N ovem ber 29, 2000
Page A4
(Tlje 'JJortlanb (ßheeruer
ü Opinion
Articles do not
necessarily reflect or
represent the views of
(£lje } J n r t l a n i i (O b s e rv e r
Give Thanks for Strengthened Property Rights
STfje
^portlanh
(lib serrici'
The U nited States w as founded in
the principles o f individual liberty
and econom ic opportunity, but in the
past 50 years those principle have
been eroded by the grow th o f the
regulatory states. W hether its medi
cal marijuana use, over-sized garages,
o r the use o f polystyrene foam cups,
no problem s is too small foragovem -
m ent bureaucrat to regulate in Or
egon. The result is that w e ’ve all lost
m any o f the freedom s that the Ameri
can Revolution w as fought for.
Fortunately, in the spirit ofThanks-
giving O regonians can be proud that
the recent election charted a new
course. Three successful ballot m ea
USPS 959-680
Established 1970
STAFF
E
d it o r
P
C
in
h ie f
,
u b l is h e r
Charles H. Washington
E d
i T o R
Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
B
u s in e s s
M
anager
Gary Ann Taylor
A sst . P ublisher
Michael Leighton
C
E
opy
d it o
Joy Ramos
C
r e a t iv e
D
sures helped restore important prop
erty rights in Oregon: M easure 7
(passed 54 percent), requires finan
cial com pensation for certain gov
ernm ent actions that dim inish the
value o f private property. M easure 3
(passed 67 percent), prohibits the
governm ent from taking your prop
erty under so-called “asset forfei
ture’’ laws unless y o u ’ve actually
been convicted o f a crim e, and M ea
sure 88 (passed 51 percent), increases
from $3,000 to 5,000 the m axim um
am ount that may be deducted on
Oregon personal income tax returns
for federal income taxes paid.
These m easures all deal with the
same basis issue: who controls your
assets, you or the governm ent?
ir e c t o r
Robert Parker
4 7 4 7 N E M a r tin L u th e r K in g,
Jr. Blvd.
P o rtla n d , OR 9 7 2 1 1
5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
the passage o f M easure 3, law en
forcem ent authorities could seize
your hom e, car or bank accounts,
even if you w ere never convicted o f
a drug-related crim e.
In 1999, police reported taking $2.1
m illion from 1,069 people in Oregon.
In 72 percent o f those cases, no one
w as an-ested, charged or convicted
o f crim e. The passage o f M easure 3
will prevent this kind o f abuse in the
future, by requiring a conviction
before property is seized, and by
requiring that the seizure be propor
tional to the crime.
T he passage o f M easure 88 show s
that a m ajority o f O regonians con
sider incom e to be a type o f property,
and resent paying a tax on property
they never received because the gov
ernm ent took it first. M easure 88 w ill
reduce state tax revenues, w hich
means individuals will now have more
control over their ow n assets.
A lthough ourcountry was founded
on the principle o f freedom and eco
nom ic opportunity, those principles
are m eaningless without strong rights.
A s D aniel W ebster said, “N o other
rights are safe w here property is not
safe.”
Y our property is now ju st a bit
m ore secure than it was on N ovem ber
7. T hat is truly som ething to be thank
ful for.
John A. Charles is environmental
policy director at Cascade Policy In
stitute, a Portland-based think tank.
Blacks in G overnm ent Prom ote Non-
Discrim ination, Professionalism
Letter To The Editor
Clark County
Needs Diversity
w ould like to have the County
Com m issioners and Sheriff Lucas
address w hy the numbers are so
low and w hat plans, if any, they
have to address this lack o f repre
s e n ta tio n .
The
s h e r if f
departm ent’s lackofdiversity has
to have an im pact on how they
deal with people o f color living in
the county. I would like to seejust
how m any times a young man or
w om an o f color is stopped w ith
out a legitimate reason. I’m sure it’s
quite often, with an all white police
force, and a lack o f understanding/
training on their part. The county is
beginning to grow quite rapidly and
I would hate for my children to
become a target for racial profiling
w hich is usually the result o f a
department lacking in diversity.
It is quite obvious that the popu
lation o f people o f color in the
county is less then that o f white
occupants, but that should have no
bearing on the counties hiring prac
tices.
I am a five year resident o f
V ancouver and I relocated here
from Los A ngeles. I have a con
cern that is o f im portance and I
w ould like to bring it toyouratten-
tion. 1 am an A frican A m erican
female and a single m other o f two
teens. M y so n s’ friend was ar
rested a few w eeks ago and taken
to the Clark County Jail . He shared
his experience w ith us during a
conversation and said that he no
ticed only a few people o f color
w orking there. This becam e very
intimidating to him espec ially after
living in Los A ngeles. W e ques
tioned w hy there w as such a lack
o f diversity and it cam e to our
attention that w e have never seen
a person o f color in a patrol vehicle
for the county. A s w e discussed
this w ith other fam ily m em bers
and friends, there appeared to be
som e validity to this observation.
W e then began to notice the num-
b erso fpeo p leo fco lo rw o rk in g for
the county in general. The sad
reality is that there are very few.
As a resident o f the county, I
In the first case, M easure 7 re
quires governm ent officials to fully
consider the costs o f regulations
before they adopt them. U nder our
present system , the governm ent can
wipe out the value o f som eone’s prop
erty through a zoning ordinance, with
out having to pay that person one
dim e in com pensation.
M easure 7 w ill force elected offi
cials to w eight both the benefits and
the costs o f a governm ent decision,
and to spread the cost o f regulation
am ong all taxpayers, not ju st a few
property ow ners.
M easure 3 significantly strength
ens rights ofp ro p erty ow ners enough
to be cau g h t in the w eb o f the
governm ent’s “drug w ar”. Prior to
Mrs.LorithaM.
Hazeldale
The new ly form ed G reater Port
land C hapter o f Blacks in G overn
ment is hosting a recognition and
Chapter Presentation C erem ony at
the Lutheran C om m unity C enter at
4219N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
on Dec. 2 at 5 p.m.
The actual charter presentation
ceremony will start at 6p.m . with local
officers ofthe Greater Portland Chap
ter and regional O fficers ofB lacks in
Government officiating.
B lacks in Government is a national,
state, regional, and local organiza-
tion devoted to the follow ing goals
and objectives. 1 .To be an advocate
o f equal opportunity for blacks in
governm ent. 2. To elim inate p rac
tices o f racism and racial discrim ina
tion against blacks in governm ent. 3.
T o prom ote professionalism am ong
blacks in governm ent. 4. To develop
and prom ote program s w hich en
hance ethnic pride and educational
opportunities for blacks in govern
ment. 5. To establish a mechanism for
the gathering and dissem ination o f
inform ation to blacks in government.
6. To provide a non-partisan platform
on m ajor issues o f local, regional, and
national significance that affect blacks
in governm ent.
M em bership in Blacks in G overn
m ent is open to any person w ho is in
accord w ith the philosophy, princi
pals, policies, and objectives o f this
organization. Regular m em berships
are open to any em ployee or retiree o f
federal, state, or local governm ents.
T hose desiring more inform ation
can contact E verette Rice at 503-285-
0886.
NAACP Commends Record Turnout
Kweisi Mfume, President and
CEO, National Association for
the Advancement o f Colored
People com m ended A frican
American voters for their record
turnout in the national elections.
Mfume said, “The NAACP
spent a tremendous amount o f
time, money and energy in a well-
organized grassroots effort to in
crease the number o f African
Americans who cast their votes
at the polls on Election Day.”
The civil rights organization fi
nanced a $12 million high-tech
Get-Out-The-Vote campaign that
utilized scores of volunteers, paid
staff, a multi-media blitz, the
Internet, telephone banks and
comprehensivepollingstudies, re
sulting in the most m assive
GOTV effort in the association’s
91-year history.
“Let the record show that this
unprecedented voter empower
ment initiative signals that Afri
can American voters are right
fully claiming their place as
powerbrokers and stakeholders
in the nation’selectoral process,”
said Mfume from the official
NAACP Election Day2000Com-
mand Central in Baltimore.
Some o f the states the NAACP
voter drive targeted included:
Maryland, Florida, Michigan, Illi
nois, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ala
bama and Pennsylvania.Founded
in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s
oldest and largest civil rights orga
nization. Its half-million adult and
youth members throughout the
United States and the world are
the premier advocates for civil
rights in their communities, con
ducting voter mobilization and
monitoring equal opportunity in
the public and private sectors.
Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5
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