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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2016 Committee: No changes to Measure 97 voters’ guide text Legal opinion leaves cloud By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — The November elections guide will say that rev- enue from a controversial cor- porate sales tax measure must be spent on education, health care and senior services, despite a legal opinion to the contrary. Measure 97, formerly Ini- tiative Petition 28, levies a 2.5 percent tax on the Oregon sales of certain large corporations exceeding $25 million. The measure, proposed by union- backed Our Oregon, would yield an estimated $3 billion per year in new revenue. Each year, a committee of state and local oficials com- poses what is intended to be an unbiased description of the inancial impact of each ballot measure to include in the vot- ers’ pamphlet. Committee language The committee is made up of the secretary of state, state trea- surer, director of revenue, head of the Department of Adminis- trative Services and a local gov- ernment representative. The committee on Friday denied multiple requests to change language in the state- ment on Measure 97 that “the increased revenue will require increased expenditures by the state in the areas of public early childhood and kindergar- The fiscal impact statement in the elections guide is ‘both factually incorrect and also misleading to the public.’ State Rep. John Davis R-Wilsonville ten through grade 12 education, health care and senior services.” The requests were based on an opinion by legislative coun- sel. The opinion concludes the measure effectively places no restrictions on lawmakers from spending the revenue on other things. The Legislature “may appropriate revenues gener- ated by the measure in any way it chooses,” according to the opinion. State Rep. John Davis, R-Wilsonville, wrote in an email to the committee that the iscal impact statement is “both Oyster farmer wins clear victory in court Paciic County considering next moves By NATALIE ST. JOHN EO Media Group SOUTH BEND, Wash. — For two years, oyster farmer Dan Driscoll has been tell- ing anyone who would listen EO Media Group that Paciic County’s legal and Oysterville Sea Farms appears to have finally prevailed administrative actions against in a long regulatory dispute with Pacific County. his small seafood shop and deli were just plain wrong. says that he’s been operating packaged cereal, and by offer- In late July, a Paciic County legally and properly, as we’ve ing outdoor seating on a deck Superior Court judge ruled that said from the beginning,” that overlooks the bay. Driscoll Driscoll was right. Driscoll’s Olympia-based attor- asked for the court hearing in The striking opinion from ney, Ben Cushman, said. hopes of gaining clarity about visiting Judge William Faub- what was allowed on the prop- ion reverses a South District Good news for land use? erty. Goelz’s decision offered Court ruling last year that found The county has long con- a “partial, but not complete Driscoll guilty of two infrac- tended that although Driscoll’s vindication” Cushman said, tions from the County Depart- business was grandfathered because it said Driscoll did ment of Community Develop- because it predated the coun- have the right to continue most ment. But the potential legal ty’s current land-use policies food service and retail activi- implications go much farther. and shoreline master program, ties, but still found him guilty Faubion essentially gutted he had altered and intensiied of the violations. Driscoll took Judge Doug Goelz’s determina- the business in ways that went his case to Superior Court. tions about what type of busi- too far. County oficials and Faubion, on the other hand, ness activities are allowed on other regulatory agencies ini- said not only does Driscoll have the site of the Driscoll family’s tially approved Driscoll’s plans the right to continue operating historic Oysterville cannery. to open the retail shop and deli. his business, but “it is clearly Faubion called many aspects of But later, Community Develop- the intent” of both the shoreline that decision — and the coun- ment Director Faith Taylor-El- master program and the exist- ty’s rationale for taking action dred, who left the department ing land-use ordinances, “to against Driscoll — “errone- earlier this summer, reversed encourage the continued use of ous,” and ruled that Driscoll’s course. existing commercial properties business was not in either of In summer 2014, the county such as the historic Oysterville the protected zones the county cited Driscoll, saying that he Cannery, including the intensi- believed it to be in. violated county ordinances and ication of uses, so long as con- “It’s a vindication of Dan, the shoreline master program sistent with other health and and Dan’s position. It basically by selling wine and beer and environmental regulations, and not detrimental to the aquatic environments.” “It’s kind of a return to nor- malcy, and that’s a very prom- ising sign, I think, both for Dan’s case, and probably for land use in the county,” Cush- man said, “If the county takes this to heart.” Paciic County Prosecu- tor Mark McClain, who rep- resents the county in civil and land-use matters, said the county would review options. “This ruling appears to be in conlict with existing state law and our locally adopted ordinances which are designed to protect the environment. The logic in this ruling would appear to support high-intensity commercial or industrial uses next to the shoreline, which this community has determined to be an area we wish to pro- tect against intensive develop- ment. While this case is per- sonal to Mr. Driscoll, the board has viewed this as a community issue in protecting their adopted land-use regulations. We will meet with our clients, the Board of Commissioners, later in the week to outline the legal issues presented by this decision and discuss the board’s options,” McClain said in an email. factually incorrect and also misleading to the public.” Committee members, how- ever, noted that the Legislature could alter any non-constitu- tional ballot measure, including Measure 97. “I don’t think we put that caveat in all of statutory changes in measures in the past,” said George Naughton, interim director of the Depart- ment of Administrative Ser- vices. “I probably wouldn’t include it just for that reason.” Point of contention How the money will be spent is a point of contention between the campaigns for and against the measure. The oppo- sition has compared the tax with writing “a blank check” to law- makers, while proponents have described the tax as a ix-all to the state’s school and health care funding problems. Pat McCormick, a spokes- man for the Defeat the Tax on Oregon Sales campaign, said the committee could have eas- ily addressed the inaccuracy in the statement by saying the bal- lot measure “states,” rather than requires, that the revenue is to be used to provide additional funding for education, health care and senior services. “It’s disappointing,” McCor- mick said. “I think they are fail- ing to provide the kind of help to voters they are supposed to provide.” The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Initiative petitions receive oficial ballot numbers By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Seven bal- lot measures up for a vote in November have received mea- sure numbers from the Secre- tary of State’s Ofice. Initiative Petition 28, levy- ing a 2.5 percent tax on Oregon sales of certain large corpora- tions exceeding $25 million, is now known as Measure 97. The measure would yield about $3 billion annually in new state revenue with the intent to help support schools, health care and senior services. Measure 98 is the new name for the Initiative 65 high school dropout measure. The measure requires $147 million in new funding for high school dropout prevention, college readiness and career technical education programs. Measure 99, the new name for Initiative 67, dedicates lot- tery proceeds to continuously fund a statewide outdoor edu- cation program. Initiative 68 seeking to pro- hibit the sale of items made from 10 endangered species is now called Measure 100. Violation of the law could result in a civil penalty of up to $6,500, along with seizure by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Three of the seven ballot measures stem from legisla- tive referrals. • Measure 94 amends the constitution to abolish the mandatory retirement age for state judges, which is set at 75. • Measure 95 allows public universities to invest in equi- ties to reduce inancial risk and increase investments to bene- it students. • Measure 96 dedicates 1.5 percent of state lottery pro- ceeds to support services for Oregon veterans. The measures are num- bered according to the order the Secretary of State’s Ofice approves each initiative for the ballot. Legislative referrals are irst in line. Campaigns for the initiatives already largely knew what number each measure would receive, but the Secre- tary of State’s Ofice made the numbers oficial Friday. The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Warrenton Police seize drugs, stolen property By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian While checking on an ille- gally parked RV in the Fred Meyer parking lot in July, War- renton Police discovered more than 10 pounds of drugs, a sto- len .22 caliber gun, jewelry and other property. Shyann Howard, 29, who was with the RV, was arrested for a warrant, providing false information to police, identity theft, possession of heroin, pos- session of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of mari- juana and unlawful distribution of marijuana. When Oficer Robert Wirt initially contacted Howard on July 16, she identiied herself as Tiffany Howard, her sister. While waiting for Howard to get her identiication, Wirt saw a syringe with a brownish sub- stance on the bed. He also saw evidence of drug use on How- ard, and she admitted she uses drugs. He conirmed there was no one else in the RV. He saw numerous items of drug para- phernalia and multiple pieces of jewelry lying around the RV. At the time, Wirt seized 3.8 pounds of marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine. He then applied for a search warrant for the RV and a pickup truck. Both vehicles were searched on July 28. The search uncovered an additional 6.86 pounds of marijuana, 3.1 grams of black tar heroin, a Ruger .22 caliber irearm, numerous scales and other items associated with drug distribution, hundreds of rounds of ammunition in vari- ous calibers, numerous items of jewelry, jewelry making tools, loose gems and multiple other items that are possibly stolen. Some of the items had markings from Ketchikan, Alaska. Wirt contacted Ket- chikan Police to work with them on identifying the items that were stolen. A passport was found in the RV that was stolen from the mail in the Seattle area. Police do not believe any of the other items were stolen locally, but the investigation continues. 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