Iuly3. 2013
ö'*!' ¡Portiani» (Obserorr Ç5 A R R KKK S special Edition
Page 19
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Working Together for the Common Good
My support for Lew
Frederick on the
blight of abandoned
houses
voters in only one of Oregon’s 60 House
districts, yet we are elected to serve the best
interests of all the residents of the entire state
and not merely those in our own districts.
That’s why for more than a decade, I have
focused so much of my effort on balancing
the state budget, invigorating the state’s
economy, and promoting a world-class
by R ep . D ennis R ichardson
educational system.
There once was a group of
In addition to statewide policy, indi
men at a church who had the
vidual legislators have issues in their own
assignment to move a grand
districts that deserve to be addressed
piano from one room to an
without concern for party or politics.
other. The piano was very
W henever possible, I try to “lift where I
heavy and several of the concerned volun stand” and help other legislators craft solu
teers discussed ideas on how to move it with tions that benefit the people in their districts.
out harming themselves or the piano. Finally,
For instance, Rep. Lew Frederick, D-north
a wise man suggested they all should gather and northeast Portland, came to our Con
close around the piano and together “lift where sumer Protection and Government Efficiency
you stand.” They did so and the piano was Committee with a bill (HB 2662) to help his
easily moved because of the unified effort. Portland neighborhoods do something about
What we do here in the Oregon State Legisla the blight of abandoned houses that attract
ture is often like the men in this story.
squatters, drug dealers and derelicts.
Politics is a team sport. In state govern
Of Oregon’s homes in foreclosure nearly
ment, no legislation can pass without a m a 1/3 are vacant. Rep. Frederick’s bill originally
jority vote of legislators in both the House of contained provisions that assessed up to a
Representatives and the State Senate, fol $150 fine per day against property owners
lowed by the Governor’s signature.
who failed to maintain their properties, and
As state representatives we are elected by did not suggest a solution to the underlying
problem. As introduced, such provisions
were likely to kill his bill.
After the public hearing I asked Rep.
Frederick what he was trying to accomplish.
He said his goal was to enable residents in
blighted neighborhoods to do something
about abandoned homes that often sit empty
for years and become public nuisances. In
some cases community leaders are unable to
even determine the whereabouts of the prop
erty owners. We worked together to amend
the language in his bill.
The final version enables communities to
place notices on such abandoned properties
and, when possible, to notify the owners of
the need to clean up and maintain their prop
erties. If the nuisance is not corrected, local
government now has the power to do the
maintenance or make necessary repairs on
the properties and place a priority lien on the
county records for the amount of the “actual
and demonstrable costs” incurred by the
local government.
The final version of HB 2662A is a win/win
for all concerned. Neighbors now have a
means to correct the blight of an abandoned
house and yard; local government now have
a process where an abandoned house in a
neighborhood can be maintained and the
costs incurred eventually will be repaid when
the house is sold or refinanced; and, even the
abandoned property’s owner may be ben
efited when the house finally is sold, since it
was not allowed to grossly deteriorate, be
come a meth lab or an attractive nuisance to
squatters.
Rep. Frederick was gracious during his
House floor speech by referring to my assis
tance with his bill. HB 2662A passed both the
House and Senate and has been signed into
law.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle can
provide hundreds of similar stories of work
ing together for the common good. Since
news reports generally focus on political
acrimony and discord, I thought you might
appreciate knowing that it is common prac
tice, among the rank and file members of the
House and Senate, for legislators to work
together for the benefit of the citizens who
live and work in all districts across the great
State of Oregon.
It’s an honor to work with such dedicated
legislators and to serve the citizens of my
district and all of Oregon.
Rep. Dennis Richardson is a Republican
lawmaker from Central Point, Ore., serving
parts of Jackson and Josephine counties.
n Worse’
Congress must act on voting rights
growing and always reviving ac rights were litigation, organiza
We have a long and honorable
tivist m ovem ent across America if tion, m obilization, and coalition, tradition of social justice in this
by J ulian B ond
Court has ju st invalidated.
we are going to m aintain and ex all aimed at creating a national country. It still sends forth the
The racial picture in Am erica
Like the Court's affirm ative ac pand victories and our vision for constituency for civil rights. Some
message that when we act together
has im proved rem arkably in my tion ruling the day before, the the country.
tim es the sim plest o f deeds — we can overcome.
lifetim e, so m uch so that a black voting rights decision could have
We must not forget that Martin sitting at a lunch counter, going
A first order o f business might
man has been elected and re been worse.
Luther King, Jr. stood before and to a new school, applying for a be gathering in W ashington on
elected President o f the United
But we can't live with "it could with thousands — the people who m arriage license, casting a vote
Aug. 24 to commemorate the 1963
States — an unthinkable devel have been w orse," esp ecially made the m ighty m ovem ent what
— can challenge the way we think M arch on W ashington and to
opm ent ju st a few years ago.
when it com es to voting. We must it was.
and act.
demand that Congress act to cor
B ut p a ra d o x ic a lly , B arack insist on "it has to be the best."
From Jam estow n's slave pens
Racial justice, economic equal rect the Supreme Court's many
O bam a's victory in 2008 con
This ruling was devious and to M o n tg o m e ry 's b o y c o tte d ity, and world peace — these were
wrongs.
vinced many that all racial barriers perverse.
buses, these ordinary men and the themes that occupied King's
Julian Bond is Chairman
and restrictions had been van
It was devious because the women labored in obscurity. From life. They ought to occupy ours
Emeritus o f the NAACP Board o f
quished and we had entered racial Court's majority used Section 4 of M ontgom ery forward they pro today.
Directors.
nirvana across the land.
the Voting Rights Act to effec vided the foot soldiers o f the free
This was ju st one of the many tively end Section 5, essentially dom arm y. They shared, with r
unfair burdens placed on Obama's voiding the federal governm ent's K in g , "an a b id in g fa ith in I
presidency. We knew that his vic ability to guarantee m inority ac America."
I
Fill O ut & S end To:
tory didn't herald a post-civil rights cess to the polls. At the same time,
They walked in dignity, rather I
Am erica or mean that race had the ruling sidestepped the court's than ride in shame. They faced
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been vanquished. It couldn't elim i historic deference to Congress bom bs in Birm ingham and mobs
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nate structural inequity or racist and blam ed law m akers for not in M ississippi. They sat down at | Attn: Subscriptions, PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208
attitudes.
updating the form ula.
lunch counters so others could
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The truth is that Jim Crow may
It was perverse because these stand up. They m arched and they
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be dead, but racism is alive and justices cited the fact that large organized.
well. That's the central fact of life num bers o f blacks voted in 2012
King didn't march from Selma
N ame : ___
for every non-white American, in as a reason to take away the law to M ontgom ery by himself. He
cluding the President of the United that allow ed them to vote.
didn't speak to an empty field at
T elephone :
States. It eclipses incom e, posi
Today, we have much m ore to the March on W ashington.
tion, and education. Race trumps work with and we take heart that
A ddress : _
There were thousands m arch
them all.
so m uch has c h a n g e d . T he ing with him, and before him, and I ___________________ ______________ _
Our first order of business now changes that have com e have thousands more who did the dirty
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needs to be dem anding that C on everything to do with the work of work that preceded the triumphal
gress reform ulate the pre-clear the m odern m ovem ent for civil march.
ance requirem ent of the Voting rights.
The successful strategies of
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