Fish are 0 carbs!’
Read-athon begins March 1
The second annual
“Read Across Oregon”
read-athon beginning
March 1 is being kicked
off by Oregon Literacy
Inc. (OLI).
Parents, youngsters,
grandparents, teachers,
uncles, aunts, everyone can
participate. “If you can
read, you can help,” said
OLI.
The
“Read Across
Oregon” Read-athon will
run from March 1 through
31.
“Through reading,
anyone interested can help
to further literacy for the
38,000 Oregonians who
read at a level that does not
allow them to comprehend
the instructions on a aspi-
rin bottle, or locate an in-
tersection on a street map.
“Whether you are
reading the latest in a se-
ries you absolutely love, or
are forced to read that clas-
sic in your English class,
‘Read Across Oregon’ is
the way for you to make
your reading into some-
thing bigger. Through get-
ting per-page pledges of as
little as 5-cents from fam-
ily members, teachers,
neighbors and even your-
self, participants can make
a huge difference in the
lives of 38,000 Orego-
nians, from the comfort of
their own home, school,
library or favorite park
bench,” said OLI.
OLI is a statewide
nonprofit organization
dedicated to raising aware-
ness of adult literacy issues
in Oregon.
For more information
phone (503) 244-3898 or
(800) 322-8715 or out-
reach@oregonliteracy.org.
Open 5 to 9 p.m. - Restaurant parking in rear
126 S. Redwood Hwy., CJ
592-4222 or 592-2892
is open
Saturdays:
9:30 a.m.
to
2:30 p.m.
Hours: Mondays - Saturdays
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information
phone (800) 922-1025